and stage the most incredible spectacle BC has ever experienced.
What you NEED TO KNOW before you arrive »»
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Vancouver and Whistler are
preparing to host the 2010 Olympics and stage the most incredible spectacle BC has ever experienced. What you NEED TO KNOW before you arrive »» |
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  Where to GO What to AVOID Where LOCALS GO FREE Stuff !! Party Palm News & Weather Webcams City Info Transportation Accommodations Travel & Tours ADVENTURE ! Sports & Fitness Health & Beauty Food & Drink Entertainment TICKETS Shopping Coupons Gift Certificates Buttons & Pins Real Estate Relocation Contact Us About Us Media |
 News Weather & Inside Trading Olympic ATHLETES & Entourage come to COMPETE & MEET while SPORTS FANS come to PLAY in Vancouver and Whistler AVOID Yikes! Trouble Police Tazers Long Lines Big Crowds Tourist Traps $GOUGING SEX !? Play Safe Driving Don't *Walk Bike BedBugs Little Ass Biters Bears & Cougars 4 Legged Dangerous Neighborhoods Vancouver is a moderately-sized city of 550,000, with an exotic small-town "Wild West" attitude. How WILD WEST is it in our region? Well . . . we host the second largest rodeo in Canada! Ya Hoo!! Unfortunately, our region also has the most gang related murders, burglaries, car thefts, pot grow ops, gun trading, and illegal drug cartels. Next to the illegal marijuana industry, estimated to gross The green list above describes the big things to avoid during the 2010 Olympics. Some of it is common sense, like crowds, due to threats of terrorism, but other things are harder to spot and can make or break your fun factor. |
OLYMPIC TICKETS click here SHOPPING LIST 2010 items you should purchase carefully. Olympic organizations complain, and rightly so, of having nefarious companies rip them off, but in a turn of events, local BC companies also complain VANOC is not playing fair. The products below are sore spots you should be wary of: Hudson Bay Knit Sweaters BC Native people, The Cowichan Tribe, claim the Hudson Bay Company, an Olympic sponsor, is ripping them off by producing knock-off machine-made 2010 sweaters that were probably manufactured in China. (We don't know exactly where the sweaters were made because the IOC won't say, but most 2010 merch is made in China, a country infamous for using sweatshops that employ and abuse children) The Cowichan Tribe claim they offered to hand knit their trademark sweaters for the 2010 Olympics, but VANOC turned them down. Cowichan sweaters are beautiful and handmade, and if you can get your hands on one grab it. VANOC has claimed all along they have been respectful of Canadian Aboriginals throughout the entire 2010 process, and that they are not using Native Aboriginals simply as "window dressing." With friends like this... who needs enemies? ............. WINE WHINE Like wine? Collect wine? Swirl carefully if you are interested in buying wine branded for the 2010 Olympics. BC Vintners have complained 2010 Olympic organizations bottled cheap wine bought in bulk and slapped a 2010 Olympics label on it. The fine print on the Vincor bottles does say the wine comes from a foreign land, but the print is so small and buried in gobbledygook you can't see it. BC Vintners, some who make incredibly great wine, are furious VANOC and the Olympics are undermining their industry. If you buy Olympic branded wine read the label carefully because when you take a sip you could be in for a surprise. 2010 wine is also expensive considering the low quality. Someone has to pay for the Olympics, don't let it be you! Airport to Downtown Directions 2010 CLOCK Canada's Northern House MAP Downtown Vancouver CANADA PAVILLION LiveCity Downtown Celebration Site Four Host Nations Pavilion MAP French Quarter (Granville Island) MAP Sochi House (Russia 2014) MAP Holland Heineken House MAP David Lam Park MAP Nightly Medal Award Ceremony - $22 Musical Headliners Alberta House MAP Bombardier Streetcar Streetcar Olympic Line Scandinavia House Atlantic Canada House MAP CentrePlace Manitoba MAP Saskatchewan Pavilion Irish House MAP German Saxony House MAP LiveCity Yaletown MAP House of Switzerland O-Zone Richmond Laser Waterworks Show Laser Light Show ::::::::::: Whistler Events |
