Vancouver - the World in a City a film from about 1985

[@alcampbell7396]

It's amazing how much of what Vancouver was 30 years ago is now sadly gone. Expo truly was a game changer. "We invited the world, and they never left." - Bud Luxford

[@P7777-u7r]

What the leaders of BC wanted at the time with expo was to attract industry technology manufacturing etc (the GM pavillion at expo for example) not attract a bunch of real estate crooks and corruption Sadly in 1991 we got this terrible string of liberal/ndp governments that continues today and instead of advancing our economy with technology and industry like the socreds wanted we chased off a bunch of our business and replaced it with real estate corruption. I guess thats what happens when people fall for the false promises of the left

[@briankelly9347]

Yeah and how low crime rate it was

[@R.e.m.y.H.]

And then in 2010 we invited the world, again! And then they didn't leave, again!

[@smallstudiodesign]

I worked for EXPO’86 Site Planning & Design. M proud of our work and I’m proud of all the magnificent positive changes & all the newcomers who made Vancouver become a cosmopolitan multicultural society rather than backward provincial branch office-town with limited employment opportunities. Vancouver is way more dynamic now then it ever was.

[@aboveitall1653]

@@smallstudiodesign ---- --- why don't you just admit you are one of the tens of thousands of European-Canadians (popularly known as "white people" by "Visible Minority" immigrants) who are Left-Wing Internal Migrants who came to Vancouver from "Out East" from the late 1960's onward, and socially engineered the city over the decades into what you think is a "Left-Wing Utopia". AT LEAST have the guts to admit that Metro Vancouver's Asian Gang Epidemic from 1990 to 2010, which invaded nearly every high school in the city with secretly organized, virulently racist, viciously weaponized intimidation and violence (so bad that the Provincial Gov't was eventually forced to set up task forces to combat it) was at least as bad as any "white supremacy" that affected the city in previous decades, but of course the Asian Gangs were hushed up or even ignored by your Left-Wing controlled news-media, or if they were not Left-Wing ( BCTV News was NOT) they were under constant fear of being labelled "RACIST" by people like you if they accurately reported on it and told the truth. Want to call me the Left-Liberal's constant accusation of being a "Bigot" or a "Xenophobic" ...........you Leftist-Liberal Xenophiliac Bigot? Go ahead, I dare you....... The nice part of LeftCouver is that Western Canada turns moderate Right Wing and sane and sensible as soon as one leaves the 604 area code.........and it does that all the way to Winnipeg, now called LiberaPeg.

[@DannyBoy-vs3gd]

I’m born raised in Vancity as a teenager in the 70s I experienced Vancouver’s music clubs and art culture . It was very different from this video and it’s to bad there is not a lot of video documentation of it . Vancouver for a small town really was a creative and forward city . I’m so glad I got to experience it .

[@TallicaMan1986]

I saw some if it as a kid. It was wild. I will not say the artists names, but I knew them quite well as a kid.

[@swhorne]

ah the vancouver i knew when i skipped class in high school and went downtown :-)

[@uioned]

It was beautiful back then, I remember this when it was slower paced relaxed. It's sad what happened to it.😯😯

[@larryjohnstone6260]

We lived in coquitlam from 67 to 81,everyone had their own home. Rarely saw anyone who wasn't living well.the average persons wages matched the cost of things more realistically.parents bought our home with two other buildings on an acre of land for $13,000 in 67',and my dad made about $9,000 a year plus benefits as a fitter in the union.that place now would be at least $750,000,he would be lucky to make $90,000 now.a pick up could cost you 90 now.having lived now and then,sorry guys,but the basics in life were much better back then.

[@darrinkulyk9560]

Definitely Proper Living

[@buupos]

You'd be a millionaire today

[@mendoza4789]

no need to be sorry for telling ther truth

[@Tschennnnie]

They sure liked to start these videos with plane landing shots back in the day!

[@RetroAvi8or]

Really cool landing shot of a CP Air 747-200! Footage of those aircraft are quite rare on YT.

[@Sc00terNut-zq3gs]

I wish I got to see Vancouver when it was a place where people lived and worked. The place had character. Today the city is soulless and depressing.

[@rosssmith8481]

The best way to explain Vancouver is like you showed up to party that is already over.

