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!

Yesterday I shared THIS story of how salmon returned to an East Vancouver creek for the first time in 80 years thanks to a plan that the City of Vancouver is working on over the next 50 years. In that time they’ll be working on the beautification, protection and restoration of sections of Still Creek that run through our city, with the intention of turning it from one of the most polluted waterways in BC to one that might actually yield edible salmon again one day.

Also, a while back I told you about the Georgia Strait Alliance fundraiser that I gave THIS talk at, in regards to the storm drain markings in the Village.

Something I have yet to touch on is the gigantic piece of awesomeness in our city that, in my eyes, is one of the greatest Olympic legacies we could ever hope for; the wetlands of the Village and how they – along with other shoreline restoration including Habitat Island – are measurably increasing the health of the water in False Creek. Okay, I already talked about it a little bit by sharing a VIDEO of a heron eating herring in False Creek that weren’t there 2 years ago, but I haven’t taken you on the tour or told you much about these Wetlands and how they actually improve the quality of storm water before it goes into the creek. It’s crucial, and it’s the only place in Vancouver in which the stormwater doesn’t just go directly into the ocean.

So let’s start at the beginning. Hinge Park is the large piece of land on the very West side of the Village, where there’s our community garden, dog parks, trails, playground, fields, Habitat Island and of course the wetlands. Here’s the top of them.

If you come along on one of the walking tours we’re doing with Margot from PWL Partnership (HERE is the first one, we’ll be announcing another soon), the landscape architecture firm who designed and implemented the wetlands, she’ll tell you all kinds of interesting stuff. One being that they’re not just there for show; the water from the streets goes into the storm drains in the Village and ends up draining into this beautiful area that has become a habitat for ducks and herons.

This giant piece of steel pictured below is meant for kids to play in, is also a piece of public art, and it’s actually an old underground storm drain like the ones all around the rest of False Creek which drain directly into the ocean, unfiltered.
…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!

Here’s the view I was afforded as I arrived home to the Village last night after work!

If this whole daylight savings business is doing one good thing for us this week it’s helping to remind us that our neighbours at BC Place across the Creek are pretty awesome. Their 36-foot tall Northern Lights Display almost always has a theme and over the next few days it’s “Poppy Red” in honour of the sacrifices that our veterans have made for Canada.

The display goes from now until Remembrance Day this Sunday. In the mornings from 6AM to 8AM (on Sunday from 6AM to 11AM) and every evening from sunset until 11PM. Text POPPY to 20222 to donate $5 to the Legion’s Poppy Funds and click HERE for more info on supporting veterans!

49.5 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I get the idea, 50 coffees is far easier than practicing something for ten years, and while I’m far from lazy I decided to set out on a fairly simple mission: over 50 weeks I’m inviting 50 interesting Vancouverites, most of whom I have never met before, to go for coffee. I’m using this as an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also using it as a platform to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #49.5 Name: Clint Mahlman Occupation: Senior Vice President & COO Beverage: Dark roast coffee from Terra Breads

Meet Clint Mahlman. Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of London Drugs, as well as a “Family Member Since 1984″ as it says on his name tag. The fact that the start date of every single employee is noted on their name tag – from the Senior VP all the way down to the folks stocking the shelves – shows how their internal brand of “infectious enthusiasm and big ideas” keeps people excited about working there. It’s worn as a badge of honour and I see no better model of what makes this local company so awesome than Clint. I made my way to this conclusion after he gave me a TOUR of the London Drugs in the Village and we sat in the public square to chat. It was weeks ago when the store was just about to open, so we talked about how this location differed from others, their green initiatives like their signature “Bring Back the Pack” program and more. He let me in on the factoid that their very first location opened only a few blocks away back in 1945, where one of the viaducts is currently standing. As a bit of a self taught hack, I’m always curious how people make their way into the positions they hold, so I asked Clint what company he was the VP of before he went to work for London Drugs. His answer was that he actually started his career at the company, as a stock boy back in 1984, and that he had worked his way up to the position he’s at! I’m not about to call this man whom I hugely respect a “hack” (though I am proud to self identify as one) but he is a true testament to the value of hard work and dedication, and also of how awesome this born-and-raised Vancouver company is.

One of the things Clint’s passionate about in his work on London Drugs’ sustainable initiatives which he oversees. Our “Greenest Neighbourhood in North America” was practically built for companies like his whose waste reduction and diversion initiatives are second to none. This location achieves 95% waste diversion from landfills and since 2007 the company has recycled more than 147,000 pounds of Styrofoam. Below are some more numbers. Whoa.

Click the image below of London Drugs’ first location (as mentioned, blocks from the Village!) to check out a history lesson on London Drugs’ site which explains how and why they got into photographic equipment and so much more. In it is much inspiration about this truly awesome born-and-raised in Vancouver company, and I was honoured to have coffee with their Senior VP who is doing great things for our city and our planet!

Stay tuned for perhaps just one more 50 Coffees!

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 I WROTE a little while back, I was invited to speak at the Georgia Strait Alliance fundraiser that happened last week on the 34th floor of the Scotia tower downtown. In case you’re unfamiliar this non-profit is not affiliated with the Georgia Straight newspaper; They’re an organization dedicated to insuring the quality of water in the Strait of Georgia – you know, that large body of water between Vancouver Island and the mainland – and they are doing some incredible work.

I was brought in to share my thoughts on fishing, my experience as a travel writer and my thoughts on conservation and why the GSA’s work is so important. I spoke after whale toxicologist Peter Ross and former professional fisherman and shipping expert Mike Richards.