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protests ... because they often turn violent. You could easily get swept into one and have a hard time getting out without being whacked by a protester, especially if they know you're here for the Games, or you could be arrested for being part of the riot. Face it. We live in dangerous times and Olympic events attract extremists. Stay out of large crowdswhen possible. As soon as the sporting event is over get away from the sports spectator crowd and look for less congested areas to shop or party. The recent deaths at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and the fatal bombing at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 is a testament to how dangerous it still is at the Games. Crowded areas are difficult, and sometimes even impossible for overworked law enforcement and the military to monitor and manage. Unbelievably, Canada reported we're only spending $175 million on security, while other cities recently spent close to, and sometimes even more than a billion. * UPDATE ... the RCMP - Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the law enforcement agency in charge of Olympic security, later announced they will now spend $900 million, and maybe even more to try and keep Olympic athletes and spectators safe, but realistically, if they were so far off the mark initially, how good can they be? ... or, we're politicians and news media low balling it to fool you? Our first bit of advice still holds, stay away from large crowds as much as possible. In for SPORTS! and GET OUT for the PARTY! Granville Island & The Granville Bar Strip - Danger Zones Tourist Meccas, like the government run Granville Island, or the infamous Granville Bar Strip (a 10 minute cab ride away), attract oppressive crowds. When you add Olympics' excitement the the risk grows exponentially. Granville Island is primarily a daytime place that includes a fresh food market, various artisans, and a number of restaurants, small clubs, and live performance theatres. It's managed by the Federal government, which is an Olympics partner. Consequently the government will push hard to pack Olympics tourists in like little sardines. From a security perspective it will also be very hard to protect because it is surrounded by water on three sides in the middle of the city and easily approachable by boat. It's not really an island, but a peninsula and there are hundreds of boats and yachts docked and constantly cruising back and forth from the ocean to various marinas on this little island in the middle of the city. It's easy to walk to from Kitsilano, which many people do, or even swim from Yaletown, which no one does, but anyone could if they wanted. Rumour has it scuba divers and personal subs will patrol underwater. Big crowds are terrorist targets. So if you go, stay vigilant. On most average weekends the crowds are often so heavy it's overwhelming. Granville Island is a fun place to spend an afternoon, but is it really worth the risk during the Olympics when there are so many other great places to visit? Play it safe during the 17 days of our 2010 Olympics event and come back to bustling Granville Island another time. The Granville Street Bar Strip (NOT Granville Island or anywhere near it) is a natural magnet for trouble at night. It's one of Vancouver's main party scenes for rowdy ripped clubbers. A large portion of the street will be closed to car traffic (buses in some sections only). It`s lined with clubs, curio shops, and a soft seat venue called the Orpheum. If you do decide to go, arrive early, and leave well before the clubs close. It's also a common area for prostitution and illegal narcotics, like smack, crack, and meth, and a hangout for violent gang types. Making eye contact with street dealers is dangerous, so don't stare, mind your own business and you'll be fine, but be prepared to get hit on constantly by the nickel baggers as you walk down the street. Even though street drugs, including pot is prevalent in Metro Vancouver, it`s illegal. When the clubs close and patrons get pitched out on the street in drunken stupors the real fun begins. Don't get caught in the crossfire. Simply looking at a gang member for a millisecond too long could quickly make you a stabbing or shooting victim. Don't play a hero if you see someone in trouble - call a cop and stay well back in case the shooting starts. Young people in Metro Vancouver get killed all the time when they intervene in an argument they know nothing about, or of the people involved. If you do go, arrive early and leave early, and stay off the side streets. Metro Vancouver experiences incredible gang violence that escalated out of control in 2007 when law enforcement put pressure on gangs to get out of town before 2010 arrived. Gang hits occur on seedy side streets and in swank restaurants, late at night and even early in the morning in school yards. Be vigilant. Innocent people have been killed in the crossfire simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gang shootings escalated to a feverish pitch as the Games approached. Even if you wanted to bring a bullet proof vest or buy one here you no longer can because, no kidding, the local constabulary recently made it illegal to own a flak jacket in