62 replies to this topic

[lanforod]

6 hours? Remind me not to get behind you on the highway I think 3.5 to 4 hours is bit closer at least when I have done it. Google maps puts it at 3 hrs 58 minutes.

Ah okay. Good to know, time for a trip to VAT free land .

[Greg]

While I agree there is lots to do on VI, how many people have gone to Vancouver for a weekend retreat recently where they weren't on business.  For me, its been 4 to 5 years.  I'm also not talking about going to visit friends/family where you stayed with them or walked on the ferry and had someone pick you up on the other side.

 

Going to Vancouver for the weekend, two nights in a nice hotel, ferry, parking, restaurants,etc is around $1000

I make several weekend/long-weekend trips to both Seattle and Vancouver every year. The availability of two major cities, and what they have to offer, reasonably close by, while living in a quieter, slower, more compact area like Downtown Victoria is actually the major selling point of residing here for me.

 

(Not arguing your second point, it can be expensive. But it is still faster and cheaper than most places you can go for a short break, because you can take the ferry or a discount float plane.)

[pherthyl]

$159 was the average room rate in July last year, if you are only spending $250 for 3 nights ($83/nt.), you are not the prime traveller we want to attract with our BC Ferry "cruise".

Yes, I think BC Ferries' position of "F the poor" is becoming abundantly clear.

[pherthyl]

I think it's pretty common, especially among 20-40 somethings who just want to get away for a few days.
 
Hundreds of people head over to watch the Canucks and the Lions and most stay over for the night in downtown hotels. When a big concert is in town lots of people head over for a night or two as well.

Right. People go to Vancouver because there are good reasons to do so. Ikea, concerts, hockey games, restaurants, arts, etc.
So why go to Victoria? Well as a stop on the way to Tofino perhaps, or maybe for whale watching. The historically inclined could find something of interest. Maybe some boomers investigating retirement homes for their parents.. Thats about it.

Edited by pherthyl, 16 January 2014 - 07:57 PM.

[AllseeingEye]

Right. People go to Vancouver because there are good reasons to do so. Ikea, concerts, hockey games, restaurants, arts, etc.
So why go to Victoria? Well as a stop on the way to Tofino perhaps, or maybe for whale watching. The historically inclined could find something of interest. Maybe some boomers investigating retirement homes for their parents.. Thats about it.

Unfortunately I concur; as did one of the UK's most popular travel blogs a couple of years ago in its summary of the south island writing in 2011, and I quote: "Victoria? The only thing that makes the area worthy of even a one night stay is the spectacular Butchart Gardens. Beyond that you just know any place that's main claim to fame is a 100-year old hotel doesn't amount to much". Ouch. Not sure about that but I am quite sure with regard to the average Vancouverite's opinion of Victoria, that it closely parallel's pherthyl's comments above. For the most part most of them, in general, see no particular reason to come here unless its to visit immediate family. Otherwise the predominant attitude is "meh..."

[G-Man]

^ Wow you guys are brutal. Victoria is one of the most beautiful cities in Canada (most beautiful in my opinion but accept that this is my personal preference). Sometimes that is enough. I mean the only reason people go to Nice, is because of the Ikea. 

 

Market Victoria as a place for couples looking for a weekend away. You have strolls along the harbour, good restaurants, parks and some pretty unique stores. There is some saying about forest and trees but not really clear on it right now..

[VicHockeyFan]

^ Wow you guys are brutal. Victoria is one of the most beautiful cities in Canada (most beautiful in my opinion but accept that this is my personal preference). Sometimes that is enough. I mean the only reason people go to Nice, is because of the Ikea. 

 

Market Victoria as a place for couples looking for a weekend away. You have strolls along the harbour, good restaurants, parks and some pretty unique stores. There is some saying about forest and trees but not really clear on it right now..

 

Ya, I agree with G-man, market it as a get-away, a cooler get-away than White Rock or Whistler, because the attraction is being on an Island.

[Mike K.]

You don't hear New Yorker's pissing on Vancouver for being, eww, so small with nothing to offer, but some Vancouverites have this ingrained hate-on for the Island and keep reminding us that if it's not on the mainland, it's not important. Lame.

