819 replies to this topic

[todd]

People say it’s a **** hole, I like to stay positive and remember some places are ****tier holes.

[Nparker]

Ahh...the "things are worse elsewhere" strategy. My mother used a version of that to try and get me to eat liver. "Eat it! Don't you know there are children starving in China/Africa/elsewhere?" I suggested she send them my portion of the liver. She was not amused.

[todd]

Ahh...the "things are worse elsewhere" strategy. My mother used a version of that to try and get me to eat liver. "Eat it! Don't you know there are children starving in China/Africa/elsewhere?" I suggested she send them my portion of the liver. She was not amused.

I don’t think I’ve ever had liver.

[Matt R.]

Get thee to a foie gras terrine.

[Nparker]

Get thee to a foie gras terrine.

I still won't eat liver served hot (like liver and onions) but I love terrines and pâté .

[todd]

I guess I eat pâté sometimes.

[LJ]

Liver and onions and bacon, yum yum.

[aastra]

Do y'all think those electrically-assisted bicycles will ever catch on?

 

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Daily Colonist
June 6, 1902

Edison believes that he has solved the difficulty of long-distance electric automobiling, a battery which he has just finished being capable of a 100-mile run without recharging. The storage of electricity is a field that will repay exploration by inventors. Lord Kelvin, in his recent address in New York, spoke hopefully of overcoming the difficulties of electrical transmission, but he had nothing to say concerning the storage of the elusive fluid.

 

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Daily Colonist
February 10, 1906

The novel combination automobile of M. Henry Pleper, the Belgian inventor, is claimed to be an important advance in several respects. The car, which is known as the "auto-mixte," is equipped with a gasoline motor, a dynamo, and a storage battery of 24 Tudor cells having a total weight of 340 pounds. The gasoline motor is of ordinary four-cylinder type, with a magnetic gas throttle for regulating the speed. When the gasoline motor is running with a light load, the dynamo acts as a generator to charge the storage battery, but on rising grades and hard places it can be run as a motor on current from the battery, and its aid gives a greater average speed than can be had from a simple gasoline machine of the same power. The distance run is not limited by the charge in the battery, as with the electric automobile, while in case of break-down the battery can be depended upon to run a certain distance. No special starting device is needed, and speed-changing gear and various other devices are made unnecessary.

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Daily Colonist
September 14, 1900

Some pretend they can see that the American will take to the new sport by equipping his present form of bicycle with some sort of light motor, thereby making it what the yachtsman would call an auxillary. Such a vehicle is a hybrid, and to the sportsman thoroughbreds alone appeal. The motor bicycle, while being very much heavier than the unmotored, would have none of the stability that is developed by the addition of one or two wheels more.

The two-wheeler would afford no possibilities for companionship, for luggage-carrying, or for touring, while the inclination to side-slip, by reason of its added weight being largely above the centre of gravity, would make this motor bicycle a dangerous machine to manipulate. The motor tricycle or quadricycle avoids all of this, and thereby appeals at once to large and influential classes of purchasers.

To the energetic, record-seeking, century-riding wheelman, the motor bicycle will not appeal, because it does not afford him either exercise or excitement enough; his less energetic brother of the pedal, the so-called tourist, will have none of it, because it will not go to the gait its three or four-wheeled brothers will. For this and other equally good reasons, the motor bicycle is, in its chances of success, far outstripped by the tricycle and quadricycle; and it is along these lines that in America the greatest improvements will be brought about, and the greatest commercial fortunes made, during the next decade.

Where increased cost and extra-heavy weight do not act as barriers, the limited range of electrically driven vehicles finds compensation in the cleanliness and self-sufficiency of the propelling force within the strength of the batteries employed. There is satisfaction and fascination in driving a vehicle with a reserve power independent of frequent fueling. Well-calculated use in city and suburbs will not exhaust the proven capabilities of electricity, and recharging stations are always within a reasonable radius. For these and collateral reasons, the storage battery type is safe in its present favor with residents of large towns. Weights, as a rule, exceed 1,500 pounds; prices are $1,500 and upwards.

A determined effort is being made to add to the range of the electric automobile, and to cut down the time required for recharging.

 

[Love the rock]

I don’t think I’ve ever had liver.

Your lucky 

[aastra]

One more about electric cars:

 

 

Daily Colonist
March 31, 1912

Packard Island Service

The Dominion Motor Car Company Limited... have opened up a complete service depot at 923 Fort Street. The Victoria service is under the capable direction of Mr. H.C. Berg, who is a factory technical expert of wide experience. Owners on the Island of Packard and Baker electric cars will hear with pleasure that this home service is at their immediate command...

