51. Take a self-guided walking tour (link, link, link, link)
52. Walk, ride, or roll along Vancouver’s newest linear park the Arbutus Greenway (link)
53. Trace the route of Vancouver’s once and future streetcar line (link)
54. Blow bubbles (link)
55. Take a newcomer to the city on a bike ride (link)
56. Be an entrepreneur and set up a lemonade stand (link)
57. Put your swimsuit on and do some lengths in the Kits Beach pool (link)
58. Break the law: go to a Vancouver after 10:00pm (link)
59. Paint a mural (link)
60. Take a stand! Voice your opinion at the Jim Deva speakers corner (link)
61. Find a string of outdoor patio lights and create an outdoor ‘room’ (link)
62. Visit one of our downtown privately owned public spaces for lunch (link, link, link)
63. Play pingpong at Guiness Plaza
64. Snag a Tyranitar for your collection… or see what other Pokémon you can find (link)
65. Put your phone away, walk a high street, look up at the buildings around you (link)
66. Test your skills with a hullahoop
67. Join the urban sketchers and practice drawing your city (link)
68. Walk the labyrinth at Renfrew Ravine, and check out the Moon Festival (link, link)
69. PDA
70. Say hello to the salmon at Still Creek or Musqueam Park (link, link)
71. Fill up your waterguns and get ready for the 2017 waterfight! (link)
72. Grab a 6-pack and have a beer on beer island. (But please pack out your cans!) (link)
73. Get of the SkyTrain two stops early
74. Download the buried streams map and trace an old waterway. Listen carefully! (link)
75. Fly a kite
76. Make a lantern and light up the night (link, link)
77. Be a public space researcher and evaluate a park or plaza (link, link)
78. Find Douglas Coupland and stick gum on his head. (PS, yes, we know the statue is gone).
79. Skateboard at the plaza, or on one of the other parks around town (link)
80. Be a sidewalk advocate. Call 3-1-1 or use #VanConnect to report problems (link)
81. Seedbomb and guerilla garden your ‘hood (link)
82. Plan ahead for this year’s Culture Crawl (link)
83. Get cinematic with a free outdoor movie (link, link)
84. Make media at the VPL Inspiration Lab (link)
85. Think about using a billboard as a giant canvas for public art (link)
86. Connect with your neighbours. Make a project. Apply for a Neighbourhood Small grant (link)
87. Have a yardsale
88. Make a friendly street poster and put it up around your ‘hood (link)
89. Chase pigeons
90. Make a public sundial (link)
91. Take a nap outdoors
92. Grab a bite at one of the city’s excellent street food vendors (link)
93. Get learning! Sign up for a course at your local community centre (link)
94. Help to transform an derelict alley into a Laneway Living Room (link)
95. Support your local independents. Keep our commercial streets distinct and authentic!
96. 50 other shades on a rainy day! Trade in your black umbrella for one that’s bold and bright.
97. Point the way to something cool. Make your own wayfinding sign.
98. Write a short post about your favourite public space. We’ll publish it! (link)
99. Learn about local ecology at the Stanley Park Ecology Society Nature House (link)
100. Take to the streets in old Japantown as part of the Powell Street Festival (link)

Are we missing something? Drop us a line and let us know what your favourite public space activity is. We’ll add it to the list.

In Vancouver, the aknnowledgement of this complex and overlapping history starts with the fact that the celebration is being named “Canada 150+“. The “+” is key. There’s a whole lot more history in the country than 150 years.

And yet, within this century-and-a-half since the country we call Canada came into being, there have also been some mighty achievements. For its many challenges, Canada has also walked a unique path. It has managed to avoid many of the other difficulties that have faced other countries around the world. There is a lot to be proud of.

So should you celebrate or offer a critique?

We believe you can do both. In fact, we believe that opportunity maybe one of the essences of being Canadian. That and the fact that we can use both of these mindsets – the celebratory and the critical – to be smarter, to do better, as we move forward.

In honour of the occasion of Canada’s 150th “+”, we decided to jot down a (very incomplete) list of 150+ things that you can do in our shared public spaces. Many of them are things that you could do this weekend, but a good portion of them are on-going – or even take place – later in the year.

We’ll be publishing the list over three parts today, tomorrow, and Monday.

