Viewpoint Podcast: Recent Episodes
Price Tags Media Society
The podcast of West Coast urbanist newsblog Viewpoint Vancouver. Gordon Price, former Vancouver City Councillor and Director of the SFU City Program lecture series, chats with leading players and emerging voices on issues of urban planning, architecture, housing, transportation, politics and public space.
Welcome to a special dispatch from Gordon Price, checking in from Expo 2022 in Dubai.(With apologies for the sound quality. At a place like Expo, it was the quietest place he could find.)
One of the best things about a world’s fair—after you’ve visited the pavilions, tasted the food, listened to the music —is oddly, also one of the worst things: standing in lines. Because it is in those lineups where you’re likely to engage with people from other places in way you never otherwise would.
My best experience in that respect was a little different—not in a line-up, but at a visitor centre. I needed help trying to sign up for the bikeshare system. And it was there that I met Maliha Khan, who was incredibly helpful. (How helpful? She even offered me her credit card when the system wouldn’t accept my Canadian one. Turns out we’re not that global.)
Then, the real conversation began. “Where you from, Maliha?” (When over 70 percent of the people who live and work in Dubai are not from there, it’s a safe question to ask.)
And so began the basis for this podcast. Who Maliha is, where she’s from, and why she’s in Dubai. And really, it is about the global identity of youth, of women, of ethnicity, and of ambition and possibility in this age.
Which is why Dubai is this age’s version of the New York story of the 20th century. Like a magnet it is attracting the talented, ambitious young people from the fastest growing parts of the world— those who want opportunity, experience, and the possibility of the global good life. As Maliha says —she’s here to make it, not break it.
Catch up on Viewpoint Podcasts HERE.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Please subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual paces.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: soundcloud.com/andabeat
We're back with Episode Three of Viewpoint Vancouver's election podcast feature: Three Quick Questions. Where in under ten minutes, Gordon Price puts civic candidates on the spot with three unusual questions designed to reveal who they are and what really makes them tick.
This time up, Gord turns the political spotlight on John Coupar, the NPA's candidate for Mayor of the City of Vancouver. Listen in on John's long behind-the-scenes family history with the Vancouver Park Board, and get the dish on the City's dirty little secret.
For more about John's platform see npavancouver.ca/john-coupar/
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Please subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual paces.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: soundcloud.com/andabeat
Check in for Episode Two of Viewpoint Vancouver's election podcast feature: Three Quick Questions. Where, in under ten minutes, Gordon puts civic candidates on the spot with three unusual questions designed to reveal who they are and what really makes them tick.
This time up, Gord puts it to Ken Sim, running for Mayor of City of Vancouver with A Better City — who explains what's really sexy about home reno permits. And more.
For more about Ken check out kensim.ca.
Catch up on Viewpoint Podcasts HERE.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Please subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual paces.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: soundcloud.com/andabeat
The great BurnaBOOM! took off in the ‘50s, as Willingdon Heights came to model the suburban ideal: a neatly gridded neighborhood of wide streets, tidy flower gardens, and modest single-family bungalows. To some extent, it is still that—but so much more.
Lee-Ann Garnett, Burnaby’s Deputy Director of Planning and Building, tells the evolving story of Burnaby housing through the eyes of Albert and Clara: an archetypal blue-collar couple who leave the prairies after the war to settle in Burnaby and live the Canadian dream. Eventually they are joined by Gord from Grand Forks and Sue at SFU, who settle into affordable three-storey walkups. Then comes SkyTrain and skyscrapers; immigrant families and tech entrepreneurs; condos, and a real town centre. And yet the single-family paradigm still maintains a tight grip, with density ('compaction') a dirty word capable of inciting City Hall protests to this day.
How will Burnaby strike it's Grand Bargain: providing housing for all, while keeping Albert and Clara—and their recently returned grandchildren—happy?
Spoiler alert: by legislating 20% of all new development as rental units and 20% of those units below median market rental rates, plus introducing some of the most stringent rental assistance and tenant protection schemes in Canada, Burnaby has managed to double its rental housing supply since 2018. Clearly, the BurnaBOOM is just beginning.
To learn more about the Burnaby plan: Read about Burnaby’s Housing and Homelessness Strategy here. Check out Burnaby’s Rental Housing Summary here.
