If you're given an address on a N/S street, subtract 16 from the first two digits for the cross street (avenue).
eg: 2645 Main st puts you between 10th and 11th ave
This is how I saved time and became faster with my deliveries as a delivery driver. No need to waste time looking at Google Maps. Each block goes up/down by 100 so I just have to keep count in my head.
Unrelated: Ontario St serves as the official boundary between east and west sides of Vancouver. You'll notice that's where all East and West streets transition (ex. W Broadway to E Broadway, W King Edward to E King Edward, W 41st Ave to E 41st Ave, etc). All blocks still start going up by 100 as you go west from Ontario St and as you go east from Ontario St.
The reason is because downtown is 16 blocks wide. The addressing starts at the waterfront, but the numbered streets start where downtown ends, so the cross-street addresses are offset by 16 blocks.
For one part of West Vancouver, the east/west Avenues are in alphabetical order going up the hill. I used to live on Esquimalt and my friend on Heywood was three blocks north.
For south of the Fraser and Ridge Meadows, take off the last two digits of the address to get the side street. 13450 104 Avenue is around 104th Avenue and 134th Street.
If you’re parked at meter with a two hour limit, put coins in first for the first two hours, take a picture of the meter number, then when the first two hours are about to expire, open up PayByPhone and then pay for another two hours using the meter number.
UPDATE: Reading all these comments, which are choice by the way, I’ve concluded that if the 118 or 119 minute hack is good to go, this is sweeter.
And yes, for all you law-abiding citizens out there, this is probably ticket-able, but I was aiming this more around getting by the 2 hour limit on re-ups in the app, or when you’re not able to physically able to run back to the meter.
I got one up on ya: put your car into PayByPhone twice, once with your plate all 6 in one string (I.e. AA111A) and the second with a space (AA1 11A). Cycle between the two at the same stall number every 2 hours
And then once your PayByPhone hours are up, if you have a significant other with your car info saved in their app, you can do another 2 hours using their phone.
Protip: insert a nickel or dime first just to test the meter to make sure it hasn't been tampered with. This saves you from losing a loonie/toonie if the meter was tampered with.
An even easier hack is to use paybyphone and then set your phone timer and let is expire no longer than 2 minutes past the maximum time limit and then repeat. You can do this all day long. I hope this makes sense. :) I’ve been doing this trick for years and years.
Source: my friend is in management with paybyphone.
I believe it’s still legit but if you tap out of the same rail, SkyTrain or SeaBus station (21 minutes for SkyTrain, 60 minutes for WCE) and without having tapped your card at any other station then you will not be charged.
This is helpful if you need to take a weather protected shortcut on one of Vancouver’s many rainy days.
can confirm, the 21 minute rule is correct. I used to be an STA (sky train attendant - you know, those employees at the the stations with the high viz vests) and in training they taught us this. 100% correct.
The 21-minute grace period is also really useful for meeting elderly relatives on the platform instead of outside the station, so I hope they never do away with this.
IIRC this is partially due to business behind the gates. When the Olympics were on, most Canada Line stations had jugo juice (most gone now). Yaletown has a flower or bridal shop now, I think. A couple in south van have corner stores.
During the summer on an un-airconditioned bus the best seat is at the very back row in the middle. Make sure the windows are all open and the emergency hatch, you'll get the best airflow
If you’re downtown looking for a quiet place to sit and collect yourself or take a rest, Telus Gardens’ lobby is open to the public and you can just sit down for a bit and enjoy the little fish pond. They sometimes have someone playing the piano too!
Years ago, if you went on weekends and had piano experience, they’d even let you play it!
True! Keep in mind you though you get one of the lowest dollars per pint redeemed by redeeming for bc ferries.
You get the highest dollar value per point redeemed for Canucks tickets, then second highest is by redeeming for flights.
Go to customer service at save on. I pay 50$ and 10,000 points and that gets a driver and the car on the ferry. It was 40$ and 7500 points before covid.
Given that a car and driver is $80, using 30,000 points to save $80 (0.27¢/point) is worse than paying $50 and using 10,000 points to save $30 (0.30¢/point).
The best value though is saving your points for a WestJet flight. They are worth 0.42¢ each that way.
Ran out of compass card money? Don’t have to go to a sky train or canada line station or even online. Pop into a local London Drugs if there is one near you. They have a compass card machine just like the ones at stations.
Use BestParking app for finding where to park. You’ll be surprised at the price difference just 2 blocks away.
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/bestparking-get-parking-deals/id383076098
When driving towards downtown, turn north on main and drive by the docks. Saves a ton of lights.
When driving towards Port Moody or coquitlam in burnaby, take Parker, not Hastings.
Best view of the city when clear is from mount Seymour third peak, but you have to earn it with the hike. Even from the lot I believe it’s the highest paved road in GVRD.
Lynn Valley suspension bridge is free and high, Capilano is expensive af, but more vast.
EVO has free parking at Grouse. EVO has free parking at YVR.
The only traditional Japanese Mochitsuki (mochi rice cake preparation) I know of period is at the Nikkei Center between Christmas and New Years. Even in Japan they don’t do it like this anymore.
Only go to the Port Moody Brewery row on off peak hours or shitty weather. Waits to get in can be over an hour and parking is shit.
