How has the snow had an impact?

[BJB]

Just got home from the game. Drive isn't bad (Well GM Place to East Van), just take your time. Busses are out of commision.... there were 6 of them lined up on kingsway.... as they are having problems with the hill heading towards Victoria Dr.....

There was an announcement at the hockey game before it ended notifying people of the poor weather conditions and that most busses can't move.... so take skytrain.....

This storm came out of no where.... When will it be over.....

The morning commute should be nice....

 

[italian_stallion21]

This storm came out of no where.... When will it be over.....

How so? Weather network was saying 5-10 CM for the weekend, it's looking like the 10 CM end of things. They also are saying snow for next weekend too, yippee!

 

[trece verde]

forecasted rain for the next 3 days and temperatures up to 9 by Wednesday...

 

[WestCoast]

Just got home from the game. Drive isn't bad (Well GM Place to East Van), just take your time. Busses are out of commision.... there were 6 of them lined up on kingsway.... as they are having problems with the hill heading towards Victoria Dr.....

There was an announcement at the hockey game before it ended notifying people of the poor weather conditions and that most busses can't move.... so take skytrain.....

This storm came out of no where.... When will it be over.....

The morning commute should be nice....

Got to love not working mondays.

 

[Kevin Hector]

I love getting up at 3:30am for work I'm moving to Vegas

 

[Tim Berners-Lee]

forecasted rain for the next 3 days and temperatures up to 9 by Wednesday...

who would have thought that this would one day be the desired forecast

 

[oldtimer]

I love getting up at 3:30am for work I'm moving to Vegas

Don't bother, I was there two weeks ago and it also snowed there, it got the most snow it had in 60+ years

 

[Yoda]

OK, i've hit my limit. Schools closed in only Mission, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, and Pitt Meadows.
Now my kid had missed a day of school and she'll never get into University!
Somebody's gettin' sued!

 

[The_Reverend]

big issue is that we don't know how to deal with snow in vancouver, unlike pretty much the rest of canada... why can't we have those super-big snowblowers like they use in quebec to *clear* the streets of snow - trucked away in big trucks... and apparently now being used to cool city buildings in the summer:

Green use for white snow: Ottawa probes cool potential to save energy

anyway - white rock has been pretty good this year... all the problems i've seen have only been in vancouver and coquitlam...

 

[Regs]

2 things:

1. Snow is different here than the rest of Canada. "Dealing with it" would be a challenge for anyone back east here IMHO.

2. Yes, let's raise taxes to buy extra snow removal equipment and then let it sit and rust for the next 6-8 years until the next big snow event happens here.

 

[Yoda]

Can't wait to find out that parking is going to be twice the price this summer because they quadrupled the city budget for snow removal.

Honestly, i'm just happy they've plowed our street twice. First 2 times ever sinc we bought the house. Pretty sure were the last street in the city. I think the neighbours complained to the city though.

 

[lita]

1. smashed car (I was smart enough to realize it was too icy to drive and parked on the street and took transit home too bad the guy that slammed into didn't - dealing with ICBC right now sucks big time)

2. public transit, hence number 1(okay, I normally commute via skytrain to work daily but taking the stupid bus is ridiculous every 45 minutes if it's running at all and last night it slammed into some parked cars trying to make it up a hill. I walked to the skytrain today - thanks to all those that shoveled the sidewalks in front of their houses)

3. cabin fever, hence 1 & 2. Staying inside is driving me crazy. I got all this new running gear and no where to run (yeah, I guess I could hit the gym and run the treadmill but come on it's a treadmill I might as well just run up and down the stairs in my house)

Yeah, it's snowing every frickin' day and as stated above it's a blood inconvenience but suck it up. Everytime snow hits Vancouver people come out in droves to tell us all how the situation should be handled and how the city is doing such a shitty job. Like Regs said the snow is very different than places back east and I agree they wouldn't know how to handle it any better. I honestly think they are doing a pretty job all things considered.

