City crews will begin removing poles on Monday May 3 starting in the 1000 block Mainland, then the 1100 block, and then progressing onto Hamilton Street.  The work will consist of a crane truck lifting and removing the old green "gooseneck" poles on the east sidewalks. Ground crews will then jackhammer each pole area (this will take approx 60 minutes per spot). A junction box will then be installed into each hole, and capped off with cement. All work should be completed in about 14 days.

You may notice that some meters have already been hooded for access for the pole and concrete trucks.  The YBIA has been working with City requesting that as much as possible, the very noisy work to occur as early in the day as possible (7am-10am), followed by the inground and capping work later in the day. Crews will also complete each block totally before moving on so that parking disruption is minimized.

This work is necessary to remove the de-commissioned poles, and every effort has been made to impress upon the City work crews that our merchants need open, inviting streets.

Please call the YBIA @ 604-683-7473 if you have any concerns or issues that we can assist you with.

Sincerely,

YBIA

Search for listings on your own Virtual Office Website (VOW), sign up for a FREE subscription and receive listings before mls.ca, in Full Public Printout. search by address, MLS#, street, view walkscore or using your iPhone, Android or iPad.

Keep up to date with Vancouver’s changing real estate market, subscribe via RSS or email

When you’re ready to buy or sell Vancouver real estate, contact Manny Riebeling

Search for listings on your own Virtual Office Website (VOW), sign up for a FREE subscription and receive listings before mls.ca, in Full Public Printout. search by address, MLS#, street, view walkscore or using your iPhone, Android or iPad.

Keep up to date with Vancouver’s changing real estate market, subscribe via RSS or email

When you’re ready to buy or sell Vancouver real estate, contact Manny Riebeling

Search for listings on your own Virtual Office Website (VOW), sign up for a FREE subscription and receive listings before mls.ca, in Full Public Printout. search by address, MLS#, street, view walkscore or using your iPhone, Android or iPad.

Keep up to date with Vancouver’s changing real estate market, subscribe via RSS or email

When you’re ready to buy or sell Vancouver real estate, contact Manny Riebeling

Your devotion to wine can be matched only by your love of contributing to the local community. Join founding sponsors McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group and CameronMcNeill.com along with an esteemed group of Oenophiles at this exclusive event.

Thursday, May 6, 2010
5 to 8pm
V at Earls Yaletown  

$100 ticket includes hors d'oeuvres & wine tasting

Full info at: http://www.grapejuicevancouver.com/

Recently I took a trip and I didn’t have a place to leave my dog, a friend of mine recommended Rex Dog Hotel + Spa .Rex offers 24 hour supervision in an "open concept" boarding facility for socialized and friendly dogs. Your dog will love our their custom designed indoor and outdoor environments! Outdoors is a dog waterpark with jets, sprays and water balls for lots of fun. Comfortable decking surrounds the waterpark for lounging and watching the action. Play areas and comfortable lounge/sleeping areas are available indoors. For additional peace of mind, small dogs are welcome to stay in their completely separate "small dogs only" area. For more information visit their website or drop by for a tour (7 days per week 11am to 4pm - no appointment necessary)! The service and facilities are amazing. It is not too far from Yaletown, it is about a 7 minute drive.

Rex Dog Hotel +  Spa

760 Terminal Avenue
Vancouver, BC
Tel: 604.696.5166
Web: www.rexdoghotel.com
Email: rexvancouver@telus.net

Be part of the Robert Lee YMCA from the start!

Drop by to the open house, there will be outdoor games, tours, live entertainment, tons of fun, pay no joiner fee and you will also be able to sign up for membership. The event will take place

this coming Saturday May 1st and Sunday May 2nd, 2010.

10am – 3pm.

955 Burrard Street, about 12 minutes walking from Yaletown.

Are you worried that your building has Bedbugs?

You are about to move into a building and want to know if there has been any Bedbug problems?

well you can look for the building in this web page http://bedbugregistry.com/metro/van

If you need help to remove, inspect or have any questions, regarding  Bedbugs you can give a call to Vancouver Bed Bug Control 604-687-4824.

CBC is trying to bring back some of that good ol’ Olympic spirit and wants you to come out and cheer on the Canucks as they take on the Kings for game 5 on Friday April 23rd.

