Vancouver frequently receives positive accolades, whether as the world’s most livable city, for its sustainable nature, or as one of the more attractive tourist destinations in North America.

Despite these, or perhaps because of them, local residents and the media tend to focus on the problems the city has:  drug wars, homelessness and crime; as well as other challenges for residents like high housing costs, the fact that transit isn’t perfect, nor is the weather.

In the years and months leading up to hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, it seemed like everyone focused on the problems, and that protests about these would overshadow the global event.

And then the Olympic flame actually arrived.  Everyone came out to see it (or protest it, but more to see it and wave a flag at it).  And as everyone became acutely aware of being in the global spotlight, suddenly the citizens of the city decided to celebrate the positive — what they love about their city, and not the problems (which are hardly unique to large urban areas).

Major downtown shopping and urban thoughoughfares were closed to cars, allowing buskers, artists, athletes, sponsors and ordinary folks to mingle, cheer and participate. At first, thousands came out onto the streets.  And then tens of thousands.  And then perhaps more than that by the time Canada’s men’s hockey team won gold.

What were people celebrating:

That Vancouver is pedestrian friendly.  You can walk along the waterfront on seawalls, or through downtown streets that are always alive.

That the transit system worked, somewhat to the surprise of many.  And it worked spectacularly well.

That Vancouver is all about being surrounded by water: the False Creek Ferries and Aquabus were jammed, taking people around the creek between Granville Island and Yaletown / Downtown; the SeaBus was a crucial transit link to get spectators to mountain venues.  To me, a great symbol of this was the Olympic Rings being projected into sea-spray during the nightly fireworks and waterworks show.

That Vancouver is fun:  Whoever thought of putting the zip line across Robson Square was a genius.  It showed the whimsical and youthful side of the city, and reflected a unique activity possible at nearby Whistler and Grouse mountains.

This may well be another transformative event for the city and its residents, like Expo 86 but crammed into 17 days.  Although I expect residents demands to improve the city and not accept the foreign accolades at face value will continue, I also predict that locals will spend more time appreciating — and celebrating — what makes the city successful. Finally.

To my regular readers, I’ve spent the last two weeks enjoying the most phenomenal urban street party and experience.  Regular posts will resume next week — feel free to send me an e-mail with topic suggestions.