Browsing “In The Village on False Creek”

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!

As we get closer to the end of this year-long project I’ve been reflecting back on all of the posts I’ve made, and the ones that I haven’t made. Last week I SHARED some of the secrets of Habitat Island and answered the question “Why does it even exist?”, revealing some insights that I was previously holding close to my chest and distributing only as surprising info nuggets on walking tours. Shortly after publishing it (and noting the City had just put in bike racks) I was surprised when I saw the new public bike pump pop up at Science World (HERE is a piece from Scout that focuses on its cousin in Strathcona). It reminded me that I’d been meaning to share my commute with you, which I dubbed as “The Un-Commute” to myself some months back.

This commute and the location of our home is one of the main reasons my family is going to stay in our rental unit after this project is up. Every weekday morning I kiss my wife and son goodbye and walk a block to the seawall where I’m afforded a view of BC Place, downtown, and the mountains. Often the smell of the ocean wafts up as I waltz past Science World, board the Skytrain at Main and make my way 3 stops to Burrard station, then a few steps to where the V.I.A. office is now located. It’s a faster commute than when our office was within walking in Chinatown and every single morning I feel fortunate to be able to take in the beauty of this city before I sit down in front of my computer. My job is to remind you of what makes your city awesome and I am immersed in it every single day before I arrive at it.

I’m also one of the first to spot things happening at Science World before the press releases even reach my inbox. I snapped this photo a couple of months back of a dude installing a wind turbine in the Ken Spencer Science Park (click HERE if you don’t know what this new part of Science World is all about).

Upon spotting this turbine I quickly emailed our friends at Science World and they told me that it’s all a part of a larger exhibit around energy, where “A giant, high energy, musical and human-powered kinetic ball game compels visitors to explore the power of their own muscles to do work. Pedaling stations allow visitors to engage in playful competition as they explore what it means to generate, transfer, store and release energy.”. And it just opened on Saturday! Go!

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

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!

During the past ten and a half months I’ve spent a lot of time on or near Habitat Island, just north of the SEGREGATED OFF-LEASH DOG PARK that I wrote about last week. I haven’t come to take it for granted but in conversation with a neighbour I was recently reminded that newcomers to Vancouver are often not aware that prior to 2007 this little sanctuary in the creek didn’t even exist. If this photo was shot in 2006 and not just yesterday that big chunk of rock and gravel topped with trees and native BC plants wouldn’t be there; this would simply be a photo of the water and the North side of False Creek. They built this incredible thing when they built our little Village. But why?

I’ve BLOGGED about Habitat Island briefly in the past but I’ve been purposely holding off on making an in-depth post about it partly because its story is best told in person (on a WALKING TOUR with Margot Long who helped design it with her landscape architecture firm, PWL Partnership) but as my year-long project blogging about the Village is coming close to an end I’m feeling some urgency to share more nuggets of the awesomeness that I’ve accumulated.

The answer to the question “Why does Habitat Island even exist?” is fairly complex. Sure it was a nice gesture that they made us an island to hang out on. It looks nice. It’s a perk to be able to pick the berries that grow on it and eat them in the summer. It’s nice that as opposed to the other side of False Creek we’re encouraged to approach the water (see below for a photo looking South off of Habitat Island, then another looking across the water at the untouchable Yaletown waterfront). All of these things make the experience of living in (or visiting) Southeast False Creek great, but it took a lot more than the will to make something nice for the neighbourhood. It took public policy. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

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!

A couple of weeks back I brought you into THE BONE AND BOWL which is our brand-new, friendly, neighbourhood pet store run by my neighbour, Betsy Cooper. I’d been meaning to show you our dog park for months but was waiting for them to open up shop before I brought to the public space where their patrons congregate.

Located on the very edge of the Village, next to the WETLANDS, as far as I know it’s the only off-leash park in the city where big dogs can be separated from little dogs, and vice versa. You’ll notice in this photo of my pooch, Frankie, and my son, Arlo, that we’re about to go into the “Little Dog” entrance.

Separating the two sections of the park is this fence, which is often left open but can be closed when there’s a lot of dogs around and people are concerned about their little furballs. For instance, whenever there’s a Husky in the park, I make sure to close the gate because years ago our guy Frankie here was picked up by his skull between the jaws of a Husky and ever since he (and I) have been a little leery of those guys.
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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!

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than ten months since we launched a campaign to share the experience of living in the Village on False Creek (Vancouver’s former Olympic Village). It seems like just yesterday I was pitching our friends at Rennie Marketing Systems on a creative way of showcasing the awesomeness of this place, in the spirit of similar projects like Live@YVR and 365 Days of Dining. My wife and I had been thinking of a move from our previous place in Mount Pleasant for months and on the weekends had been coming down to the Village to hang out. We fell in love with the neighbourhood even before we launched this sponsored series, and what makes the project so much fun for me is that it comes from a place of truly wanting to show off my neighbourhood – one of the bonuses is that I get to explore it for myself and find the gems. As I mentioned in our PRINT MAGAZINE, we’ll be staying here after our year-long project is up, as I believe Southeast False Creek is the most exciting neighbourhood in the city right now – and it’s the neighbourhood we call home. Other developments and businesses are opening up all around this little Village, and as you can tell from my previous 58 posts, it’s an incredible place to place raise a family.

Our first Halloween and Christmas In the Village

The rooftop courtyard right off our patio, and Creekside Community Centre are both big parts of what makes our life here awesome
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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!

The Bone and Bowl is officially open for business on the corner of Salt Street and Athlete’s Way, right now to London Drugs and across the street from Creekside Rec Centre! Self described as “an upscale, friendly and convenient pet store that goes beyond your average shopping experience”, it’s a place where everybody brings their cats and dogs for treats, food, and anything they need.

The business was started by one of my neighbours (whom I actually knew before I moved into the Village!), Betsy Cooper. She believes that “it’s the pets in this area that have truly transformed this neighbourhood into a community”, and I can’t argue that they’re a big part of what brings neighbours together around here. She’s pictured above with Archie, one of a few Labradoodles who call the neighbourhood home.

If you’ve got a cat or a dog, The Bone and Bowl have got pretty much everything you could hope for. Food…

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

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!

Vancouver’s former Olympic Village, now known as The Village on False Creek, is arguably the most awesome Olympic legacy in the city. Today being the third anniversary of the Games opening, I wanted to share this message that I shared after the Games wrapped up. It’s entirely true, but what’s also true is that they left us just a little bit more awesome.

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