Street scene now

Shell Busey
Van. Courier

Q: We recently had a flood in our home, which has since been repaired. We had no warning this was happening since it was caused by a leaky pipe under our concrete slab. How can we ensure this doesn’t happen again? And is there a device we can install to warn us if leaks occur in the future?

A: There is such a product available. It’s called the Flood Stopper and I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this first hand. It saved our home from what could have been a horrible flood.

The Flood Stopper detects water leaks and immediately shuts off the water flow while sounding an audible alarm. The control panel will display the leak location in one or multiple zones or areas. Once the leak has been repaired, the valve can be reset. This is easily installed into any residential or existing water system. Go to www.thefloodstopper.com for more information.

Q: I have a drain in the middle of my double car garage. The drain is effective for my car, which is parked closest to the house but any water that gathers on the far outside wall where the van is parked now flows to that wall instead of flowing to the drain. I have to cut away some drywall, which unfortunately was hung too low. I’m guessing the garage has settled. What can I do to prevent the water from flowing to the far outside wall? If I can’t do anything about that, is there a caulk I can use to prevent water from rotting the 2×6 walls?

A: The main concern is the water affecting the outside wall structure. Rent a circular diamond bladed saw and cut the concrete slab in the area of the pooling water, directing the water back to the drain grate. Do this by using a wedge cut 2×2 to run the sole plate of the saw on the groove or on an angle directing the water back to the drain. It will take multiple cuts to handle the volume of water. You may have to lower the grate.

© Vancouver Courier 2009

Owner Bob Rennie donates its use to Games’ athletes

Clare Ogilvie
Province

The 120-year-old Wing Sang building in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown has a long history of welcoming people who needed a place to call home until they found their feet in Canada.

So it is fitting that its owner, condo-king Bob Rennie, has donated the newly renovated heritage building as a home-away-from-home for any Olympians and Paralympians visiting B.C. for the 2010 Games.

“I learned [that] past world Olympians needed a home and to me, that just sounded like a really nice, simple use for our business and for our area,” said Rennie, who plans to move his office and art-collection gallery to the location soon.

“If it is about diversity . . . the building speaks to that, the area speaks to that and the Olympics certainly speaks to that.”

Rennie is also keen to bring the Games experience to the Downtown Eastside.

“I want the Downtown Eastside to be part of the Olympics,” he said.

Rennie had offered the Wing Sang for use as Canada House, but when a sponsor had issues with it, the deal soured.

So when Charmaine Crooks, the vice-president of both the international World Olympian Association and of Canada’s chapter, asked if Rennie could offer up the building for WOA, it all came together.

“The great thing that I love about this centre is that we have someone in the community who has donated to us,” said Crooks, who won silver for Canada in athletics at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

“Like many others, we rely on the kindness of our community partners, and in Bob Rennie we have found someone who really believes in what we are doing.”

There are 100,000 known living Olympians in the world — 3,000 of them in Canada.

At each Games since 1992, there has been a hospitality house offered, where they can meet and reconnect and work on programs related to Olympic legacies.

“The hospitality centre will be alive with passion,” said Crooks.

“It will be alive with memories and it is a great way for sponsors and the community to really connect with the Olympians.”

Crooks plans to run outreach programs to the community, youth and others through 2010 partners, such as the Vancouver Organizing Committee and various levels of governments.

Already, 50 Canadian Olympians have signed up to volunteer at the centre. There will also be an international forum on sport tourism as a catalyst for development.

“If we can use some of the programs that we do through the centre to give back to the community, then we will have something that really resonates with the Olympic values, and that’s what spirit of the Games is all about,” said Crooks.

“We are doing it because it is the right thing to do.”

© Copyright (c) The Province

The country has shaken off the devastation of the Second World War and 40 years of communist rule with an economic and cultural boom

Laura Locke
Sun

“Why are you going to Poland?”

We were asked this question every time my husband and I mentioned our summer travel plans. We armed ourselves with various explanations:

“We’re checking out my husband’s ancestral roots.”

“We want to see first hand what our Polish-Canadian friends are always raving about.”

“We want a European adventure a little out of the ordinary.”

Now that we’re home after three weeks of rambling around Poland with our teenage son, we know you don’t need any excuse to pay a visit to this beautiful and friendly country, in the midst of sweeping transformation.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the elections that ended more than 40 years of communist rule in Poland. The country has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, and this new reality was a popular topic of discussion with locals during our travels.

