A new Vancouver city council report suggests the city’s cost of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics was $534 million. But the report, which goes to council Tuesday, includes a soup-to-nuts list of everything, including many civic projects that Vancouver had long planned to do  such as the redevelopment of Southeast False Creek, a new pool, redevelopment of Granville Mall and three civic theatres and even a transit station.

Overall, the report says the total cost of the city’s involvement in the Olympics was closer to $730 million, but nearly $175 million of that came from other governments or the Vancouver Organizing Committee. But Coun. Suzanne Anton said the report is disingenuous, attributing costs to the Olympics that have nothing to do with the Games.

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There are a lot of souvenir Olympic red mittens out there -- but authentic Vancouver 2010 Olympic banners are a far rarer commodity quietly being snapped up. The largest number of banners, approximately 6,400, were flown in Vancouver.

Of that total, 3,000 were given to UNICEF Canada to raise money for Haiti relief. About 700 of those have been purchased for prices ranging from $75 to $350. Approximately $200,000 has been raised so far to aid the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation.

While some of the other banners in Vancouver are still up, the ones that have been removed are being cleaned in preparation for sale. Peter Judd, who was general manager of Olympic operations for Vancouver, knows of at least six organizations that want to dispose of the banners for the city.

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Twenty-two people who came to Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics have made refugee claims in Canada, seven of them members of the "Olympic family."

The figures from Citizenship and Immigration Canada show the claimants came from nine different countries: Ghana, Hungary, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Nepal and Japan.

For privacy concerns, Johanne Nadeau with Citizenship and Immigration couldn't say if any of the claimants were athletes, only that seven of them were from organizations directly linked to the Games.

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Lost a pair of those iconic red mittens during the Olympics? There's still time to reclaim them -- up until 4 p.m. today. More than 4,300 items ended up at the Olympic lost and found during the Games, including more than 500 umbrellas, dozens of cameras, sunglasses and yes, half a dozen bags of red mittens.

To reclaim an item from the lost and found at 450 West Broadway before its doors close this afternoon, you'll need to provide accurate details about precisely where it was lost and when, as well as details about what the item looks like.

On Thursday, remnants of the Olympic party -- noisemakers, funny hats, costume bits, flags and a lot of red and white clothing -- sat stuffed in boxes. "I think the most interesting to me is the pile of books we have. It's funny how so many people brought a book to a sporting event," said Ellen Babers, Vanoc's senior project manager with event services. "Other than that there is a walker that came with a sippy cup attached to it."

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The Olympic flame will continue to contribute to the healthy glow in Vancouver's economy through the rest of this year, with the boost from the Winter Games helping it outpace all other Canadian cities in terms of economic growth, according to a Conference Board of Canada report released Wednesday.

The Olympics pumped an estimated $600 million into the West Coast city's economy, which should grow by four per cent, the board said in its latest metropolitan outlook, which forecasts growth for 13 Canadian cities. "The Olympic Games provided a big, even if temporary, boost to retail trade, arts, entertainment and recreation, accommodation and food services in Vancouver," Mario Lefebvre, the Conference Board's director of municipal studies, said in a statement.

"All in all, the Olympics injected about $600 million into the Vancouver economy, lifting growth by about 0.8 percentage points. "On top of that, demand for new homes in Vancouver began to recover at the end of last year, and that momentum has carried over into the first couple months of 2010."

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Vancouver artist Ken Lum’s East Van cross at East 6th Avenue and Clark Drive is impeccable in its timing as a work of public art reflecting this period. As a piece that is partially about pain and suffering in the city, it is a stunning visual landmark that is daring in its scale. We are a city divided, and it’s important to be reminded of that.

The housing movement that has emerged during the Olympic period in Vancouver shaped the 2008 civic election. It pushed a provincial government which had done nothing on the file since cancelling the 2002 Homes B.C. program, an initiative that used to build 1,200 units annually, in addition to buying SRO buildings and starting construction on some units.

This movement will also blow back if the City of Vancouver attempts to erode the social-housing units at the athletes’ village site. Vancouver social movements are asserting themselves on the national stage. During the Olympics, the Red Tent campaign set a Guinness world record for longest banner wrap after wrapping the entire Canadian pavilion with red tarps.

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You watched the Winter Olympics and Paralympics on television and are curious about the host city Vancouver. If backdrop scenes you saw during the Games already looked familiar, that’s because Vancouver is North America’s third largest film production center, nicknamed “Hollywood North.

Not too cold in the winter. Not too hot in the summer. Always wise to keep an eye out for rain. Got some time to spare and want to check out the city on Canada’s Pacific coast? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge have some tips for a 48-hour visit:

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Vancouver's Olympic cauldron, visited by thousands of people from around the world, will reopen to the public as a permanent attraction in June. The Vancouver Convention Centre says work will begin this week to upgrade the area surrounding the cauldron, which is situated at the Jack Poole Plaza at the Vancouver Convention Centre's west building near the Vancouver waterfront.

Work includes building a reflecting pool at the base of the cauldron and a map on the bottom of the pool that traces the route of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic torch relay. The centre says the cauldron will remain in place and will be lit again on special occasions, for instance a festival, gathering or celebration such as Canada Day.

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You watched the Winter Olympics and Paralympics on television and are curious about the host city Vancouver. If backdrop scenes you saw during the Games already looked familiar, that's because Vancouver is North America's third largest film production center, nicknamed "Hollywood North."

Not too cold in the winter. Not too hot in the summer. Always wise to keep an eye out for rain. Got some time to spare and want to check out the city on Canada's Pacific coast? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge have some tips for a 48-hour visit:

FRIDAY 6:30 p.m. - On arrival at the Vancouver International airport, or "YVR" as most people call it, you should take a moment to glance at the artwork. Bill Reid's sculpture The Jade Canoe shows why the late Haida artist's works are so cherished. Head into the city on the Canada Line. The rapid transit opened just before the Winter Games and got positive reviews for handling the Olympic-sized crowds.

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When American Paralympian Stephani Victor won gold in Turin, the medal was just a painted version, a clear message that her performance as a sit-skier didn't have the same value as that of her Olympic counterparts.

When Victor collected a gold medal Saturday in Whistler for her performance in the final race of the 2010 Paralympics, it was the real thing -- different design -- but in all respects the same as the one given to the Olympians.

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