Takin’ it to the (downtown) streets: For many people the Olympic experience is about crowds, street life and an abundance of arts and culture
The Olympics came with a lot of hype, and culturally, lived up to it. For the past two weeks, downtown Vancouver turned into a big street party, as up to 150,000 people a day flooded into the core to wander around, take in the sights and check out the many cultural events.
“Downtown feels like a downtown should,” said heritage expert John Atkin.
“It’s busy, it’s crowded, it’s active all hours of the night and everyone is having fun. The best thing is they turned Robson Square into what comes as close as we’ve ever had to a civic square.
“One of the best goofy things they should do at the end of the Olympics is leave the zip line up. Robson Square is lovely as a piece of architecture, but it doesn’t work for its intended purpose. I think it’s working now, and it’s really cool.”
The question is, can they keep the vibe going, post-Olympics, or will downtown revert to what critics have dubbed a “no fun” zone?
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson thinks one of the keys to the success was one of the simplest: closing off several blocks of Granville and Robson.
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