Media Viewpoint: The top city story of 2011

It’s a year-end tradition – think about the past 12 months and ponder the ones ahead. Many media outlets assemble the year’s top stories covered on their beat, and I thought it would be interesting to provide a unique collection of remarks from reporters and opinion leaders whom I follow with interest. I appreciated that during this time of year we’re all either on vacation or distracted on more important matters such as family and holiday festivities, so I kept the request extremely simple and contacted only as many folks as my schedule would allow.

I asked respondents to provide a brief summary of their top “city” story of the year. A sentence or two would suffice. It could be something they had reported on, or not. The story had to tie back to cities (any city, not just one you work in) in some way – i.e. how they’re governed, taxes, planning, politics, etc. I was pleased with the thoughtful and diverse responses, and not terribly surprised that Vancouver’s internationally reported Stanley Cup riot still stood out as the #1 story.

I might add that it’s also interesting what wasn’t mentioned – such as Vancouver’s debate about lack of affordability and the perceived reasons for it. See many of the comments on a previous post about this topic.

Many thanks to all of the contributors, whose unedited responses I’ve compiled below, and to others who responded but declined to contribute at this time.

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In a year when you have a Stanley Cup playoff series, a major riot that damages not only property but the city’s psyche and reputation, a downtown occupation that tests the limits of leadership and democracy. and a civic election that is to be a litmus test for a government going in a new direction, how can you choose just one story as the best of 2011?

As a long-time city hall reporter. I might like to think that the civic election was perhaps the biggest story; after all, it heralded a new mandate for Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver’s ambitious agenda. It also came with the requisite drama: the spurning of David Cadman by Coalition of Progressive Electors members in favour of an old warhorse, Tim Louis. And danger, at least for Suzanne Anton, who gave up a safe seat to run as mayor for the Non-Partisan Association. There is also newness for the three new councillors, Tony Tang, George Affleck and Adriane Carr, and renewal for re-elected NPA councillor Elizabeth Ball.

But in truth, the story that constantly comes back to me is not of civic politics but that of The Wall.

In the hours and days after thugs and drunks laid waste to parts of Vancouver’s downtown on June 15, people from all over the Lower Mainland left messages of hope and encouragement on the boarded-up windows of the city’s looted shops and stores. That every inch of the plywood boards around The Hudson’s Bay store was covered in words of apology, outrage and encouragement revealed an engaged citizenry less interested in who won the Stanley Cup than who owned the city. We found out in those days afterwards that while people can be ambivalent about some things – as the turnout from the Nov. 19 civic election again reminds us – they love their city more and are unwilling to see it trashed.

It may take the Vancouver Police Department and the courts months, even years, to charge and convict those responsible for the damage of that night. But the people who showed up early the next morning with brooms and garbage bags, and who wrote “This is our city” on the window hoarding are those who made the top of my list for 2011.

– Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun City Hall reporter (@SunCivicLee)

Vancouver’s story of the year was the Stanley Cup riot. No other event in living memory has had a greater impact on the psyche of the city. It rocked city hall, nearly sunk a police chief and cost millions. The Canucks rule local culture, for better or for worse. (Canucks in five games, next June.)

– Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier columnist & reporter (@MarkHasiuk)

The riot is an obvious choice. No one expected the severity of the situation. And whether the punishment will prevent the next riot from happening is still very much unknown. It’s made many proud hockey fans fear another final.

– Theresa Lalonde, CBC reporter (@TheresaLalonde)

The Occupy movement in Vancouver (and elsewhere) is my pick for the most interesting city story of 2011. Occupiers were, at times, a sincere, earnest bunch—friendly and eager to talk to reporters. But the mood changed significantly after a couple of drug overdoses, one leading to the death of a young woman. This story had everything—interesting and sometimes unusual characters, debates about democracy and the distribution of wealth, and clashes between Occupiers and police/firefighters about safety concerns. Unions and individuals donated cash and food, while critics argued campers didn’t represent the so-called 99 per cent. Some questioned the mayor’s handling of the encampment and how Occupy Vancouver might affect the civic election. After court battles, the tents and structures came down peacefully, but now there’s arguments about how much the camp cost taxpayers—the city says the bill hit close to $1 million, while Occupiers claim they saved taxpayers money because they provided food and health care. I expect repercussions will continue into 2012.

– Naoibh O’Connor, Vancouver Courier reporter & columnist (@Naoibh)

Story number one: Vancouver’s Teflon mayor, Gregor Robertson, managed to win reelection in a landslide despite his role in luring 150,000 people downtown for a riot.