Two developments mentioned frequently were the proliferation of consumer goods and the increased opportunities to work and study abroad. Poland became a full member of the European Union in 2004, and is expected to switch its currency to the euro by 2012.

One of the many pleasant surprises we encountered were the low prices. Our accommodations in Poland were about a third of the cost we’ve paid in London, Paris or Rome. Excellent, inexpensive restaurants are everywhere, and even cheaper fare can be found at small cafés and “milk bars,” which offer classic Polish dishes at shoestring prices to students and budget-minded souls like us.

In the tourist areas of Poland’s two main cities, Warsaw and Krakow, English is commonly heard. When we got off the beaten track, however, communication became a little more challenging, and our guidebook with basic

Polish phrases became well thumbed. Happily, our rather pitiable language skills were always rewarded with appreciative grins. Travel tip: when you need help with translation, seek out a teenager, most of who seem to be proficient in English.

Warsaw, Poland‘s capital city, is a testament to its citizens’ perseverance and courage. Much of the city laid in ruin after the Second World War. Its rebuilding efforts are a feat worthy of the world’s admiration. It now boasts a lively cultural scene, filled with concerts, festivals and theatrical productions. A cheap entertainment option is to head to the Old Town Square, lined with tall townhouses rebuilt with fine Renaissance and Gothic elements. Renting an apartment in Warsaw’s Old Town meant we could enjoy the talents of street entertainers, while popping into the many art galleries, antique shops and cafés that line the streets.

Other highlights of Warsaw include the regal splendour of the Royal Castle and Wilanow Palace, beautiful Lazienki Park, and the Warsaw Rising Museum, a moving, state-of-the-art tribute to the city’s residents who died during the war with a focus on the tragic Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

Interesting side trips in the area include Kazimierz Dolny, a picturesque village on the banks of the Vistula River. Taking a bus through the countryside, we enjoyed a peaceful three days there, staying at a local convent. On the other side of Warsaw, three hours by train, lies the small city of Torun. Most famous as the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, its medieval quarter possesses enough superb Gothic architecture to make it onto “must-see” lists. We also visited idyllic Wroclaw, with its 12 islands and countless bridges, often called the “Venice of Poland.”

The country’s second largest city, Krakow, is undoubtedly one of Poland’s — and the world’s — treasures. Left largely unscathed by the Second World War, its central Old Town is crammed with cathedrals, restaurants, museums, cobbled streets and charm. Krakow lays claim to the largest medieval town square in Europe, a magical, vibrant focal point of the city.

Overlooking the square is the imposing Church of St. Mary, known to Poles as the Mariacki. The breathtaking high altar is often acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest examples of Gothic art (Picasso called it the eighth wonder of the world). Wawel Castle and Cathedral, a short walk from the Town Square, are other Krakow gems.

It’s easy to hop on tourist buses to explore some interesting spots around Krakow, such as the fascinating salt mines of Wieliczka. Tour guides take visitors through a labyrinth of tunnels featuring huge chambers, statues, chapels and chandeliers, all hand-carved out of salt. Outings to nearby Wadowice, birthplace of pope John Paul II, and Czestochowa, site of the Jasna Gora Monastery and its revered Black Madonna, give spiritual insights into this very Catholic nation.

Forty kilometres west of Krakow lies Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi extermination camps. It has been preserved as a sombre memorial to the more than one million people who died there.

Poland‘s story is a roller-coaster tale, from its “golden age” in the 1500s to its disappearance as a political entity a few centuries later. Despite having to defend their freedom on many occasions from aggressive invaders, the spirited Polish people and their culture have endured. The vestiges of Poland’s communist era, however, remain visible in many places. Fortunately, the peeling, grey apartment blocks and neglected infrastructure are finally getting the attention they have needed for decades.

Now, as Poland rushes into the 21st century, its challenge is to retain the faith and traditions that helped it survive. We look ahead to Poland’s future with great optimism, curiosity and affection.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Phil Reimer
Sun

If you counted the passengers on all 10 ships in the Cruise West fleet then doubled that number, you still wouldn’t reach the entire 2,100-passenger capacity of Holland America’s Eurodam.

That observation alone will tell you that you if you travel with Cruise West you won’t have to worry about having to save a lounger by the pool, find a good seat in the theatre or follow five cruise buses all going on the same tour.

That is what small ship cruising is all about. It is an intimate experience and Cruise West would like to keep it that way.