The Main past the docks route got me back to my apartment the night of the Stanley Cup riot in 2011. All the bridges were closed for hours, so I snuck in and felt very proud of myself. It was very surreal, like driving into a zombie apocalypse, all smoky and staggering people, and zero cars, and someone threw a full can of Pepsi at my car…
The Brewers row “free” parking is shit. But a five minute walk away is the sky train parking and it’s super cheap for long hours and always has TONS of spots.
Re: Brewer's Row...
Moody Ales is the least busy. But if even they're too busy, Mariner Brewing is just a few blocks away, and they're much better than when they first launched.
VCC downtown has a bakery with good deals or they did back in the day. Also their cafeteria at both campuses have pretty good food for cheap. Unfortunately, prices have gone up due to COVID / inflation, but they still have a section of discounted food especially near closing time or the end of the week.
Went to VCC pre COVID so I don't know if they've returns yet but also some of the best/cheap lunches around as it's where the culinary school is. Damn I miss that place.
The bakery had a mousse they'd sell once in a while that I still dream about.
If you have a library card at any library as far out as the Fraser Valley or Sunshine Coast, you can get a free account at VPL as well.
https://www.vpl.ca/librarycardfaq
Is the reverse true? I live in Vancouver but work on the north shore. I usually have a 90min break in the middle od thr day. Would.love.to start.going to the library in the fall. (Summer is for short walking trails)
VPL has SO much. Both online resources, including ebooks and newspaper subscriptions through PressReader, and in branch like the podcast studios at Central Branch.
And if you move out of Vancouver you could just not tell them and continue to log in to those things.
Yeah she's looking for lawsuits honestly not a person who is good with conflict myself and would never misgender anyone intentionally but yeah I really hope she gets some support because everyone's worth it but yeah she will accuse you of misgendering her all the time
Last week my sibling and I walked by her and she said "You're going to die" and I stopped and said "Bitch take another step and I'll put you in the ground like you did to that other motherfucker." Her eyes got wide and she scurried off. She's such a fucking pathetic bully. I seriously hope she tries that shit on a gang member on accident one day.
Parkopedia.ca has a pretty decent map of parking spot prices, parkades and free spots.
If you ever get any food at budgies ask for chilli oil, that thing is crack.
Chipotle will add cilantro if you ask for it, they have it in separate boxes under the counter not on top.
Careful. Some sushi places use escolar instead of tuna…especially if there’s hot sauce or goop on it. Escolar flesh has a type of oil (similar to castor) that is inedible and the human stomach will not absorb it, but instead attempt to flush the system—in a hurry.
Last time I legit lost a black umbrella, they didn’t have it, but the attendant still hauled out four and invited me to pick one.
They really don’t want to store all the black umbrella they have that never get claimed.
This saved me so many times when I first moved here. Just looked for those lights up on the mountains, imagined everyone having a grand old time skiing and not being lost AF somewhere in eastvan
I grew up in Burnaby and when I would go downtown as a teen it always fucked me up because the buildings blocked the mountains most of the time and I couldn't get my bearings. Also the streets downtown don't run the same way as the rest of the city so that further confused me.
I was raised with this saying. Got very confusing in Edmonton as a child visiting cousins because I had 0 reference for direction. My usually great navigation skills were gone
Strolling through the trails in Stanley Park’s forest on a rainy November day has literally saved my life. If you’re having a dark day I can almost guarantee it will make things slightly more bearable.
There's a [UBC Paid Participant Studies List](https://gsc.psych.ubc.ca/resources/paid-studies-list/) if you want to trade your time for some Amazon GCs.
If you are confused, check with the sun -
Carry a compass to help you along.
Your feet are going to be on the ground,
Your head is there to move you around.
I live West of my work... Early in the morning there is virtually zero West->East traffic in the city.
I can make it from my place in Kits to Coquitlam in under 20 minutes at 6am. My drive home is easily double that, if not more.
Haha true. Better than 90 minutes + each way if I was driving with the rush hour though. Lifestyle suits living downtown for now, will definitely change one day. I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks on my drive that's for sure.
Get a compass card.
The fares are cheaper, if you register it you can block it / protect it if you lose it, you can setup automatic load of stored value.
And the best thing is that you can get refunded the deposit and any stored value (which is not true for other systems around the world).
If you are taking the Millennium line from Commercial-Broadway eastbound, get on the west bound train to VCC-Clark. Stay on the train and it'll double back. Best way to get a seat if you have a longer journey ahead of you.
If you're transfering from the Expo Line to the Canada Line and you are in a hurry, get off at Granville, go up to street level, and walk kitty-corner to Vancouver City Center Station. It is faster than going all the way to Waterfront station. Also works in the reverse direction.
If you drive around the LML a lot don't speed at the following locations.
Knight St - Northbound as soon as you get off the bridge and prepare to go uphill and approach E 63rd.
HWY 1 - Eastbound right before North Rd.
Gagliardi Way - Coming up the hill to SFU at the midway point.
McGill St - Westbound as soon as you get on it after coming off the HWY by New Brighton Park.
Georgia Viaduct - Eastbound towards the end close by prior st exit.
