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Vancouver taxpayers on hook for $1-billion as most Olympic Village units unsold !
The Province ^ | 09/08/2010 | Damian Inwood and Kent Spencer

Posted on 09/08/2010 7:43:35 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

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To: ProtectOurFreedom

HA...that IS one of the worst places in Vancouver.....I lived not far from that....across the street from the big globe....in a condo, on the 8th floor....on one side was “Good” Vancouver....on the other was “Bad” Vancouver...


21 posted on 09/08/2010 8:34:34 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Profitmaking is a VIRTUE, not a Vice.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Yep, Salt Lake City made 101-million. There have been a few. Barcelona and Sydney claimed to have broken even, but those were just the committeees. Overall, they cost money.


22 posted on 09/08/2010 8:36:09 PM PDT by CaspersGh0sts
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To: kearnyirish2
An exception is the Columbus Blue Jackets who have received zero public money for the team or the arena. On the contrary, the team has become the driving force behind the Arena District.

The team is...mediocre, but they drive lots of cash into the economy.

23 posted on 09/08/2010 8:43:24 PM PDT by buccaneer81
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

RE: Hastings between Chinatown and Gastown


I’ve been to Vancouver several times ( friends and family live in Richmond ). But I’ll talk about the above place...

The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver continues to be an area where street smarts are required, but by and large the ongoing gentrification of the area has tamed it’s most outstanding problems.

Property crimes have dropped, as well as violent crime. The area is now quite habitable and is in fact the best neighborhood in the city.

For tourists wanting to party the Vancouver way, Gastown is it. The bridge and tunnel paradises of Granville street and Yaletown can’t compare. Come on down, no need to fear, just remember to keep your city wits about you.

I’ve been to the immediate area and I often have problems with the street animals, but I’m used to it and have learned to cope with it by developing “Street Smarts”.

Yes, the Downtown Eastside is hell. Vancouver has a higher crime rate than New York city these days (Take this from a New Yorker), so if you feel like a big confident smart ass, please consider that fact first. Never park a car in the area, you are better off to park far away and walk in or take a cab. It’s as simple as that. Your car will be broken into.

Although I would say that generally you will be OK during daylight hours, although scared, you should NEVER walk along or use a street that Crosses Hastings between Cambie and Main, after dark.

‘Nuff said.


24 posted on 09/08/2010 8:45:48 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Last weekend, I walked down Hastings between Chinatown and Gas Town. My God, was that a horrible experience! I’ve never seen so many wretched people in one place.

Bruno Gerussi is sorely missed.

25 posted on 09/08/2010 8:49:36 PM PDT by buccaneer81
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To: DoughtyOne

I took a look at their web site. The smallest units are 574 ft^2. The article said units started at 400k, so I would say they are charging WAY TOOOOO MUCH!


26 posted on 09/08/2010 9:18:48 PM PDT by chaos_5
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To: SeekAndFind

That’s it!! A sci-fi movie.

There’s precedent. “Logan’s Run” was largely filmed in a just-completed shopping mall.

“Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” was largely filmed in the brand new Century City office complex.

Perhaps a remake of “The Prisoner”?


27 posted on 09/08/2010 9:23:41 PM PDT by sinanju
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Last weekend, I walked down Hastings between Chinatown and Gas Town. My God, was that a horrible experience! I’ve never seen so many wretched people in one place.

I was there recently and it wasn't great - but many streets in San Francisco are a lot worse.

28 posted on 09/08/2010 9:24:31 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ( "The right to offend is far more important than any right not to be offended." - Rowan Atkinson)
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To: Slump Tester
Yeah, if I was looking at $5,000,000 condos, I’d only take one with a free washer and dryer.

Yeah, if they'd just throw in a free microwave as well, that would really seal the deal.

29 posted on 09/08/2010 9:30:33 PM PDT by Bob
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To: SeekAndFind
The Olympic Village, now known as Millennium Water, a condo development along False Creek seems pretty much a ghost town.

