Gather your public space, public transit loving friends, costume up in your wildest, sassiest, most-creative attire, and join us for a ghoulish ride on the crazy train!

In-flight entertainment courtesy will be provided by our resident DJ Rocky Fisher (bio below). Get set for epic EDM awesomeness as we travel south and across the border into deepest, darkest Richmond before returning to Waterfront Station.

And when the train rolls back back downtown to Terminus, we are offering members our very own version of Star-Alliance treatment with after-party magic. Follow us round the corner, across the street, and to the soon-to-be dismantled Seymour & Hastings Dome, where the DJ action will carry on.

The important stuff you need to know [UPDATED – PLEASE READ]:

• Meet on the Canada Line train platform at Waterfront Station. We will be leaving shortly after 8:00pm, so don’t be late.
  
• ProTrans (the company that runs the Canada Line) has told us that they will be getting people to queue up – like they did last year. They have also told us that they are unable to allow a long on-boading time (unlike previous years). What this means: Getting everyone on board at Waterfront is going to be a challenge, so don’t wait until 8pm to show up. If you want to get on the train, make sure you show up early, or better still…
• Pro-tip: If you are worried about the queue situation at Waterfront, consider joining us at City Centre, Yaletown, or one of the other stations on route. There will not be queues at these stations. If you use twitter, please follow us @vpsn – as we will be tweeting upcoming route stops
• Because we have very limited set-up time, we need your help: as you board the train, please make some space for our volunteer crew and DJ as they set-up. That way, we can get the party started without delay.
• Your price of admission? A $2.75 transit ticket, or your U-pass. ( Kids, high school students and 65+ = $1.75). This event is all about celebrating transit, so please remember to buy a transit ticket. | Fare details -www.translink.ca
• TransLink has asked us to pass this along: racing between trains at stops can be a real safety issue, so please try to respect that. (Actually, in general, be cool, ’cause we DO want to make sure we’re able to keep throwing these parties well into the future!)
• The train will stop at every station between Waterfront and Richmond Brighouse (and back), and picking up people along the way. These are your halloween party guests! Invite them in to join in the fun.
• If you see one of the Canada Line staff crew, or TransLink officer, please give ‘em a high five. These fine folks do a lot to make sure that this event runs smoothly. We’re grateful for that.

The After-Party

Once we return to Waterfront Station, we will doing a quick-shift of venues and moving the party one-block south to Seymour and Hastings. Join us! This public space is soon to be be demolished (sad!), and we want your help to liven it up one more time. Yay, weird dome space! We heart you (even if not many other people do).

Finally, please check this page leading up to the event in case there are updates to pass along!

About the DJ – Rocky Fi$her

For four years running, VPSN’s resident SkyTrain DJ Rocky Fi$her has been tearing up the transit party decks with the wildest mix old school flavour and new school groove. Rocky’s mixology is guaranteed to keep you jumping as she fuses together dnb, experimental trap, garage/jackin, bass, deep dubstep, glitch and more. Get ready for fresh sounds and danceable favourites on the 2015 SkyTrain event.

While not helping us with our transit party mayhem, Rocky Fi$her keeps the party going around town and at festivals across BC. She’s also resident DJ at the Ignite Bassment parties.

2011 Halloween SkyTrain Party – Photo by Lydi@ Yan

It’s baaaaack!

Ladies and gentleman, get your make-up ready. The annual Halloween SkyTrain Party returns for the seventh year on Thursday, October 31, 2013.

Gather your friends, get your scariest and sassiest costumes together, and get ready to jump on the Canada Line for public transit experience like no other. Your job: help us to transform a regular ol’ train ride to Richmond into a bit of ghoulish magic!

The night of transit terror includes:

• On-deck action and a spankingly awesome soundtrack via DJ Rocky Fi$her – Soundcloud | Facebook)
• Snappy decorations, tasty treats
• The best-dressed crew of public space loving ghouls and goblins on the continent

After the event is done, join us as we cross Cordova Street and set up an awesome after-party … just a few steps away.

