Homeless in Vancouver: Saturday night fever or a burglar alarm?

At one point on my way to bed Saturday night after 11 p.m. I was sure that I was approaching some sort of major emergency. Whether it was police, fire or ambulance I didn’t know but the intersection ahead of me was painted with enough pulsating red and blue lights to suggest all three at once.

But there was nothing on the ground. All the crazy light was being emitted by a single corner condo unit on the very top floor of an 11- or 12-storey building on the southwest corner of the intersection.

At first I just marvelled at the lights—they were so intense from where I was looking at them—maybe 40 metres away. I couldn’t imagine being in the same condo with them. (The photos I took don’t begin to do them justice.)

In fact, besides the whirling and flashing—and some balcony greenery—there wasn’t the slightest bit of human movement visible. The lights were most definitely on but nobody seemed to be home.

There wasn’t the least bit of sound leaking out of the condo either, just all that light — which could’ve been evidence of a party or some kind of weird burglar alarm for all that I knew.

And for all that the passengers knew, flying in the jet airliner some 900 metres overhead. I was sure that they would also be wondering about the bright pulsing lights washing over every adjacent surface for nearly a block.