According to San Diego News columnist Arthur Salm:
You think you’ve been to a depressing place? Wherever it was, I can top it.
And I’m not even talking Third World, Mogadishu-Rangoon-Lagos depressing. The places I’m thinking about are in modern, democratic countries, and every one is in North America. …
But the most depressing place in the world today is Vancouver, British Columbia.
Ever been to Vancouver? Spectacularly beautiful place. Miles of waterfront, almost all of which is not only visible but accessible to the public; breathtaking and meticulously maintained parks; an efficient, affordable, and city-blanketing (above and below ground) public transit system; a magnificent, (fairly) new public library right in the heart of a sparkling downtown; clean streets; an enlightened program to shelter the city’s homeless; urban planning that places more and more emphasis on walkways and bike paths; an energetic, ethnically diverse population; health care for all its citizens (they’re Canadian, after all); young, progressive, can-do mayor Gregor Robertson. (Compare to the at best well-meaning Jerry Sanders, or to our imperious, aggressively ignorant County Board of Supervisors. Then sigh.)
And as if to rub our SoCal noses in it, Vancouver is mounting a gung-ho, popular effort to become the greenest city in the world, as chronicled by Allan Hunt Badiner in a July 30 AlterNet post [3]. Cumulatively, Vancouver’s projects make our baby steps toward Going Solar, however commendable, look pitiful.
In short, Vancouver is what San Diego could have been. For anyone who loves San Diego, that’s … depressing.
Now, I’m not one to point fingers, to place blame … no, wait, I am; that’s what I do. So let’s start with the leadership: In general, the officials who run this city, and this county, are and have forever been snuggled into the deep pockets of developers, who I won’t even bother to blame because they do what they do, and what do you expect, anyway? The very notion that we could even consider walling off what’s left of the waterfront with hotels and a massive expansion of the convention center pretty much says it all. Yeah, it would probably make some rich people richer, but all the rest of us live our lives here. That should count for something, and it does, in places like … Vancouver, British Columbia.
But in the end, or, more accurately, in the beginning, we San Diegans vote for these people. Somehow the belief that the marketplace should make our decisions for us – money talks, suckers shut the hell up – has trumped the very notion of community. It’s the attitude that we’re all on our own, and this entity that we call “San Diego”? Well, that’s just a convenient name for the space that, individually, we carve up and sell off. Of course, people live here, too. If they can afford it. And if they’re really well off, they might even get to see the water.
It is for this reason that, when flying into San Diego from Vancouver, one can look out the window at the startling green of Balboa Park, downtown’s scrapers of a medium-low sky, the glistening bay with its bobbing boats, the blue-gray ocean – all that beauty – and declare, a la Bette Davis, “What a dump.”
[Unabridged article and comments here.]
I like San Diego as a place to visit; it still has unspoiled, uncommercialized beaches (Pacific Beach, Mission Beach to a lesser extent) right in town. The waterfront off downtown is rather cut off (similar to Seattle), but some of that comes from the military base heritage of the city. And it is improving.
In the most recent development cycle, the city could definitely have done a better job with design guidelines. Bosa’s towers (yes the Vancouver Bosa bros) look out of place next to historic hispanic architecture. What works in Vancouver doesn’t necessarily work in San Diego.
Balboa park is almost as wonderful as Stanley Park (although isn’t by the ocean) and could be just as great with continued good management.
San Dieguenses need not be so depressed. There’s still hope.
Better not go to Copenhagen or Barcelona then. They are much further ahead of Vancouver. I was depressed when I got back from Europe. We are so far behind it is not funny. A quick trip to Portland cured that though.
i don’t know about San Diego so I can’t speak about them, but that was well written. He had me for sure.
Vancouver sucks:
1) high cost of living
2) stagnant business sector
3) shitty weather most of the time – rain rain, gray clouds sitting right above your head 10 months out of the year
4) main and hastings – have you been there? if you really want to get depressed – no sarcasm intended, i suggest you visit
5) no highways in the city – traffic is horrendous
6) shitty transit system – i have been using it for 16 years and the word efficient never crossed my mind
7) bad drivers
8) shitty architecture – gray concrete buildings look even more depressing the never stopping rain
I have lived here for 16 years so I know all about it.
Good call Jenny,
I recently visitied San Diego to get away from the horribly depressing Vancouver rain. I’ve lived here for 29 years and can’t handle it anymore. Seeing the San Diego sun, clean streets, much much more affordable real estate gave me so much hope. Unfortunately I don’t have $1,000,000 to spend on a basic 2 storey home in Vancouver. Because of the rain I’m sick 3 months out of the year. Time for a change
moved here from india, worst mistake of my life. have lived in more than 10 cities,around the world , this has gotta to be the worst one.