DETAILS:

• Meet at Waterfront Station – Canada Line Platform – Thursday, October 31 at 8:00pm
• WAIT for the signal (so you get on the right train!). We’ll be leaving at approximately 8:15pm
• When we return to Waterfront, follow the VPSN team and join us at the not-so-secret after-party location

SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

Please party respectfully so we can make sure this bit of annual Halloween fun continues well into the future! We love our Canada Line and our SkyTrains … and they love us. Keep this in mind as we party it up in public space. This means:

• Don’t forget to buy your ticket. Fare details available on the Translink website.
• Be kind to the nice train that will carry us on our loop. The after party location will require us to exit the train fairly quickly, please remember to pack out whatever you bring with you.
• Please do not crowd the crew or equipment – we need to do a super quick set-up and tear-down
• Please be especially nice to any folks who will be joining us along the way – and invite them to join in the fun!
• And if you se ‘em, remember to say hello and thank you to the kind folks at Translink and the Canada Line who make the public transit system run!

STAY IN TOUCH

Please be sure to check out our VPSN.ca blog or Facebook event page on the day-of in case there are any additional updates.

Want to help out?! For volunteer opportunities and more information please email: info@vancouverpublicspace.ca

Do you do the twitter? Let us know via our @vpsn account – and the #skytrainparty hashtag.

Upload your photos to Flickr at tag them “skytrainparty”

ABOUT THE DJ

We’re stoked to have DJ Rocky Fi$her join us for the 2013 SkyTrain Party and after-party.

Rocky spins a wide variety of bass music genres: danceable electro, drum and bass, moombacore, drumstep, dubstep, hardstyle & trap. Creating mashups and live remixing, Rocky’s shows weave a tapestry of genres and bring a vibrant energy and soulful mood. Our versatile SkyTrain DJ is a crowd-favourite. Known for her colourful costumes and spirited performances, she puts on a show that delights, entertains and makes you move your feet!

Earlier improvements to the Adanac Bikeway

On Wednesday, City Council will be deliberating over a staff report on three ‘active transportation corridor’ improvements:

• Union Street (Gore Street to Carrall Street)
• Cambie Bridge (north end to Beatty Street)
• Canada Line (pedestrian and bicycle connection)

The VPSN has written a letter of support, an excerpt of which can be found below:

We are writing to you to express our support in principle for the proposed upgrades to the Union Street as a part of the Adanac Bikeway. The Adanac Bikeway acts as a type of bicycle artery offering a safe connection appropriate for cyclists of all ages and abilities with relatively little interaction with motor vehicles into the Downtown Peninsula and False Creek from East Vancouver and beyond. However, as it is currently configured, the area on Union Street West of Gore is far less inviting to the cyclist and has a number of potential areas of conflict between cyclists and motorists. Reducing these areas of conflict and creating a more legible streetscape in this relatively small section of a much larger system should be a priority.

Although it would be our preference for the 200 block of Union Street to become one way to vehicles to allow for two separated bicycle lanes as originally proposed, we are willing to support the concept of the shared eastbound lane on a trial basis in order to help alleviate the concerns expressed by some of businesses in the 200 block of Union Street. Given that this intersection is considerably influenced by the viaducts, it would be our suggestion that the shared lane be on a trial basis until a decision has been made regarding the future of the viaducts, at which point it could be reviewed.

Some businesses have voiced their concern over the removal of on-street parking on Union Street as well as the change in traffic patterns. The perception that the installation of bicycle infrastructure creates negative impacts on local businesses has been frequently shown to be inaccurate. For example, a 2009 study in Toronto found that the removal of on-street parking in favour of a bike lane would have few negative effects on businesses and that they may actually benefit from lane re-allocation. In fact, it was determined that only 10% of those businesses’ patrons drove and that those that arrived by foot and bicycle visited more often and spent the most money per month.

Alleviating the fears of businesses will be crucial for the continued success of the Adanac Bikeway and other bicycle infrastructure throughout the City. In addition to the works on the Adanac Bikeway, we are also in support of the proposed Cambie Bridge to Beatty and Canada Line connections which we believe will help to increase bicycle and pedestrian use while improving conditions for transit users, pedestrians and cyclists.

Bursts of light eminate from the trees on Beach Avenue.

