Yeah, and Vancouver has one of the most “vibrant” downtowns in Canada, possibly in North America. Lots of people live there, but its not like a street party every night. People go to their club or whatever, and stay there until 2:00 am, then they walk two blocks back to their apartments. Huge crowds don’t wander around from quaint little street shop to quaint little bistro all day long, I guess. At least not outside of certain areas: the office buildings and so forth certainly don’t attract much of that sort of vibe. Neither you nor I are really the sorts of people who go “clubbing” or even go to the areas that attract such activity, so the areas we might look at in a big city, like museums and stores, sort of shut down after dark.

I find the area around GM Place and BC Place to be…cavernous. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but it is all gigantic slabs of concrete, and barricade fences topped with razor wire, and elevated roads/walkways blocking out the sky. Not exactly inviting…but I suppose edifices intended to house and manage 50,000 people for “events” can’t really avoid being massive and intimidating. When the events are over, they become particularly disconcerting to be around, or at least they do to me. I don’t think massive stadiums belong in a downtown core, but…I guess it is convenient when they are.

I imagine that the bars and nightclubs around stadiums also get a rush of traffic before and, perhaps, after a big event. But I don’t really see much else in the way of commerce impacting the surrounding areas from them. I mean, you don’t go shopping for clothes or groceries just before or after the big game or concert.