Being dubbed HOCKEY NIGHT ON HAMILTON STREET this event looks like the perfect catalyst Vancouver needs to help advance the boys in blue to the next round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Starting at 3 p.m., CBC be showing both of the day’s playoff games on their jumbo outdoor screen. From 3 – 6 p.m., CBC Radio One’s On The Coast with Stephen Quinn will be doing the show live from the outdoor stage which will be followed by be a live broadcast of CBC News Vancouver after the first game.

This is your chance to meet the CBC “home team” as they’ll be hosting meet and greets with Tony Parsons, Gloria Macarenko, Shane Foxman, Ann Luu, and The Early Edition’s Rick Cluff!

Meet the Green Guys & that’s not all!

• Free hotdogs and drinks
• Test your slapshot against a live Goalie in CBC’s inflatable hockey shoot out!
• Play some Bubble Hockey
• Get photos with the infamous Green Men and Mark Donnelly – the Canucks Anthem singer
• Compete for Hockey Night in Canada prizes and CBC schwag

Then at 7pm – Enjoy game 5 on the Jumbo Screen as Luongo and the team take on the LA Kings.

On Sunday May 2nd, 2010. Remember that traffic will be affected on that day, so plan ahead if you live in False Creek North and are planning to drive that day. The traffic barricades should be removed by 2pm.

For more info you can go to www.bmovanmarathon.ca

OTTAWA, April 20^th, 2010 - Global economic growth has been somewhat stronger than projected, with momentum in emerging-market economies increasing noticeably. In Canada, the economic recovery is proceeding somewhat more rapidly than the Bank had projected.  This profile reflects stronger near-term global growth, very strong housing activity in Canada, and the Bank's assessment that policy stimulus resulted in more expenditures being brought forward in late 2009 and early 2010 than expected. At the same time, the persistent strength of the Canadian dollar, Canada's poor relative productivity performance, and the low absolute level of U.S. demand will continue to act as significant drags on economic activity in Canada. The Bank expects the economy to return to full capacity in the second quarter of 2011.

April 26 - May 6, 2010

Vancouver's delicious celebration of BC food and wine is back! Enjoy a three-course dinner at 208 of Vancouver's hottest restaurants for $18, $28 or $38* per person, complemented by fabulous BC VQA wine pairing suggestions.

Reservations highly recommended. Don't forget you can book online for many participating restaurants making it easier to secure that coveted eatery and avoid busy phone signals!

You can visit the official Dine Out site to make reservations.

The Yaletown restaurants that will be participating are:

Amarcord Ristorante Italiano

Bistro Sakana

Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar

Charm Modern Thai

Elixir Bistro

Glowal Grill Steaks and Satay

Goldfish Pacific Kitchen

Hamilton Street Grill

La Terrazza Restaurant

Milestones Grill + Bar Yaletown

Provence Marinaside

Regional Tasting Lounge r.tl

Section (3) Restaurant

Society Dinning Lounge

Urban Thai Bistro

Yaletown Brewing Co.

You can click here  to see the menu of each restaurant.

Historic Art Walks – Health Through History

Celebrate "Move for Health Day" by taking a guided scenic walk through historic Vancouver neighborhoods. These walks highlight the history and art of Vancouver’s earliest neighborhoods.

The shorter Art Walk goes from the Roundhouse to Yaletown Park then circles back through Yaletown  to return to False Creek and the Roundhouse.

The longer historical Steam Line Walk goes from the steam engine at the Roundhouse through Yaletown Park and continues along the Hamilton Street Greenway to the steam clock in Gastown.

Short route: (1.45 km) = Yaletown Art Walk
Longer route (2.11 km.) = Historic "Steam Line" from Yaletown to Gastown

Time: Monday, May 10 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Location: The walks start at the Roundhouse Community Centre on the north side of False Creek. (181 Roundhouse Mews).

Both guided walks are Free.

Here is a very nice time lapse taken from False Creek North looking toward English Bay.

Time lapse from webcam, taken on July 25, 2009. All images were taken from and are available at www.katkam.ca

Thank you for having your say with the Shape Vancouver 2050 online survey. With over 4,840 visitors to the site and over 1,239 skylines submitted, we are very pleased with the results of this experimental survey. Your comments and the discussion generated have contributed towards the ongoing role of sustainability in the debate on density and livability. Many of you embraced the spirit of the exercise and your participation and feedback are evidence of your passion for our City.
The role of sustainability is essential in the future of The City of Vancouver. Whether achieved through the sustainable upgrade of existing buildings or new ‘green’ developments, environmental factors must be considered in future growth and development.
The below image is an amalgamation of all submitted skylines.

