The Daily Princetonian
Thursday march 24, 2016
page S1
PAGES DESIGNED BY HARRISON BLACKMAN :: STREET EDITOR
UNFAMILIAR STREETS
Spring break travels, cold and warm ‘Unfamiliar Street’ is a travel column in which we take you around the world and introduce you to a cool STREET far from the well-trod gravel of Prospect Avenue. Over spring break, Street Editor HARRISON BLACKMAN visited an ‘Unfamiliar Street’ in a cold place and Staff Writer ANGELA WANG visited an ‘Unfamilar Street’ in a warm place. Incidentally, both places were part of the British Commonwealth.
COURTESY PANORAMIO.COM
ANGELA WANG :: STAFF WRITER
WEST GEORGIA STREET IN VANCOUVER, BC
AN UNNAMED STREET IN HAMILTON, BERMUDA ANGELA WANG
HARRISON BLACKMAN
Staff Writer
Street Editor
T
o enter and leave Vancouver, you have to pass through its heart. Crossing the Lions Gate Bridge over Vancouver’s harbor (the namesake of the Canadian film company Lionsgate Entertainment), you enter Stanley Park, a wooded landmark of walking paths, shores and a display of Totem Poles. It’s there that you enter West Georgia Street, a major avenue that cuts through some of Vancouver’s major landmarks: The Fairmont Hotel, of the famous Canadian hotel brand based in Toronto; the Vancouver Art Gallery, a world-class museum inside a repurposed city hall; and Rogers Arena and BC Place, the home of the Vancouver Canucks NHL team and Whitecaps FC, respectively. West Georgia Street is something akin to New York’s 5th Avenue, home to many high-end retail locations, such as the Vancouver outlet of Hudson’s Bay Company, the Canadian department store that got its start with fur trapping in 1670. It also hosts the public amenities such as Vancouver’s massive public library, and across the street, its post office. Closer to the sports arenas, West Georgia Street is defined by sports bars and pubs. West Georgia Street transitions into Prior Street when it intersects with Main Street, and its counterpart, East Georgia Street, is more residential. As I walked along the puddles of Georgia Street over spring break, I marveled at a city so inviting, walkable and clean. It was the stuff that American urban planners’ dreams were made of. How did it come to be? Founded in 1867 as a logging town named the enticing-sounding “Gastown,” the settlement was renamed “Vancouver” after the Canadian transcontinental railroad was built. Today, Vancouver is the fourth most densely populated city in North America. Vancouver is well-known for its strong urban planning. It even has a name for it: “Vancouverism.” Urban planners in the 1980s pursued a policy of high-rise residential developments along with mixed-use retail and resi-
dential uses. The result is a city ranked with the 5th highest quality of life in the world, (behind Vienna, Zurich, Auckland and Munich) and perhaps unsurprisingly it is the priciest city in Canada. Vancouver’s hosting of the 2010 Olympic Games motivated its expansion of its subway and transit system, known as SkyTrain. Coming from my experience with the generally effective but notorious Washington, DC Metro, (the entire system was closed Wednesday last week for a decidedly non-routine, emergency safety inspection), I was impressed at the Vancouver system’s cleanliness and timeliness. Vancouver is also as diverse and culturally vibrant as it is well-planned. When the United Kingdom transferred governorship of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, it led to a large migration of British Chinese to Canada, particularly Vancouver. Today, Vancouver’s population is about 20 percent Chinese, lending itself to a city with some of the best Chinese cuisine in North America. The demographics are also reflected in the Vancouver’s signage: many public signs are subtitled in Chinese, rather than Greater Canada’s more common emphasis on French. Like its Pacific Northwest cousins, Seattle and Portland, Vancouver has the climate of a “temperate rainforest.” That is to say, it rains a lot. Statistically, it rains every other day from November to March, so if seasonal affective disorder were a problem for you, it would be unwise to live there. As for regional prominence, Vancouver places you close to nature and its associated recreation — the ski resort across the bay provides easy access to winter sports, while the famous Whistler Mountain is just a two hours’ drive away. A ferry in nearby Tsawwassen can take you to Vancouver Island and British Columbia’s capital of Victoria. Vancouver truly lies in the heart of BC — and West Georgia Street is in the center of all of it.
I
still don’t know the name of the street, but I fell in love with it on my first night in Bermuda. I walked out of dinner with my friends around 8 p.m., and it was dark outside already. Feeling overly stuffed, we decided to walk around a lovely little town called Hamilton. Unlike New York City, there is no street light every five feet. The whole town is dim with staggering lights coming from the households uphill and f lickering candlelight from oceanside restaurants. We took a turn, and suddenly we came across a little alley illuminated by Christmas lights. Due to the unexpected brightness, I shut my eyes for a second and then opened them to what I now consider a wonderful surprise. It felt like walking in the dark and suddenly discovering a new territory — a welcoming, gleaming one. With the light, I could see the stairs clearly. Each step has a different color, and going up the stairs felt like going down a palette, or rather, a rainbow. Bermuda is an extremely colorful place, and driving from the airport, I did not see two houses next to each other with the same color. However, this unfamiliar little street outshone many others, with 30 steps and 30 distinct colors. What made it even better was the writing on the stairs. The lower part of the stairs read: “There is magic at your fingertips, look closely and see it, unfolding from weary bones.” Walking up the stairs and reading the lines step by step, these aphoristic comments warmed my heart on that slightly chilly night. I wonder who painted them: One person? Multiple people? Children? High schoolers? Artists on vacation? A myriad of questions popped into my head, and there was no answer to be found. The mystery behind the creator made me love the street even more. I went with two of my friends, and we were all taking it in silently. We met up at the top of the stairs around the same time. Needless to say, we
wanted a picture together. As we were wondering about who should take the photo, a cook named Bob from a restaurant by the stairs came out and offered to do us the favor. I thought he was just going take the picture and leave, but he ended up talking to us on the stairs for an hour. He passionately told us stories about the history of Bermuda: how the settlement began — from the Northern corner down to the South. This is why the forts are in the north and the malls are in the south. He then told us it is still a British territory, which explains why they drive on the left and have portraits of Queen Elizabeth everywhere. He told us about schools: ten elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools and one university. Everyone has to wear a uniform. He told us there were about 600 taxis in Bermuda, so we should never worry about not being able to get one. At one point, he ran back into his kitchen and came out with three sundaes in his hand. He talked. I listened. We laughed. There is a Chinese proverb that goes: “The scenery is pretty, but the people make it prettier.” Indeed, that street left me with so many memories because of Bob, my honorary tour guide, and Bermy-pedia of the night. It’s true, not just Bob, but basically everyone in Bermuda seems approachable. They want to help you; they want to make conversation with you; they want to get to know you. I was in New York City the night before, and it was such a contrast between New Yorkers and locals in Bermuda. I learned something new about someone every day, and they never failed to bring a smile on my face. Three hours f lew by quickly, and we grudgingly said goodbye to the delightful street. It was a street full of lights, laughter and love. As the taxi was driving uphill, the brightness of the street became smaller and dimmer. It didn’t disappear, though — it’s still shining in my mind.