Whatever the relevant financial factors in this situation may be, it seems clear that there was a major irony perception deficiency among the planners... /g

30 posted on 09/08/2010 9:46:03 PM PDT by tarheelswamprat
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To: kearnyirish2
In pro sports, it's like holding a gun to the head of the public. I understand that New Jersey tax payers still owe $100,000,000 on the ‘wornout’ Jets stadium. Add that to the brand new albatross hanging around the NJ tax payers neck.
Meanwhile their star defensive cornerback gets how many million dollars to sign after holding out. Then there is Hawnesworth in Washington. He has a contract for what, $90 million, but does not want to participate in practice.

Yeah, I really want to buy a $10 beer and a $5 hot dog to support this crap. No way I could afford the ticket and parking.

31 posted on 09/08/2010 10:00:35 PM PDT by JimmyMc
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To: JimmyMc

I heard a report on ESPN this weekend about how blackouts were a real possibility this year at some (unnamed) stadiums in big markets because they haven’t sold out the games.


32 posted on 09/08/2010 10:23:07 PM PDT by VanShuyten ("a shadow...draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence.")
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To: VanShuyten

“I heard a report on ESPN this weekend about how blackouts were a real possibility this year at some (unnamed) stadiums in big markets because they haven’t sold out the games.”

####

Anyone else feel the entire, increasingly expensive pro sports construct, is a gigantic house of cards about to come tumbling down?


33 posted on 09/08/2010 10:26:14 PM PDT by EyeGuy
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To: SeekAndFind

I know someone who bought a condo in Park City during the glut after the 2004 Olympics. Even in the current market, it’s worth twice what they paid for it.


34 posted on 09/08/2010 11:07:00 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order)
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To: chaos_5

Sounds like it doesn’t it, unless it’s Manhattan.


35 posted on 09/09/2010 4:30:57 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (UniTea! It's not Rs vs Ds you dimwits. It's Cs vs Ls. Cut the crap & lets build for success.)
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To: buccaneer81

Understood; I’m sure there are others as well. Often the ones that don’t want the teams are ones that have been burned by them in the past. The reality is that they’re not the greatest jobs being created, and the way cities have sold their souls with incentives has them scratching their heads five years later wondering why they ever did it. I live within a few miles of Giants/Jets stadium, and the new Red Bulls (soccer) stadium, the Continental Arena, and the Prudential Center, and I have to tell you the area really doesn’t benefit from having them there. 2 of them are actively competing with each other (the Arena and the Pru Center, which really wasn’t needed at all but was a way for politicians and companies to pretend they care about black people in Newark); there is simply not enough business for both of them, and even after the Pru Center poached the NJ Devils they still can’t get people to stay in Newark after dark. They tried to strongarm the Nets into playing in Newark, but I think they’ve been unsuccessful so far. They initially provide some benefit as far as costs of municipal services, but that doesn’t last.


36 posted on 09/09/2010 5:03:08 PM PDT by kearnyirish2
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To: JimmyMc

The north Jersey venues aren’t for families or individuals; they are now designed for corporate sponsorship with more boxes, restaurants, etc. They are priced beyond the average person in the area (see the Giants & Jets both having a hard time selling season tickets, when in the past at least the Giants had a waiting list of more than 10 years); the only individuals they want buying tickets are foreign tourists from NYC. When the brand-new mall next to the new stadium failed to open on time (and still hasn’t), the politicians admitted it was for “foreign tourists’” shopping; the only Americans in there would be to work the registers, clean the bathrooms, gurad the parking lot, etc.


37 posted on 09/09/2010 5:08:14 PM PDT by kearnyirish2
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To: kearnyirish2
they still can’t get people to stay in Newark after dark

The same reason the Whalers left Hartford. The criminal element in both cities killed them

Look at Columbus. A bad team, but still makes money for the Arena District

38 posted on 09/09/2010 8:45:32 PM PDT by buccaneer81
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To: buccaneer81

I didn’t know that about Hartford; I remember seeing them play the Devils years ago. The Devils had a hard enough time selling tickets in their old arena, but it was accessible and safe (when they won the Stanley Cup their “parade” was literally in the arena parking lot because they weren’t close to any city; when the Rangers won they got a parade down Fifth Avenue). NJ has this mentality that if they force people onto mass transit, they’ll just go along with it, but it has never worked out like that. They certainly weren’t going to be waiting for a train in Newark at night.


39 posted on 09/10/2010 3:00:55 AM PDT by kearnyirish2
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