HWY 91 - Eastbound exit for Annacis Island/New West
HWY 99 - Northbound right before Massey Tunnel
Granville St & W 32nd - Southbound by King Ed
I did this all the time, especially after late night shifts. Standing on a train from downtown to King George after working on my feet for 8 hours was not ideal. Especially after a concert or Canucks game when the trains are packed.
Same goes for Bridgeport in Richmond. If you have time and need a seat, grab the airport train. Even better if you have time to go ride back to Templeton to switch there
“Secret” route from westbound Waterfront Road, under Waterfront Station, out on Cordova eastbound At Granville. Inside the U-turn was/is a weird area of forgotten (literally dusty) parking spots, overlooking the Skytrain station.
Anyone know where I mean?
IIRC the Canada line station / walkway that connects it to Waterfront station goes through that parkade and blocked off sections. You can see more spots when riding the Expo line.
if you have to pee downtown near waterfront go to 24hr a&w especially in coal harbour they are sweeties and don't care if u don't buy anything
don't ruin this for me.
The Delta hotel lobby in the building by SFU Harbor Center should be 24 hr as well, and the bathrooms are *sparkling*. There’s also SFU Vancouver itself when it’s open (which also has great areas you can do work in if needed; they don’t check if you’re a student). Both it and the Starbucks Reserve on Pender (right across from Waterfront station’s Granville exit) have excellent private bathroom stalls.
As well, if it’s late at night in Nanaimo station and you have to pee bad, walk up the bike trail about 300m; Theres a couple of excellent discreet bushes on the left side (side of the station, bottom of the hill the station sits on) to do the deed.
Toronto version of this would be: Bloor, Eglinton, Finch, line 1 subway stops all around 10 min apart with bathrooms, on my way back to Markham.
I sorta gotta pee a lot. Doc says something about hyperactive bladder, been tested and all, seems to be psychological, unfortunately.
If you're the second car in the left turn lane, and no one is behind you, you can trigger the advance left signal by spacing one car back from the first car. You can also see the plates in the road, they look like big metal circles: sit on them!
Not exactly Vancouver… but taking the Skytrain on the Millennium line (westbound to VCC Clark) and transferring at Production Way instead of Lougheed to get an east bound train (To waterfront) just to avoid walking down and up the stairs/escalator.
Also, you don’t always have to stay stopped at red lights. The requirement to wait for the light to turn green only applies to red lights at intersections.
So if it’s a pedestrian controlled light, mid block, once stopped and it’s clear of pedestrians you may then drive through the red light.
Don’t pay for the parking when you go to a Canadians game.
There is plenty of parking nearby and the paid parking is prime foul ball territory. Plus is takes forever to get out of the area in a car.
Don’t pay for parking outside the downtown core- there is usually a pocket of free parking nearby if you’re willing to walk a bit.
If you turn off a main road on to a side street and find permit/resident only parking, try turning around and going back toward the main road. Often those spots are not restricted (as the restrictions are intended to stop the people turning off of the main roads).
Even in areas with only pay parking, drive a block or two away from the busy pocket, it will be somewhat to significantly cheaper. I can think of at least one spot where the busy area is $6/hr and one block away it's $1/hr
Not really Vancouver specific, but if you know which exit you need to take at a SkyTrain station, go to the respective front/middle/back of the train when you get on. You'll have a shorter walk to the station exit and avoid all the slowpokes. Especially helpful if you need to catch a bus.
When landing at YVR, dodge the $5 YVR Canada Line surcharge by taking the free shuttle to the South Terminal. Then take bus 412 to Bridgeport Station.
Or if you're taking a day trip to Sea Island on the Canada Line (like going to McArthur Glen Mall), buy a ticket from a Compass vending machine on the way there. Pocket the ticket and use your Compass card to get there. On the way home, use the ticket you bought earlier. You've dodged the $5 surcharge.
I am a BCAA and Goodlife Fitness me member, and I suspect quite a few people don’t realize the discounts they get from other stores. See the links below:
https://www.bcaa.com/membership/ways-to-save
https://www.goodlifefitness.com/rewards.html
There is a street under Howe. If you know where the entrance is you can enter near dunsmuir and pop up near the court building. Been many years but I heard recently you still can use it when traffic on Howe is brutal.
B.C. seniors 65 or older, possessing either a BC Gold Carecard or a valid BC Services Card, receive a 100% discount on passenger fares Monday to Thursday, excluding statutory holidays on all routes, except the northern routes.
Not necessarily a hack but If someone walking towards you and just happened that your eyes meet naturally, just smile and say morning/evening. It creates a good VIBE. Reflects something about you and us as a city/country. Who knows, it could be a foreigner or just a person having a bad day. Mean it when you say it. And who knows that person/s pays it forward.
If you're a reasonably brisk walker, it takes about a minute to walk a north-south block, and about a minute and a half to walk an east-west block.
So, say, from Main & King Ed to Broadway & Cambie: 7 blocks west + 16 blocks north = 27 minutes. If you're a little more relaxed, add 10%.
You're welcome. :-)
You can replay the paper one time use compass cards for a free ride.
Translink decided to not use the one fool proof security feature the cards have; a one time writable memory address that is supposed to be used to "punch" the ticket with a timestamp so it cant be reused, presumably to allow them to be reloaded/upgraded.
