Vancouver USA and Hollywood?

I am away on business but will be back next week for the mighty 4th of July. Meanwhile here’s a rerun from a few years back about Vancouver USA as a film location. Vancouver did have a few cameos in the short lived TV series Stumptown. I saw at two specific scenes filmed here rather than in Portland or in LA where most of it was shot. That show also had Vancouver BC as a film location for the pilot. Here is that article from the past:

Originally published April 29th, 2019.

Over the last several years, that other Vancouver up in Canada has become quite the “Hollywood” north. There is a tremendous number of TV and Movie production companies based in Vancouver BC and the city is used as an urban backdrop in a shockingly high number of productions. For those watching the DC Comics based series of shows on the CW, they all utilize Vancouver BC and Portland Oregon for the city shots.

Vancouver BC has a fairly identifiable look and is rather densely built. Portland is also fairly identifiable with its two tallest buildings standing out over the rest of the skyline. It has gotten me thinking that Vancouver USA would be a great setting for movies as we have nearly every type of  shooting scene a movie would ever need with the exception of an ultra dense urban skyline. Vancouver BC provides that already.

Our downtown has a small metro vibe with mid-rise and smaller high-rise structures that outside of our local area are not identifiable. Our port area has all that classic city docks and industrial look for any urban industrial or seaport scenes that might be needed. We have a large rail yard. Rail yards are often used in scenes in movies if you think about it. We have a variety of neighborhoods spanning back to the 19th century and quite a bit of everything else right up to the modern-day. Portland International Airport is as close to Vancouver as it is to Downtown Portland.

Hollywood is always looking for locations to film as generic so that they can have a film or show set in either a fictional city or in a real city without having to travel to that actual real place. Vancouver BC has become the most widely used generic city as they have a large swath of high-rise buildings that are rather ubiquitous.

Maybe we should start courting those movie and TV people who are already hanging out in the Pacific Northwest. There’s good money in it.

Ah the ‘Couv’ Life; it is good.

Great Western Malting at the Port of Vancouver USA

The Clark County Courthouse, Art Deco NRHP

Officer’s Row FVNHP

Overlooking Esther Short Park from the Hilton

Summer is here…OK technically.

The solstice officially is in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. If our weather prognosticators have their data correct we will actually see some real summer weather. Doesn’t that just break your heart? (insert sarcastic grin here). This has been a very cloudy and wet spring, the likes of which I haven’t seen in many years. The rainfall is generally good for us so I guess that is fine and well, but it is June 20th! This is the time for that classic summer high to press in and deliver those amazing 75 days of delicious, mostly dry and sunny weather we all need after that soggy and cloudy spring.

National Weather Service, Portland, OR forecast for Vancouver.

That is looking a fair bit like summer and as the weekend approaches the temperature is expected to rise. Saturday and Sunday should be in the upper 80s maybe even the first 90º mark on Sunday. Just in time for the 4th of July it seems that summer is near in both calendar and skies.

Ah the Couv life; it is good, and summer is great.

OK are we wet enough yet?

This has been the rainiest spring I can remember in a very long while. We are getting winter levels of precipitation now extending half way through JUNE! Yikes, when will it end? Well I think it is safe to say we are definitely near the end of the tunnel. Even the soggiest springs of yesteryear tend to yield to our Pacific Northwest high pressure that should start forming over the next week or two. We will get our typical 75 days of glorious summer we just may have to wait till the 4th of July.

I was out at the Farmer’s Market in Esther Short Park on Saturday and despite the clouds and showers the streets were packed with peeps. There was Tacos in the park, the Farmers Market on the streets, a one block pride event on 7th and Washington, the Alley Flea Market just a half block south. People were crawling out of the proverbial woodwork! It was quite the scene and I was delighted to see that the rain didn’t;t dampen the spirits of our hardy residents.

This weekend should fare better for outdoor events with warmer temps and a bit more sunshine, showers are not completely out the picture, but should be better all around 🙂

Ah the Couv life, it is good… we are waterproof 🙂