Cambie Street These Days

[annanstee]

. The whole Tomato Cafe thing is just media pandering. They will do a great business in their new location with a better demographic.

Stephen Bonner

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What exactly does that mean?

Having lived in both neighborhoods, I have to say that I would prefer the denizens of the Cambie neighborhood if I was a business owner.

[fud]

Fair enough Arne but the point I was making wasn't supposed to be about poor me but about reality. If you expect customers to drive somewhere, get out, take a cab to get to a restaurant where they normally didn't have to, fewer people are going to go to that restaurant.

If they are making such a big public statement on how the government is going to do all it can to keep businesses from hurting during the RAV construction I would rather they spend less on advertising that Cambie is open and more on actually making it more accessible during the construction.

[*Deborah*]

I totally take your point, Wes. I've ended up taking unintended extended scenic tours of Shaughnessy myself.

And um, yeah, boo-hoo is right, at the cost of gas these days, when the side streets are all closed and you end up driving an extra half-hour to try to find a viable approach to where you're headed. It doesn't really encourage you to run the gauntlet again.

[Daddy-A]

And um, yeah, boo-hoo is right, at the cost of gas these days, when the side streets are all closed and you end up driving an extra half-hour to try to find a viable approach to where you're headed.

First off ... you drive a Vespa, so I don't want to hear boo-hooing about the price of gas from you.

Explain to me how the current (i.e. this will not be permanent) situation on Cambie Street with respect to parking and slow traffic is any different from what Yaletown or the West End faces year round. Is it Canada Line's fault that some people have their head in the sand and don't know the area is a traffic nightmare before they venture naiively in? Would you do the same in Yaletown on a Friday night? I did once. Spent an hour trying to find parking. Won't happen again because I'll plan.

Take a cab. Take the bus. Hell, it's sunny ... ride your bike our rollerblade.

'Scuse me while I go whipe some tears ...

A.

[fud]

Touche Arne,

After all it IS bike to work week . I certainly intend to RIDE to Cambie next time. I just don't want to see businesses suffer when the engineering services could have put one or two more covers over the subway hole to let people walk, bike, get across. I think the big problem is when you are on one side of Cambie and you need to get to the other side and for some reason it's unnecessarily difficult.

[Daddy-A]

I think the big problem is when you are on one side of Cambie and you need to get to the other side and for some reason it's unnecessarily difficult.

That is absolutely a problem. However, the plans for all the crossings were on-the-books for months before the project started. There are no surprises here to those who bothered finding out. That's not a dig at anyone here. But there are businesses in the area that are bitching bitterly about that very subject. Like I said before, don't blame Canada Line because you didn't bother to inform yourself.

Our office is on the south-east corner of 14th and Cambie. That means I need to walk up to 16th or down to 12th if I want to cross. I used to visit Tropika (same intersection, north-west corner) at least once a week for lunch, and until recently stopped going altogether. A couple weeks ago I realized I was walking up to Capers to pick up soup, or up to Thai Away Home for pad thai. Both are at least the same distance I would have to walk to get to Tropika. So now I'm back to my usual visits for laksa.

There are a lot of folk trying really hard to simply survive through the construction. Once they do, the Canada Line is going to transform this part of town for the better. I'm encouraging everyone I know who used to visit the area to come back and help these people out. And if you haven't been to Tropika, Shiro, Figmint, Firewood Cafe, etc etc etc before, now's a great time to visit. It's dead easy to get a table, and they'll be thrilled to see you.

A.

[*Deborah*]

And um, yeah, boo-hoo is right, at the cost of gas these days, when the side streets are all closed and you end up driving an extra half-hour to try to find a viable approach to where you're headed.

First off ... you drive a Vespa, so I don't want to hear boo-hooing about the price of gas from you.

Explain to me how the current (i.e. this will not be permanent) situation on Cambie Street with respect to parking and slow traffic is any different from what Yaletown or the West End faces year round. Is it Canada Line's fault that some people have their head in the sand and don't know the area is a traffic nightmare before they venture naiively in? Would you do the same in Yaletown on a Friday night? I did once. Spent an hour trying to find parking. Won't happen again because I'll plan.

Take a cab. Take the bus. Hell, it's sunny ... ride your bike our rollerblade.

'Scuse me while I go whipe some tears ...

A.

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Well I don't usually run my weekend errands on the Vespa, that's usually in my car. And I'm not moaning about parking or traffic volume, I'm speaking as someone who ended up travelling some 30 blocks out of my way in two directions in Saturday traffic because you simply can't get there from here any more! What's more, they change it up on you, just to keep it interesting. On the other hand, I made it from the airport to downtown down Cambie in 21 minutes, recently, so that straight shot is still viable. Just too bad if you don't want to drive right through.

As for Yaletown, I know where to park

[makanmakan]

From CKNW website,

"The public will be able to park in the city lot between Cambie and Yukon off 10th Avenue between 5pm and 12am weekdays and between 7am and 12am weekends and holidays.

[barolo]

I found this column: Two streets, two routes to development in yesterday's Globe and Mail a really interesting backgrounder on the Cambie street situation.

I guess it reflects my analytical nature, but I find this much more compelling and illuminating than 99% of the stuff that is being written about Cambie, the Canada Line and all the attendant problems.

The major reason why Main Street from Broadway to 33rd Street is one of the funkiest, diverse and chain-store-free zones in the entire city is historical: retail frontage is widely held in small parcels by Chinese-Canadian merchants and their descendents. As an urbanist, I find it astonishing that there is not a single national chain drug or clothes store on this entire run. Doubtless, it will not be long before the big boys want to join the party.

Cambie could hardly be more different. Long before a transit line was proposed there, much of its length from the bridge up to King Edward was assembled into larger, development-friendly packages by investors, especially entrepreneurs newly arrived from Hong Kong and Taipei. They expected higher rents than their colleagues on Main, who had bought land much earlier and much cheaper.

[grayelf]

I found this column: Two streets, two routes to development in yesterday's Globe and Mail a really interesting backgrounder on the Cambie street situation. 

I guess it reflects my analytical nature, but I find this much more compelling and illuminating than 99% of the stuff that is being written about Cambie, the Canada Line and all the attendant problems.

The major reason why Main Street from Broadway to 33rd Street is one of the funkiest, diverse and chain-store-free zones in the entire city is historical: retail frontage is widely held in small parcels by Chinese-Canadian merchants and their descendents. As an urbanist, I find it astonishing that there is not a single national chain drug or clothes store on this entire run. Doubtless, it will not be long before the big boys want to join the party.

Cambie could hardly be more different. Long before a transit line was proposed there, much of its length from the bridge up to King Edward was assembled into larger, development-friendly packages by investors, especially entrepreneurs newly arrived from Hong Kong and Taipei. They expected higher rents than their colleagues on Main, who had bought land much earlier and much cheaper.

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Thanks for the link to the article, Barolo. Although interesting, it's made me fear even more for Cambie. I've been inspired by many posts here (especially Daddy-A's) to redouble efforts to support Cambie Street restos, including a recent Monday night visit to Arroy-D Thai where we were the ONLY table from 6:30 to 8ish Is there anything else we can do?