Last night, my wife and I decided to venture downtown to share in some Olympic excitement. The Canadian women's hockey team was awarded the gold medal earlier in the evening, and moments before we arrived on Robson Street, Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette won Canada's 17th medal.
We arrived at 9:30 just as the nightly laser, light and fireworks show began. We would have been on time, but stopped to watch a great Rockabilly band entertain about 500 people gathered in the middle of Robson Street. There were so many people trying to cross Hornby Street to reach the Vancouver Art Gallery - Robson Square area, the police and traffic control officers were forced to hold the crowds back. While a few impatient folks snuck through while the police were otherwise occupied with traffic, there was no bolting en masse to join the cheering throng. True to our sensible Canadian manners, we all waited until it was deemed safe. Besides, the extra 1/2 block really made no difference since the lasers and fireworks were projected high above the street.
Every night (and day) since the Olympic games began, the massive, exuberant, and in more than a few cases, alcohol-fueled crowds in downtown Vancouver have clearly demonstrated that Vancouver is very capable of offering and embracing large doses of good, clean fun. I saw no fights, I was deafened by enthusiastic cheers, and I was impressed by the collective, tacet understanding that this is Vancouver's moment to shine. We all know it, we all embrace it and best of all, we share it with each other and our city's guests. Sandra and I had a great time. To use a word that until recently was mutually exclusive when combined with 'Vancouver', it was fun! That may come as a surprise to some.
For years, Vancouver had been labeled as a No Fun City. The label, unfortunately, was/is not without some merit. As a musician who has played live in Vancouver for almost two decades, I have witnessed too many great venues being swapped for what is now a plague of generic nightclubs. Vancouver's liquor laws and license restrictions date from prohibition (or perhaps the Spanish Inquisition) and city hall seems very reluctant to change them. Even residents, who knowingly move into neighbourhoods with nightclubs then have the nerve to complain about them, form part of the problem. Then there's the fear of unruly crowds and attendant infantile behaviour, which is certainly not limited to any one city and is usually caused by a select few Neanderthals. This, in combination with the perceived difficulty in getting large groups of people to behave, is utter nonsense. Sure I remember the Stanley Cup riots in 1994; again, slack-jawed bozos ruled Vancouver's streets back then, but poor policing was by far the riot's most combustible constituent. This time around and faced with seemingly insurmountable crowd control issues, the police have been terrific (and, it must be stated, really tolerant considering Vancouver's well known reputation for, um, botany). And in triumphant defiance of the No Fun label, the crowds have been welcoming, full of fervid Canadian pride, and are obviously thrilled to be living in the moment. Vancouver's moment. Canada's moment. The World's moment. Fun, myth-busting times, to be sure.
As evidenced throughout the Olympics, Vancouver has shown the world and perhaps most importantly ourselves that even when we gather by the tens of thousands, we are very capable of well mannered, if not impassioned, behaviour. We can have fun and lots of it. We can gather in huge numbers and celebrate victories as well as losses. We can welcome the world's media, athletes and travellers and show them that, yes, contrary to rumour, you can find endless opportunities for enjoyment in Vancouver. I've heard and even echoed the sentiment that if the citizens of the Lower Mainland, especially Vancouver, are to build upon our reputation as a world-class destination, we will need to adopt the civic mindset of cities like New York, Prague, Copenhagen or San Francisco. Given the wonderful and truly unforgettable experience that Vancouver 2010 has provided thus far, I say: mission accomplished. Let the games continue.
We arrived at 9:30 just as the nightly laser, light and fireworks show began. We would have been on time, but stopped to watch a great Rockabilly band entertain about 500 people gathered in the middle of Robson Street. There were so many people trying to cross Hornby Street to reach the Vancouver Art Gallery - Robson Square area, the police and traffic control officers were forced to hold the crowds back. While a few impatient folks snuck through while the police were otherwise occupied with traffic, there was no bolting en masse to join the cheering throng. True to our sensible Canadian manners, we all waited until it was deemed safe. Besides, the extra 1/2 block really made no difference since the lasers and fireworks were projected high above the street.
Every night (and day) since the Olympic games began, the massive, exuberant, and in more than a few cases, alcohol-fueled crowds in downtown Vancouver have clearly demonstrated that Vancouver is very capable of offering and embracing large doses of good, clean fun. I saw no fights, I was deafened by enthusiastic cheers, and I was impressed by the collective, tacet understanding that this is Vancouver's moment to shine. We all know it, we all embrace it and best of all, we share it with each other and our city's guests. Sandra and I had a great time. To use a word that until recently was mutually exclusive when combined with 'Vancouver', it was fun! That may come as a surprise to some.
For years, Vancouver had been labeled as a No Fun City. The label, unfortunately, was/is not without some merit. As a musician who has played live in Vancouver for almost two decades, I have witnessed too many great venues being swapped for what is now a plague of generic nightclubs. Vancouver's liquor laws and license restrictions date from prohibition (or perhaps the Spanish Inquisition) and city hall seems very reluctant to change them. Even residents, who knowingly move into neighbourhoods with nightclubs then have the nerve to complain about them, form part of the problem. Then there's the fear of unruly crowds and attendant infantile behaviour, which is certainly not limited to any one city and is usually caused by a select few Neanderthals. This, in combination with the perceived difficulty in getting large groups of people to behave, is utter nonsense. Sure I remember the Stanley Cup riots in 1994; again, slack-jawed bozos ruled Vancouver's streets back then, but poor policing was by far the riot's most combustible constituent. This time around and faced with seemingly insurmountable crowd control issues, the police have been terrific (and, it must be stated, really tolerant considering Vancouver's well known reputation for, um, botany). And in triumphant defiance of the No Fun label, the crowds have been welcoming, full of fervid Canadian pride, and are obviously thrilled to be living in the moment. Vancouver's moment. Canada's moment. The World's moment. Fun, myth-busting times, to be sure.
As evidenced throughout the Olympics, Vancouver has shown the world and perhaps most importantly ourselves that even when we gather by the tens of thousands, we are very capable of well mannered, if not impassioned, behaviour. We can have fun and lots of it. We can gather in huge numbers and celebrate victories as well as losses. We can welcome the world's media, athletes and travellers and show them that, yes, contrary to rumour, you can find endless opportunities for enjoyment in Vancouver. I've heard and even echoed the sentiment that if the citizens of the Lower Mainland, especially Vancouver, are to build upon our reputation as a world-class destination, we will need to adopt the civic mindset of cities like New York, Prague, Copenhagen or San Francisco. Given the wonderful and truly unforgettable experience that Vancouver 2010 has provided thus far, I say: mission accomplished. Let the games continue.
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