The local office with Mr. Berg in charge will handle the complete Island agency for the Packard and Baker Electric cars.

[aastra]

Methinks modern Victorians really downplay the San Francisco connection. And methinks they do it because it doesn't really jibe with prevailing narratives re: Canadiana and "the Canadian experience".

 

 

"Victoria was still easily the largest city in the colony although its population had declined by almost half since 1863, and a corresponding decrease had taken place in the number of shipping companies, realtors, saloons, boardinghouses, tobacconists, and gentlemen's outfitters. Cricket was to be seen on a Sunday afternoon, and something of the city's pre-gold rush character had re-emerged, although in 1867 many of its businesses were owned in San Francisco, and some were simply branches of San Francisco firms. These same firms advertised in the New Westminster and Cariboo papers.

To some extent Victoria remained as it had been in the early days of the gold rushes -- the channel through which commercial interests in San Francisco penetrated the Fraser River settlements. But there were also British or Canadian firms in Victoria, and former employees of the Hudson's Bay Company who operated successfully in both Victoria and San Francisco. In 1862, the London-financed Bank of British Columbia had opened in Victoria, and five years later had several branches in California, its bank in San Francisco quickly becoming the second bank in that city. Victoria was not simply a dependent of San Francisco; rather, both cities participated in a triangular pattern of trade and finance dominated, in many ways, by London."

From "Canada Before Confederation", by R. Cole Harris and John Warkentin (1974, Oxford University Press)

 

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I've posted the following bit before re: San Francisco's brief crisis of confidence during the Fraser gold rush:
 

 

"The first public school (in San Francisco) was established in 1849. In 1855-1856 a disastrous commercial panic crippled the city; and in 1858, when at the height of the Fraser river gold-mine excitement it seemed as though Victoria, B.C., was to supplant San Francisco as the metropolis of the Pacific, realty values in the latter city dropped for a time fully a half in value."

from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition (1911)
Volume 24, page 147

Edited by aastra, 10 May 2023 - 12:42 PM.

[Vin]

I don’t think I’ve ever had liver.

Have you ever had hot dogs?

[aastra]

We're reaching a bit now, you think?

 

Victoria News
May 15, 2023

The demise of single-family starter homes: ‘Municipalities have to have their hands forced’

Local policies not geared towards multi-unit builds warns advocate

With single-family home ownership OUT OF REACH for many income levels and thousands of units needed to meet supply demands in Greater Victoria, residents are calling on different levels of government to make changes.

 

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Times-Colonist
July 10, 2019

"Put focus on rentals in next phase of housing strategy"

"We don’t need more housing that is OUT OF REACH of the average-income earner,” the strategy says, adding that high-end development “is frustrating for some Victorians, and devastating for others in desperate situations, who are forced to move into substandard or overpriced housing because there’s just nothing else available."

 

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Daily Colonist/The Victoria Express Weekend Edition
May 18, 1974

Developers have problems too

-Lack of available serviced land;
-the dramatically rising price of land;
-lengthy re-zoning hassles with municipalities;
-inflated prices for building materials and maintenance;
-and the current psychological difficulties of people not wanting to live next door to apartments.

McAdams (of Park Pacific apartments Ltd.) says he and other developers have no objection to the government's subsidizing tenants "who can't pay the market price, the people who really need help."

"But," he said, "why wreck a market which is supplying an essential commodity with blanket rent controls?"

"Whenever you alter supply and demand you create a synthetic market, and in the end, whatever is available is available at higher prices."

The real problem -- not only to the developer but to the public seeking accommodation -- is the prospect of fewer and fewer apartments being built.

"We have to pass on costs," McAdams points out. "The moment we can't pass on our costs, we quit doing it (building apartments.)"

The next few years, McAdams says, will see "fewer and fewer apartments built" as a result of higher costs and controlled rents.

Condominiums will likely become more and more popular, not only to the prospective builder but also to the public for whom single-family homes are becoming priced OUT OF REACH.

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Daily Colonist (The Victoria Express)
February 23, 1974

Zoning Veto Advocated

The time has come for the provincial government to give itself the power to overrule municipalities on matters of residential zoning, says Victoria Real Estate Board president Eric Charman.

He said the four core municipalities in the Victoria area are strangling the housing market with restrictions against multiple-family construction.

"It is all very well to be against high-rises but people have to live somewhere," he said.

