In the mounting insanity surrounding my imminent move out of Yaletown to a quieter, cooler part of Vancouver, it struck me that I should spend a while walking around and taking pictures, focusing on what I like about the place and what I absolutely will not miss. I got tired of this after about six blocks, as the process solidified my understanding of what I already knew.

Because I was looking specifically to separate out what I did and did not like about the neighbourhood, I fairly quickly noticed that it’s actually really pretty. On a Saturday afternoon it looks vibrant; the buildings are well-maintained and everything is colourful and varied. Even the little bits of park, with the grass overgrown and gardens gone wild from the strike, look good.

For the stuff I didn’t like, I snapped pictures of the overflowing dumpsters (ones that are hauled by private firms, so this has nothing to do with the strike), creepy dog fashion stores, smeared dog shit and litter on the sidewalks. The observation that arose from this is that the problem with Yaletown is not really the place itself so much as a lot of the people it attracts. There are poorly dressed people pulling along the toy dogs that they don’t clean up after, strutting “Wimbledon thugs” shouting about “bitches” into their cell phones, party-going women who at first glance and often first inspection are indistinguishable from the “service industry” workers a couple blocks over (hint: one of the two is generally quieter). There are 50 year-old shriveling boomers still dressing in tight shirts and getting hammered at clubs. Not only is a Saturday afternoon not the likeliest time to find these types around, taking pictures of people randomly doesn’t tend to do well, and getting people’s permission to take a picture usually leads to a crappier, posed picture. Finally, Saturday afternoon is one of the few times where the construction is stopped and the sun is out.

The pictures wound up coming out in favour of the place, but I still can’t really imagine myself missing it.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 at 12:53 am and is filed under General Rambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.