 

[The_Reverend]

2 things:

1. Snow is different here than the rest of Canada. "Dealing with it" would be a challenge for anyone back east here IMHO.

2. Yes, let's raise taxes to buy extra snow removal equipment and then let it sit and rust for the next 6-8 years until the next big snow event happens here.

i was too lazy to add the sarcastic faces, etc...

 

[Kevin Hector]

In Halifax the city workers shovel the side walks and all the roads get cleared. again I know its the light snow. but they still get eight feet of it I really can't wait to go to Hawaii at the end of the month.

 

[Yoda]

Saw the great City Bylaw officer out making his rounds with his fine/warning pad in hand.
Walking the streets of Ridge ready to dole out fines. He looked disapointed though. For the most part, all store/restaurants, etc were cleared.

Poor guy.
Maybe he can fine the city for not clearing the sides of the road so that people can park without getting thier mirrors clipped off.

 

[Yoda]

Ya think the cities need to get their asses in gear in SD42?
Great that they are smart enough to know that some kid walking on the street because he can't walk on the snowed over sidewalks, is going to get hit by a car. So rather than clear the walkways, they'll just close the schools again.




NEWS 1130:

School Closures as of Monday, January 5th @ 5:15 pm
TUESDAY:



Vancouver Christian School



School District No. 42 (Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows):

All elementary schools will be closed for students and staff, and all secondary schools will be open for students and staff

 

[The Franchise]

Ya think the cities need to get their asses in gear in SD42?
Great that they are smart enough to know that some kid walking on the street because he can't walk on the snowed over sidewalks, is going to get hit by a car. So rather than clear the walkways, they'll just close the schools again.




NEWS 1130:

School Closures as of Monday, January 5th @ 5:15 pm
TUESDAY:



Vancouver Christian School



School District No. 42 (Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows):

All elementary schools will be closed for students and staff, and all secondary schools will be open for students and staff

Are you kidding Elementry schools are closed tommorow

 

[Yoda]

Yes

 

[girth]

Now I'm never gonna shovel my sidewalks... I wanna see how long I can keep kids outta school!

 

[Dude]

Honestly, it is stupid, isn’t it?

I don’t care that we have “different” snow. Have a plan. No, we don’t need more equipment, because this so infrequently happens. But, every winter, we get at least one dump that lasts a week or so that seems to shut everything down because we aren’t prepared. It’s simple: create a small, yearly contingency budget that can be tapped when needed. Mandate this to all levels of government that are responsible for roads. Use that money to pay for overtime, and hire private contractors. The union will hate this, but fcuk them, you need to do what is sensible. Establish a list of private guys w/ equipment that can be brought in to do small jobs on a contract basis. I.e.: bobcat owners to clear the sidewalks so elderly people can go about their routines, and kids can walk to school in safety. This isn’t fcuking rocket science. I’ll give you an example on a micro scale: here in Port Kells where our building is, most complexes have snow cleared in their parking lots. I had NONE yesterday morning. Why? Because we have a small portion of our strata fees allocated monthly for this stuff. Same applies to most businesses in the area. The roads to get here? A disgrace. Cars stuck everywhere, people late getting in, deliveries late or cancelled…and Port Kells is a very busy, active industrial / business center. A little bit of snow and the area is crippled for regular, every day business.

A plan of action is not unachievable. In our neighbourhood alone we’ve grown by 3 times in the last four years. The house values have increased 60% in that span. The city is racking it in on property taxes. Same applies in many cities w/ bustling, growing business strata complexes. You think your house property taxes are high? My building, at 2200 sq. ft, is about 3 times higher than our house at 3900 sq ft building plus land.

This wouldn’t take a relatively great deal of money to accomplish, just prudent planning. This isn’t a reform of the medical system we’re talking about, it’s a simple plan that year after year gets bottled. Not just in Langley, but everywhere in the Lower Mainland. Not acceptable.