The largest ship in their fleet is the European river cruiser Amadeus Diamond. It carries 140 passengers. The Spirit of Alaska and the Spirit of Columbia are the smallest with only 78 passengers each.

Cruise West was founded by Chuck West, an Alaskan original who started in the north with West Tours. He later sold that company to Holland America and went on to create Cruise West. Chuck’s son Dick West now serves as chairman and managing director of the cruise line. He operates it from Seattle with Dietmar Wertanzl, the president and CEO who arrived at the company via Celebrity and Crystal cruise lines.

Being a small ship cruise line does not mean Cruise West lacks destinations to offer its customers. Next year, they will cruise in Antarctica, the Galapagos, the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, British Columbia, Alaska, the Panama Canal, Costa Rica and other places. For the first time, they will be offering a round-the-world cruise.

Their flagship, the 120-passenger Spirit of Oceanus will leave on a 335-day cruise from Singapore next March following the routes of great explorers like Magellan, Marco Polo, and Cook. You can book the entire journey for more than $250,000 or purchase any one of the 24 cruise segments.

Linda Garrison of website cruises.about.com advises that if you are going to cruise with this line, you better get along well with other people.

“Everything is in front of you, and if someone spots a whale on one side, a quick shout and everyone is immediately in the picture. It’s like a soft adventure every day what with the experts and naturalists onboard making it authentic and personal,” she said.

Cruise West keeps it simple, according to CEO Wertanzl. “We have one [meal] seating, at 7:30 p.m. each evening, and then most head to the lounge, to talk, listen to experts on the region and just generally mingle,” he said.

“We have a lot of repeat business so new destinations are important to us,” added Wertanzl. “We also want to expand our customer base which leans to Boomer plus.”

So if he could design a new Cruise West small ship what could we expect?

“I would design one that would carry no more than 150 passengers,” said Wertanzl. “I would make the cabins bigger, more balconies, more deck space, library, amenities such as a small gym or spa, a promenade deck and more space per person.”

Cruise West is considering the U.K., Australia and Asia as future destinations. For a list of all their cruises and more information, check out cruisewest.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Officials to occupy three floors of upscale extended-stay apartments at the Level building

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

The U.S. Olympic Committee will take over the first three floors of a new upscale extended-stay apartment building on Seymour Street to use as its USA House Olympic headquarters during the 2010 Games.

The organization will occupy about 30,000 square feet of the Level building at 1022 Seymour for working and hospitality purposes during the Games.

Chris Evans, executive vice-president of building owner Onni Group, confirmed Thursday the USOC will take over space in Level starting in January.

“I can confirm they are taking the commercial portion of the building for the Olympic period,” he said.

A USOC official confirmed the lease, but would not confirm the exact address of the building involved.

The building opened this summer with 187 fully furnished suites available for rental periods of a month or longer.

The suites cater to business travellers, with amenities like Wi-Fi, cable TV, fully equipped kitchens, air conditioning and in-suite laundry facilities.

The suites are available for monthly rates ranging from about $3,000 to $4,500, but Evans said those rates will rise to between $8,000 and $15,000 a month during the Olympics.

Many potential clients have expressed a strong interest in staying in the building during the Olympics, he said, adding he expects it will be filled with people staying for two months or longer over the Games period.

“If we were just [leasing] them for a month during the Games, we’d be full already three times over,” he said.

“But it makes more sense for us to not just do one-month stays for February 2010. Lots of groups have business needs for longer than that.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Scott Hannah
Province

Q: I’m going broke keeping my old car running. I need a new one — should I lease or buy a new car?

A: Before leaving your driveway in search of a new car to lease or buy, determine what you can afford each month.

Start by looking at your income and existing monthly and seasonal expenses. Over and above your loan or lease payment, you need to consider more than just fuel and insurance.

While you won’t need to spend money on maintenance each month with a new vehicle, you will need to find out ahead of time what you’re obligated to pay and how often. Setting money aside for those expenses on a monthly basis is a lot easier than being hit with a large bill later on.

A few things to keep in mind as you do your shopping:

– Read and understand the fine print on all purchase and lease agreements.

– Zero-per-cent interest on a purchase may mean that you still have a lump sum owing at the end of the term. While your payments are low during the term of the initial loan, you do not own the vehicle until you pay the remaining balance.

– Leasing a vehicle may offer lower monthly payments, but it’s like renting. At the end of the term, you either give it back to the dealership or buy it out.

