It's been 11 days now since the closing of the Olympic lanes on Broadway and various other major thoroughfares in Vancouver, and I'm still in a state of mourning. As a cyclist and transit user, there was nothing better than whizzing down Broadway nary a parked car in sight while being overtaken by buses as they made their way past traffic in lanes that were reserved just for them all day long.

I remember when the transit plan was announced months ago, that there was doom-and-gloom projections over just how awful traffic was going to be if we shut down all these roads and took away all this curbside parking. But, a few days into the Olympics, it was obvious that those prophecies of gridlock and honking horns hadn't come to pass. Instead, the roads were much clearer, with Translink reportedly reaching their goal of reducing road traffic by 30%. In fact, after talking to those that still drove by car into work during the Olympics, they found their commute faster.

It has long been argued that expanding roads and access to roads to alleviate congestion may in fact actually exacerbate it in the future. This is the kind of 'if you build it they will come' thinking -- where with more roads come more cars -- that urban planner Jane Jacobs spoke of in her 1960s book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Basically, Jacobs' conclusion was that giving preference to cars, which she called the "erosion of cities", breeds more cars, but giving preference to other forms of transportation , which she called the "attrition of automobiles," breeds better alternatives.

There has been back-and-forth talk for years about whether the Vancouver Art Gallery should move to a new site in order to construct a larger, more eye-catching art gallery in which to showcase more of the gallery's collection than can fit in the current building. The VAG moved to the old courthouse building where it is now in 1983 after Arthur Erickson, this city's most beloved architect, redesigned the building at a cost of $20 million dollars. Now the province has committed $50 million for the move and construction of a new building at a new location in the city -- however, $50 million seems like a low-ball estimate to me for what the VAG has in mind.

What they have in mind is a superstar architect designing a superstar building that will be twice as big as the current building. This is a surefire way, it seems, to build international attention to your gallery, as seen with Toronto's addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum, both done by internationally renowned architects and the focus of much debate in Toronto.

The VAG has rejected a site at False Creek, and has their eyes set currently on the parking lot near the Queen Elizabeth Theatre -- the site of the Vancouver Olympics Livecity Downtown concert and pavilion grounds. The catch? The land is so valuable that the VAG may have to share it with (what else?) condominium buildings, which would definitely put a crimp in the VAG's plans to have a stand-alone architecturally eye-popping building. It's not surprising though, as Vancouver's cultural attractions are usually attached in some way to a condo tower through density transfers, so perhaps in some cynical way it is almost fitting for Vancouver's art gallery to be dependent on condo towers.

It's everyone's favourite time of year. Budget time! As British Columbians wake up from the Olympic dream to a raging hangover and a kitchen full of half-empty bottles that need to be taken out, our politicians are busy figuring out how to pay for the credit card bill. Here's a collection of articles all on the wonderful and exhilarating topic of the B.C. budget from a variety of view points and news sources for your reading pleasure. Beating your head against your desk or a nearby wall, though you may feel the urge, is not advised.

The Tyee

Arts Funding Less Than Advertised Says Advocates

Wakey, Wakey Taxpayer!

In Tight Times, Campbell Gov't Chooses to Help Big Banks

'Hangover Budget' Pleases Few

Vancouver Sun

Budget 2010: the basics, the details, the nuances

I used to go see a lot of improv shows down at Granville Island (back when that lady who went on to be on Corner Gas was there). I was always the neurotic guy who laughed while rubbing his sweaty palms together and secretly hoped never to be taken up on stage and humiliated -- therefore going to see improv was always a battle between hilarity and a panic attack for me. It's the same reason why I avoid street performers. I'm terrified that they'll pull me up and make me hold a chair while they attempt to stand on it and swallow a flaming sword while juggling.

Maybe you're not like that, though. Maybe you love going to see improv and yelling things out and going on stage and participating and helping people swallow swords. If so, then I commend you. And you might be interested in UBC Improv's Impulse 2010, where "top university improvisers from around Canada and beyond will descend on the UBC Vancouver Campus for four days of Improv magic. For three nights, teams of your favourite UBC performers and representatives from places both exotic and English-speaking will compete for a chance to advance to the final night."

Preliminary Rounds: March 3rd, 4th, and 5th - 7pm - Scarfe 100 - $5
Finals: Saturday, March 6th - 7pm - Scarfe 100 - $5

Official material from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games will only tell part of a complex story, which is why the people at the Vancouver archives, busy collecting material from the Olympics, have asked for any groups affected by the games to contribute their own material:

"The City of Vancouver Archives is the repository for the archival records of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). However, we understand that the story of the Games is much broader than what can be told by these records alone. We want to document how our region and communities were transformed during the seven years leading up to the Games, and how the Games and the events around them will continue to affect us into the future. For this reason, our archivists are advocating for the inclusion of records that provide alternative and supplementary documentation of activities related to the Games. We need your participation so that we can preserve a broader view for future generations."

Archives are a wonderful thing and can be beneficial to future generations who look back at history to understand how society came to be the way it was -- however, all this depends on what is actually in the archives. So it's nice to hear the call from the people at the Vancouver archives for material outside of VANOC, because this includes the narratives of protest groups in the grander story of the 2010 games -- and it is an important step in ensuring that all the parts of this story are recorded.

But all of this leaves me wondering: How will these games be remembered?

There's a thought that has been cycling through my mind recently, every time I walk (wade?) down Granville or Robson and am confronted by the seething mass of people down there all wearing, it seems, merchandise purchased from the Olympic Superstore at The Bay (which is now open 24 hours on the weekends to serve your patriotic needs even more). That thought is: Where did all these Canadians come from?

OK, so I know that there are a lot of international visitors here also, but if you sit at the sidelines somewhere and just let your eyes blur, the colour scheme wafting through the streets is suspiciously -- but not surprisingly -- two-tone. And those that sport the red and white are loud, proud, and everywhere.