[@zhejuny]

Rofl greatly put.

[@davidmarshall718]

Yeah, the big party was back in the late 1960's, the 1970's and the early 1980's. By 1990 the "white population" of this city was burnt out, and still has not recovered..........

[@moneymalc]

@@davidmarshall718 that’s a little racist 😂

[@mendoza4789]

@@moneymalc globalist hate truth, allergic

[@juq15]

@@moneymalc cry about it then

[@1986SSMONTECARLO]

Before The Invasion Vancouver used to be a GREAT place to live

[@annabelle_michelle]

I’m homesick for my home town . Been living here for 35 years and it’s just no longer the same city. My hometown of Vancouver no longer feels like home.

[@uioned]

Been here all my life born and raised. I hate the way it turned I would do anything to get the old Vancouver back.😒

[@ericaespinosa4030]

Me too. I seriously cry at how much I miss the old Vancouver

[@darrinkulyk9560]

Indeed Lived here since the early 70s i live by the Portman Bridge atm 😁

[@David_Rafuse]

@@darrinkulyk9560 The Port Mann? My grandfather helped build it; the original one, that is.

[@fraslex]

That's really pathetic

[@fraslex]

keep crying. We are all here now.@@ericaespinosa4030

[@realitycheck3672]

I was 7 years old. I still live in the same home I was born in. King Edward Ave & Main St. Windsor Meats has been across the street from my home for as long as I can remember.

[@stinkfinger630]

Grow up and get your own place you freeloading loser. Some might say.

[@PatrickCorbett-h4r]

I go a lot to Helen's Grill.

[@susantompkins7331]

Interesting film. I was born here and have lived here my whole 60 years. It is New Years Eve. I was just watching the coverage of New Years celebrations in London. What exactly is our "World Class City" doing tonight? NOTHING! 😂😅🤣

[@livardo]

Even back then, the skyline from the "Totem Poles" was pretty impressive.

[@US-Warrior]

The simpler times. I was a 5 year old in Vancouver in 1985. I think of my dad who has passed and the time he spent with me in city

[@user-cc5od3zk4p]

Used to visit the relatives in the 70-80s. It was a great place prior to Expo 86.

[@Koops2245]

Thanks fer sharing this little blast from the past. I found this video after first encountering it on Vancouver's archive website. It states some conflicting information like dating the production as "1994" and titling the video "Vancouver - Spectacular By Nature." They offer the full production there, it's about 25 minutes in total.

[@ophelia_III]

Remember how many hippies use to live here? Miss those days

[@P7777-u7r]

Back when Vancouver was actually a British Columbian city not a playground for real estate crooks and rich foreigners Whoever decided to sell off BCs greatest asset needs to be punished

[@BirbarianHomeGuard]

P77777777 oy mate you’re under arrest for extreme racisms Whites don’t deserve to be a majority in their racist countries.

[@yxngaw12]

Preach

[@BradFalck-mn3pc]

Don't forget the influx of entitled brats from southwestern Ontario who have soured the atmosphere here aswell, I remember in the 70s when people from back east made an effort to fit in with the locals instead of imposing themselves on our way of doing things

[@jf9096]

When Vancouver was still pure and innocent.

[@US-Warrior]

Youre so right

[@mumpygumboo8554]

Yep, it was Lotus Land... now it's like Carmen Miranda's hat full of dog shit.

[@canman5060]

Read some history and you come to know Vancouver is not that 'innocent' especially during the 1920's.

[@jf9096]

@@canman5060 I was born here, I know all about that, I was referring to the title of the video, 1985, before it became stifling from trade and economic growth.

[@fraslex]

It has always been a port city full of sailors and tramps.

[@ant-1382]

B.C. Place was just completed, ready for expo 86. Went to see David Bowie, then a short time later Super Tramp. It was amazing to be part of a crowd that big. Coming from a small town on Vancouver Island, had never experienced anything like it before.

[@BigChib]

BC PLace was completed in 1983, not just before Expo 1983 was the first year the Lions played under the dome

[@ant-1382]

@@BigChib Rubbish B.C. Place was completed to coincide with expo 86. Were you even born then? I was there.