– It’s easier to sell a car — even with a loan against it — than finding someone to assume a lease if your circumstances change.

If a new car would stretch your budget to the max, consider a good, new-to-you car instead.

Regardless of what the ads say, don’t fall prey to low bi-weekly payment offers. It’s only a great deal if you can afford it.

Make sure the payment is as comfortable as the car.

Scott Hannah is the president and CEO of the B.C.-based Credit Counselling Society. For more information about managing your money, check www.nomoredebts.org or call 604-527-8999.

© Copyright (c) Driving

 

Says she did not know she was dealing with an accused drug trafficker

Neal Hall
Sun

The owner of a Shaughnessy heritage home was in tears after learning that all her worldly possessions had been seized by a bailiff and sold at auction.

Gail Hewitt is also angry that the man who has taken possession of her $2-million-plus home is an accused drug dealer, Robert Luigi Poloni.

Poloni holds a $600,000 third mortgage on Hewitt’s house, located at 1518 Laurier at the corner of Granville, which is in the midst of foreclosure proceedings.

Hewitt, who is living in California, said her neighbours called her about three weeks ago and told her someone had moved into her house.

Her neighbours took photos of two men on the property and she recognized them as Poloni and Robbie Della Penna, who were jointly charged with cocaine trafficking offences but were acquitted by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask. The Crown has filed a notice to appeal those acquittals.

Neighbours called Hewitt again Sept. 10 to tell her that trucks had arrived on her property and were taking out her furniture and personal property.

Hewitt said the contents of her home were worth about $400,000.

“I had about $100,000 worth of clothes, fur coats, at least $50,000 worth of jewelry, furniture, a $40,000 grand piano and five oriental rugs, some worth $15,000,” she said in an interview.

She said it took her until last Thursday morning to track down the company, Active Bailiffs, that seized the goods. The company told her that everything was sold at auction the previous night by Love’s Auctioneers.

“I can’t believe it’s all gone and it’s all sold,” Hewitt said, crying. “There’s nothing I can do. Everything I own has been taken away from me.”

She said she has filed complaints with the law society against Poloni’s lawyer and a complaint against the mortgage broker, who arranged Poloni as a mortgagee, with FiCom — the Financial Institutions Commission of B.C.

She is upset that no one told her sooner where her furniture and possessions were being stored so she could retrieve them.

But Andrew Bury, Poloni’s lawyer in the foreclosure proceedings in court, said he had done nothing wrong. He said he notified Hewitt’s lawyer of the company that had seized the contents of the Laurier house.

“Her furniture was seized under a court order,” he said. “They’ve been held by Active Bailiffs all along and her lawyer has known that.”

Bury said he just found out “minutes ago” that Hewitt’s furniture and possessions were sold at auction. He also said he just learned, from Hewitt’s lawyer, about Poloni’s background as an accused drug dealer.

Asked if Poloni had a court order to take possession of the home, Bury said his client did not.

Asked if it was legal to take possession before getting a court order, Bury said: “It’s not a black and white issue…I say he had the legal right to do so.”

He said Poloni held a $600,000 third mortgage on Hewitt’s home on Laurier and another property Hewitt owned at 1964 West 33rd, which also went into foreclosure and was sold in a court-ordered sale for $1.25 million.

Bury said the mortgages on the West 33rd property exceeded the sale proceeds, so Poloni and others are still owed money.

He also pointed out that Hewitt was ordered to vacate the West 33rd property and failed to do so, but after she moved out someone trashed the house and removed the appliances and inside doors, causing tens of thousands in damage and repair costs.

Bury said Poloni moved into the Laurier Street home after seeing what happened to the West 33rd property.

Hewitt said she found her 33rd Avenue home trashed a few days after she moved into her Laurier heritage home on July 9.

That day, she said, her fiance, David Hamilton, was hit over the head by an unknown assailant inside the Laurier home and knocked unconscious, requiring him to be taken to Vancouver General Hospital by ambulance for treatment of a concussion and eight stitches to his scalp.

“I became increasingly fearful of my physical safety,” Hewitt said in an affidavit, filed in B.C. Supreme Court in the foreclosure proceeding.

On July 16, her affidavit says, Poloni came to the Laurier property and “threatened to torch my house. I was scared because I believed him.”

She states in her affidavit that Poloni and Della Penna came to the Laurier Avenue home on July 23, but Hewitt refused to let them in, fearing for her safety.