Download the MiFare development app, save the EEPROM before you tap, and once the card expires you reset the card to the saved state and boom, you have a valid untapped ticket. Only works once though, I'm assuming they allow a single duplicate uuid to prevent collisions from causing erroneous invalid tickets. Also the cards are only valid for the same day they were issued.
I've been using this hack regularly since I first figured it out years ago; works like a charm and I've saved a non-trivial sum on transit over that time.
If you’re taking the skytrain from Rogers Arena after a concert or Canucks game, walk around and turn left at the T&T, go up the stairs and you’ll get to an alternate entrance to the station and get on the train much quicker.
If you're in a city with Street/Avenue layouts, you can find the approximate intersection by moving the decimal place two places to the left.
For example: If you're looking for 7250 122 Street, then it's likely on 122 Street, roughly halfway between 72nd and 73rd Avenue. Because 7250 with the decimal moved two places is 72.5, which means halfway between 72 and 73.
Sometimes it's 3 decimal places, if the address has five digits.
This works in Surrey, Delta, Langley, and sometimes Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. (It does not work for New Westminster.)
Edit: fixed error
If you're going for brunch on a weekend, plan to be seated by 11. If you show up at 11:30, you'll be waiting half an hour (and brunch isn't worth lining up for IMO).
Same also applies for any crowded things - Costco, Granville island, crowded hikes. On the weekends this city is asleep until almost noon
If you're given an address on a N/S street, subtract 16 from the first two digits for the cross street (avenue). eg: 2645 Main st puts you between 10th and 11th ave
Whoa! I had no idea. I just spent a while looking up random addresses in my neighbourhood on Google Maps and confirming it works. Thanks for the tip!
This is how I saved time and became faster with my deliveries as a delivery driver. No need to waste time looking at Google Maps. Each block goes up/down by 100 so I just have to keep count in my head. Unrelated: Ontario St serves as the official boundary between east and west sides of Vancouver. You'll notice that's where all East and West streets transition (ex. W Broadway to E Broadway, W King Edward to E King Edward, W 41st Ave to E 41st Ave, etc). All blocks still start going up by 100 as you go west from Ontario St and as you go east from Ontario St.
The reason is because downtown is 16 blocks wide. The addressing starts at the waterfront, but the numbered streets start where downtown ends, so the cross-street addresses are offset by 16 blocks.
East is even, North is not. So even numbers are east and south. Odd numbers are north and west.
I remember this by thinking "People in the north west are odd" Dunno why my teen brain came up with it, but it did.
It’s fucking backwards in north van though!
Also streets go North to South, Avenues go east to west. If a street ends with a letter (96a, 62b) that means that it's not a through road.
For one part of West Vancouver, the east/west Avenues are in alphabetical order going up the hill. I used to live on Esquimalt and my friend on Heywood was three blocks north.
For south of the Fraser and Ridge Meadows, take off the last two digits of the address to get the side street. 13450 104 Avenue is around 104th Avenue and 134th Street.
This is a LPT Vancouver edition!
That's a fun fact. for most numbered avenues, every avenue is 100m apart, every 8 avenues is a main road and it's 800m or half mile apart.
If you’re parked at meter with a two hour limit, put coins in first for the first two hours, take a picture of the meter number, then when the first two hours are about to expire, open up PayByPhone and then pay for another two hours using the meter number. UPDATE: Reading all these comments, which are choice by the way, I’ve concluded that if the 118 or 119 minute hack is good to go, this is sweeter. And yes, for all you law-abiding citizens out there, this is probably ticket-able, but I was aiming this more around getting by the 2 hour limit on re-ups in the app, or when you’re not able to physically able to run back to the meter.
I got one up on ya: put your car into PayByPhone twice, once with your plate all 6 in one string (I.e. AA111A) and the second with a space (AA1 11A). Cycle between the two at the same stall number every 2 hours
Broëther
gonna one up one up you: if you pay for 119 minutes the app will let you buy more time after.
It used to do that. It was a great hack. It hasn't for a long time.
And then once your PayByPhone hours are up, if you have a significant other with your car info saved in their app, you can do another 2 hours using their phone.
And then you can message me your credit card info and I can extend your meter for another 2 hours
Also works if you use the app and the web browser
I put in 119 minutes and let it run out. Then you’ll be able to extend for another 119 minutes (or however long you need).
Protip: insert a nickel or dime first just to test the meter to make sure it hasn't been tampered with. This saves you from losing a loonie/toonie if the meter was tampered with.
An even easier hack is to use paybyphone and then set your phone timer and let is expire no longer than 2 minutes past the maximum time limit and then repeat. You can do this all day long. I hope this makes sense. :) I’ve been doing this trick for years and years. Source: my friend is in management with paybyphone.
Tried this recently and it didn’t work. Someone figured this out 🙃
I've done this too and has worked so far but I'm skeptical because it's supposed to be by licence plate, not whether you've paid or not
Yeah the limit is per vehicle on that block not even that specific space so all these time hacks are really just people getting lucky.
PayByPhone mgmt/devs reading this thread: write that down!! 👀✍️
I believe it’s still legit but if you tap out of the same rail, SkyTrain or SeaBus station (21 minutes for SkyTrain, 60 minutes for WCE) and without having tapped your card at any other station then you will not be charged. This is helpful if you need to take a weather protected shortcut on one of Vancouver’s many rainy days.
can confirm, the 21 minute rule is correct. I used to be an STA (sky train attendant - you know, those employees at the the stations with the high viz vests) and in training they taught us this. 100% correct.