[@ant-1382]

@@BigChib oops sorry it was 1983 but bc place was part of expo 86 infrastucture

[@theresa42213]

DJ at ''Tommy Africa's'' was a great friend of mine! lf you're lout there Murray ...l still remember you! Say hi to your CATS! xD

[@minnymm2719]

No smartphone no technologies but more happier in 80-20's

[@Klinkerklunk]

More than half the footage is from an earlier 1976 film. The hippie at 14:07 is a dead giveaway.

[@luigivincenz3843]

Back in 92, I remember Skid Row' was just 1-2 blocks. NOW the tent city it's within 3 blocks of Granville. Slow death indeed.

[@islandbee]

Man, I miss this Vancouver. I grew up south of the border in Bellingham and coming to Vancouver was such a treat. Makes me wish I was in my 20s during this time. All of my older siblings and cousins would go up to the clubs and didn't go until like 1990 when I was able to use my brothers' IDs to get into the clubs. The mid 90s were an awesome time for Americans to up to Canada too when the loonie went down and we can get slices of pizza for as low as $.65 USD. lol I recently went to Vancouver last summer and it's still a beautiful city, but the feelings were not the same as back in the day. Maybe it's age, but I think most would agree with me that prior to Expo '86, Vancouver was the best. The sad thing is that I think Canada is trying too much to be the United States and just hate that. The Canadian pride seemed much stronger back in the day and really miss that. Other than that, Canadians are pretty friendly and I hope they stick to their ways.

[@LoganLavery]

I was 20 in 1985 and from Richmond, so no exactly what you are talking about. The essence and vibe that Vancouver had in the mid-80s are gone somewhat, I definitely agree. Same goes for Seattle. It was such a treat to drive down for the day or even a night way back then - or to Bellingham for Fred Meyer, Target or Bellis Fair. Memories are flooding back. Don't do that anymore. One thing is still true - my mom and brother do still nip over to Blaine to visit USA Gas!

[@infinitecanadian]

islandbee Now the whole country is lost to the poisons of liberalism and political correctness. Real estate prices are sky high, and there is no popular culture. Popular culture went out about 2003.

[@islandbee]

94.5 The Beat when it first came out around 2002, was such an awesome station to me. Even the Seattle stations couldn't touch it. And then they went on this downward spiral to garbage. Yeah, that's the Vancouver I remembered. When they really went against the grain of the mainstream.

[@andrewgaudry6132]

islandbee . The only time I’ve seen Canadian pride in Vancouver was at the olympics when we beat the US for the gold medal . Sid the kid with the golden gold. However with the recent Covid-19 issue you are seeing what pride every nation has at the moment. This is truly a sad time for everyone. But it is also a great time for pride in all the nations of the world. I was born in 85 so I have no recollection of what Vancouver used to be before that. I did live in the city from 2010-2014. It was really difficult finding cheap rent so I moved back to the valley. I think when the liberals took away our parades downtown and the downtown east side started getting dicey in the early 90s that’s when Vancouver changed. You can’t say that the Asian population had anything to do with Vancouver changing because we’ve always had a strong diverse culture in Vancouver. And they bring lots to the table.

[@islandbee]

@@andrewgaudry6132 - Use to watch Wok with Yan in the 80s. And I believe that was based in Vancouver. Vancouver, I believe has the second biggest Chinatown in North America. But, Vancouver has a real European flair to it as well. Love that city.

[@JulesJohnson987]

OMG the size of those aquariums?!? Absolutely brutal.

[@BenDover-wk1bs]

2:03 " Ride above the traffic " Vancouver 1985 you haven't seen anything yet.

[@smallstudiodesign]

It’s a promo for Expo’86 ... specifically the theme of the World Exposition was “Transportation & Communication” ... so multimodes are featured ... plus it’s an invitation to the world ... a film sent across Canada, the USA, and worldwide to get people to come.

[@PrefersToBeAnonToday]

Many of this cannot be said today

[@gxc90]

I enjoyed the film very much, since I've never been to Vancouver. However, is there any more of this film since it's not complete. Just wondering. Thanks again.

[@canman5060]

Most talked about city when I was growing up in Hong Kong during the 1970's.Now I have been in Vancouver for almost 25 years.