Month 12 of 12 has arrived, December is here! The days are shorter, but the streets are beginning to feel a bit brighter. The lights adorning the trees at Beach and Bidwell have been switched on, and there is less Movember and more anticipatory liveliness on people’s faces.

This year has been a big one for public space issues in Vancouver and around the world. Between now and the end of the month, we’ll be rolling out a series of posts and articles that review the happenings of 2011 and look ahead to 2012 and beyond.

In the meantime here’s a snap-shot of some current items and editorial stuff that we hope will be of interest….

• VPSN Winter Gathering – Saturday, December 10 @ 8pm
• Advancing the public space agenda at City Hall. The next three years.
• Ask Gregor – Spacing Magazine
• Urban Screens and CityBuilding- A public talk with Mirjam Struppek – December 2, 7pm at SFU Surrey. 
  Winter Wander: theVanierPark cultural hub – Saturday December 3
• Lessons in Urban Wayfinding – Thursday December 15, 2011
• GenWhy. Worklife. Help needed.
• Vancouver’s polar bears, Fraser salmon feature in new public art
• Funding – City of Surrey– small grant program

VPSN Winter Gathering – Saturday, December 10 @ 8pm

Bon fete! Join us for some end-of-year fun in the upstairs lounge of the W2 café (inside the Woodward’s atrium). There will be a jolly assembly of all the things you love most in life: food, drink, music, dancing, games, friends, quirky urbanists… and perhaps even a public space intervention or two, if the weather permits.

Details on the event can be found on Facebook and our blog. Colleagues, loved ones and neighbours welcome. The event is free, but for the sake of party planning please RSVP so we can get a sense of numbers. Looking forward to seeing you there!

:: Tell us you wouldn’t miss it for the world – events [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca
:: Facebook Event Page
:: VPSN Blog Winter Party Blog Post (additional details, etc.)

Advancing the public space agenda at City Hall. The next three years. 

As many of you know, the VPSN was paying close attention to the recent municipal election. In addition to maintaining our popular vancouvervotes.ca election blog, we also staged the second edition of Last Candidate Standing, our election debate mixer. This year’s event saw 30 mayoral and council candidates face-off in a rollicking, high-stakes event.

We wanted to say a BIG public thank you to ALL the candidates who ran. Regardless of one’s political orientation, signing up to put your name on the ballot takes a lot of guts and a lot of commitment. We’re grateful that there so many people (61 in for Mayor and Council alone) who were willing to consider representing Vancouverites at City Hall.

Now that the new Council, Park and School Board are being formed, we wanted to make an affirmation of our own. The VPSN will continue to work hard in advocating on behalf of a wide range of public space issues with all elected officials. We are, and always have been, non-partisan… and we use our position to champion the tenets of good urbanism with all parties and all politicians.

The next three years promise to be interesting ones for people interested in the city’s public realm. The Vision Vancouver platform gives a sense of the direction to come. In addition to the majority-elect’s commitment to improved and expanded pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, enriched greenspace, an expansion of street food, and more, we note one promissory item that will be of interest to many of you:

Create a new public square downtown. Building on the lessons of the 2010 Olympic Games, and the City’s ongoing consultations on the City’s Transportation 2040 plan, we will work to create a new public square in the downtown.

:: Read the Vision Vancouver platform (pdf)

Ask Gregor – Spacing Magazine

Our friends at Spacing Vancouver will be holding an in-depth Q & A session with Mayor Gregor Robertson that will be published in the magazine’s second National Edition.

They’re looking to make the process an inclusive one and are giving readers the opportunity to add to the list of questions and issues that they’ll be raising with the Mayor. Here’s your chance to pose a query via the Spacing team. Bike lanes? Laneway housing? Public realm? Future visions for the city? Send’em their way. (A disclaimer though: they won’t be able to ask every question directly and plan on teasing out common themes wherever possible). 

:: Submit your question by Monday, December 5 – Erick [at] spacing.ca.

Urban Screens and City Building – A public talk with Mirjam Struppek – December 2, 7pm at SFU Surrey.

With any luck the Province of BC will send representatives to this event. Their recent foray into video screens –four of them ring the newly reopened stadium – could use a serious re-think.