Metro Vancouver. Our police forces are understaffed, overworked and sensitive. Stay out of any type of trouble, even minor infractions like jaywalking, and comply with officers immediately. They shoot first and ask questions later. One recent incident at the Vancouver International Airport, described below, demonstrates how dangerous it is to interact with law enforcement in BC. You can even get in trouble innocently interacting with the police, so have fun, but MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. In 2009 three off duty police officers were involved in a beating and robbery of a citizen in the downtown core. Canada's Most Infamous Neighborhood Something else to steer around is the Downtown Eastside. It's Canada's poorest and in many respects our country's most dangerous ghetto. Two thirds of the homeless people living on the street are mentally ill. The rest jam into the worst nightmare of run down hotels and flop houses you can imagine. At any time of the night or day you can drive the streets and see pockmarked addicts inject narcotics, or engage in lewd sex acts in alleys, or attack each other over imagined threats. The police maintain a permanent street presence, but even so it's dangerous. Give the people living there a break, and stay away for your own safety. Corruption, although nothing like in Mexico, occurs in varying degrees in all private and public Metro Vancouver sectors, and for a modern North American city, we are way behind the times when it comes to protecting citizens. Metro Vancouver desperately struggled to improve the situation by 2010, but unfortunately our region has the highest incidence of bank robberies, home burglaries and car theft in all of Canada. Most of it is fueled by rampant hard-core drug use. They don't call it Vansterdam for nothing, so don't be fooled by political propaganda that Vancouver is the best place in the world to live. The scenery is pretty, but the political infrastructure and services are stuck in the middle ages. It's beautiful to visit, but not always pleasant or safe. Vancouver is great if you are wealthy, but it can be a serious challenge for most people. We have the most millionaires, but also the most homeless per capita in Canada. 2010 Olympics visitors have to be careful where they go. Vancouver and Whistler are tourist towns, and Vancouver is an international port, which means a variety of opportunists, including cab drivers and hotel workers deal in all types of underground and black-market contraband including scalped tickets, prostitution, and drugs. It`s not very big compared to some cities, but the Downtown Eastside is in worse shape than the most dangerous ghettos in New York City or Los Angeles, and if you accidentally stumble into it your life could be in jeopardy. Fortunately, the worst neighborhoods are in one general area, but panhandlers sleep on the streets everywhere, even on upscale streets, and they are sometimes aggressive and violent. Many are mentally ill and addicted to crack, meth or heroin, or a concoction of all three. Vancouver is trying to hide these unfortunate people away in makeshift shelters, but `they haven`t been even remotely successful as they hoped. Currently the really dangerous areas are east of the downtown core in the neighborhoods surrounding Chinatown. Everyone should visit Chinatown, but walking to it is not recommended. Take a cab. A bus is also possible, but you will have to deal with crackheads using public transit so be extremely cautious. Once you're in Chinatown do not attempt to walk back downtown, especially at night. It's also a relatively small neighborhood so don't accidentally venture even a block from its epicenter. Neighborhoods surrounding Chinatown are not areas to explore casually. Check back here occasionally to find out where criminal hot spots pop up. Local police put incredible pressure on homeless people because of the 2010 Olympics, and as a result they have been pushed to other parts of the city. Bear and cougar attacks happen right in suburban areas. Vancouver and Whistler are surrounded by dense wilderness and mountains - natural habitats for bears and cougars. People are attacked every year. Within fifteen minutes of downtown Vancouver, and only five minutes from Whistler's town core you can be in wilderness so dense people get lost and die of exposure. Even if you go day hiking make sure someone knows where you're going and also when you're supposed to return. Carry a cel with a GPS app, or at least a compass, a small survival kit, and bear spray. Another local danger comes from the Pacific Ocean. We don't have man-eating sharks here, but we do have shellfish that live in polluted waters. Vancouver still dumps raw sewage into the ocean and also into local bays