[@judgedredd8657]

When Van was a working class city

[@KyleStansfeld-zi6gc]

When this video was made, Vancouver still had an identity. Not anymore. It’s now completely lost its magic.

[@alisonbonar1613]

Vancouver used to be a better city in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. In those days it was liveable, even for young people. I truly hate what Vancouver has become.

[@UlsterPaddy1]

Shame our city is being bought up by foreign investors. Feels like I'm witnessing the death of this beautiful city.

[@infinitecanadian]

At least now the bastards get to be taxed for doing so. _That_ move sent the real estate world into a fervor, but we need to tax these foreigners if they are just going to be buying housing to keep their money in and not living in it.

[@canman5060]

They are taxed already.Most of them are Chinese from Mainland China.Do you want to bring back the Asiatic Exclusion Act and Head Tax to them also ?

[@crosswire7777]

lol you people are hilarious. complain when there's not enough money, complain when there's a lot of money. when has gentrification ever been a problem? every great city had its humble beginnings

[@crosswire7777]

aLi Reynolds When has anyone ever embraced change? Its always back in my days music was better, back in my days we didnt need social media, back in my days women didn't need to work, back in my days we fought wars with bullets instead of economic sanctions. You know what there's no going back you either adapt or move on. Native americans probably felt the same way about your father's 4 generations ago.

[@crosswire7777]

aLi Reynolds corrupt by utopian standards? that's the problem with Vancouverites: entitlement. learn to appreciate what you have (or had in case you're a victim of gentrification, by the sounds of it you are lol)

[@superapple4ever]

I'd love to see it then and now comparison of how much it's grown. If anybody knows of one it be cool to mention it.

[@anamariahobrough8194]

Great video - Thanks for sharing - But it has to be from later than 1980. Canada Place construction didn't even start until 1983, and BC Place was just a hole in the ground in 1980.

[@1868foxpoint]

The film was made in 1985 😳

[@foskco87]

Back when an average British Columbian could actually live in Vancouver and own a home. Now Vancouver has lost its charm and is becoming nothing more than a playground for the rich. Chasing its own born and raised community out and replacing them with indifferent real estate tycoons, business folk, and wealthy foreigners. What used to be about owning a home and raising a family in a nice city and being part of the soul and community is now all about buying and selling properties and playing the market and trying to make your quick profit. Buying up property and making it sit empty to try and push the demand and prices up across the city for your own financial gain. Meanwhile the people who care about this city are gradually squeezed out.

[@P7777-u7r]

And the cancer thats infested vancouver is going to advance across the rest of BC What we need to do is kick the liberals and the NDP out of power forever and bring a BC party back into power again like we had in the 80s. The 1991 election is going to be remembered as the second greatest political mistake in BCs history (the first being joining confederation)

[@MrTingabug]

Minimum wage in 1985 was $4/hour. I was 20 years old then, living in the valley, and bitching with all my friends about how we will never afford a house in the valley, let alone the big city. Now I live in Coal Harbour, and my bay window looks across the inner harbour to Stanley Park. Fun times.

[@CanMav]

P77777777 You’re the cancer here

[@crackernumber2]

@@MrTingabug great..... nobody cares

[@GuitarguyRichard56]

100%. That's why I moved. Zero community. East van is all asian and we are forced to be ok with having no English speakers to live beside. Horrible

[@lifelong5425]

Now look at it....One beautiful looking city, if you don't go near the DTES. A barely affordable city that is chasing its' residents away because of costs that are long past gouging in every area...taxes that cripple, rents that can not be afforded, food that escalates by the week, fuel that is the highest in Canada, because of taxes and greed..I care for this city, but man, it is in deep trouble, tragically, a new reality..you either have, or you have not...or, you are so rich, the rest don't matter...What it was in this production made thousands want part of it...then.

[@jlp2011]

Yes, Vancouver’s gotten more expensive. But honestly, so has all of Canada, or at least BC. When sad ol’ Port Alberni ranchers go for 600-700k u know you’ve got a bubble. The economics of it are worrying. So much $$$ in overpriced assets.

[@NWYVR]

So sad to see the beautiful flamingos in Stanley Park... I remember when 2 Maple Ridge kids shot them all in the 90's.. :(

[@glenw-xm5zf]

We were doing just fine,until Expo 86

[@PatrickCorbett-h4r]

That's what I've always been saying.

