Welcome to In The Village on False Creek, a unique project inspired by Live@YVR and 365 Days of Dining. I’ve moved my family into this community with my mission being to showcase the myriad of things that make it awesome by bringing you a weekly scoop!

To start off this post I’d like to share THIS great feature entitled “My Perspective on the Olympic Village” written recently by former Mayor of Vancouver, Sam Sullivan. In it he applauds the “exceptional planning and design” as well as the “citizen pioneers who are willing and adventuresome and want to watch a neighbourhood blossom around them”. Sam has put his bid in for the Liberal nomination in Vancouver False-Creek, which means he’s hoping to run in the provincial election in the spring as a Liberal in the riding that I live in! Some of his decisions on council and as Mayor brought the project into being, so I won’t say I’m surprised with the positive things he’s saying about our awesome new neighbourhood.

What I can tell you I was surprised to see was a street hockey-themed TV commercial being filmed in the public square this morning, not one full day after we staged our first real street hockey game in the exact same place! As Sam said, “The neighbourhood has become a destination for residents of many of Vancouver’s other neighbourhoods, a true indicator of a thriving place.”, and word is certainly catching on that we’ve got a fabulous public space with a great view of the mountains as a backdrop (which the film crew sadly couldn’t capture due to the unexpected snow). Word is getting out so much that real life events are being replicated – though completely by chance – in commercials!

Here’s a photo of the film crew and the actors pretending to play street hockey in the public plaza today:

And here’s a photo of us playing a real game of hockey in the same space yesterday:

Our game was loads of fun. The turnout was a group of 9 players, mostly residents of the Village ranging in age from 4 to 40′s. We played for a couple of hours before packing it up and agreeing that we should do it more often.

The game couldn’t have happened without Richard Loat from Five Hole For Food lugging out two nets as well as equipment for both goalies. And of course the enthusiastic Vancouverties who were happy to celebrate that NHL hockey is BACK! And speaking of back, I’ll let you know when the February game is going to be so you can come and enjoy the good old hockey game with us.

Richard Loat and my team’s MVP, Arlo Kronbauer

Learn more about The Village at TheVillageOnFalseCreek.com and stay tuned each week as I expose the unique qualities of our new community.