(Della Penna’s lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis, said: “Mr. Della Penna denies having ever met this woman and denies being there on that July date.”)

Hewitt said she didn’t know who she was dealing with until she Googled Poloni and found a Vancouver Sun article, which said Della Penna, a former boxer, testified at the 2003 trial of two Hells Angels that he had been a drug trafficker at the multi-ounce level since 1995.

She also said she has contacted police, alleging Poloni illegally moved into her house, but police said it was a civil matter that should be resolved in court.

When she and her partner moved to California, Hewitt says in her affidavit, she left a property manager in charge of the Laurier house in order to facilitate the foreclosure sale of her home.

She said she returned to her home on Laurier on Aug. 24 and found the locks had been changed. She knocked at the door and Poloni answered. “He threatened to kill me,” she said in her affidavit.

Hewitt’s allegations have not been proved in court. Bury said his client denies threatening Hewitt or threatening to burn down her house.

The lawyer said he plans to return to court Thursday to seek a final court order allowing Poloni to possess and own the home. First he will have to pay off about $1.7 million in first and second mortgages, Bury said.

Hewitt said she spent $800,000 in renovations to restore the Laurier Avenue property and got in over her head financially, causing her to lose everything.

She said she tried selling the Laurier home but the housing market collapsed. She did get an offer for $3.5 million last January, she said, but the deal fell through. She got another offer for $2.8 million, but that deal also fell through, she said.

Realtor Andrew Hasman now has the home listed for sale at $2.2 million, which Hewitt feels is undervalued.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Weatherproof walk cost $38m

Ian Austin
Province

At $100,000 a stride, it’s B.C.’s costliest concourse.

The week-old, 90-metre-long walkway connecting Vancouver’s twin convention centres is more proof that $38 million doesn’t buy what it used to.

So The Province went to see what you get for the equivalent of 100 Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertibles — or 2,750 Hyundai Accents.

The two escalators at the east end of what government calls “The Connector” are certainly gleaming, and the two wide-screen overhead TVs give tourists useful information — except one wasn’t working yesterday.

The carpets are nice, and there are quite a number of outstanding pieces of native art lining the waterproof, windproof tunnel — but $38 million?

“That’s a lot of money,” said Kitty van der Meer, visiting the new venue for the first time. “My first impression was, ‘It’s really nice,’ but I don’t see that much worth.”

How else besides a walkway can you spend $38 million?

Well, according to recent stats, for that kind of coin you could raise 150 children to the age of 18.

Or, if expensive government projects are your thing, it’ll buy you just one-tenth of the proposed retractable roof for B.C. Place.

Warren Buckley, CEO of the B.C. Pavilion Corp., said most of the cost is hidden.

“You’re only seeing half of it — behind the wall with the native art is a second corridor where we have equipment going back and forth,” said Buckley. “To appreciate the steel beams that support it you have to go to the convention centres on either side. After the Games are over, where there’s a plaza above, there’s going to be landscaping, so they need all the beams to support that extra weight.”

What’s undeniable is the Connector has a stunning, $38-million view, with floor-to-ceiling windows revealing an unobstructed view of the North Shore mountains.

.

© Copyright (c) The Province

many charms: Art galleries, festivals and colonial architecture lure visitors who end up becoming residents

Lisa Monforton
Province

An old man in a black beret and white sneakers slouches on a velvet couch smeared with daubs of dried acrylic paint. He politely greets his visitors in a living room strewn with framed and unframed paintings, worn furniture, knick-knacks and piles of books and papers. A cat pokes at a plate of unfinished breakfast on an ottoman; boiled egg in a cup, fruit and toast.

The painter leans back and swings his feet up onto the couch to take a look at his unfinished work.

“I think it needs more yellow . . . in the egg,” he says mostly to himself about his painting, tentatively titled “Sir Nobby (the cat) and Breakfast.”

And then, to me, who’s begun to ask a question: “Didn’t anyone tell you I don’t do interviews any more? I’ve said it all. It’s in the books.”

At 97, legendary war artist Leonard Brooks doesn’t have much interest in or need for more fame.

People have been known to come for a holiday and never leave

Commissioned in 1944 by the Canadian government, he made his mark sketching the men working on board the navy’s minesweepers and corvettes.

