After 11 years of bringing you local reporting, the team behind the Vancouver Observer has moved on to Canada's National Observer. You can follow Vancouver culture reporting over there from now on. Thank you for all your support over the years!

Portland

Silly fun with Ant-Man; off-the grid emotions in Leave No Trace and a quirky feminist western

Also two of the best of Hot Docs: one placid, idyllic; the other harsh and angry and a pot-fuelled trip starring Christopher Plummer

Activists hang off Portland bridge to protest Arctic drilling [Update]

"The inspiring action underway to block Shell from drilling in the Arctic gives me hope and strength as an activist and Indigenous person,” said Vancouver's Audrey Siegl.

Portland remembers its blue-collar past

Portland is a blue-collar city, or at least a city that remembers its blue-collar past. This is not a city of flash, but of hash— corned-beef hash, that is, a staple at the city’s outstanding...
Photo of Chateau Lake Louise by Patrick Imbeau via Flickr

Five great, relatively-green winter getaways

Here’s our eco-rated list of great places for close - but not too close - holiday travel from Vancouver, B.C.

Exotic food trucks making inroads -- despite all the rules

Vancouver made the street-food rules straightforward. Montreal and Toronto? Not so much.

Life UneXpected filming on 10th Ave.

I unexpectedly ran into a crew filming the CW TV series Life UneXpected this morning between Ontario and Quebec Street while biking to work along 10th Avenue. The show, now in its second season,...

Vancouver, Seattle and Portland sign pact to push for high-speed rail

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and Portland Mayor Sam Adams have signed a protocol agreement that will unite the three major cities in the push to secure a high-speed...

Vancouver is Becoming the World's Most Sustainable City, Officials Say, but Not Everyone Sees Green

One year ago Mayor Gregor Robertson set a visionary goal for Vancouver to become the greenest city on the planet by 2020. How much progress did the City make in the first year? Vancouver Observer ask

Mayor Gregor Robertson's Vancouver Will Be "Greener Than Portland"

When Mayor Gregor Robertson spoke at the Resilient Cities Conference on Tuesday, he presented plans for making Vancouver the “greenest city in the world.” Apparently Portland is our only rival....

Discovering New Horizons on Amtrak

I jumped into the front seat of a yellow cab soon around 4:30 am in the damp pitch black of the Vancouver fall, in such a hurry that I’d reached the Pacific Central station before realizing with a...