Honourable mention: The remarkable popularity of Lower Mainland mayors, most of whom won landslide victories despite a slow economy. The UBCM noted that over the last seven general local government elections, the turnover percentage was 44 percent across all offices. This year, that fell to 35 percent.

– Charlie Smith, Georgia Straight editor (@CSmithStraight)

Mayors okay TransLink gas tax hike… Metro Vancouver mayors approved a two cent per litre increase in the TransLink gas tax next April to ensure the Evergreen Line to Coquitlam proceeds and for other transit upgrades. The provincial government also passed legislation enabling the increase.

The transit expansion plan still requires more money. Unless mayors can negotiate other new funding sources for TransLink, a property tax increase would also take effect. Potential new sources are expected to be controversial and could see a vehicle levy imposed in the region, or even some form of road pricing or regional tolling.

– Jeff Nagel, Surrey Leader reporter (@JeffNagel)

I would say the city story of the year had to be the riot. It raised questions about the wisdom of encouraging large gatherings of that type, the interaction between police and council and our city’s ability to handle the “hard-to-handle situations.”

– Adrienne Tanner, Vancouver Sun City Editor (@AdrienneTanner)

I’d have to say the Vancouver riot. We were here. Our little scrappy team rocked.

Having covered riots before — for example the one triggered by fearful, heavy-handed Geneva police during the G8 Summit in Evian in 2003 — this one seemed so shocking in its childishness and frivolousness … An apparent magnification of the attitude here, where people who live outside Vancouver appear to descend on this city each weekend to use the downtown core as their private party pad and public toilet.

The civically minded Swiss, perhaps even more polite and politically correct than Canadians, were rightfully traumatized by their riot. However, the fact that a large number of rioters came from across their borders, that the protest had been utterly peaceful until police sparked the conflict, and that activists were fighting the greater cause of capitalist power, went a long way to conserving their sense of pride, faith and public safety. What a juxtaposition!

– Erica Bulman, 24 Hours Vancouver reporter (@lapinbun)

The story of the year in Vancouver was the ineffective governing of public space. City hall sought to recreate the Olympic magic when the Vancouver Canucks took their third run at the Stanley Cup by inviting the region to occupy Georgia Street. All hell broke loose when they lost Game 7 and so began the whitewashing effort by those in power, provincially and civically. Exactly four months later, the Occupy movement held a peaceful, day-long protest at the Vancouver Art Gallery and stayed for five weeks. Mayor Gregor Robertson need only have followed the Seattle example, where similar anti-camping bylaws were enforced, but the protesters were issued a day-use permit downtown and a camping permit at city hall. Mayor Mike McGinn even served protesters coffee and his city council passed a motion in support.

– Bob Mackin, freelance reporter featured in Vancouver Courier, Business in Vancouver (@BobMackin)

Clearly, the top, city-related story, sadly, was Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riot, which erupted moments after the hometown Canucks lost the seventh game of the finals to Boston. It raged for close to five hours, showing the world an ugly side of the city that we thought had been put to bed. And yet, only hours later, the best of Vancouver was also on display, as hundreds of ordinary citizens showed up, unbidden, to clean up and also to apologize for the orgy of destruction and looting the night before. All this drama unfolded within a telescope of little more than 12 hours. Unforgettable, and a reminder that people — both good and bad — remain the great determiner of a city’s character.

– Rod Mickleburgh, Globe and Mail reporter & columnist (@RodMickleburgh)

When the BC Government announced the renovation of BC Place and the plan to move the Edgewater casino across the street from its fals e creek location to a new mega casino, I assumed it was a done deal. But a group of Vancouverites, some politically connected, others just with some profile, stood up and said “No. This does not fit my vision of Vancouver”. This group was representative of one particular political party. But those involved with “Vancouver not Vegas” showed the entire city what can happen when citizens show city hall they are, indeed, paying attention.

And if I can have a runner up story, which I probably can’t, I would have to say one spontaneous story that moved me to tears this year. I went outside the CBC for a quick break after the Early Edition to see regular people with their home brooms and dustpans cleaning up the mess at Georgia at Hamilton. They weren’t organized, they just showed up. And the while the riot itself was the “top story” for many news outlets this year, the morning after is what I remember more.

