THE TALK OF THE TOWN

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What Do We Have For You This Month?

Welcome to “The Talk of The Town” for September, 2025. Click on the following links to find:

  • West End News & Notes: Two local citizens campaigns to protest City Hall plans and initiatives that do or will impact West End living, and there will be an increase in bus service starting September 1.

  • Hidden Treasure Hunt: Be the first to email us identifying the location of this West End “Hidden Treasure” and win your choice of a $50 coffee shop gift card.

  • West End Street & Lane Names: Vancouver’s streets and lanes each has their own history. Here’s the story of ted northe Lane.

  • West End / Coal Harbour In The News: In case you missed it, here’s a round-up of news stories from our community.

West End News & Notes

EDITOR’S NOTE
As Summer Draws To A Close

by Kevin Dale McKeown

Both John Streit, our “A Closer Look” contributor, and Henry MacDougall, “The Dragon’s Pen” correspondent, are taking some time out to travel, be with family, and take in the last days of summer. Henry will be back with us for the October issue, and John returns in November.

In the meantime, a complicated summer (long story) has kept your editor busy on several fronts, and so this month’s “Talk of the Town” is short some of the usual features, such as “Word on the Street” and “West End Moments”. We’ll be back in October with all those and more. Thanks for reading!

WEST ENDERS ARE RESTLESS!
Two Residents Groups Taking On City Hall

STOP 2030 BARCLAY! … This summer two groups of West End residents have been gathering support to push back against developments and initiatives that they believe are, or will negatively impact our neighbourhood.

A poster proclaiming OPPOSITION to the proposed hotel at 2030 barclay.

Last month, we reported on a campaign to stop the rezoning of 2030 Barclay, in a quiet residential neighbourhood between Chilco and Lagoon Drive. The proposed redevelopment of the Rosellen Suites is seeking to build a mid-block 27-storey hotel tower with 270 rooms.

Among the many concerns raised in two community meetings are that the proposed hotel, with its traffic, noisy street-level outdoor restaurant patio, and rooftop party pool offering food and liquor service, will be very noisy and disruptive. These opponents say “this project would be outside the zoning and is simply another developer seeking to maximize their profits, with no regard for the character of the West End neighbourhood. The rezoning of 2030 Barclay Street would drastically alter the neighbourhood character we cherish, increase congestion and traffic, strain local infrastructure, and transform a quiet neighbourhood into a de facto noisy commercial zone.”

The campaign also contends that approving this hotel tower will open the floodgates to further high-rise construction and ignore the zoning that protects the West End and other residential neighbourhoods. For transparency, The West End Journal fully supports this campaign.

Visit the campaign website here and learn more about this planned development and how you can join forces with other West Enders to halt this project.

SHOULD WE CALL IT “LIME DISEASE”? … Another group of West Enders is protesting the proliferation of Lime scooters, specifically at Comox and Jervis. In their online petition they state “in the heart of Downtown Vancouver, our community once enjoyed the tranquility of a quiet street and a clean environment. However, with the recent installation of an e-scooter station right in front of our building, this peace has been severely disrupted. The daily commotion of scooters being operated and parked, coupled with the heaps of garbage they leave in their wake, has greatly affected our quality of life.

“Living in this vibrant city, we understand the push towards sustainable transport options like e-scooters, but the choice of location for these stations is crucial. Our street has transformed into a noisy hub, disturbing the peace we cherished and filling our surroundings with litter that wasn't a problem before. The constant noise is not only an annoyance, but it also affects the health and well-being of residents who chose this area for its serenity.”

While the original petitioners were residents taking issue with the station near Comox and Jervis, a more recent installation of Lime scooters has popped up on Haro Street at Gilford, in front of the 90-year-old Stanley Park Manor. Full disclosure, the editor and publisher of The West End Journal lives in The Manor and has heard from many neighbours that the scooter station arrived without any meaningful community consultation and that the noise its presence generates is disruptive.

In addition to the noise, residents near this station have also remarked on the increase in litter in the area. In addition, The West End Journal has been contacted by one 70-year-old woman who required six weeks to recover after being bowled over by two teenagers riding scooters.

You can find more information and the petition here.

STAY TUNED … The West End Journal will have more coverage of both these concerns in our October issue.

MORNING BUS SCHEDULE CHANGES
More Service on #s 5, 6, & 19

As part of their stated practice of making changes to bus service every January, April, June, and September “to ensure service is provided where it’s needed most based on seasonal patterns and recent trendsl”, Translink has announced an increase in service on the three routes that serve the West End - Coal Harbour community, the #s 5, 6 and 19, starting September 1.

THE #6.

The #5 Robson and #6 Davie bus will see an increase Monday through Friday mornings of every seven to eight minutes, up from 10, from 7:40. to 8:10 a.m.

