No Fun City

From an earlier post:

"It's ironic that, as happened with Expo '86, so much of the effort being put into present Vancouver as a 'world class city' is happening at the expense of what makes a city truly stand out on 'the world stage' -- its own unique character.

"An analogy I have made in the past is that Vancouver is a lot like a nervous but otherwise bright and attractive teenager trying way too hard to fit in with the older kids, not lacking any potential, but lacking the confidence to really come into its own. Vancouver always seems flailing around, shouting, 'I can do that, too!' and afraid that we'll get laughed at for anything out of the ordinary, instead of confidently doing our own thing whether 'the world' notices or not. You simply can't be extraordinary by consciously and purposefully trying to be ordinary."

Oringinal post: http://mbarrick.livejournal.com/901349.html