 

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Daily Colonist
April 2, 1969

Rigid Bylaws Blamed for House Shortage

A Victoria architect-planner - D.M. Cowin - Tuesday blamed the housing crisis on municipalities because of their rigid bylaws and told Saanich housing committee that its municipality was one of the worst offenders.

The committee later was less than enthusiastic about Mr. Cowin's proposal for helping to ease the housing crisis in Saanich by the construction of at least 20 patio dwelling units.

He said Transport Minister Paul Hellyer's housing report stressed the need for freedom of choice but a home-seeker has only two options - "a single-family residence at a cost he can't afford or a filing cabinet unsuitable for family living."

[Mike K.]

So if housing costs were only a small multiple of annual incomes in 1969, what would have made homeownership so challenging back then? Was it the lack of credit? Ie, the house might have cost 4x your income, but you had to have 100% of the purchase price?

Today the house costs 15x your income, but you can get into it for just a fraction of its cost, then mortgage the rest.

[aastra]

Politics is 100% genuine and legitimate. Who could possibly dare to argue this unarguable fact? People just need to be patient and understand that pedestrian malls are a complicated endeavour. It takes time to properly plan these things and iron out the kinks. By proceeding with caution we can learn from our mistakes, make a few tweaks, etc.

 

The city of Victoria is ~160 years old. We've been working on pedestrian-only concepts for Government Street and other downtown streets for about one-third of that time.
 

 

May 19, 2023
Times-Colonist

Victoria council endorses continuation of pedestrian-friendly Government Street

Victoria’s Government Street will remain a pedestrian-focused thoroughfare for the foreseeable future after city council confirmed on ­Thursday that it stands behind the Government Street Refresh project started by the previous council.

Following a staff update on plans for the street, ­council unanimously supported ­continuing the work and ­maintaining Government Street principally as a pedestrian zone.

Coun. Jeremy Caradonna said it made sense to signal both to city staff and the public that this council endorses the current direction.

“You guys already have a wonderful plan and you’re ­moving in the right direction..."

...Coun. Matt Dell said his only regret is that it’s going to take so long. "But that’s the same with everything in the city. You want to snap your fingers and make it happen," he said.

The design continues to be honed, with implementation expected to take more than five years.

Dell said, however, that he appreciates the cautious approach taken by staff so far, which has allowed them to learn from early mistakes and tweak the design,

 

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Daily Colonist
February 14, 1973

Seattle Consultant to Draft Mall Plan

City council's planning committee recommended to council that a Seattle consultant be hired... to prepare a feasibility study on the proposed Government-View pedestrian mall.

...the assistant traffic engineer is to visit a number of U.S. cities which have already built pedestrian malls.

It was that item in particular which was questioned...

"First, the traffic engineer gets an eyeful of malls in Europe last summer, now the assistant gets another eyeful of malls in the United States,"

The city hopes to have the mall completed by June, 1974. According to the plans, Government will be closed to car traffic from Humboldt to Yates, and View from Government to half a block beyond Douglas, but without interrupting the Douglas-View intersection.

 

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Daily Colonist
May 29, 1973

Merchants Knock, Praise Concept of Broad Mall

The carnival-like activity on Broad Street during last week's Victorian Days has aroused some controversy among the merchants along the temporary mall.

One merchant says the week-long partial closure of Broad and the complete elimination of parking on the street during that time has been bad for his business. He views the possibility that Broad may someday become a permanent pedestrian mall with some misgivings.

Another merchant, however, says his business may have picked up last week as a result of increased pedestrian traffic. He would like to see Broad Street converted to a permanent mall.

A third merchant says the partial closure last week could have been a success, had it not been botched by poor planning and poor administration.

The merchant who never wants to see a repetition of this year's "debacle" is Donald MacDonald of MacDonald's Furniture Mart... at the corner of Pandora.

What he objected to most of all was the "shoddy arrangement" of cheap stalls, barricades and food stands doing business out of trailers.

"It was a bloody mess. Why didn't they use planters with flowers to block off the street? That's what we were told would be done. Instead there were dozens of cheap barricades from Farmer's Construction..."

"If this is an indication of what a permanently closed Broad Street would look like, they can keep it," he said, referring to Mayor Peter Pollen's statement last week that he hoped Broad would eventually be a pedestrian mall all the way from Fort to city hall.

MacDonald added, "I admit that, probably with the proper planning and preparation, a permanent mall on Broad might be a success, but this brief debacle hasn't helped strengthen my belief."

 

[todd]

Have you ever had hot dogs?

I had stopped eating them for about 10 years, but I’ve started eating them again lately, only the highest quality ones

 

Always wondered what was in them.