[@durf2753]

Come on now, what's wrong with the current Vancouver? I was in Vancouver quite a few times: 1981, 1989, 1992, 2001 and 2017. Yeah, it grew somewhat, but hey, it's still Vancouver!! It's still nice lookin' place. If you put lipstick on a pig, still a pig. Same with Vancouver: add 100 more high rises since then, still same ole Vancouver!!!! Do I like then or now? I'd say it's about even, no preference. Remember this period just like yesterday or day before my last trip in 2017. Clear memory. Just costs more money and is more crowded, though. I still like Vancouver.

[@ericaespinosa4030]

Trust me its not the same. So many old spots that made Vancouver delightful is now replaced with B.S.

[@GuitarguyRichard56]

100%

[@mendoza4789]

your wrong

[@MrRazmuss]

Any info on the music used in this video?

[@islandbee]

I really like it when it starts at 10:12 and then it transitions to the night time music 🕺💃🏙🌇🌃🎶🎵

[@GuitarguyRichard56]

Yes.its horrible. Lol

[@r.crompton2286]

10:12 The unique building at the tri-intersection of Alexander St., Powell St. and Carrall St. looking very much like a miniature of New York City's Flatiron Building.

[@159329]

Did they really put Expo 86' on the airplanes in 1980? 6 years before the thing happened?

[@INF1NI73]

Lol

[@kevdonew1412]

You can never go back by the same old things once they have been over played by then you wished it to all just go away !!

[@BCHistory]

I will look into the date issue and see if the 1980 date on the source is incorrect

[@canman5060]

It is correct sir.

[@lukewarmwater5320]

I moved to Vancouver in 1986 and fell in love with it, looking back at this old footage it looks so unspoiled and undeveloped...now it's Canada's anus.

[@BCHistory]

That is rather harsh

[@lukewarmwater5320]

Simple truths usually are to the unaccustomed...@@BCHistory

[@infinitecanadian]

I would probably be willing to pay real money for a video about the Vancouver Fire Department anytime during the 1980s or earlier.

[@ll7868]

Whenever I watch an older video like this there's always a whole lotta racists in the comments pissed off that it's not as "white" today as it appeared to be in the video. I was there, I can tell you that there were a lot of non-whites in Vancouver, they just didn't get put on these films. They also say it's full of homeless and junkies, in 1985 it was far more apparent, up until the 1990s Gastown was just as bad as Hastings and Main, so was most of the Granville Mall and Seymour Street was 6 blocks of prostitutes and drug dealers. Now they're all squeezed into Skid Row around a 4 square block area around Hastings & Main while those other areas are major tourist and residential areas with multi-million dollar condos and townhomes. All around False Creek were homeless camps, now it's part of the Seawall and Olympic Village. All the people complaining how much worse it is now either weren't there in 1985 or have romanticized their memories with only the things they want to remember.

[@ll7868]

And another thing, all the Chinese that came to BC did so to escape Communism and persecution in mainland China, not to take over Canada, we didn't "sell out" to China, we saved millions of lives. Hardeep Nijjar came to Canada seeking asylum from religious and political persecution in India, as many Punjabi citizens did, because he fought for Secularism and religious equality for Sikhs, the Far Right were actually defending the Hindu Nationalist Indian PM who's the main suspect in his murder because anyone representing the separation of Church and State is obviously the evil villain who needs to be eliminated. Our Far Right Conservatives are just as bad as the Far Right Republicans in the USA claiming everyone's a Commie and all Liberal cities aren't white enough and full of crime, drugs and homeless.

[@MrDaguard]

A fair bit of footage from the 1976 version and much the same dialogue. Not that that doesn't make sense. LOL!

[@retrovideoquest]

Lol, whoever watches this never having lived in Vancouver before doesn't realize it was filmed during the only 2 weeks in the year when it's warm and sunny (plus the one day in winter when it's not raining) XD

[@mcgurkryans]

“Life in Vancouver was good before all those immigrants” said every Indigenous man, woman and child after 1886.

