Things you thought you'd hate but then ended up liking

[Rothman]

I've wondered about how Vancouver has all those buildings but a relatively small population.

[Max Rockatansky]

Helps having the highest population density in Canada.  Surrey has a similar population but has almost three times as much land to work with.

[pderocco]

Vancouver on my recent trip was something I didn't think I'd end up liking.  The city actually very pleasant and it wasn't hard to drive around in.  I thought the experience was going to be more akin to slogging around Seattle.  I don't generally like modern architecture but the downtown area is hitting on something that pleases the eye.  Definitely was the most unique downtown in a Canadian city which I've been to.

One interesting thing about Vancouver is that there are no freeways into downtown. To get there, you have to drive five miles of BC-99 from the south, a few miles from TC-1 in the east, or a few miles of BC-99 from the north over Lions Gate Bridge. Also, the highways feel to me like the highways I learned to drive on fifty years ago in New England.

But I do love the downtown. I think Vancouver has more hi-rises than any other city in North America except NYC, and all in a small area. With the harbor, North Vancouver, and the mountains as a backdrop, it looks like a tiny chunk of Hong Kong from a distance.

I think you hit on what I found appealing.  I'm used to a particular European aesthetic with the downtowns in other big Canadian cities.  Downtown Vancouver definitely felt like it has a far more Asian aesthetic with the modern largely glass facade high rises.  There also wasn't much in the way of American-style Brutalism to be found either.

It also has a substantial wealthy Asian population, or so I've heard.

[pderocco]

Helps having the highest population density in Canada.  Surrey has a similar population but has almost three times as much land to work with.

That would explain Surrey's huge library. Did you happen to see that building on your trip? It's pretty dramatic. I first saw it in a Mercedes TV ad.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hAKAtPVuxA9EkjgUA

[Max Rockatansky]

Helps having the highest population density in Canada.  Surrey has a similar population but has almost three times as much land to work with.

That would explain Surrey's huge library. Did you happen to see that building on your trip? It's pretty dramatic. I first saw it in a Mercedes TV ad.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hAKAtPVuxA9EkjgUA

Missed much of central Surrey since our hotel was out on the river in Stevenston. 

[webny99]

One interesting thing about Vancouver is that there are no freeways into downtown. To get there, you have to drive five miles of BC-99 from the south, a few miles from TC-1 in the east, or a few miles of BC-99 from the north over Lions Gate Bridge.

And requires passing through some rough neighborhoods, too, especially from the east. In the US you could hardly find anything comparable to E Hastings St as a primary route between downtown and suburbs. Even San Fran has freeways much closer to the business district.

I think you hit on what I found appealing.  I'm used to a particular European aesthetic with the downtowns in other big Canadian cities.  Downtown Vancouver definitely felt like it has a far more Asian aesthetic with the modern largely glass facade high rises. 

Toronto is probably the closest comparison in terms of Canadian cities.

[Rothman]

One interesting thing about Vancouver is that there are no freeways into downtown. To get there, you have to drive five miles of BC-99 from the south, a few miles from TC-1 in the east, or a few miles of BC-99 from the north over Lions Gate Bridge.

And requires passing through some rough neighborhoods, too, especially from the east. In the US you could hardly find anything comparable to E Hastings St as a primary route between downtown and suburbs. Even San Fran has freeways much closer to the business district.

I think you hit on what I found appealing.  I'm used to a particular European aesthetic with the downtowns in other big Canadian cities.  Downtown Vancouver definitely felt like it has a far more Asian aesthetic with the modern largely glass facade high rises. 

Toronto is probably the closest comparison in terms of Canadian cities.

Toronto's skyscrapers look like they're all designed by the same three architects and built all around the same era.  Love the place, but it does seem to have less architectural diversity than, say Boston, New York or Chicago...

[Max Rockatansky]

I must've have missed those rough neighborhoods in Vancouver.  Then again I was staying on Aurora Avenue in Seattle for a couple nights on the same trip.  The variance between a Sprouts Farmers Market on one block to several questionable adult establishments a couple blocks down is an interesting contrast.

[Henry]

Open-road tolling, and toll roads in general: When I first started driving, I tried my best to avoid the Tollways because of the obvious charges to drive them, and my parents despised them to no end. But now I've grown to appreciate the fact that ISTHA is better at maintenance than IDOT, and although I've never stopped at an Oasis, I'm sure that they're well-maintained. Similarly, when E-ZPass and its regional equivalents first came out, I wasn't sure what to make of them, especially since I was more familiar with stopping at toll booths to pay and refused to pay extra money for using a toll road without a transponder, but I've come around to ORT as well, having tried out a Good To Go account from WSDOT a few years ago and concluding that they're worth it.

(Good luck trying to get my parents on board with I-Pass, though)

[Scott5114]

The variance between a Sprouts Farmers Market on one block to several questionable adult establishments a couple blocks down is an interesting contrast.

Las Vegas is really weird in how much variance you get between close-by areas. From my old apartment, if I walked west, I would be in a neighborhood with seven-figure houses. If I walked the same distance north, I would be in the hood.

[Quillz]

Clearview

[Streetman]

The change from sequential to milepost exit numbers. That's just been done on the CT 15 parkways, on which I regularly use many exits. Mileage-based exit numbers make so much more sense. It may be less of a problem now then it would have been a generation ago, when everyone used paper maps. All online maps were quickly updated with the new numbers.