Screen installations, public projections, interactive facades and shop windows or networked communication-sculptures have emerged as a recent art form in the urban public space. They are a venue for creating new visual experiences and engaging cultures, as much as they might further the agendas of consumer culture.

But how do urban screens positively engage audiences and contribute to the experience of a civil society? What do they actually contribute to the character of their urban surroundings, and what is their potential for interaction and creating personal or shared experiences? This presentation will look at crucial issues such as rethinking content, ownership, infrastructure and the careful integration in the urban environment.

Note: This talk will be is preceded by the opening reception for Electric Speed (www.electricspeed.ca), a new work for the Surrey Urban Screen, taking place at the Churck Bailey Recreation Centre at 13458 – 107 A Avenue, (next to the Gateway Skytrain).

Winter Wander: the Vanier Park cultural hub – Saturday December 3

Vanier Park is a cultural hub that manyVancouver residents know little about, and on Saturday, December 3 the six cultural institutions that call Kitsilano’s biggest park home will be celebrating this hidden treasure with a significantly reduced rate for visitors.

Vanier Park is home to the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Vancouver, the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Bard on the Beach, Vancouver Academy of Music, and the City of Vancouver Archives– offering visitors a fascinating range of cultural experiences within easy walking distance of each other.

The Winter Wander in Vanier Park is a one day event in which Vancouverites and their families can enjoy a taste of what all Vanier Park’s cultural institutions have to offer for one rate that includes all venues (Note Bard on the Beach will be located at the MOV, as the tents are currently down). Adult admission will be just $5 to visit all locations, and children 16 and under will visit for free. Venues open at 10am and close at 5pm.

:: More info – Museum ofVancouver website

Lessons in Urban Wayfinding – Thursday December 15, 2011

As cities become denser and more complex, there is a growing need for cities to be livable, accessible, efficient and optimized to reduce carbon. Benchmark projects like “Legible London” have demonstrated how wayfinding design can effectively contribute to these goals through multidisciplinary collaboration and innovative partnerships.

Learn how a holistic approach to identity, brand and wayfinding can contribute to a cities’ competitive edge. Project innovations will include dynamic technologies, landscape, gateways, public art and placemaking. The lecture will also include how interior designers, architects, landscape architects, and exhibition designers can also engage in the urban realm.

11:30am to 2:00pm (Lunch is included). The Ironworks Studios,235 Alexander Street,Vancouver. SEGD Members: $20, SEGD Non-Members: $25, Students: $10.

:: More Information – http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1814682765

GenWhy. Worklife. Help needed.

Our friends at GenWhy Media are always coming up with cool projects. They say their focus is on youth engagement, but frankly their work does a great job of engaging just about everyone who sees it. Nice work for this local crew! 

Anyway, the GenWhy team is currently looking for a few volunteers to help develop a participatory public art project that will re-imagine the relationship between work and life. It’ll be part of the upcoming XYBOOM conference on youth unemployment. Riffing off of the work of artist/urban planner Candy Chang, the idea is to crowd-source aspirations on work/life balance through a free-standing text-based scupture that spell the phase “worklife”. That’s where you come in. 

:: To lend a hand – info [at] genwhymediaproject.com

Vancouver’s polar bears, Fraser salmon feature in new public art

Closer to home, two new public art installations are rolling out at various locations throughout the city. 

Polar Bear: Native to Vancouver by Tony Pantages launches December 5 on Canada Line video screens

Polar Bear: Native toVancouverby Tony Pantages launches December 5 and runs to December 18 on the Canada Line video screens. The piece is a tribute to the annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim inVancouver. Started by Peter Pantages in 1920 with ten members, this is the oldest and largest Polar Bear Swim and is the genesis of the worldwide Polar Bear Swim movement. Tony Pantages, a third-generation Vancouverite and a filmmaker, attaches a personal history to this public tradition. For half a century his grandfather, Peter, took his daily dip in English Bay 365 days a year through sun, rain, snow, sleet and hail. Polar Bear: Native toVancouverpays homage to his grandfather Peter, father Tony Sr., and uncle Basil, who all appear in this 10-second film.

