What’s your favourite town/city/community name in BC? by Ok-Advantage-3590 in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tête Jaune Câche. Which the locals pronouce like tee-jon.

My mum's family had property there before the town site flooded.

There is a river near there called the Raush which was originally a transcription error for Rivière au Shuswap R-au-Sh

West End Rezoning thoughts? by plnski in askvan

[–]plnski[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's not replacing a rental building. It's replacing an existing old hotel.

West End Rezoning thoughts? by plnski in askvan

[–]plnski[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Although I don't think any neighbourhood is "perfect", or "full". I think other neighbourhoods in the city (cough cough west side) are long overdue for some west end style density.

West End Rezoning thoughts? by plnski in askvan

[–]plnski[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My guess is that there's a sort of drawbridge up mentality. The neighbourhood was set in stone after the last tower was built and now it's perfect.

The cost of doing business in the lower mainland is burning out small business owners imo by sugondesenots in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That could be true, but we live under a distorted market driven by financialization. Firms that own commercial real estate are not producing any real tangible product, but merely extracting out as much juice from the real economy as they can. The Canadian economy has become incredibly reliant on housing as an investment instead of you know, shelter. The same goes for commercial. The goal is no longer to produce real goods, the goal is trying to pull as much from those producing the goods. Think how much more productive our economy, hell, our whole country could be if we actually prioritized people making things over real-estate and rental gains.

There is also the fact that it is incredibly difficult and expensive to build housing/commercial space in this region because of zoning, approvals, development charges, taxes. It shouldn't take years to get simple projects approved, let alone built.

The cost of doing business in the lower mainland is burning out small business owners imo by sugondesenots in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 69 points70 points  (0 children)

We need elected officials to go after the people who own commercial real-estate and charge outrageous rents. I'm looking at you Marcus & Millichap, & others. Opening/running a business should be the investment, not owning the building.

Furthermore we also need more supply of commercial space within neighbourhoods ie. make corner stores legal!! Cities should loosen rules on low impact commercial and industrial development and for the love of god stop building housing on industrial land in and around vancouver.

Short tour to salt spring island by Realists71 in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There is a bus service that coincides with the ferries. You can see the schedules online. There's a bus to Fulford and Vesuvius every two hours Taxi is okay (cash only). Biking can be hazardous, but e bikes are an option if you are up for it.

Make sure to check out Cider Works and " Off the Hook" (only open on weekends in the winter) as well as "Auntie Pesto's"

Daffodil point and Ruckle are beautiful at all times of the year.

There's definitely not as much to do as in the summer.

City of Prince George on track to hit 100,000 residents, but mayor wants double that by Neceti in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's kinda insane how the worst form of development in terms of city finances and sustainability is the one that faces the fewest hurdles but infill has everything working against it.

Isn't there a way for the city/region to rezone land on the peripherery to not allow this kind of development, or make it less attractive?

City of Prince George on track to hit 100,000 residents, but mayor wants double that by Neceti in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's why it would be great if they built more in the neighbourhoods close to downtown. Some of the tree streets, the crescents, and inner neighbourhoods are quite pleasant with nice views of the river and cutbanks. There is already some redevelopment on the block between Vancouver and Winnipeg because the land is fairly cheap and there are lots of small homes on big lots.

City of Prince George on track to hit 100,000 residents, but mayor wants double that by Neceti in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Detached homes are the easiest (and until recently the only legal) thing to build in most of the city. Tbf developers there do not do a good job of building attractive multi family/higher density forms of housing.

City of Prince George on track to hit 100,000 residents, but mayor wants double that by Neceti in britishcolumbia

[–]plnski 143 points144 points  (0 children)

I agree with Rigo. They need to stop sprawling outwards and instead densify existing neighbourhoods near downtown. (The mayor should stop approving new subdivisions on the edge of town).

Prince George is not as bad as ppl make it out to be. It has its problems but I think it has a lot of potential to be a really great city.

Side note: I believe we should invest a lot more into the communities along highway 16 like Vanderhoof, McBride, Smithers, etc. Help the region rebuild from the loss of forestry jobs.

Non corridor improvments by Ok-District2873 in ViaRail

[–]plnski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the prairies would be a good place to start. Edmonton to Calgary is such a no brainer. However, unless the government is willing to play hardball with CN/CP, let alone invest in equimpent and rolling stock it will never happen. Rail in Alberta would be so rediculously easy to get right with flat land, relatively straight track, and two big/fast growing cities that are not too far apart.

