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 Its Demolished Buildings Were First Saved in Miniature

(via) As a relatively young city, Vancouver doesn’t have much in the way of historical architecture that is so intrinsically valued that it can somehow avoid the wrecking balls of development. The stuff we can’t save needs to be remembered somehow. We like the approach of Malaysian artist Pui Wan, who crafts miniature versions of old buildings in Kuala Lumpur that are facing demolition to make room for new towers, as seen in the Atlas Obscura film above.

Her artwork aims to preserve these spaces, as well as the memories of the communities that inhabit them. Pui Wan says she hopes that younger generations will be able to tangibly experience old buildings through her models. One such structure is a kopitiam (coffee shop) that has operated for over 60 years. Shortly after this video was filmed, the kopitiam shut down permanently.

It would be great if something similar could be done here. Our provincial capital, Victoria, has its own, long-thriving Miniature World depicting scenes that vary from Arthurian legend to the “Great Canadian Railway”. It’s mostly the stuff of riveting fantasy (geared towards the kiddies), but what if Vancouver had its own Miniature World that reminded us of what Chinatown used to look like when it glowed with neon, when Hogan’s Alley was in its prime, when water actually flowed in Brewery Creek, or what the city looked like right before it burned down in 1886.

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.