Polar Bear: Native toVancouverlaunches December 5 on the Canada Line subway video screens and on www.youtube.com/offonmain & www.facebook.com/pages/On-Main/2007124999695. 

New public artwork animates Knight Street corridor. (Community launch, December 3 @ 10:00am)

A 43-metre-long steel sculpture has joinedVancouver’s streetscape atKnight Streetand33rd Avenueas the newest addition to the City’s public art collection.

Abundance Fenced by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas features a playful adaptation of contemporary Haida design and runs along the top of a concrete retaining wall besideKensingtonPark, serving as a decorative railing beside the pedestrian path. The piece was inspired by the plentiful 2010FraserRiversalmon run and Yahgulanaas sees the artwork as a tribute to the exceptional return and celebration of the resilience of the species. Yahgulanaas created the work in the Haida Manga style he developed which is a fusion of Northwest Coast First Nations design elements and Japanese graphic animation.

A community celebration of the work will be held on Saturday, December 3 at 10 a.m. in the Kensington Community Centre, Seniors’ Lounge,5175 Dumfries Street.

:: More info – Chisaki Muraki-Valdovinos, City of Vancouver- chisaki.muraki-valdovinos [at] vancouver.ca

Funding – City of Surrey – small grant program

Back to Surreyagain. The City has developed a small grant program which offers up to $3,000 to support planning, organizing and implementing projects that physically improve the appearance and engage residents with public spaces. Cool stuff – and not dissimilar to the City of Vancouver’s Neighbourhood Matching Fund Program, applicants match volunteer time (to implement the project) with city grant money. The money is then used to cover the hard costs associated with the project (supplies, materials, even food etc.). 

 :: More info – Patrick Klassen, Parks Planning, Research & Design, pklassen [at] surrey.ca

I was back at the VIFF for a nice chunk of time over Thanksgiving weekend and the days leading up to it. Last Thursday I went to check out City of Life, a swirling narrative of life in Dubai… with a half dozen characters living their lives before — boom — they all come colliding together at the end. It was a catchy, entertaining film. Much less focused on the city than I thought it might be, but a fun watch all around.

What did catch my eye, from an urban planning perspective, was a short film that proceeded it called Three Sad Tigers (UK, Spain, 2010, 14 minutes). Directed by David Munoz, it’s an all-too-brief documentary piece that records the story of three Bangladeshi tradesmen – Ahmed, Haroon and Mohammed – who were recruited to work in Dubai during the city’s construction boom.

After fronting money to in return for the promise of visa paperwork and high paying jobs, the three find themselves working for pittance. Unable to repay the loans they took out to get to the Dubai and forced to work in abysmal conditions, each suffers a further wrong when they are unceremoniously cut lose by the illegal contractor that had hired them and told that that they would have to return home.

Of course, when you look at Dubai – or any city for that matter – you don’t often see these sorts of stories reflected in the built environment. They become part of an invisible history, purposefully left out of the dominant narratives of place. This isn’t a foreign practice either. In BC we’ve only just started to account for the galling and racialized labour practices that built the railway across the country. (Of the several thousand Chinese workers recruited for the construction of the BC section, 600 workers died. One for every few kilometers of track).

Even in Vancouver proper the role of foreign labour in city-building is often obscured. The ‘erasure’ isn’t a matter of history either. Only a few short months ago a Provincial Labour Tribunal ruled against SELI (partners with SNC Lavalin on the construction of the Canada Line), finding that the company had discriminated against the Latin American workers it had brought in to work on the transit system “on the basis of race, colour, ancestry and place of origin.” Not insignificantly either – SELI was paying the latino workers far less (and providing worse living conditions) than Europeans that had been hired to do exactly the same job. It was a story that, given the timing (Olympics), did not receive the press that it deserved.

Three Sad Tigers is a short film, true, but it functions as a strong reminder of this darker side of city building. And while Dubai (and Bangladash) may seem remote in the course of viewing this film, it’s important to check that thought against what goes on in our own city. Perhaps, viewed in that way, Tigers is also a good place-holder until we get a film on our own local labour history and the different hands that have helped build Vancouver.