[aastra]

More stuff about water supply issues, dry summers, and water shortages. The complete statement by the 1902 water commissioner contains a ton of detailed info.

 

 

Daily Colonist
July 22, 1902

"As the public mind has been considerably stirred over the new regulations that have lately been put in force regarding the hours of sprinkling, and as misconceptions may arise, I think it is an opportune time to lay before the Council, and through them, the ratepayers at large, a statement of the actual state of affairs regarding the waterworks of the city. In the first place we have heavy climatic difficulties to contend with: we have a long dry summer with practically no rain, but high cold winds, which have the effect of drying up the soil more than extreme heat without wind. Since the 1st of April there has been less than three inches of rain, and there will probably be none until the 1st of September.

In the eastern part of the continent where the heat is much greater than here, they have heavy rain storms during the summer, while here we have six months with practically no rain.

I am sure the Council would like nothing better than to allow, as has been suggested, a continual stream of water for sprinkling purposes, but when the physical features of the city are taken into consideration, it will be easily seen how impossible it is to carry this out. Elk Lake is only 180 feet above the sea, and we have to pump practically to everyone to the east of Cook street. The highest point that we have to reach is the Hon. Mr. Justice Martin's residence, which is 244 feet above the sea, or 64 feet above the source of supply. As you are well aware, our water comes from Elk and Beaver lakes, which have been made one sheet of water... Beaver Lake is comparatively shallow, but Elk Lake, which extends over 454 acres, is very deep, being 70 feet in some places, so that there is amply supply for many years to come for a much larger population than we have at present...

The water is not now, as contended in a letter in yesterday's Colonist, "foul and unwholesome in the extreme," as it is during the hot weather that the water is clearer than at any time during the year. It is at its worst at the end of April, and beginning of May, when a species of fermentation sets in, and a filter bed only lasts two days without being cleaned, while now it lasts two weeks.

- JAS L. RAYMUR, Water Commissioner

 

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Daily Colonist
August 21, 1907

Forest Fires Sweep Metchosin District

Settlers have had hard time saving their buildings from destruction

A correspondent writes from Metchosin: "The most extensive fire ever known in Metchosin is still burning in the district. It started about a fortnight ago in the wooded hills to the west of Rocky point road and crossing to H. Helgeson's farm has since swept the country lying between Rocky point and Metchosin roads as far as the Metchosin school. Several dwellings and the Metchosin hall, church, and schoolhouse have only been saved from destruction by the strenuous exertions of the residents of the district, working day and night."

"After the drought which has lasted more than four months the country is in a most inflammable condition. If there is no rainfall before Sept. 1, and if the government does not postpone the opening of the shooting season, it is very probable the greater portion of this part of Vancouver island will be in a blaze."

 

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Daily Colonist
November 12, 1924

Victoria is justly proud of her rockland gardens with their wealth of floral display, also of her noble homesites on the levels and lowlands, with the beauty of their shrubberies, trees, lawns and parks. During the long, dry summers, the upkeep and watering of the flower beds, rock gardens and lawns is an expensive item. To establish a garden for the growing of ferneries and moisture-loving plants would be prohibitive in cost, and has not, so far, been attempted in the city.

 

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Victoria Daily Times
August 16, 1967

WATER CRISIS

Don't Push Panic Button

We're having the hottest and driest summer in more than 10 years, so we've been asked to conserve water.

The word is "conserve" remember.

...while this appears to be an emergency, it is not a permanent condition.

Few, if any, have remained calm enough to remember that there is no shortage of water. Or that Sooke Lake has not run dry.

...the present emergency is the result of a chapter of incidents that concern the building of the big Goldstream tunnel and that delayed its completion.

The pipeline is use -- big enough a few years ago to handle any dry summer -- now simply cannot cope.

Water cannot get through from Sooke Lake in great enough volume to serve the needs of an increased population... Therefore storage reservoirs around Victoria are taxed to the limit and water pressure is reduced to a minimum.

...this is a temporary inconvenience that will only remain with us until the first good downpour of rain.

...if we have the same long dry summer next year, there should be plenty of water because the big tunnel will be ready -- come spring -- and no doubt will be sluicing water through to us in ever-increasing volume.

 

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Times-Colonist
March 16, 1994

Water up but don't waste it

For the first time in two years, Greater Victoria's main reservoir is full and has been spilling water.

But water district officials aren't ruling out water restrictions this summer.