when storm sewers overflow, which means it is unsafe plus illegal to dig shellfish from any of the local beaches at any time of the year. Red Tide also naturally occurs in warmer weather and can make shellfish deadly poisonous. BED BUGS Vancouver has a pretty serious bed bug problem. Visitors are attacked in hostels as well as swank hotels. Learn more about Vancouver's BED BUGS here . . . Driving? Think twice. Metro Vancouver has one of the most convoluted and lacking street sign systems in Canada, plus, we have bridges crossing water everywhere. It is an easy place to get lost, and a very hard place to navigate. If you do decide to drive get out of the city and cruise our amazing highways. Unfortunately it's not a good idea to head up the Sea to Sky towards Whistler because even though you can go as far a Squamish, the traffic will be incredibly heavy day and night. Your best bet might be to head out to Highway 7 following the Fraser River to Mission. Small mountain and river run. You might see eagles on the river- maybe lots of them so bring binocs and a camera. If you ride a motorcycle you can also rent a bike and tour the winding mountain highways. It's incredible. Just don't expect to drive easily within the city, because road signs aside, the Olympics literally turns a twenty minute trip during normal times into a two or three hour marathon when you take all the security check points and traffic congestion into account. Looking for SEX? You came to the right place. Vancouver has more brothels per capita than anywhere in Canada, and it's no secret the Olympics attracts hookers from all over the world. Cartoon characters will be giving out condoms by the hundreds of thousands on the streets. Good thing too because we also have the highest rate of AIDS than anywhere in North America. In fact in the Downtown Eastside the per capita incidence of AIDS is higher than it is in some parts of Africa. So, if you have your heart set on WILD WEST SEX ... play it safe. recap; Be wary of our police. This is the wild west, and local law enforcement have their hands full with wild characters. Police officers do not fool around here, and they do not ask you to do anything twice. Comply immediately and politely if you are given instructions by a police officer. There are a number of allegations of police corruption and brutality, and as the pressure from the Olympics mounts, so will the tension within police forces. Vancouver cops will beat your ass in a New York minute. If you need to be further convinced how dangerous interactions are with the police here, keep in mind that in the Vancouver airport in October of 2007 they tazered and killed an immigrant (who did not speak English) just because he caused a relatively "minor" disturbance. There was public outrage over the incident, but not enough really changed to protect the public. In fact, because of the Olympics, it grows worse due to increased friction generated by police putting overwhelming pressure on drug addicts and gangs to leave the city before the Olympics arrive. Gang shootings in restaurants, schools and public places increased dramatically throughout the region. Regarding issues of a less violent commercial nature, and for reasons other than your safety, avoid looking or sounding like a naive tourist. Olympic cities love gullible tourists, and when they know they have you trapped, they act accordingly. Even some of the non-Olympics businesses will unfairly target you, and some will use the same strategies Olympics organizations use, so be careful. Be especially vigilant regarding businesses that pass themselves off as official Olympics retailers or services. They will often have cheap knock off souvenirs in their windows, or a pitch that sounds like a carnival barker. Avoid these unscrupulous operators at all costs. Most will be in hotel districts and near Olympic facilities like BC Place and the Olympic Village. INSIDE Scoop on Vancouver and Whistler's Hotels, Food, Shopping, Activities, Services Crowds in Olympics regions are overwhelming. In fact, as early as 2007, traffic had already started to become oppressively congested. During the Games, Olympics organizations herd spectators like cowboys herd cattle. Police tazers become cattle prods. They choose what you see, what you eat, and what you think, ... and they tell you when to do it, plus, all too often companies gouge unsuspecting tourists. VISA is the official and only credit card accepted by Olympics sanctioned businesses, so make sure you have it in hand because you'll need it. I'm not sure why in this era of consumer options Olympics organizations still chest thump about his monopoly, but they do, so be prepared. Fortunately, if your goal is to purchase or do something out of the ordinary, and it