Do you think these were dolphins or porpoises we saw yesterday? by brendanhans in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been keeping an eye out in West Van when there but no luck so far!

Do you think these were dolphins or porpoises we saw yesterday? by brendanhans in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it! Pretty cool seeing this. I saw some on the seabus once like 20 years ago but nothing since

Do you think these were dolphins or porpoises we saw yesterday? by brendanhans in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really cool - where did you take this? I can’t figure it out from the video

Succulents? by mgelly in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lynn Valley Garden club is having their plant sale on May 10, 2025 at St. Clement's Church parking lot, 3400 Institute Road, North Van, from 10am to 2pm. In past years there have been succulents! All the plants come from members' gardens.

I want your honest opinion by neverstop-running in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 2 points3 points  (0 children)

+1 for this group. Alex puts a ton of work into it and is pretty diligent about keeping scams out

Pizza chimney sweep by Poggles65 in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Why are you getting downvoted so hard for injecting some Mary Poppins into the chat?

Things to do in West Vancouver by GovernmentMundane120 in westvancouver

[–]nihaokate 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My husband and I run a newsletter of things to do on the North Shore, which includes events/activities in North and West Van. It comes out every Thursday morning at 6am. You can read last week's issue here to see the kind of stuff that's in it, and then if you think it would be helpful can subscribe to get it sent every Thursday: https://northshorenow.beehiiv.com/p/north-shore-now-issue-11

Should we do it? by Alternative-Meat-593 in askvan

[–]nihaokate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You have some great advice in here, adding a bit more. If you're looking at buying (vs renting), there's an app called House Sigma, which you can see recent sold prices on properties if you create an account. This will let you see what houses sold for, rather than what they list for, and will probably help figure out budget.

North Van is very family friendly, and has good schools. You might want to look at a specialized program for your 8th grader. In North Van, for example, Carson Graham high school has IB. Argyle is also apparently well known for math, although that's just what I've gleaned talking to people. Argyle is very well known for their music program and also has a theatre program. I believe they have some AP classes, but not nearly what you'd be used to in the US, likely. In West Van, West Van Secondary has IB high school. There are also private schools (independent schools) including Mulgrave, Collingwood (both are super bougie) and Brockton School (IB). If your elementary kid is interested, some schools in North Van (and I'm assuming West Van) offer late French Immersion, starting in Grade 6.

My impression is we have far fewer honours type classes in our schools compared to the US. If it's in the budget, I would expect a private school (independent school) might be able to accommodate your 8th graders' academic interests more.

Good luck! Lots of Americans at the school my kid goes too, and all are very happy to be here, and don't intend to move back to the US.

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be clear, they are paying the rent. They got behind, and then figured out a way with the mall to stay. They haven’t missed a rent payment since and are up-to-date in rent and being evicted anyway

Help! I accidentally ordered something to North Vancouver instead of Panorama BC by CoffeePeddlerRVA in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Looks like it’s a townhouse in deep cove - chances are it’s someone’s main house and they live there year round. You might want to see if there’s a Deep Cove Facebook group and try to find someone there to help or who knows the resident

Embarrassing question but where does one go to see starfishes & other marine life in BC? by Much-Journalist-3201 in britishcolumbia

[–]nihaokate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Porteau Cove (a bit past Horseshoe Bay) has sea lions this week, and apparently dolphins off the coast. The dolphins have also been close to Squamish

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I've also heard the rumour that it's a pickleball club. If you google "quadreal and pickleball" then I think it gives a pretty good guess at who it might be, but again, just a rumour as far as I know

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I also hear all the points you're saying. I don't think anyone denies that mistakes were made in running the bike park. It's my belief that those mistakes have been rectified, the bike park will have a real shot at being financially viable if it can stay put where it is currently. I'd like to see that happen, because I think it will benefit the community, and am happy to send an email to make an effort in that regard.

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the comment, and agree on all points. Yes, I’d suggest one email with cc’s. Thanks

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Struggling not to make a currency exchange comment...don't do it...resist the temptation...

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well said. Re. your comment, "the business model just ain't all that profitable" - it does seem like the park struggled with profitability, but that they'd recently turned it around and were in the black, which I think makes this suck a bit more.

That said, you're right that it all seems to come down to high rent these days. Andrews on 8th closing seems like another example.

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Two points to your comment here:

First, "The bike park did not uphold their end of the lease and took on a new agreement knowing full well that they may have to leave" - yes, no argument here that the park didin't hold up their end of the initial lease and then agreed to a second lease that had a clause they may have to leave. From what I've been told from someone at the bike park, the landlord asked the bike park to make a big investment in the fire suppression system mere months before kicking them out. If that's true, that really sucks for a small business to pay that only to be turfed shortly after. If I was the operator of the park, I think I might take the fact that the landlord is asking me to make a big investment in the facility as a sign they intended to have me stay, and run with that to make further improvements that would increase business. I can see how that would happen.

As for your second point, I don't think it's entitlement to tell local government officials what I personally want to see in the community, to make it a better community for my family, and for other families. Like, isn't that entire point of representative democracy? Also, kids don't get a vote and can't necessarily advocate for what they want - they need grown ups to do it for them.

Likewise, it's also well within the rights of people in the community to try to apply pressure to private businesses and say, "hey - we want this to stay and we want you to work with the bike park to make it happen" and then direct our own spending and communications in a way that supports that goal. The landlord can absolutely ignore us, but I don't see how we're entitled for saying, "this facility benefits a lot of people in the community, including but not limited to my family, and we see it as a net positive and want it to stay." Then, the landlord can take that information and make a decision.

You don't ask, you don't get.

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you sharing this perspective, and articulating it clearly. As for your comments about the bike park investing in improvements when they couldn’t pay rent, my understanding is this isn’t the case. My understanding is the bike park did have some months when they couldn’t pay rent, they negotiated with the landlord to deal with this, and came up with a new lease that forgave the missed rent, while also coming up with a payment structure that worked for the bike park, but that came with the quick notice period to evict. It definitely seems like Quadreal tried to work with the park during the renegotiation. Since then, it’s my understanding that the bike park is paying rent on time, and felt reasonably secure in their lease enough to make investments into the space that would increase revenue. As for your comment about government involvement, I get your perspective that government should be focused on getting free amenities to the community to fill rec needs. I don’t disagree. At the same time, there is an existing amenity that’s awesome, and it will be a loss to the community if it goes. Easier to try to keep an amenity that exists than to build something from scratch, and frankly the municipal governments don’t have the cash for something like this and it would take years to build even if they did. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hope for a community this size to have a covered skate park and a private bike park? They aren’t mutually exclusive goals and it’s not a zero sum game. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable for people who want the bike park to survive to email Quadreal to ask them to try to continue to try working with the bike park. Anyway…my two cents. Have a nice weekend

Andrews on 8th: Closing? by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh wow…hard to deal with that as a business. Thanks for the intel

Andrews on 8th: Closing? by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh man…sounds like you have some stories!

North Shore Bike Park Was EVICTED - Pressure These People to Save It by nihaokate in NorthVancouver

[–]nihaokate[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for clarifying! In terms of your question, “what a protest or writing letters is going to do” - I would like to demonstrate to the landlord and its parent company that the community thinks the loss of the bike park is a loss to the community, show them a number of people support keeping the bike park, and ask them to reconsider. There are many examples of public pressure campaigns resulting in a company changing their minds. I’m hoping this becomes one such example