Sidewalking Victoria's Five Most Popular Posts
My last post on what makes a great village, was the fiftieth one I have written on Sidewalking Victoria. I really can't believe that it has already been that many. As a mini-celebration, I thought I would take a pause to look back at some of the posts that were very popular at the time. This isn't a list based formally on the number of people that read each post. If I did that than my most recent posts would be at the top of the list. Instead this is a list of posts that stood out in popularity when they were written.
1. The Problem with Centennial Square
This post struck a cord and one of my first posts that was more widely read. The sad thing is that two years later and most of the same issues are present and there is not a lot more dynamism in the square. Certainly, the whale art piece has not had the positive and hoped for impact. I voted for the graffiti installation, but whales won out.
2. Mid-Block Walkway Madness
I have done a whole series of posts on the little walkways through downtown, this was the very first one. This series of posts is the one that people bring up with me in person when they tell me that they have read my blog. While they are not always a time saver, these little passages make getting around Victoria a bit more fun and it seems that many of you have enjoyed them too!
3. Selkirk Waterfront - The Failure of the Perfect Development
The title sounded maybe a little more negative than the story as a whole was. The premise is still true today however. Selkirk is a beautiful project, I love the architecture, the attention to detail in the project, the urban scale and yet it still can feel like a ghost town on most days. I have heard some rumours of new projects taking up some the empty parking lots but nothing has happened yet. Hopefully we will see something soon to fill in the sidewalks of Selkirk.
4. What Happened to Christmas in Victoria?!
Despite my overall more negative feelings towards cold weather, I do like Christmas. I like the traditions, the lights, and strangest of all, I love Christmas shopping. Last year I noticed that fewer of the shops downtown were sprucing up their windows with Christmas displays. Hopefully this year we will see a turnaround.
5. Finding the Best Ramen in Victoria
I love ramen. For years it has been nearly impossible to get good ramen in Victoria. We had decent pho places and really Chinese Noodle places but not a single place you could get a decent bowl. In the last few years a bunch of great places have opened and I wanted to share some of my favourites in this post which actually was the most popular post I ever wrote.
Let me know some your favourite posts have been as well!