I used to like Vancouver until I lived here for aw
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5/22/2009
I am not a native. I liked Vancouver at first, but then realized that it is overrun by meth heads and people who look like ex-convicts walking up and down the streets. There are small parts that at least look better from the outside, but like the others there is so much property crime and it seems the police don't do much about it (perhaps there aren't enough police because of the cutbacks?) Also, people don't know how to merge into traffic here, they stop way back and try to edge their way in and that clogs up the traffic trying to get on the freeway. What they're supposed to do (I've seen this in many other cities that know how to merge)is to move all the way up to the end of the merge and then what's supposed to happen is evey one or two cars should let you in and the next, and the next and so on. This keeps the traffic moving. But alas! the people already on the freeway (must be the natives)start honking and get very angry and try to move up so the car can't merge in. That's because they don't understand the science of merging. Maybe instead of getting mad they should think about how the traffic moves better with the way I just explained. They do this in all major cities I've been in. The drivers here drive like small town drivers, not to mention the engineering and the signs posted are ridiculous!! The signs can be very confusing and alot of times there are no signs posted when there should be and you end up missing your exit (unless you've done it so many times, you end up remembering. But it must be hell for people from somewhere else, and Portland is guilty, too. My husband is from England and he thinks the roads, signs, etc. are atrocious not to mention how much TRASH there is accumulated on the onramps and offramps. It seems to get somewhat picked up every three months or so by the juvenile detention people or the inmates at Clark County Jail. Have they run out of drug addicts to help keep the city clean? I'm thinking about joining the transportation committee or at least go to their meetings. I'll bet it's a circus. Two more things: I've never seen a city where it takes more than two days on average to pick up a dead animal and even if it's a dog that was hit on the freeway. I have called everyone that I could think of and they seem not to care and pass the buck to highway patrol (animal control) or I have to leave a message. I've had to at times cover my eyes part way so I wouldn't have to see a poor dead dog that had been lying in the hot sun for at least three days (the carcass was showing by then)it's ridiculous for a city this size to have problems like this. It makes the place seem so "backward". One more thing I have never seen anywhere else. NO STOP SIGN AT FOUR WAY INTERSECTIONS IN NEIGHBORHOODS. What? have stop signs become so expensive now they can't fit them into the budget?? A friend of mine keeps reminding me to slow down and look both ways in our neighborhood because she said there had been many accidents at this intersection with no stop sign. Just like when a bicyclist, a teacher i might add was hit and killed because the stop sign was covered by tree branches and the community had called many times before to get the branches cut so people can see the stop sign. So I guess someone has to get killed at an intersection in a neighborhood that doesn't have a stop sign. I'd like to know, who engineered this city, the roads, etc. Who would be responsible for all of the above? Does anyone know? or CARE? I agree with you Bo, except I am not a native. I liked Vancouver at first, but then realized that it is overrun by meth heads and people who look like ex-convicts walking up and down the streets. There are small parts that at least look better from the outside, but like the others there is so much property crime and it seems the police don't do much about it (perhaps there aren't enough police because of the cutbacks?) Also, people don't know how to merge into traffic here, they stop way back and try to edge their way in and that clogs up the traffic trying to get on the freeway. What they're supposed to do (I've seen this in many other cities that know how to merge)is to move all the way up to the end of the merge and then what's supposed to happen is evey one or two cars should let you in and the next, and the next and so on. This keeps the traffic moving. But alas! the people already on the freeway (must be the natives)start honking and get very angry and try to move up so the car can't merge in. That's because they don't understand the science of merging. Maybe instead of getting mad they should think about how the traffic moves better with the way I just explained. They do this in all major cities I've been in. The drivers here drive like small town drivers, not to mention the engineering and the signs posted are ridiculous!! The signs can be very confusing and alot of times there are no signs posted when there should be and you end up missing your exit (unless you've done it so many times, you end up remembering. But it must be hell for people from somewhere else, and Portland is guilty, too. My husband is from England and he thinks the roads, signs, etc. are atrocious not to mention how much TRASH there is accumulated on the onramps and offramps. It seems to get somewhat picked up every three months or so by the juvenile detention people or the inmates at Clark County Jail. Have they run out of drug addicts to help keep the city clean? I'm thinking about joining the transportation committee or at least go to their meetings. I'll bet it's a circus. Two more things: I've never seen a city where it takes more than two days on average to pick up a dead animal and even if it's a dog that was hit on the freeway. I have called everyone that I could think of and they seem not to care and pass the buck to highway patrol (animal control) or I have to leave a message. I've had to at times cover my eyes part way so I wouldn't have to see a poor dead dog that had been lying in the hot sun for at least three days (the carcass was showing by then)it's ridiculous for a city this size to have problems like this. It makes the place seem so "backward". One more thing I have never seen anywhere else. NO STOP SIGN AT FOUR WAY INTERSECTIONS IN NEIGHBORHOODS. What? have stop signs become so expensive now they can't fit them into the budget?? A friend of mine keeps reminding me to slow down and look both ways in our neighborhood because she said there had been many accidents at this intersection with no stop sign. Just like when a bicyclist, a teacher i might add was hit and killed because the stop sign was covered by tree branches and the community had called many times before to get the branches cut so people can see the stop sign. So I guess someone has to get killed at an intersection in a neighborhood that doesn't have a stop sign. I'd like to know, who engineered this city, the roads, etc. Who would be responsible for all of the above? Does anyone know? or CARE?
Karen | Salmon Creek, WA