Great post. I agree with pretty much everything you’ve mentioned here. As someone who regularly uses public transit to get from Estevan Village in Oak Bay to this specific stop in front of Centennial Square after work, I can speak to the fact that it’s not a bus stop that you want to hang around for very long. Neither is the square itself. There seems to be some good stuff around the square, but nothing good dares venture in to the “arcade.”

I noticed that there’s a Starbucks opening up at Fisgard and Government, across from QV’s, on this specific block, but sadly not in the square. I would say Starbucks is too smart to try and do the job of the city – rejuvenate the square – so they opted for an existing high-traffic area (China Town).

On a tangent – I was thinking the other day that it would be really great if there was a Cafe in a busier part of downtown where I could grab a coffee and sit on the patio with some friends or colleagues, other than the Starbucks on Government Street. I was thinking specifically on Douglas. I would be found there regularly.

I’m living on Pandora and Vancouver now – beside the CRA building – so city planning is a topic I am thinking more and more about each day, as this area has been heavily effected by decisions in the past about how to plan various services in the city. Harris Green is an interesting space with a lot of potential, but gets little more attention than a mowing. Lots could be done there.. I could go on.

Nice to see you are still blogging. I came across your website randomly in the comments section of Dave Winer’s blog, so I thought I’d pay a visit and see what you were talking about these days. Been enjoying the site, so thanks for writing!