is non-Olympics related most local independent businesses accept a wide range of cards, including debit. Debit machine scams abound here though so scrutinize atm's and keep your eyes on your card when you hand it off to a retailer. Go to the till at a restaurant. Smarter consumers often steer clear of the corporate money-grab, but if you really need something with an official Olympics logo on it you'll need plenty of head room on your VISA. Many retailers off options so shop carefully. Events or shops that are middle-of-the-road Olympics touristy will be shoulder-to-shoulder writhing masses of people. If you don't mind waiting in line, or paying jacked prices for run-of-the-mill tourist kitsch, simply follow the slow snaking crowds to the government co-managed Olympics hot spots (2010 Olympic organizations partnered with all three levels of government). On the other hand, if you're interested in unique adventures experiences and underground trade, you have extraordinary options, but only if you do a bit of research online before you arrive. Don't just show up. As you already know, it costs a fortune to promote and produce an Olympics event, but what you might not realize is that Olympics spectators and tourists carry a large portion of the economic load. Most people assume that because official Olympics sponsors like VISA and GM generate such incredible PR value from the Games, that they also cover the bulk of the costs for the Host region, but they don't. Tourists and local taxpayers do, so shop carefully. Olympic organizations have you trapped, and in the past have been notorious for overcharging and gouging spectators. Products and services were grossly overpriced, especially food and accommodations. If it has an official Olympics logo on it expect to pay top dollar. Look carefully at the tag and comparison shop online before you arrive. Keep in mind too that in the past Olympics merchandise has been manufactured in Asian sweatshops, which gives you even more incentive to shop ethically. Don't get frazzled about souvenir purchases. The trend today is to buy mementos that are more personal and reflect your experience, which means it's not as cool as it used to be to walk around with the logo of a large corporation or the rings and torch emblazoned across your chest. Experienced travelers also know not to to attract the attention of terrorists. Pick up Olympics trinkets for the kids and buy yourself a keepsake with meaning. Many local businesses in Vancouver and Whistler produce their products in British Columbia, and some of them even do it in facilities attached to their retail outlets. Vancouver's local jewelry, artwork and furniture are world class. Products made from local and imported hardwood are often very high quality, but still affordable. In 2006, the 2010 Olympics budget ballooned from $587,000 to over $2.5 billion. In 2009 it was estimated to be over $6 billion. Costs are still growing and have crippled the region. Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities in Canada in which to live - so bring money, lots of it. Local businesses are trying to figure out how to survive, and some are even being forced to move their operations as a result of a high cost of living driven by Olympic frenzy, which means retailers with local goods will go way out of their way to be competitive ... and then some. Seek them out online and make arrangements to visit them when you arrive. Email or Twitter them and let them know you`re coming. Ask them for advice about getting to their location and about other interesting shops and things in their neighborhood. Some of the smarter local independent businesses have a plan, and know that they have to survive long after the Olympics leave. It gives them incentive to make sure tourists have a good experience so you come back again. A number of Vancouver and Whistler's select local businesses have developed Olympics-inspired offerings. Check out lululemon, John Fleuvog and Taraxca. If you window shop online before you arrive you can source a variety of wicked little treasures, but you have to shop and compare carefully. Contact business owners directly through their websites to learn more about their Olympic event related incentives. Some retailers will offer substantial discounts if you show up with a ticket for a hockey or snowboarding event, plus an airline ticket or hotel receipt. If you can prove you're here in an Olympics related capacity, either as a spectator or participant, and from out of town, many will make it worth your while. See you on the street ... contact Check out our Newsletter - It's FREE!! blog comments powered by Disqus         Mouseover thumbnails for a mini PHOTO TOUR and a FREE offer |
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