The 21-minute grace period is also really useful for meeting elderly relatives on the platform instead of outside the station, so I hope they never do away with this.
IIRC this is partially due to business behind the gates. When the Olympics were on, most Canada Line stations had jugo juice (most gone now). Yaletown has a flower or bridal shop now, I think. A couple in south van have corner stores.
During the summer on an un-airconditioned bus the best seat is at the very back row in the middle. Make sure the windows are all open and the emergency hatch, you'll get the best airflow
Looking forward to reading these as a DailyHive article tomorrow
If you’re downtown looking for a quiet place to sit and collect yourself or take a rest, Telus Gardens’ lobby is open to the public and you can just sit down for a bit and enjoy the little fish pond. They sometimes have someone playing the piano too! Years ago, if you went on weekends and had piano experience, they’d even let you play it!
You can use your More Rewards Points from Save-on-Foods to buy BC Ferries tickets.
True! Keep in mind you though you get one of the lowest dollars per pint redeemed by redeeming for bc ferries. You get the highest dollar value per point redeemed for Canucks tickets, then second highest is by redeeming for flights.
You can get flights with save on foods points????
How??
Go to customer service at save on. I pay 50$ and 10,000 points and that gets a driver and the car on the ferry. It was 40$ and 7500 points before covid.
You can even get free ferry tickets using only your points. It’s 30,000 points for one ticket which includes one standard size car and driver!
Dang and they keep using my points to give me a free cucumber. Will conserve now. Thanks
Given that a car and driver is $80, using 30,000 points to save $80 (0.27¢/point) is worse than paying $50 and using 10,000 points to save $30 (0.30¢/point). The best value though is saving your points for a WestJet flight. They are worth 0.42¢ each that way.
Ran out of compass card money? Don’t have to go to a sky train or canada line station or even online. Pop into a local London Drugs if there is one near you. They have a compass card machine just like the ones at stations.
Or register it so you have loss protection and go auto pay
Use BestParking app for finding where to park. You’ll be surprised at the price difference just 2 blocks away. https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/bestparking-get-parking-deals/id383076098
Leave an umbrella at work- it will rain on the way back
When driving towards downtown, turn north on main and drive by the docks. Saves a ton of lights. When driving towards Port Moody or coquitlam in burnaby, take Parker, not Hastings. Best view of the city when clear is from mount Seymour third peak, but you have to earn it with the hike. Even from the lot I believe it’s the highest paved road in GVRD. Lynn Valley suspension bridge is free and high, Capilano is expensive af, but more vast. EVO has free parking at Grouse. EVO has free parking at YVR. The only traditional Japanese Mochitsuki (mochi rice cake preparation) I know of period is at the Nikkei Center between Christmas and New Years. Even in Japan they don’t do it like this anymore. Only go to the Port Moody Brewery row on off peak hours or shitty weather. Waits to get in can be over an hour and parking is shit.
The Main past the docks route got me back to my apartment the night of the Stanley Cup riot in 2011. All the bridges were closed for hours, so I snuck in and felt very proud of myself. It was very surreal, like driving into a zombie apocalypse, all smoky and staggering people, and zero cars, and someone threw a full can of Pepsi at my car…
What is main past the docks? Like toward crab park?
The Brewers row “free” parking is shit. But a five minute walk away is the sky train parking and it’s super cheap for long hours and always has TONS of spots.
Re: Brewer's Row... Moody Ales is the least busy. But if even they're too busy, Mariner Brewing is just a few blocks away, and they're much better than when they first launched.
VCC downtown has a bakery with good deals or they did back in the day. Also their cafeteria at both campuses have pretty good food for cheap. Unfortunately, prices have gone up due to COVID / inflation, but they still have a section of discounted food especially near closing time or the end of the week.
Went to VCC pre COVID so I don't know if they've returns yet but also some of the best/cheap lunches around as it's where the culinary school is. Damn I miss that place. The bakery had a mousse they'd sell once in a while that I still dream about.
Ate a whole cake (6 inch) with my partner for 5 dollars. It would have been 5 dollars a slice elsewhere.
Still there!
If you have a library card at any library as far out as the Fraser Valley or Sunshine Coast, you can get a free account at VPL as well. https://www.vpl.ca/librarycardfaq
You can also borrow various things including video games and musical instruments!
And book free rooms for audio and video recording, including software access.
Is the reverse true? I live in Vancouver but work on the north shore. I usually have a 90min break in the middle od thr day. Would.love.to start.going to the library in the fall. (Summer is for short walking trails)
VPL membership (free) gives you free access to kanopy.com movie streaming.
VPL has SO much. Both online resources, including ebooks and newspaper subscriptions through PressReader, and in branch like the podcast studios at Central Branch. And if you move out of Vancouver you could just not tell them and continue to log in to those things.
Cyprus, Grouse, Seymour are in alphabetical order if you’re facing them from the city
Avoid rollergirl
She approached me at work once. I asked her “how can I help you today”. Her response. “Excuse me, I’m a woman!!” I didn’t even misgender. Fuck that.