 

Each year 3.5 million people visit Victoria. Each year 9 million visit Vancouver. For a city with 15% of Vancouver's population we reach 40% of Vancouver's tourism numbers. That's huge, especially when you compare similarly-sized jurisdictions in Canada. So the pitch from the above described Vancouverites that this is no place worth seeing flies in the face of what the rest of the world thinks.

[VicHockeyFan]

If Vancouverites thought there was nothing here, they certainly would not also go to Whistler, Tofino, Kelowna or Salt Spring Island.  But they do.

[lanforod]

Doesn't mean there isn't a lot of room for improvement. World class attractions are something we just don't have many of here. It is the Butchart Gardens, and the city/history as a whole, and that's pretty much it. Vancouver seems to have even less - I can't really think of a world class attraction in Vancouver, other than being a relatively large city. Vancouver isn't really a tourist town, Victoria is more of one. Telus World of Science? Meh... The attraction I think is easy access to nature attractions, for most visitors that I can think of.

Neither city has a tall tower attraction, major historical attractions (most North American cities don't have these, just not old enough), major religious attractions, or major amusement attractions.

I think an entertainment park in Vancouver would boost their numbers - a la Coney Island. Plenty of room if they take down the viaducts, and use all that vacant land there where Cirque sets up for permanent attractions.

 

As for Victoria - I'd love to see Victoria's downtown become more of a European plaza - no cars, walk everywhere. Outdoor restaurants and vendors where streets used to be.

 

Hard to compare to Whistler - which gets over 2 million visitors annually - split pretty evenly between winter and summer. It's a world class attraction all by itself. I suspect most of those two million that are not from the lower mainland area, also stop in Vancouver for a day or two.

[Mike K.]

Vancouver has the Vancouver Lookout which over the last 15 years fell victim to the Calgary Tower syndrome (darned thing is now shorter than everything around it), but it's certainly no Space Needle.

[VicHockeyFan]

Vancouver has the Vancouver Lookout which over the last 15 years fell victim to the Calgary Tower syndrome (darned thing is now shorter than everything around it), but it's certainly no Space Needle.

 

Engineers should have built it to be jacked from bottom as needed.

[lanforod]

Harbour Centre is a joke now. Decent place to go for an expensive date at the restaurant and thats about it now.

Vancouver's real lookout is Grouse Mountain - which is one of the nature attractions I mentioned.

I'm not saying they need to build a 70 storey tower, but it wouldn't hurt.

[Mike K.]

Vancouver and Calgary skyscraper diagram. Calgary has Vancouver beat by a long shot in that regard.

[AllseeingEye]

I am in Calgary roughly every two months for business since our firm has a major Sales/Engineering hub there and I am frequently in the Bow Tower visiting a key customer for whom we provide managed services. That structure is just spectacular from an architectural standpoint. The view from the 48th floor isn't too shabby either. Talk about a dynamic city, it changes with practically each visit. A colleague told me recently Calgary is growing at a rate of something like 7000 net new residents/month. Lots of development happening on the other side of the Rockies to be sure. I think the main issue holding up super tall tower construction in YVR remains the question of retaining the view corridor of the North Shore mountains. At one time there was a vision reported on Global News that envisioned 4 such structures however I haven't heard anything about that recently.

[LJ]

Yes, I think BC Ferries' position of "F the poor" is becoming abundantly clear.

I think it was VHF's cruise via the BC Ferries, I don't think the ferries give a rat's ass about what you pay for a hotel room.

[Victoria Watcher]

On Brian Mulroney’s watch, Canada almost tripled the number of immigrants coming to Canada each year, from fewer than 90,000 people to more than 250,000.

 

Now Canada’s 18th prime minister is calling on Canadians to embrace what he calls “a new national policy” that would commit this country to achieving a population of 100 million by the end of the century.

 

“If we are going to maintain … our internal strength and our growth and our capacity and our outside influence, we need more people – a lot more,” Mr. Mulroney said Tuesday at a forum presented by The Globe and Mail and by Century Initiative, which champions the goal of a Canada that is 100-million strong by 2100.

 

 

https://www.theglobe...our-population/

[newbie_01]

That will require almost a million immigrants per year.

[LJ]

^And requiring a million places to live each year.

[aastra]

That's a lot of shipping containers and old motel rooms.