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Ever since Vancouver won the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, there has been a strong effort to market the event as “Canada’s Games.” It’s only natural, of course: the federal government wants to use the Olympics to enhance our national identity, and VANOC wants to gain a national scope to raise the commercial value of Olympic sponsorships.
But still, when international visitors get their first glimpses of Vancouver as they pass the stunning Haida and Coast Salish art at YVR’s international terminal, when they catch their first whiff of ocean air outside the arrivals doors, when the SkyTrain crests that first ridge on the trip downtown, revealing the dramatic cut of the North Shore mountains, is it really Canada our guests will see?
The centre of Canada, after all – not just geographically but also in terms of culture, commerce, industry and politics – is far from here. Vancouver has much more in common, on all those fronts, with our neighbours in Seattle and Portland than we do with our counterparts in Calgary and Montreal. And there’s little doubt that, as far as the Olympics is concerned, Seattle has much more to gain than Saskatoon – or even Kelowna.
That is why there’s an equally strong effort, on the part of many people in the Pacific northwest, to claim these 2010 Games as their own and to use the 16-day event as a springboard for advancing what has, to this point, been a rather abstract notion of cross-border regional unity. That notion is called Cascadia.
Microsoft's announcement on its stance in moving forward with replacing the 520 bridge elicited some sharp jabs Tuesday from Seattle political leaders:
State Sen. Ed Murray said it was like a "punch in the face," and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn implied that Microsoft was being a hypocrite.
"I think when you're trying to bring people together, it's like a punch in the face. It's hardly a constructive tactic. I'm not sure it hurts in any way, but it certainly doesn't help," said Murray, who earlier this month joined McGinn, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Rep. Jamie Pedersen to support an option with mass transit-only lanes for replacing 520. ...
During the Microsoft news conference, company officials pointed out that 5,000 employees use the bridge. They talked about Microsoft's Connector shuttle, a private transit system that hauls 4,200 employees per day and relies on the bridge.
That touches on an issue that's so far been missing from the 520 debate, said Bruce Agnew, director of Discovery Institute's Cascadia Center for Regional Development, a transportation policy research center. ...
"Microsoft is speaking up when other regional leaders should be," he said.
Three members of the Bellevue City Council were all ears Wednesday night when a California rails-and-trails advocacy group told how they mustered voter support for a 70-mile commuter rail line through Marin and Sonoma counties -- complete with a bike trail along the entire route.
Why are rails-with-trails so interesting to Eastsiders? Because the Port of Seattle last year purchased the BNSF Railwayrail corridor, which runs through the Eastside from Renton to Woodinville, and on to the town of Snohomish in Snohomish County.
There's a $50 million chunk of voter-approved money in the Sound Transit budget that could be used in partnership with a private firm to help get a commuter train running on the BNSF corridor.