– Shiral Tobin, CBC Radio host & producer (@Shiral)

The story of the year was the Stanley Cup Riot. I was covering it and even before the game was over many in the crowd I talked with were saying “there’s going to be a riot.” I was shocked because no one thought it could happen again. Sure enough within minutes of the game ending the fires started on Georgia St. I was right behind the police car that was set ablaze in the parking lot of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and I was so angry at what was happening, it almost made me sick to my stomach. I was angry too at the crowd I was standing in as they cheered on the rioters. When the destruction was finally over I remember walking through the downtown core outside the Bay, Sears, TD Bank around 2 a.m. and literally wading through empty boxes of perfume, tripping over leather gloves and trying to avoid all the glass and still shocked at what had happened.

– Janet Brown, CKNW News reporter (@JanetBrown980)

By far the riot. How it was handled before, during, and after by city officials, staff, and police. It’s the local story that went international in 2011 and will continue on in the years to come. Bad memories, but hopefully important lessons too, will be remembered should the Canucks find themselves in final round playoff territory in the future.

– Dave White, News 1130 Radio reporter (@1130reporter)

As long as there are people living on the streets and in shelters, I think homelessness is a top story in any city.

– Margaret Gallagher, CBC Radio host & reporter (@gallaghmargaret)

I’d say the story of the year was the halting of the marijuana grow-op inspection program (PSIT) in January, following the overturning of 15 previous fines of $5,000 issued to homeowners in error. This led to significant anger from the public and was likely responsible for the changing of the mayor and five councillors in the November elections.

– Adrian MacNair, Mission City Record reporter (@unambig)

Hands down, the riot.

My assignment before the mayhem ensued that night was to write a crowd story.

I got downtown about an hour before game time.

The crowd was rowdy and cops were turning people away at the gates of the so-called fan zones before the puck dropped; a totally different scene from Game 6, when I shot a video piece for our website. The Game 6 crowd was well behaved and I saw lots of families sitting cross-legged on the street, chowing down on food as they watched the action on the big screens.

About halfway through the first period of Game 7, I spoke to a woman and her family just inside one of the gates. She was exasperated. That’s because she temporarily lost her son in the tightly packed crowd of young men who were drinking, pushing and shoving. That family headed back to North Vancouver to watch the rest of the game on their television.

From that same spot on the sidewalk, I saw people standing on rooftops, billboards and portable toilets.

I worked my way back up to Georgia Street and Richards, where I ran into city manager Penny Ballem. At that point, the Bruins were up by three goals. I brought up the fact that the last time the Canucks lost in a Game 7 Final, a riot ensued. Not going to happen, she said, believing hockey fans had matured since the 1994 riot. The well behaved crowds in the streets during the 2010 Games demonstrated that, she added.

Earlier that day, after a Vancouver Police Board meeting, I put the same line of questioning to Police Chief Jim Chu. The chief told me ther
e wasn’t going to be a riot.

With about 10 minutes left in the game, I headed for Rogers Arena. There, I spoke to several despondent fans filing out of the arena. Some had paid big bucks for tickets, including one woman who spent $700 on a plane ticket from Fort McMurray, Alta. to Vancouver and another $1,800 on a ticket to the game.

With the game over, it was time to file.

I sat down outside a Blenz near the arena, turned on my laptop and filed a story. No sooner had I sent it to my editor when I heard an explosion up near the Post Office. All I could see was a plume of smoke. Then people came running around the corner saying a guy had just fallen from one of the viaducts. Someone said a car was on fire. So much for the crowd story.

I spent the rest of the night and early morning taking in the mayhem, interviewing people, shooting video and sending out Tweets until my phone died. Then I went home and filed another story before heading to a morning press conference at VPD headquarters. Got to the office, wrote another story, edited some video tape and returned home to bed.

As a journalist, I’m glad I was there that night, but sorry the riot happened.

We’ll see what 2012 brings.

– Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier City Hall reporter (@Howellings)

Rather than a specific story (protests, elections), I’d go with a trend: the embrace of urbanism by suburban leaders – that is, the welcoming of density, whether measured as quantity or quality; the move to transit and transportation choices like walking and cycling; and the recognition that post-war, car-dependent suburbia is not the future. Best example is Surrey, I suppose – particularly well represented by the new library and city hall at Surrey Central. But Hazel McCallion, Mayor of Missassauga, and Naheed Nenshi of Calgary are also good examples of the changing attitudes toward urbanism.

– Gord Price, commentator, Director, The City Program at Simon Fraser University (@PriceTags)

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– post compiled by @MikeKlassen. Originally published at CityCaucus.com.