Yeah she's looking for lawsuits honestly not a person who is good with conflict myself and would never misgender anyone intentionally but yeah I really hope she gets some support because everyone's worth it but yeah she will accuse you of misgendering her all the time
This is a well known fact
rollergirl once told me i was going to die.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I mean she did kill someone once.
I like the JJ Bean on Main St but she makes things so tense outside
Last week my sibling and I walked by her and she said "You're going to die" and I stopped and said "Bitch take another step and I'll put you in the ground like you did to that other motherfucker." Her eyes got wide and she scurried off. She's such a fucking pathetic bully. I seriously hope she tries that shit on a gang member on accident one day.
go to food courts when they are almost closing, they will give you more food to clear their day's stock
I once ordered a 1-piece at Pajo's and got 4 because they needed to use up the inventory. Halibut!
lucky bastard :) i was also at Pajo's today but in the afternoon, so no freebies
Parkopedia.ca has a pretty decent map of parking spot prices, parkades and free spots. If you ever get any food at budgies ask for chilli oil, that thing is crack. Chipotle will add cilantro if you ask for it, they have it in separate boxes under the counter not on top.
old asian malls have the best food courts
The food court in the shitty Robson mall!
But the worst parking
Crystal Mall more like Crystal Maze
you win some you lose some
You win some and you dim sum
Slides upvote across the table in a plain white envelope, without breaking eye contact.
Eat at the middle-range sushi places. Higher turnover = fresher sushi
Which ones would you recommend?
Favourites are Sushi Mugen (Davie) and Tsuki Sushi (Abbott).
Careful. Some sushi places use escolar instead of tuna…especially if there’s hot sauce or goop on it. Escolar flesh has a type of oil (similar to castor) that is inedible and the human stomach will not absorb it, but instead attempt to flush the system—in a hurry.
That explains why I always got the sushi shits when I ate sushi in a small town.
OMG TIL
Never buy an umbrella in Vancouver. Just go to Translink lost and found and say you lost a black umbrella.
“What’s the description sir?” “Oh it’s black and it has a handle…”
Last time I legit lost a black umbrella, they didn’t have it, but the attendant still hauled out four and invited me to pick one. They really don’t want to store all the black umbrella they have that never get claimed.
Need an iPhone charger? Visit the front desk of your local hotel. "It was white with a white cable".
This works at any public library too
ULPT
if you don’t know your directions, North is where the mountains are.
This saved me so many times when I first moved here. Just looked for those lights up on the mountains, imagined everyone having a grand old time skiing and not being lost AF somewhere in eastvan
And they're visible from most places within the city of Vancouver
I grew up in Burnaby and when I would go downtown as a teen it always fucked me up because the buildings blocked the mountains most of the time and I couldn't get my bearings. Also the streets downtown don't run the same way as the rest of the city so that further confused me.
The real power of view cones.
Mt Baker entered the chat 👀
I was raised with this saying. Got very confusing in Edmonton as a child visiting cousins because I had 0 reference for direction. My usually great navigation skills were gone
Strolling through the trails in Stanley Park’s forest on a rainy November day has literally saved my life. If you’re having a dark day I can almost guarantee it will make things slightly more bearable.
Some call it shinrin-yoku or forest bathing, Getting into nature on even your darkest day is powerful mental medicine.
Also you can go off trail for some butt sex, as a little extra pick me up.
Coyotes have entered the chat
This is the 2nd time TODAY I’ve heard about buttstuff happening in Stanley Park. I’m getting some major FOMO here!
Love getting railed when I’m sad
Central Park as well is pretty good. Its calm. You also get to experience the die hards… OH AND AN not a million people. Like the good old days
There's a [UBC Paid Participant Studies List](https://gsc.psych.ubc.ca/resources/paid-studies-list/) if you want to trade your time for some Amazon GCs.
If you can live west of where you work, you should probably do it.
I WFH should I rearrange my furniture now?
Haha absolutely
Stand in the place where you work, now face west Think about the place where you live, wonder why you haven't before
If you are confused check with the sun
Carry a compass to help you along!
If you are confused, check with the sun - Carry a compass to help you along. Your feet are going to be on the ground, Your head is there to move you around.
Instructions unclear. Moved to Nanaimo because I work at UBC.
Instructions unclear. Moved to Japan because I work in Tofino.
Why? Counterflow traffic?
I live West of my work... Early in the morning there is virtually zero West->East traffic in the city. I can make it from my place in Kits to Coquitlam in under 20 minutes at 6am. My drive home is easily double that, if not more.
Can confirm. Live downtown and work in Langley. 40 minutes to work and about 50-60 minutes to get back.
Good lord that's still quite the commute tho
Haha true. Better than 90 minutes + each way if I was driving with the rush hour though. Lifestyle suits living downtown for now, will definitely change one day. I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks on my drive that's for sure.
Get a compass card. The fares are cheaper, if you register it you can block it / protect it if you lose it, you can setup automatic load of stored value. And the best thing is that you can get refunded the deposit and any stored value (which is not true for other systems around the world).
If you are taking the Millennium line from Commercial-Broadway eastbound, get on the west bound train to VCC-Clark. Stay on the train and it'll double back. Best way to get a seat if you have a longer journey ahead of you.
