A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If We Had More Safe Indoor Spaces for Skateboarding

Its vaulted ceilings may have once carried the tenors and altos of Catholic choirboys, but nowadays the acoustics of the abandoned St. Liborius Church have been repurposed to carry the screeches and echoes characteristic of a DIY Skatepark. We think Vancouver would be cooler if we had an all-inclusive indoor community skatepark of our own...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had a Massive Floating Housing Project at the Port

Imagine a colourful, mixed-used, housing complex like Amsterdam's Silodam floating at the foot of Victoria Drive.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had Floating Camp Sites in False Creek

Imagine Belgium's Vlot Kamp - essentially eight floating campsites accessed from the shore by canoe - next to Olympic Village.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had a Cocktail Bar Hidden in a Skytrain Station

This 15-seat speakeasy-style bar is located behind a nondescript door in New York City's 28th Street subway station.

VANCOUVER WOULD BE COOLER IF // It Hired Mexican Wrestlers to Enforce Our Mask Rules

Watch lucha libre wrestlers in Mexico City's Central de Abasto market have fun encouraging people to protect themselves and others.

VANCOUVER WOULD BE COOLER IF // It Stopped Serving Its Worst Restaurant Customers

It should really go without saying that people who disrespect hospitality workers should be denied the privilege of dining out.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Followed Berlin’s Lead on Marketing the Wearing of Masks

If our approach to encouraging mask use has been too gentle we might consider shocking people with a campaign like this.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Gave $500 Restaurant Cards to Its Unemployed

Hawaii is giving out gift cards worth $500 to over 100,000 unemployed residents in a bid to save two birds with one stone.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If Its Pizza Delivery Drivers Told Us Everything Was Going to Be OK

60-year old Vinnie's Pizzeria in Brooklyn must know that times are particularly stressful right now...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had Tokyo’s Incredible Lost and Found System

Your options for tracking down your lost items in Vancouver are very limited, but what if we had a different approach?

Vancouver Would Be Cooler if It Followed Florence’s Black Death Tradition of Wine Windows

Florentines had a cool architectural trick to keep socially distant while shopping for wine during times of plague...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Followed Barcelona’s Lead and Seized Empty Homes

The Catalonian city has notified landlords that they will fill their empty apartments with tenants if they don't do it themselves.

How Prohibitive Zoning Laws Made Our Neighbourhoods Less Interesting

Small restaurants, cafes and shops deep within our residential neighbourhoods would be great. Too bad they're illegal.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had Some Garage Bars In Its Neighbourhood Laneways

The idea of the "Garage Bar" as a place to have an unlicensed sip with your friends and neighbours just feels right...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If… It Had Kinetic Art Installations Shaped by the Wind

Thousands of tiles are moved by the wind, so that when it blows they flap in concert to reveal gusts and air currents in real time. 

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If…It Had a Food Delivery App That Wasn’t Exploitive

To food delivery apps, this virus hasn't been a crisis. It's been an opportunity. Local restaurants are already considering alternatives.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If…Helicopters Kept Crowds Off Beaches During Pandemics

Police in Italy and Brazil are employing helicopters to clear beaches that have been closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If…It Followed New York’s Lead and Allowed Take-Out Alcohol

To support its breweries, distilleries, wineries and restaurants, the city should allow people to order booze with their take-out.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If More of Its Restaurants Had Lazy Susans

Why does a city that celebrates share plates and "family-style" dining have so few of these clever devices?

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had Whistler’s Pangea Pod Hotel

After a recent stay at the new hotel in Whistler, we're scratching our heads as to why Vancouver doesn't have something similar yet.

What If Vancouver Followed Berlin’s Lead and Froze Rents for Five Years?

The rent-freeze starts in January and is retroactive to June, so landlords can't jack up the rent in one last frenzied orgy of greed.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Didn’t Occasionally Scare the Living Daylights Out of Us

They could have used any old alarm to warn of fire or accident, but instead they chose the one that terrifies everyone everywhere.

We Want to Sleep in the Cockpit of a 747 Permanently Parked at YVR Airport

As much as we appreciate the luxury and convenience of the airport's Fairmont Hotel, it wouldn't hurt to give it some direct competition.

This City Is Making It Illegal for New Home Buyers to NOT Live In Their New Homes

There may be no silver bullet to fixing our housing crisis, but if there was a gun full of silver bullets, we'd definitely pull the trigger on this.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If Its Restaurant Workers Had a Fully Licensed Member’s Clubhouse

If the annual fees were on a scale of accessibility so a dishwasher didn't have to pay as much as a server, this might work...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If Its Mountains Had More Deciduous Trees…

A pair of thrill-seeking skiers turn Autumn in the Cantal forest of Southern France into their downhill playground.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If Its Sunniest Blind Walls Had Scaffolded Gardens

The GreenBelly Project is a concept that would see boring, windowless urban walls producing all kinds of deliciousness.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If Its People Could Explore a Gigantic Model of It

This massive architectural model of New York City got us thinking how cool it would be to see Vancouver similarly represented.