But for more than half a century, Brooks has lived in the artsy tranquillity of San Miguel de Allende. He is considered one of the early drivers of the colonial city’s lively art scene, along with his late wife Reva, a photographer whose stark black-and-white portraits of rural Mexican life hang throughout the house. (For more stories about Brooks, check out John Virtue’s Artists in Exile in San Miguel de Allende).

Brooks still paints nearly every day, occasionally puts on an exhibit, and will only meet with a Canadian if he feels like accepting visitors. (Brooks is just one of many artists who make SMA their home, including the eccentric Toller Cranston, known to Canadians of a certain age as the Canadian national figure skating champion from 1971 to 1976.)

Brooks and his wife found themselves in this 500-year-old sun-drenched city located on the altiplano (high plain) ringed by the Sierra Madre mountains in the late 1940s, around the same time Second World War veterans were returning home.

Thousands of them were drawn to this city with a perpetual springlike climate, by the thermal springs on the edge of town, and also the fact that their GI education grants could stretch a lot further here than in the United States.

The Disney-esque (actually pseudogothic) La Parroquia San Miguel is the iconic pink-hued parish church that dominates San Miguel de Allende’s historic centre. In its shadow they rebuilt their lives and pursued an education in the arts or music. For Leonard and Reva it became home, where they were surrounded by contemporaries and could pursue their artistic passions. That is with one exception — a temporary deportation from their borrowed city during the Communist “witch-hunting” years of the McCarthy era in the 1950s.

The students might have studied at the Esquela Bellas de Artes (School of Fine Arts), where he taught or at the Instituto Allende. To this day, both facilities attract art, language and music students from around the world and provide residents and travellers alike with art classes, galleries, stages and open-air cafes where patrons while away the hours reading or catching up on gossip with friends.

Just as it did for many war vets, San Miguel de Allende is a place where people come to reinvent themselves, says the man with a distinct American accent as he leads us through the cobblestone streets, while everyone else appears to be either coming or going from the daily outdoor market.

In a past life, Steve Weisberg was a social worker in the United States; now he’s a theatre volunteer, and on this day he’s telling us stories about the bloody battles for independence from Spain, the stories behind the city’s hand-carved doors, and the once-booming silver mining trade, on a walking tour of the historic city centre.

Over and over, I would hear this refrain from expats that SMA–as it’s informally known–is a place where people start life anew, many of whom are retired or have made it their second or new home. There are just as many anecdotes about those who came for a holiday and couldn’t leave the sounds of the celebratory fireworks (there are more than 100 festivals a year in San Miguel), or the clanging church bells, the beauty of the colonial architecture and narrow and crooked cobblestone streets with the profusion of the bougainvillea that spills over the walls that surround the mansions and modest homes.

Many of the homes, painted in yellows, blues, greens and terra cottas, are adorned with ornate wooden doorways throughout the historic district and in the neighbourhoods carved out of a hill called El Monteczuma.

Many have beautiful door knockers in the shape of a bejewelled hand, a dragon, a lizard or a lion.

As to why these transplants fall in love with the city, it could be as simple as the drivers’ honour system, in which cars, SUVs and even ATVs that chug up the hilly, uneven cobblestone streets don’t have to obey traffic lights –because there are none. Or the fact that there is even a San Miguel shoe, invented by an enterprising family so that people could walk without turning an ankle on the rugged streets.

For these reasons and more “everyone falls in love with it,” says Linda Lowry, a writer from Colorado, one of those who came and never left.

Even though there has been a large influx of North Americans, it’s “Mexicanness” has not been erased.

“It’s not a gringo town,” she says, even though 8,000 to 10,000 nonresidents live in the city, designated a World UNESCO heritage site in 2008.

The only nods to the influence of its northern neighbour are the many locals who speak some English and the not-too-busy lone Subway and Starbucks, tucked into colourful stucco buildings, each surrounded by stone courtyards, art galleries, churches (there are close to 300 in the city) or locally owned boutiques.

“It’s the other way around,” says Victor Cortes. “People come here to integrate themselves.”

The many expats I met have immersed themselves in the community, helping or working alongside the locals, volunteering at the orphanages or helping a local family create a lavender farm whose products will eventually be made into soaps and other products at a resort being built in the historic city centre.

So successful was this endeavour, says Lowry, that the wives with whom she helped get the project off the ground were able to bring their husbands back from the United States, where they’d gone to find work.

“They’re coming home to help with the business,” she says, one anecdote that tells me, not only is it the non-residents who can carve out a new life for themselves, but the local residents can, too.

© Copyright (c) The Province