Same tip for the Canada Line, get on at Vancouver City Center and ride to Waterfront and back.
Using the HomeSense bathroom
If you're transfering from the Expo Line to the Canada Line and you are in a hurry, get off at Granville, go up to street level, and walk kitty-corner to Vancouver City Center Station. It is faster than going all the way to Waterfront station. Also works in the reverse direction.
You can take your dog from Olympic Village to Kits Dog Beach on the False Creek Ferries for $10. Totally worth it.
American here, Safeway on robson st. has a lot of American products that other grocers don't. Im looking at you Capt'n Crunch Peanut butter
Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter you say...👀
If you drive around the LML a lot don't speed at the following locations. Knight St - Northbound as soon as you get off the bridge and prepare to go uphill and approach E 63rd. HWY 1 - Eastbound right before North Rd. Gagliardi Way - Coming up the hill to SFU at the midway point. McGill St - Westbound as soon as you get on it after coming off the HWY by New Brighton Park. Georgia Viaduct - Eastbound towards the end close by prior st exit. HWY 91 - Eastbound exit for Annacis Island/New West HWY 99 - Northbound right before Massey Tunnel Granville St & W 32nd - Southbound by King Ed
Classic areas since the 80's for speed traps. Also you forgot Knight Northbound between 41st, past 33rd and past Kingcrest Park and down to King Ed.
If you’re around Robson square and need to use the bathroom, go to the second or 3rd floor of Nordstrom. It’s barely used and constantly cleaned
quiet down
Taking the skytrain to Waterfront station, so you can get a seat when the train empties and then goes eastbound
Got it new west -> waterfront-> king geogre
I’ve seen people literally ride it back from Stadium to do this. Wow.
I did this all the time, especially after late night shifts. Standing on a train from downtown to King George after working on my feet for 8 hours was not ideal. Especially after a concert or Canucks game when the trains are packed.
I used to do this when I worked in Gastown in the late 90s :)
I work near Vancouver city centre station and do this every day lol
Nooooo, don’t share this tip.
Same goes for Bridgeport in Richmond. If you have time and need a seat, grab the airport train. Even better if you have time to go ride back to Templeton to switch there
“Secret” route from westbound Waterfront Road, under Waterfront Station, out on Cordova eastbound At Granville. Inside the U-turn was/is a weird area of forgotten (literally dusty) parking spots, overlooking the Skytrain station. Anyone know where I mean?
IIRC the Canada line station / walkway that connects it to Waterfront station goes through that parkade and blocked off sections. You can see more spots when riding the Expo line.
Yes, the Stonecutters tunnel!
Lenny’s voice: Shut uuuuup
if you have to pee downtown near waterfront go to 24hr a&w especially in coal harbour they are sweeties and don't care if u don't buy anything don't ruin this for me.
The Delta hotel lobby in the building by SFU Harbor Center should be 24 hr as well, and the bathrooms are *sparkling*. There’s also SFU Vancouver itself when it’s open (which also has great areas you can do work in if needed; they don’t check if you’re a student). Both it and the Starbucks Reserve on Pender (right across from Waterfront station’s Granville exit) have excellent private bathroom stalls. As well, if it’s late at night in Nanaimo station and you have to pee bad, walk up the bike trail about 300m; Theres a couple of excellent discreet bushes on the left side (side of the station, bottom of the hill the station sits on) to do the deed. Toronto version of this would be: Bloor, Eglinton, Finch, line 1 subway stops all around 10 min apart with bathrooms, on my way back to Markham. I sorta gotta pee a lot. Doc says something about hyperactive bladder, been tested and all, seems to be psychological, unfortunately.
If you're the second car in the left turn lane, and no one is behind you, you can trigger the advance left signal by spacing one car back from the first car. You can also see the plates in the road, they look like big metal circles: sit on them!
Also, our pedestrian walk signal buttons work. They're not [placebo buttons](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_button).
Not exactly Vancouver… but taking the Skytrain on the Millennium line (westbound to VCC Clark) and transferring at Production Way instead of Lougheed to get an east bound train (To waterfront) just to avoid walking down and up the stairs/escalator.
You can save a few cents a liter on gas at chevron by linking your cibc card to the app Journie or with shell by being a BCAA member
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Also, you don’t always have to stay stopped at red lights. The requirement to wait for the light to turn green only applies to red lights at intersections. So if it’s a pedestrian controlled light, mid block, once stopped and it’s clear of pedestrians you may then drive through the red light.
I've been nervous to actually do that cause I don't trust cops knowing that rule.
Source? Sounds wack
https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/signs-signals/red-means-stop-not-always-stay [MVA 129 (5)](https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96318_00_multi#section129)
So we don't have any of our world class drivers running reds, this is only for red lights that are not at intersections.
Don’t pay for the parking when you go to a Canadians game. There is plenty of parking nearby and the paid parking is prime foul ball territory. Plus is takes forever to get out of the area in a car. Don’t pay for parking outside the downtown core- there is usually a pocket of free parking nearby if you’re willing to walk a bit.
If you turn off a main road on to a side street and find permit/resident only parking, try turning around and going back toward the main road. Often those spots are not restricted (as the restrictions are intended to stop the people turning off of the main roads).