"It all depends on the weather," Greater Victoria Water District chief commissioner Jack Hull said... "If we get a hot, dry summer we could be looking at water restrictions as we were in '92 when it overflowed. We had a hot, dry summer, and bingo! We had restrictions in August."

"So that's why we're saying to people even though the reservoir is full, don't waste water. You never know."

About 12.5 billion gallons of water is being stored in the Sooke reservoir, 100 per cent of capacity.

 

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Times-Colonist
September 25, 1998

Watering Restraint Urged

Dry summer has left reservoirs seriously depleted

The taps could start running dry if Greater Victorians don't stop watering their lawns.

"People have got to stop outdoor watering, otherwise we are getting into a serious situation," Capital Regional District water commission manager Jack Hull said...

Reservoir levels are low after a hot, dry summer. With little rain and warm temperatures, demand for water has remained high through September.

"The message is very strong. Turn off the outdoor watering use and if we can get people to do that then we're not going to get into a critical situation where we have to put bans in place,"

Total water storage in the Sooke and Goldstream reservoirs is now at 39 per cent of capacity. The water level is just centimetres above the old 1915 dam level.

As the water level drops the ability to deliver water is also dropping. One option is to cut or blast a hole through the old dam to increase the water flow, but that presents possible problems with water quality...

 

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Times-Colonist
September 12, 2003

What warming means for our water

As temperatures rise yearly, a comprehensive climate change study for the capital region is needed

Environment Canada's weather station at Victoria International Airport stated that 2003 had the driest summer (June to August) in more than 60 years...

The annual mean temperature for 100 years, recorded at the Victoria Gonzales weather station, also increased -- and there again, this summer was the driest in 90 years.

Weather records for the Sooke Lake reservoir disclose a steady rise in annual temperature and no trend in precipitation, but do reveal an increase in the magnitude and frequency of dry years in the past 20 years...

The year 1916 was the driest summer of all, according to CRD water records.

 

[Mike K.]

… we have a long dry summer with practically no rain, but high cold winds, which have the effect of drying up the soil…

There you go.

[Nparker]

Victoria has always been ahead of the curve in regards to the climate emergency. 

[aastra]

Hillside Mall:

 

 

Daily Colonist
February 11, 1969

Ultimate in Comfort Aim of New Shopping Centre

The Hillside Shopping Centre offers customers the ultimate in comfort and the widest selection of merchandise -- all inside a totally air-conditioned environment...

The feeling of space is attained by high central ceiling points and wide open store fronts. Glass panel doors slide back so that the customer feels he is in one large shopping area.

A dress shop and a shoe store have even combined their activities in the same area so that the customer can select a dress and matching shoes all within the same store -- which is, in fact, two stores.

CONVENIENCE

Throughout the building the accent is on convenience and comfort.

The Hillside Shopping Centre first became a reality in 1961, when 35,000 square feet of store area was opened as a neighbourhood retail shopping facility. It was supplied with ample parking.

At that time Dominion Construction Company and its associate, Bentall Properties, were busy assembling sufficient land to develop a major shopping centre.

BEAUTY AREA

To accommodate the traffic using the centre there will be parking for 1,750 cars. There will also be space for truck deliveries and parcel pickup. To keep the architectural concept intact a large area has been dedicated for landscaping and beautification work.

Stage One of Hillside Mall, built since July, 1968, contains space for 25 stores varying in size from 800 square feet to a single store of 6,200 square feet. Stores in the mall include branches of the major national chains and new stores operated by local merchants.

The new Simpsons-Sears store, which represents this company's first full entry into the local retail market, is outstanding for a number of reasons. It has 145,000 square feet of store area on two floors and contains the most modern heating and air conditioning facilities. The transportation system between floors is of the most modern type.

The Simpsons-Sears building is designed for expansion to three storeys which will bring the total footage to 215,000 square feet. This will make the final building the largest suburban department store in Victoria.

There are already plans for Stage Two of the development that will add 25,000 squar feet to the west of the mall.

MALL EXTENSION

It is anticipated that the mall extension will terminate in... "another major but junior department store"...

Richard Lawson Centre Manager

Manager of Hillside Shopping Centre is Richard Lawson, who operated the 40-store Oakridge Shopping Centre in Vancouver from 1965 to 1968.

SLOPING SITE

The foundations for the (Simpsons-Sears) department store are made from concrete filled steel pipe. The piles were driven into the earth until they hit solid rock. Because of the sloping nature of the site some were driven for 20 feet while others are down 123 feet.

The new Victoria store is the 33rd unit to be opened by Simpsons-Sears.

Edited by aastra, 27 June 2023 - 08:08 PM.