{"id":50729,"date":"2013-01-11T05:15:43","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T12:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=50729"},"modified":"2020-04-11T19:34:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T23:34:44","slug":"neon-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=50729","title":{"rendered":"Neon Vancouver — not everyone thinks neon is ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want neon in Vancouver, head to Granville street and walk the strip. It’s the last bastion of neon signs in Vancouver, which are disappearing daily. <\/p>\n

Vancouver is a city that prides itself on its natural beauty and in 1974, the city imposed a by-law that mandated the removal of visual clutter (e.g. neon signs). Since then, signs around the city have either hit the trash heap or been gathered up as part of MOV’s Ugly Vancouver display, which became a permanent exhibit in 1999.<\/p>\n

However, not all Vancouverites think neon is ugly. There’s been a revival in interest in neon signs. What one display says about the revival: Today Vancouver reveres its old neon signs… Perhaps neon links us to Vancouver’s gritty past — when loggers rolled into town for wild weekends and music sounded in Hogan’s Alley. Perhaps neon reminds us that going downtown used to be special — an occasion to dress up and step out on the town, with neon providing dramatic lighting for the city as stage.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Most signs were donated by private individuals, businesses or sign companies. The neon is old with no attempt at reconstruction other than to stabilize any damage from rust or peeling paint. <\/p>\n