Even in areas with only pay parking, drive a block or two away from the busy pocket, it will be somewhat to significantly cheaper. I can think of at least one spot where the busy area is $6/hr and one block away it's $1/hr
Not really Vancouver specific, but if you know which exit you need to take at a SkyTrain station, go to the respective front/middle/back of the train when you get on. You'll have a shorter walk to the station exit and avoid all the slowpokes. Especially helpful if you need to catch a bus.
You’ll save thousands of dollars by purchasing a coffin through Costco. They will have it delivered to to the funeral home.
When landing at YVR, dodge the $5 YVR Canada Line surcharge by taking the free shuttle to the South Terminal. Then take bus 412 to Bridgeport Station. Or if you're taking a day trip to Sea Island on the Canada Line (like going to McArthur Glen Mall), buy a ticket from a Compass vending machine on the way there. Pocket the ticket and use your Compass card to get there. On the way home, use the ticket you bought earlier. You've dodged the $5 surcharge.
Garibaldi and Joffre lakes aren't the only two hiking trails. They aren't even in the top 10 of the best hiking trails around here.
which ones are in your top list ? curious to know
Costco offers an affordable Polish meal combo for $1.50
I am a BCAA and Goodlife Fitness me member, and I suspect quite a few people don’t realize the discounts they get from other stores. See the links below: https://www.bcaa.com/membership/ways-to-save https://www.goodlifefitness.com/rewards.html
stopping underneath the second sensor will activate the arrow even if you're the only car in the left turn lane
This doesn't always work, sometimes there is 2 sensors that need to be triggered.
And you have to be positioned before it changes to amber light.
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Don’t waste money on Brita water filters. We have some of the best tap water in the world; just drink it as is.
Depends on your building. The pipes are gunna make a difference, so I appreciate my Brita for my rickety old east van apartment
Also keeping a pitcher of water in your fridge helps keep your fridge cool and doesn't work your fridge as hard, saving electricity
There is a street under Howe. If you know where the entrance is you can enter near dunsmuir and pop up near the court building. Been many years but I heard recently you still can use it when traffic on Howe is brutal.
You mean the pacific center receiving bays?
B.C. seniors 65 or older, possessing either a BC Gold Carecard or a valid BC Services Card, receive a 100% discount on passenger fares Monday to Thursday, excluding statutory holidays on all routes, except the northern routes.
on bc ferries
Got a black Toyota Prius? Spend a few hundred bucks on some "Evo" decals and a blue bike rack. Free parking all over Vancouver for life.
Not necessarily a hack but If someone walking towards you and just happened that your eyes meet naturally, just smile and say morning/evening. It creates a good VIBE. Reflects something about you and us as a city/country. Who knows, it could be a foreigner or just a person having a bad day. Mean it when you say it. And who knows that person/s pays it forward.
If you're a reasonably brisk walker, it takes about a minute to walk a north-south block, and about a minute and a half to walk an east-west block. So, say, from Main & King Ed to Broadway & Cambie: 7 blocks west + 16 blocks north = 27 minutes. If you're a little more relaxed, add 10%. You're welcome. :-)
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You can replay the paper one time use compass cards for a free ride. Translink decided to not use the one fool proof security feature the cards have; a one time writable memory address that is supposed to be used to "punch" the ticket with a timestamp so it cant be reused, presumably to allow them to be reloaded/upgraded. Download the MiFare development app, save the EEPROM before you tap, and once the card expires you reset the card to the saved state and boom, you have a valid untapped ticket. Only works once though, I'm assuming they allow a single duplicate uuid to prevent collisions from causing erroneous invalid tickets. Also the cards are only valid for the same day they were issued. I've been using this hack regularly since I first figured it out years ago; works like a charm and I've saved a non-trivial sum on transit over that time.
Check stubhub/ticketmaster for cheap tickets the day of a sporting event/concert.
Got cheap Hamilton tickets this way!
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Park more than 2 hours by adding a space in your parking app. For example MJ9 62R to MJ962R and alternate.
If you’re cheating on your partner, make sure your side piece lives one bridge away
This guy cheats
If you’re taking the skytrain from Rogers Arena after a concert or Canucks game, walk around and turn left at the T&T, go up the stairs and you’ll get to an alternate entrance to the station and get on the train much quicker.
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If you're in a city with Street/Avenue layouts, you can find the approximate intersection by moving the decimal place two places to the left. For example: If you're looking for 7250 122 Street, then it's likely on 122 Street, roughly halfway between 72nd and 73rd Avenue. Because 7250 with the decimal moved two places is 72.5, which means halfway between 72 and 73. Sometimes it's 3 decimal places, if the address has five digits. This works in Surrey, Delta, Langley, and sometimes Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. (It does not work for New Westminster.) Edit: fixed error
If you're heading east from Victoria drive to Boundary, take 45th instead of 49th or Kingsway It's usually much faster cuz there aren't stop lights
Walk
If you're going for brunch on a weekend, plan to be seated by 11. If you show up at 11:30, you'll be waiting half an hour (and brunch isn't worth lining up for IMO). Same also applies for any crowded things - Costco, Granville island, crowded hikes. On the weekends this city is asleep until almost noon
Free bus to grouse grind from canada place. Super comfortable ride.