The 19 Stanley Park bus service will be increased from every 12 to 15 minutes to nine to 12 minutes from 6:30 to 8:20 a.m. and every 12 minutes, up from every 12 to 15 minutes, from 5:20 to 6:20 p.m.

Translink states that they will “continue monitoring ridership levels across the region to ensure service is provided where it is needed most as more and more people choose transit.”

Find the updated #5 schedule here, the #6 schedule here, and the #19 schedule here.

Hidden Treasure Hunt

Where have you seen this heron?

IDENTIFY THIS PHOTO
And Win A $50 Coffee Shop
Gift Card

The first reader to contact editor@thewestendjournal.ca and correctly identify the location of this image will win a $50 gift card to their choice of Blenz, Delaney’s, Melriche’s, Waves, J.J. Bean, or Greenhorn Cafe.

So if you recognize this unique piece of art write in now! Only the winning response will be notified.

The answer, and the clue to the next contest, will appear in our October issue.

The photos and the information in the answers were originally published in TWEJ several years ago as part of our “Hidden Treasures” series by Vancouver author Dianne Maguire.

Curtained Skies at 1529 West Pender.
(Dianne Maguire Photo)

LAST MONTH’S WINNER!
Congratulations Mark Brandon!

These three bold panels are at 1529 West Pender. They are wedge-shaped structures that rise high above the pavement. The polyurethane panels have lozenge-shaped rising in the middle of each panel. Facing the street, they are painted in yellow and black brushstroke. The side facing the modern building at 1529 West Pender Street are painted blue and white. This sculptural display was sponsored by the Vancouver Public Art Program in 2002.

Clay Ellis, the artist, calls his work “Curtained Skies”, an apt name, as whichever way you look at the panels you see the sky, or see it reflected in the large glass windows on two sides of the setting. The sculptor established his reputation in the 1980s and ‘90s, choosing intense colour pallets and an inventive use of mediums. Originally from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Ellis’s work has been displayed internationally, and in 2014 he was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

West End Street & Lane Names

West End street names were established when CPR surveyer Lauchlan Hamilton laid out the street grid in the late 1800s, and — while some are contemporarily contentious — they have remained. In 2017 the City started naming eight of the lane ways that run east and west through the West End. Here is the story of ted northe Lane.

TED NORTHE LANE

by Lucas Pilleri

Located between Barclay and Nelson streets, ted northe Lane runs from Burrard Street to Stanley Park.

ted northe (1939-2014) was one of Vancouver’s and Canada’s most prominent LGBT activists. His actions were instrumental in building momentum for the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country. He also helped organize many events in Vancouver, including the first Pride Parade.

In 1958, ted northe (always spelled all lower-case) famously protested with a small group of friends against the criminalization of homosexuality outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, which was the city’s courthouse at the time. All dressed in drag, looking glamorous like Gina Lollobrigida, ted northe was holding a sign reading “I am a human being,” before the police intervened to disperse the crowd.

ted north (Andre Tardif Photo)

The 1960s were no happy times for the LGBT community. As the Cold War was raging, believe it or not, gay people were thought to be communist spies! During a discriminatory era known as “The Purge,” the Canadian government spied on, exposed and removed suspected LGBT individuals from the federal public service and the Canadian Armed Forces. Because of the numerous investigations made against them, many LGBT people lost their job and social relationships. Humiliation, psychiatric treatment and torture were often used.

ted’s efforts were eventually noticed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, first as Minister of Justice then as Prime Minister. In 1969, the politician passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, or Bill C-150, which introduced major changes to the Canadian criminal code – homosexuality was no longer a crime. “There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation,” Trudeau famously declared.

ted northe as Empress of Canada.

It is said that the Prime Minister personally called ted over the phone, calling him “Your Majesty.” He was thereby emphasizing northe’s drag queen status as Empress of Canada in the Imperial Court System, one of the largest LGBT organizations in the world, as well as recognizing his historical impact on LGBT rights.

ted had introduced the Court to Vancouver in 1971 when he and his partner Bill Craig were operating The August Club, one of Vancouver’s earliest drag venues.

ted northe died of cancer in 2014 at the age of 74, leaving behind a strengthened, modernized LGBT community ready to embark on its next fight for equality.

West End - Coal Harbour In The News

SUPPORT YOUR WEST END - COAL HARBOUR COMMUNITY MEDIA

The West End Journal, including “The Talk of The Town”, is made possible by local advertising and monthly contributions from our Faithful Readers Circle. If you would like to support your community media, please visit our fundraising site here to contribute any amount from $5 a month up.

If you have a business in the West End / Coal Harbour neighbourhood, check out our advertising rates and information page here.

Thank you!
Kevin Dale McKeown
Editor & Publisher
editor@thewestendjournal.ca