The Old Meets the New

You land in Vancouver and are immediately greeted by evidence of the city's original industry: newly cut trees floated down the river in rafts, awaiting processing or export:


Get a little closer to downtown, though, and you see evidence of the city's newest industry: housing immigrants, mainly from Asia:



Much of the waterfront is lined with these modern apartment buildings, all in the same few shades of blue and green glass. In the False Creek area, near where we stayed, the apartment buildings are interrupted by tourist attractions:


The globe to the right is a science museum; the oblong building to the left is, unsurprisingly given the local demographics, a casino.

Further around the creek is the newest local housing project:


It's the Olympic Village, still under construction, and by "Own the Ultimate 2010 Souvenir" they mean, buy one of these apartments! Available now for March 2010 occupancy! Generously host an athlete or two in your new home before moving in yourself!

The sales pitch is apparently not working too well at the moment -- no surprise, Vancouver has been affected by the worldwide economic collapse as much as anywhere -- but we all thought it would be more effective if the offer was: take occupancy before the Olympics and host an athlete with you in your apartment ... (grin!)