1. Go to the google and search “Canada 150 critique”. Read. (link, link, link)
2. Check out the fireworks at Canada Place (link)
3. Watch a sunset at Third Beach (link)
4. Paddle in False Creek (False Creek, Creekside)
5. Learn to say hello in Halq’eméylem (Halkomelem) or Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh snichim (Squamish) – the original languages of the place we call Vancouver (Halq’eméylem, Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh)
6. Visit the Khatsahlano Street Festival (link)
7. Ride the zipline at Queen Elizabeth Park (link)
8. Learn about the trees on your street with the help of the Vancouver Tree Book (link)
9. Watch the salmon swim uniterrupted under the Cambie Bridge (link)
10. Attend a protest
11. Learn to lawn bowl at Stanley Park or Granville Park (Stanley, Granville)
12. Ride the slide into English Bay (link)
13. Find some sidewalk chalk and a nice piece of pavement… and write out one of your hopes for the country
14. Say hello to the new director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum (link)
15. Focus your eyes and tune your ears with birdwatching (link)
16. Satisfy your sonnet-lust with some Shakespeare at Bard on the Beach (link)
17. Check out the new market on Granville Island (link)
18. Go natural at Wreck Beach (link)
19. (Re-)experience childhood on neighbourhood tree swing
20. Plant a boulevard garden in front of your home (link)
21. Take a random bus ride … and see where you end up! (link)
22. Add some art to your alleyway
23. Read the Truth and Reconciliation report (link)
24. Volunteer for one of the City’s civic advisory committees (link)
25. Organize a block party (link)
26. Visit your local branch library and take out a book on public space (link)
27. Water your local street tree
28. Pick up a copy of the Vancouver Book Award winner and read it by the beach (link)
29. Attend a West Coast, Pow-Wow, or Metis Night at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre (link)
30. Have a picnic
31. Try skimboarding at Jericho (link)
32. Enjoy an icecream on the steps at the 800-block Robson, watch the people wander by
33. Make all the poses of the laughing statues (link)
34. Walk, skateboard, or pedal the Seaside Greenway
35. Research your street, neighbourhood, or City history at the Vancouver Archives (link)
36. Play bocce at Victoria Park. When you’re done, grab an espresso on the Drive! (link)
37. Donate some books to a Little Free Library. Don’t have one nearby? Make one! (link)
38. Volunteer with the Vancouver Public Space Network (link)
39. Paint an old chair or two and add some seating to your local park, plaza or sidewalk (link)
40. Be a hero and pick up a piece of litter
41. Take in a City Council meeting and see how local politics works (link)
42. Lose your self in the ecstatic rhythm of a drum circle (link)
43. Busk. And if that’s not your thing, stop, listen and support a busker!
44. Climb a tree, just like you used to.
45. Take a spin in a Mobi bike (link)
46. Get your rainbow on at the annual Pride parade (link)
47. Explore the Fraser River boardwalk (link)
48. Find something delicious at one of our local Farmers Markets (link)
49. Learn to salsa with a free dance lesson at Robson Square (link)
50. Smell the flowers at Van Dusen Gardens (link)

Part 2 and 3 of the list will be published on July 2 and 3. If there’s something you think should be added, please let us know! 

Here’s an excerpt of our letter:

We are particularly encouraged by the motion to explore how better to incorporate indigenous place names throughout the city. Given Vancouver’s designation as a “City of Reconciliation,” we feel that this is long overdue. Other cities have undertaken, or are in the process of undertaking, similar naming processes – and it is a powerful way to respond to the type of cultural erasure that characterized much of Vancouver’s colonial history and relationship with local First Nations.

We would ask that the City also consider exploring the opportunity to designate new public spaces to honour the spirit of reconciliation itself. One example, which we proposed previously, was to look at designating the new 800-Robson plaza space in this regard. It’s just an idea, of course, but one that we think has some strong symbolic value, given its location.

We further support the exploration of street or asset renaming. We understand that there have been some challenges identified with this, but we think the conversation warrants a deeper discussion. We note that the City already has a number of precedents in this regard – which is why we call Vanier Park by that name and not senaqw (its Squamish name). It’s also why there’s no more Bismark Avenue, Electric Avenue or Tram Avenue any more (all of which were once the names of East Vancouver streets).