The impacts associated with this average skyline are:
Enough ENERGY to take four people on an electric car road trip around the circumference of the earth 2,400 times each year.
Equivalent CARBON reduction to planting 67 forests the size of Stanley Park every year.
Enough MONEY to provide every person in Vancouver a free bus pass for one year.
Enough NEW RESIDENTS to fill BC Place for a Lions Game.
Reduction in AUTOMOBILES saves enough parking space area to add three more convention centres downtown.
These results indicate that despite Vancouver’s enthusiasm for mountain views we are willing to compromise in an effort to live more sustainably and reduce our carbon footprint while appreciating all the unique amenities and natural beauty Vancouver has to offer. With attitudes like this we will achieve our goal of becoming the Greenest City in the World.

More information at: www.shapevancouver.com

Yes! Rates are going up.  We have seen 3-5 year fixed rates gone up by 0.5%-0.8%. The economists are also predicting variable rate being raised by 0.5% by Bank of Canada in June 2010. Change in Mortgage Rules Effective April 19^th 2010.  The bottom line is, the rule may or may not affect your qualified loan amount.  If you are buying a home soon, talk to a trusted mortgage advisor now. 

This April 24th from 11am to 6pm come to 1058 Mainland St. and enjoy Queen services at Pink prices.

Yaletwon beauty providers will offer exclusive services at 50% off, also enjoy gifts from the sponsors such as:Jugo Juice, Matchleads, Shoppers Drug Mart, Juke Box, Urban Fare, Blenz Coffee, Fashion Magazine, Glowbal Collection, Urvanly, Fabutan, Euro Patry House, Shiatsu Therapy, is. Salon, Brow Boutique and Posy Nails.

Get your tickets online at www.urvanly.com ($10 online, $15 door)

“Wine Festival Primer” What to do and what not to do!
Prepare yourself for the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
Taste a selection of this year’s feature wines from New Zealand and Argentina as we guide you through what to expect at a large wine tasting event.

Learn how to swirl and spit & all the etiquette you will need to look like a pro
6:00 pm, Friday, April 16th
$25 per person clues wines and appetizers plus taxes and gratuity.

Where:
Hamilton Street Grill
1009 Hamilton Street, Yaletown, Vancouver
Reserve at 604-331-1511 or hamiltonstreetgrill@telus.net

www.hamiltonstreetgrill.com

twitter@hamiltonstgrill

Facebook - Hamilton Street Grill

Well if you do there are some bad news:

When Steve Jobs began to announce the new iPhone OS 4 features last week, the excitement was palpable. Years of anticipation finally realized with the addition of multitasking as well as other tent-pole features. That was the climate of the room until the very end when Jobs casually mentioned during the Q&A that many of those shiny new features you were just made to drool over were not going to be available on the iPhone 3G (so iPhone 3GS and newer only).

At no point was our good ‘ol metal battle ax iPhone (first generation) mentioned. Steve Jobs has now confirmed what many had assumed. MacStories published an email between a reader and Jobs, asking if Apple will supply any updates to the first gen iPhone in the future.  Steve’s answer: “Sorry, no.” So that’s the word from the mountain. The “original” iPhone has peaked in its glory days and will be running iPhone OS 3.1.3 for the rest of eternity.

On the other side the announcement for the new iPhone 4G (or it could also be called HD) will be on June 22. It is assumed that the next generation Apple device will be slightly more elongated screen than its predecessor, 5 megapixel camera, possible frontal camera and, of course, the new operating system iPhone OS 4 with a multi-tasking and some other improvements.

If you are waiting for the Apple iPad to come to Canada, it looks like it will arrive by the end of May and will be sold by Rogers at a reduced price, but you’ll need to get a data plan.

Gabriel Baigorria, owner of Mi Terruno winery in Mendoza, Argentina
will be hosting this after-work wine event on April 21st 2010 between 5-7pm.
Gabriel  will be presenting his wines to HOBN members & friends at George Lounge.
Taste & learn about Argentinean wines in a casual & friendly business environment.
George will be providing tasty food pairing for the wines.
Salut!

George Lounge is located at 1137 Hamilton St.

Phone: 604-628-5555

Web: www.Georgelounge.com