I have a friend who lives in New York City. (breathy pause). Impressive, eh? I have a friend who lives in New York City. How many Canadians love claiming this as a bragging right? You mention it casually, in passing, and you know that you have scored. They are impressed, or you expect them to be. The elegant sheen of the Western Hemisphere's premier World Class City has rubbed off just a little bit onto your clothing, like stardust or stray glitter in a gay pride parade. You know that by association you are glamorous, worldly and cultured if but for a nanosecond. The oh gosh, oh wow factor wears away quickly, fading into the night like dying neon and now you have to get on with it. Yes, and your point is?
Well, this is my point. I live in Vancouver, the Western Hemisphere's premier World Class Wannabe. Our beloved Mayor says it all the time. Vancouver is a World Class City. The way he says it all the words are in upper case, but for friendly viewing I have opted only to capitalize the first letter of each word. Before I go on , let me quote here from a recent email written by my New Yorker friend:
"I've been... catching up on theatre; several great British actors in various productions imported from England to Broadway. Tomorrow I have a ticket to see the Globe Theatre's all-male production of Twelfth Night... also art-hopping. On Saturday, I went gallery-hopping... and today I saw an interesting video installation, as well as a Magritte exhibit at MoMa. Next week I'm going to see an exhibit of paintings from a museum in the Hague, and after that there's an exhibit of textiles from... the 15th to the 19th centuries... "
I replied:
"Ahhh, to live in a world class city... Vancouver is and likely always will be in my humble opinion a world class wannabe, which I think is also part of our charm."
My friend responded:
"That place looks very cute. Enjoy!"
I have never been to New York and I'm not sure if I will ever visit that fabled berg. I have been in other cities that are popularly designated "World Class": chiefly London (England, not the one in Ontario for gawd's sake!), Amsterdam, Berlin...Perhaps Brussels? but the seat of the European Union is rather iffy for that kind of designation though it is a lovely city nonetheless with wonderful architecture. I have also spent a lot of time in Mexico City, which I understand also to be a world-class wannabe, though I think it still has the ass beat off Vancouver, but for their contaminated public water. Lately I have been visiting Mexico City almost every year since 2009 and you know something, the first thing I do every time I return is, as soon as I am inside my apartment and have deposited my luggage in the middle of the floor I go straight to the kitchen sink where I draw glass after glass of clean, sweet, frigid mountain glacier cold and (almost) pure water until I am nearly ready to explode or faint from electrolyte loss. I am home, home, oh welcome home in my dear sweet overpriced pretentious damp and drab but for the breathtaking mountains forest and sea Vancouver.
The thrill is usually gone within a couple of hours. Following a long nap and taking a walk in the neighbourhood everything seems very quiet, dull, colourless and empty. And it's usually early April when the city is already overrun with new spring flowers. I have come home again. To sweet little Vancouver. Regina-by-the-sea. A rhinestone stuck in a platinum setting.
This city is home to me. I was born in the Vancouver General Hospital, raised in Richmond, and but for several months spent respectively on Vancouver Island and in Toronto this is where I have lived my entire life. The natural beauty is not easy to overlook. The mountains, though not particularly high or majestic still provide an impressive backdrop, especially when covered with snow. The ocean, though lacking in dramatic surf or waves due to the shelter of nearby Vancouver Island is lovely and soothing to look at and the smell of the sea impregnates the senses. The water isn't particularly blue, rather greenish, sometimes brownish, but when the sun shines, which happens oftener than we sometimes think, it is indeed blue and sometimes overwhelms the senses like a fluid dancing and glittering sapphire. We have no natural beaches to speak of, except for some surviving parts of Wreck beach, our world famous nude (or clothing optional) beach. Our other beaches, all eight or nine of them, are artificial. Designer beaches redolent with imported brown-gray sand and fake driftwood logs all lined in a row. I think our forests are our greatest asset. Stanley Park and Pacific Spirit Park are huge urban forests with hiking trails. We still have lovely heritage architecture but much of it may still be endangered, given our current administration's obsession with development. The downtown core, including the West End, Coal Harbour and Yale town have been converted into a massive fortress of glass, steel and concrete, most of it colorless and from many vantage points obscuring the view of the mountains. And the building goes on.
Our mayor wants a world class city with world class bike lanes and world class public transit and a citizenry who expects everything served on a platter with low taxes. Many who live here want world class streets flowing with world class beer wine and spirits. It seems commonly assumed that by relaxing our public drinking laws we will have suddenly a world class city. That's the recipe, add alcohol and stir. But what we get instead is world class brawling and rioting such as has become the main event in our entertainment district downtown and, can you say..."Stanley Cup Riots." We've had two of those in seventeen years. But it is also said we have world class dining, world class skiing (Whistler, also known as Yaletown in the Mountains), world class boating, and world class condominiums and penthouses and multi-million dollar properties being bought, invested in and not lived in by billionaires from China and other auspicious nations.
I could go on, but I have overstated my point. World Class status is not a right, it is a privilege, and it is not magically granted to new cities that have existed in former British Colonies for not much longer than a century. Nor is world class status necessarily a boon or a blessing. This city is remarkable for everything that would not make it world class: it's natural beauty and huge ethnic diversity. Multicultural, but not cosmopolitan. Bland and colourless with the worst poverty in Canada. Real Estate so overpriced that only those who earn more than $100,000 a year can afford to buy a house, anywhere in the city. Where the "World Class Attractions" are not affordable to just anybody. I think I will simply enjoy living in my tiny subsidized apartment, be filled with gratitude that I love my job and have friends who count me worthy of their friendship, and continue to savour the sea tinged air while walking in forests accessible by a long walk or a short bus-ride.
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