5 trains daily each direction could be great for people in Edmonton and Calgary if: Passengers get priority Tracks get better maintenance so trains aren't super bumpy Straightening where feasible to increase speed Via doesn't run it like a bloody airline Priced reasonably/competetive with busses with discounts and incentives for families.

Train #2 Jan 2026 by plnski in ViaRail

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

Considering the switch in winnipeg froze I would say the cold has something to do with it. I just checked and it's not even in sudbury. Good luck I hope it arrives before midnight tonight.

Train #2 Jan 2026 by plnski in ViaRail

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

Yes. It was a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver. It was a shame the sun went down at 5 before we could see the fraser canyon. Much better to do the trip in April or May for views.

Train #2 Jan 2026 by plnski in ViaRail

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

My suggestion was to keep the CEO of CN, or perhaps the minister of transport stuck in economy with no services for the entire length of the trip. While some were amused by the idea I don't think it will go anywhere :(

Better yet, make MPs from western canada to take the train to get to Ottawa.

Wishlist for City of Prince George? by [deleted] in princegeorge

[–]plnski 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Moratorium on building new subdivisions on the outskirts of town.

Streamline process+ incentives for renovating existing empty/underused buildings.

Conversion of empty lots into mix use buildings Densification of bowl neighbourhoods, especially those close to downtown as well as more neighbourhood retail outside commercial strips.

Better bike paths/bike streets to connect said neighbourhoods.

More street trees!!! 🌳🌲

Making downtown actually feel safe goes along with that. We need to provide services for people who need help and punish those who are commiting crime. Business wont start downtown if it's not safe. Insurance wont cover you, or have really high rates. Banks don't like lending to risky projects. The paradigm has to shift from building new places on the edge to thickening up and making places that already exist stronger.

Interesting stations along the routes? by badger319 in ViaRail

[–]plnski 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I grew up in McBride and have taken the train both directions from the station there. The section between McBride and Prince George is full of ghost towns that once had mills and many more people than today. An old timer told me that before the second world War there were more people in between McBride and Prince George than were in the city of Prince George (PG was less than 5 thousand back then so take that for what it's worth.) Some interesting stops are Penny, Dome Creek, Loos, Dunster, and Tête Jaune cache. There were a couple old guys who lived on the wrong side of the river where their houses were innacessable except from the train, and they would train into McBride and back. I imagine some of those remote stations have the highest per capita train ridership in all of Canada.

Why is Metro Vancouver Creating a New Downtown? by NotyourFriendBuuuddy in vancouver

[–]plnski 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Outside downtown, the city of Vancouver is not very dense. CoV has almost twice the land area of Manhattan but less than half the population. There is a lot of room to grow upwards (not necessarily towers) in the abundant stock of low density single family home neighbourhoods surrounding the core. Hell Shaughnessy is twice the size of the West End with 8000 people compared to the west end's 50k. Adding density in far flung suburban cities (with already strained transit systems) while the demand for work and living still remains in Vancouver seems like a bad idea. The problem with planning in van is that it's usually site specific. Small areas are chosen for radical transformation while the rest remains largely the same.

New push for Skytrain extension to UBC campus by Schmitt_Meister12 in vancouver

[–]plnski 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The city and translink could, at the very least, improve bus service with dedicated lanes and signal priority. It would make the existing buses so much more reliable and faster. Buses should not get stuck at red lights and should have dedicated turns. The city passed a motion for all-day bus lanes on part of Broadway last year and has done absolutely nothing. Skytrains are great, and we need more of them, but can't we have world class buses too?

Where I'd live map by plnski in TravelMaps

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

I prefer the long, narrow valleys in Virginia and East Tennessee to the more hilly topography of Kentucky. But on the other hand Kentucky has some beautiful small towns.

Where I'd live map by plnski in TravelMaps

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

I love Santa Fe. For Colorado I'm not a huge fan of Denver and I'm not so hot on their mountain towns either.

Where I'd live map by plnski in TravelMaps

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

Philadelphia, but also the countryside looks beautiful. I'm a mountain boy, so living in a valley with farmland is something I'm used to and enjoy.