[wxfree]

Another one for me:
road diets

Every instance I've personally seen of reducing two lanes in one direction with a single lane plus either a TWLTL, bike lane, or parallel parking has been a success in my opinion.  I expected to hate them, but now I welcome them.

I don't have enough experience with this to have an opinion on it, but Texas hates them.  In this state we love unthinking opposition to anything that seems new or forward-thinking.  TxDOT has started including a clause in de-designation minute orders, when returning roads to local authority: "If the property is no longer used for public road purposes, if the unrestricted motor vehicle lanes are reduced in number or width, or if the capacity of the roadway is reduced at all, said real property shall immediately and automatically revert to the state of Texas."  If you get a state road back and then put it on a diet, you immediately lose control of that road.  I don't remember if this is due to legislation, but it might be.

[Rothman]

Another one for me:
road diets

Every instance I've personally seen of reducing two lanes in one direction with a single lane plus either a TWLTL, bike lane, or parallel parking has been a success in my opinion.  I expected to hate them, but now I welcome them.

I don't have enough experience with this to have an opinion on it, but Texas hates them.  In this state we love unthinking opposition to anything that seems new or forward-thinking.  TxDOT has started including a clause in de-designation minute orders, when returning roads to local authority: "If the property is no longer used for public road purposes, if the unrestricted motor vehicle lanes are reduced in number or width, or if the capacity of the roadway is reduced at all, said real property shall immediately and automatically revert to the state of Texas."  If you get a state road back and then put it on a diet, you immediately lose control of that road.  I don't remember if this is due to legislation, but it might be.

Hm.  On the other hand, might be a fun way of getting a locality to pay for a diet or reduction.  I mean, is TxDOT really going to fund expanding it again?  Locality wouldn't have to pay for maintenance after the reversion as well...could be less punitive than implied...

[paulthemapguy]

1. Roundabouts
2. Diverging diamonds
3. Flashing yellow arrows
4. Reducing 4 lanes to 3 lanes (specific subset of road diet)

All 4 of these fit into this category for me.

[kurumi]

4. Reducing 4 lanes to 3 lanes (specific subset of road diet)

Is this a change from 2 in each direction (with few/no left turn lanes) to 1 each + a center turning lane? (If so, agreed.)

[paulthemapguy]

4. Reducing 4 lanes to 3 lanes (specific subset of road diet)

Is this a change from 2 in each direction (with few/no left turn lanes) to 1 each + a center turning lane? (If so, agreed.)

That's exactly what I meant. The "4 lanes" initial condition had no turn lanes whatsoever. It's a common sight in Joliet, IL. Thankfully, recent leadership at the City's Public Works Department has done some diets to 3 lanes. I believe they have been helpful.

[mgk920]

4. Reducing 4 lanes to 3 lanes (specific subset of road diet)

Is this a change from 2 in each direction (with few/no left turn lanes) to 1 each + a center turning lane? (If so, agreed.)

For many years now I have considered 'four lanes undivided' to be an obsolete lane striping arrangement.

Mike

[webny99]

4. Reducing 4 lanes to 3 lanes (specific subset of road diet)

I actually agree, especially if the four lanes are a rat race with limited/no shoulders.

[formulanone]

Vancouver on my recent trip was something I didn't think I'd end up liking.  The city actually very pleasant and it wasn't hard to drive around in.  I thought the experience was going to be more akin to slogging around Seattle.  I don't generally like modern architecture but the downtown area is hitting on something that pleases the eye.  Definitely was the most unique downtown in a Canadian city which I've been to.

One interesting thing about Vancouver is that there are no freeways into downtown. To get there, you have to drive five miles of BC-99 from the south, a few miles from TC-1 in the east, or a few miles of BC-99 from the north over Lions Gate Bridge. Also, the highways feel to me like the highways I learned to drive on fifty years ago in New England.

But I do love the downtown. I think Vancouver has more hi-rises than any other city in North America except NYC, and all in a small area. With the harbor, North Vancouver, and the mountains as a backdrop, it looks like a tiny chunk of Hong Kong from a distance.

I think you hit on what I found appealing.  I'm used to a particular European aesthetic with the downtowns in other big Canadian cities.  Downtown Vancouver definitely felt like it has a far more Asian aesthetic with the modern largely glass facade high rises.  There also wasn't much in the way of American-style Brutalism to be found either.

It also has a substantial wealthy Asian population, or so I've heard.

Rush hour traffic (5pm or so) was not fun last summer in Vancouver; about 30-45 minutes to travel 3-5 miles. The incomplete highway network is only getting more crushed every time I visit, which is a hot potato...moves the traffic onto more local and residential streets or just try to manage it on major thoroughfares. Based on the decisions they've made, it's obvious there's no serious plans to widen freeways nor create new ones.

The high-rise density really is something else, though.



(Misleading density problem by using a zoomed-in photo for funsies  )



It is very "close to nature" and if the summer weather behaves, it's quite pleasant and with the except of one notable downtown area, feels entirely safe and quite clean. But that's not to crap on the area; jack up home prices and reduce the available inventory, and you're going to create social pressures on the least affluent. Add buildings for people to own a second or third home/property and that also pumps up the issue...

[PNWRoadgeek]

Roundabouts.