[@smallstudiodesign]

What an ignorant xenophobic racist comment. Thanks for confirming the horrible nature of Vancouver’s white supremacist past. Unless you’re First Nations, then you & i and everyone else is an immigrant.

[@user-ut8ei9qo1g]

This is the kind of woke idiot that is destroying this country. Wonder how many of those indians would go back to living teepees again if they could smartass.

[@jamaicasky]

ok... a clock???

[@davidmanley8111]

Very similar to the 76 version

[@galactus192]

Most of this is from 1976

[@smallstudiodesign]

Good eye. They cribbed a bunch of stock footage from an earlier 1976 promotional tourism film about Vancouver ... CP Air 747 shown was orange in the ‘70’s ... meanwhile by the ‘80’s it became Canadian Airlines International with completely different livery.

[@samay4596]

The simplicity is gone.

[@BCHistory]

it is close to 40 years ago

[@canman5060]

I wonder if they reclaim the land for expo 86.

[@caliente6319]

i cant believe how advanced civilization was in the 80s, they had airplanes and cars and trains and tall buildings and they spoke such modern english just like now, wow. i always expect the 80s to be ancient but its so modern

[@briankelly9347]

You fucking asshole

[@mickanvonfootscraymarket5520]

As silly as your comments sounds to me, I get where you are coming from. Assuming you are born post 2000, the 80's probably seem so far back in time. The world developed massively post World War 2. Minus the technology, we still have plenty in common with how life was in the 1980s.

[@ALuimes]

@@mickanvonfootscraymarket5520 Yep, the world from the 80s until today wasn't anywhere near as different as the same timeframe looking back from the 80s.

[@ianinvancouverbc]

sounds like a Skywalk soundtrack

[@AM-mr8or]

Featuring footage from 1976.

[@BCHistory]

I am not even sure who would ahve seen this film in the mid 80s so I am not sure anyone would have noticed

[@BigChib]

There's a lot of different periods mashed up in this film. 1985 makes sense for some of it - BC Place is up and the Expo lands are bare waiting for everything to be built for the fair - that says 1983 to 1985. But the styles of dress in some of the scenes definitely say 70's

[@northtone288]

Fast forward to 2024. Well, um, hmmmm, geez.....Things have changed.

[@johngaudette1904]

Before the great country giveaway.

[@hallucinatedovens8414]

too bad about the quality and cutoff, cool still

[@ultramagnus86]

37 years in Vancouver and this is what life was like b4 the junkies took over

And sadly the city would never be the same as it would soon be overrun by ignorant condo dwellers from Toronto and Hongkong

[@Paolo8772]

More like Vancouver 1976

[@katherined800]

I don't think Vancouver is a better city for having been discovered by the world but I am so glad we no longer keep majestic cetaceans in tanks for public entertainment.

[@kadencerny6548]

Some of y’all gotta realize u don’t miss the old Vancouver, you just miss the feeling of being young lol

[@garlandstrife]

Woah, no drug addicts

[@classicrockcafe]

1.1K 11

[@Russel_at_whatever]

LOL. Not once scene of the 8 month long gloomy rainy cold winter. Old time click bait :D

[@GuitarguyRichard56]

So true!!

[@fanofmany71]

Just the beginning of something wonderful and THANK GOODNESS Vancouver evolved and is even better today. Who wants to stick in the past. Things change and evolve. I'm glad that those who don't like change, moved... and those who haven't should. Love the city you live in... and if you don't, move somewhere else where you can love it. Period.

[@mendoza4789]

already moved p8ick. hope your kid becomes a drug addict from toxic globalist culture.gotta move from the place my for fathers built

[@user-bx8iz7cj6l]

Holy crap, Vancouver used to have white people in it?!!?

[@GateKeeper36]

the drunken natives ruined vancouver

[@n0g4rdd3r9]

More like shallow minds using ignorance to perpetuate bs...and you know it.

[@bilobath6093]

Its their country for god's sake. I would be messed up too if my country was taken by force and lies and looked down on.

[@dene_christie]

now you cant even go outside without the risk of a homeless meth head doing something to you

[@mumpygumboo8554]

city turned dog shit soon after this film.

[@ThePoobears]

how it's changed makes me feel so much older lol

[@JacobDeschamps-d9l]

No smartphone no technologies but more happier in 80-20's