Have a read below for the full talk I gave. In it I bring up one very small detail of our neighbourhood (pictured below), and why I feel it’s an important piece of the puzzle for conservation province-wide.

“Thanks for having me. I feel honoured to be here but certainly underqualified next to these two actual experts who spoke before me.

As Christianne [the GSA's Executive Director] just told you, I work as a publisher, and the work that I do involves raising awareness about the “Awesomeness” of Vancouver and the surrounding area, and at times specifically the Strait. I’m speaking to you today as a sportfisherman – hence my not wearing a tie.

I was lucky to grow up fishing in the Okanagan and at an early age witness the Adams River Salmon run where millions of spawning fish literally clog the waterway. Has anyone here ever gone to see that? It’s one of the most amazing sights, and I often thank my father for not only bringing me there and showing it to me, but also for ingraining an appreciation for nature in me as a child.

I’ve always loved fish but I’ve only recently become an advocate for the future of salmon here on the West coast. I half joke that the reason why I care so much about their wellbeing is because I hope it’ll always be promised that I’ll be able to go out onto a river or the ocean in order to catch and kill them.

I say I’m half joking because the statement is entirely true; I do enjoy going out and catching fish in order to feed them to my family. I also enjoy just being out there on the water. The resource is a huge part of my lifestyle and I know that healthy populations of salmon are an indicator of the health of our waters.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been lucky to be able to go on a number of travel writing adventures to fishing destinations like Sonora Resort, April Point and Painter’s Lodge, and I feel I’ve also been lucky because I’ve been able to share those experiences with more than a couple hundred thousand readers. I’ve told stories of sportfishing and conservation while tying in organizations like the Pacific Salmon Foundation, raising awareness about the work they’re doing to improve the chances for our Pacific Salmon.

Being invited to speak to you in support of the Georgia Strait Alliance I feel is really timely because just days after I had met with Christianne to talk about this event I saw a story on the news that not only made me really angry but it also made me physically ill. The basic gist was that some folks on the North Shore decided to dump the entire contents of their chlorinated pool into a storm drain that then went directly into a nearby stream where it killed a thousand or so fish. Not only did it kill them, but it bleached them. It was quite obviously really bad, for lack of a better adjective.

My first thought when I saw it was ”Who are these evil bastards?!”. But as I read further into the story it became apparent that it wasn’t malicious of them, it was just complete ignorance on their part. To everyone in this room this is probably an unimaginable scenario, but this incident is an indicator that water quality and where we dump stuff from our homes is a topic that needs to be brought into the public eye more than it already is. This could happen anywhere, and in fact it’s probably happening somewhere right now but it’s just not being detected or reported on.

In the neighbourhood that I live in, the Olympic Village – or The Village on False Creek as it’s now known – the storm drains have an image of a fish engraved into them along with the words LEADS TO FISH HABITAT – KEEP OUR WATERS CLEAN. Every single storm drain has this etched into it as a piece of the design, kindof like the next generation of the painted yellow fish that you used to see all over the place.

There are no private pools in the Village that people might decide to drain nor do I imagine there are many toxic chemicals that need disposing of by most of the residents, but having this messaging highly visible helps to remind everyone about one of the things that make it the “Greenest Neighbourhood in North America”. It’s a growing neighbourhood with a few hundred residents, so the impact of this little detail might not be immediately visible, but in the end it makes the general population more mindful of our water…
in general.

This sort of awareness building shouldn’t be exclusive to a single well-planned super-neighbourhood. This messaging about the health of our waters needs to be delivered so far that even the most ignorant people in the province – I don’t care where they live – are made aware of the direct implications of their actions.

We need the Georgia Strait Alliance to be strong, and to be loud, for this reason. We also need them to continue their work that’s maybe not as loud on the policy side, advocating for perhaps better storm drain marking systems – and reform in the salmon farming industry – rallying on the side of closed containment and insuring the future of these waters, and these fish that I think it’s safe to say we all love so much.

Thank you.”

Learn more about the Georgia Strait Alliance and how you can help HERE.

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!

Hey Olympic gold medalist, Ashleigh McIvor! High five, Ashleigh McIvor!

Ashleigh was in the Village with her gold medal this weekend (not pictured) for the open house of CRAFT Beer Market who are going to be opening up in the Salt Building in Summer of 2013 (I wrote about it HERE last week). The City has long been promising us a brewpub in this space, as a matter of fact it’s a promise that’s been published multiple times since 2009, so it’s almost as though it was made for them (it practically was!). And though they’re not technically a “brewpub” in that they won’t be brewing beer on the premises they will have 140 beers on tap and a menu that I can’t wait to read every few days, as they are literally right next door to our place. I can walk from my door to theirs in about 15 seconds.

The open house was a lot of fun. It was a rainy day but that didn’t stop a few hundred people from coming down and sampling some beer and food under the beams of our local LEED certified heritage building!

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Every day a part of my commute from in the Village to our office involves me walking past Science World along the seawall, and every day I look at the installation on the pilings there (show below) and am reminded of the history of False Creek and the effect that the shoreline restoration in the Village has had in breathing new life into it. I often find myself thinking about that whale who was attracted into the Creek a couple of years back and wonder how many more fish have to return in order for that to become a more common occurrence, and what other types of marine life might come to the area should it continue to get healthier.

In case you missed this video I posted last week, it’s 20 seconds with a heron who chomps down on one of hundreds of thousands of herring who have only recently returned to False Creek.