New Westminster will be celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Burr Block building this month. The old provincial capital was destroyed by fire in 1898 (twelve years after Vancouver’s “Great Fire”) and the Burr Block at 411-419 Columbia Street was only one of two buildings that remained. Today, it’s the home of the Met Hotel, […]

Walking around Stanley Park nowadays there are hardly any remnants of the zoo that once housed over 50 species of animals, from monkeys and cobras to penguins and kangaroos. However, the old cement polar bear habitat still haunts the grounds just west of Brockton Oval and south of the Vancouver Aquarium. When I was young […]

IKEA in Richmond, which was one of the first IKEAs in Canada, will be moving across the parking lot to a new 334,000 square foot store this April. The new building will have a 600-seat restaurant, over 1,4000 parking spaces, and 100 bicycle racks. Photo credit: Tanenhaus on Flickr Features of the new store Geothermal […]

Yesterday the Federal Budget was unveiled and it included the news that the Royal Canadian Mint will soon stop producing pennies, saving Canadians 11 million dollars a year. Most of the feedback I saw online was in support of this move but I’m left wondering what I’ll do with the giant bucket of pocket change […]

There are a handful of living legends in Vancouver and Red Robinson is certainly one of them. A radio and television pioneer, he was the first Vancouver disc jockey to play that “rock and roll” music and was the emcee for Elvis’ Vancouver tour stop at Empire Stadium in 1957. Photos © Red Robinson Since […]

George Stroumboulopoulos (known affectionately as “Strombo”) will be returning to Vancouver next week to film his show, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight at the CBC. Photo credit: John Bollwit on Flickr Guests will include Sandra Oh, Daryl Hannah, Jim Treliving, Paul Franklin, and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. There will also be special features with comedian Brent Butt, […]

Earth Hour is coming up this Saturday, March 31, 2012 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time, wherever you might be. This initiative from the WWF is the world’s largest environmental initiative with thousands of cities and millions of participants turning off their lights and unplugging for a full hour. Photo credit: gwendolen on Flickr Vancouver […]

The City of Vancouver has launched their plan for maintaining order during the Canucks’ Stanley Cup Playoff run this year. Last year we made headlines around the globe after a riot broke out downtown following a public viewing of the Stanley Cup final. To avoid getting remotely close to the same situation this year, the […]

If you live in Vancouver, chances are that you’ve passed a building designed by architect Francis Rattenbury. From Victoria and Nanaimo to Revelstoke and Jasper, several of Rattenbury’s houses, commercial buildings, and CPR-commissioned hotels still stand today. Photo credit: 1892: Roedde House This is arguably the first structure that Rattenbury built in Canada. It was […]

The Georgia Straight’s 15th annual Golden Plate Awards, celebrating the best in local dining, have been handed out for 2012. The people have voted in over 150 categories and winners are now listed in this week’s issue and online. Here are just a few of the honorable mentions: Best Restaurant Service Bishop’s (2183 West 4th) […]