Some thoughts on Tour de Gastown
The annual Tour de Gastown bike race came through town and it was held on a warm July evening, so my family and I decided to go check it out. I had a few observations from the evening I thought I’d share, along with a handful of shots I took there (see Flickr slideshow).
Gastown feels like the perfect place for an event like this, even with all the construction taking place at Woodwards and at other surrounding sites. It’s very accessible once you are parked, and makes for an interesting walk if you want to move around the course.
The womens’ race event begins the evening, and it was well underway when we arrived around 6pm. Of course we were hungry as it was the dinner hour. I was surprised by how limited the choices for dining were, and ended up choosing the Water St. Cafe, one of the few restaurants that have stayed in the area over the years. They make a decent pasta dish, but I thought the wine menu needed some better selections.
Despite the presence of a few thousand spectators and tons of athletes and cycling enthusiasts, I really thought that the T de G really lacked a carnival atmosphere that could be achieved down here. There were virtually no street vendors at all. My little girl begged us for an ice cream after dinner, yet there was no place at all to buy a dessert outside of the restaurant.
We wanted to buy a T de G t-shirt, as it was a pretty cool design. However, they had no shirts in stock left to sell, and it was at the beginning of the race! Only one table at the whole site (several blocks) sold race merchandise.
A few corporate tables were set up for cell phone companies, and someone gave out free cashews, but there was no real excitement off the course.
Only one bistro in the area had tables set up outside for drinking alcohol, and there was a 45 minute line-up to get in. We wanted to chill and watch the crowds, but had no place to do it.
Gastown continues to be a place that mostly sells cheap stuff, and it doesn’t even sell it very well. I’ve always wanted to find a 2010 mascot tee for my daughter, and the store that sold that stuff buried it in the back behind reams of junk and even then had no sizes to fit a school kid.
I’m not sure what can be done to rescue Gastown from a purgatory of trinket sellers, panhandlers and moribund attractions, to make it into a place Vancouverites actually want to go again. I suspect it is a complicated problem that begins with City Hall planners, and a strategy that involves improving security in the area. Violent nightclub incidents, coupled with the concentration of entertainment on Granville have virtually killed evening fun in a part of town where the best live venues in the city once operated.
My suggestion to the organizers of the Tour de Gastown, as well as others creating a vision for success in Gastown is to start asking the public what they want for this old part of the city. Then they should stop talking and get on with it.