Listen to this episode on the site or Download HERE. Catch up on Viewpoint Podcasts HERE.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual paces.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: https://soundcloud.com/andabeat
Join Viewpoint Vancouver for a quickie! Introducing our new Election podcast feature: Three Quick Questions, where, in under ten minutes, Gordon puts civic candidates on the spot with three unusual questions designed to reveal who they are and what really makes them tick.
First up in the series: Mark Marissen, running for Mayor of City of Vancouver with Progress Vancouver. What has Amsterdam got that Vancouver needs, to help create a safer and more vibrant downtown? Mark has an idea.
For more of Mark's platform nuts and bolts check out markformayor.ca
Listen to this episode on the site or Download HERE. Catch up on Viewpoint Podcasts HERE.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Please subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual paces.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: soundcloud.com/andabeat
The City of North Van is no bedroom community. With sexy projects like the Shipyards, the Polygon Art Gallery, and new Lonsdale patios and covered seating, North Van is quickly becoming a destination city. In fact, the City has the lowest percentage of single-family homes of any Greater Vancouver municipality. The buzz now is all about market rentals and affordable housing.
In this episode of the Viewpoint Vancouver Podcast, Gordon talks to first-term City of North Vancouver Councillor Tony Valente about housing challenges, rapid buses, construction fatigue, and serving the mobility needs of this notoriously rainy, hilly city (hint: Tony rocks an Urban Arrow e-cargo bike).
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual paces.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: https://soundcloud.com/andabeat
Big news for the Region! Translink has just unveiled Transport 2050: its blueprint for the next 30 years of regional mobility. Gordon talks to Translink Manager of Policy Development Eve Hou about the evolution of this important document, and what Translink sees coming down the long-range pipes. Will we have a future of integrated mobility: transit pass, car-share, and share-bike, all in one handy package? Translink calls it "mobility as a service". The acronym is ACES — automated, connected, electric, and shared — and it's all part of the big picture.
Plus: working from home in the post-pandemic world, inter-regional lines, confronting the climate emergency, fighting the war on cars, and raising a new generation of transit nerds. Listen in as Translink spills the beans.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution. Subscribe to the Viewpoint newsletter, or subscribe to the Podcast in all the usual places.
If you like this podcast and want to help shape our region, please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes are at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: https://soundcloud.com/andabeat
All countries have distinctive urban regions, but Canadian cities especially differ from one another in culture, structure, and history. SFU prof Anthony Perl’s new book Big Moves: Global Agendas, Local Aspirations, and Urban Mobility in Canada (co-authored with Matt Hern and Jeffrey R. Kenworthy) dissects how Canada's three largest urban regions have been shaped by the interplay of globalized imperatives, aspirations, activism, investment, and local development initiatives.
In this episode Gordon and Anthony examine the various historical triumphs and faux pas of Canada’s Big Three cities, and whether the Canadian tendency toward ‘accommodation through equivocation’ has held us back, or helped us dodge some American urban pitfalls. Sensitive listeners be advised: we talk trolley buses.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution.
If you like this podcast please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: https://soundcloud.com/andabeat
OWG (Old White Guy) Gordon Price enlists the aid of YBG (Young Brown Guy) Mo Amir, for help in unpacking the modern socio-political lexicon.
Can white people be 'racialized'? Is equity of opportunity the same as equity of outcome? What is privilege, really? Who has it now, and where does the balance tip? And, moreover: what does it really take, to be Gord’s perfect gym buddy?
Join us for a rambling and entertaining conversation as Mo Amir of popular culture podcast This is VANCOLOUR joins Gordon Price for a trip through the landmines of contemporary lexicon.
The Viewpoint Podcast is a production of Viewpoint Vancouver. Visit viewpointvancouver.ca for more Urbanism, Insight, and Evolution.
If you like this podcast please support our labour of love. Cool perks and prizes at: patreon.com/viewpointvancouver
Music for the VWPT Podcast is by Romina Jones, from her lp Elevation. Hear more from Romina at: https://soundcloud.com/andabeat
The photo of Mo Amir is courtesy of Tracy Giesz-Ramsay, who is not only a skilled photographer but also (of course), a podcaster! Swing your ears over to Capture Queue for still more conversations with forward-thinking individuals.
Throughout her 33-year career, Judy Graves was the public face of City Hall to those living in Vancouver's streets and shelters.
She knew who they were, what they needed, and how to get a roof over their heads. She reached out to them, often in the late hours of the night. She knew the ins-and-outs of City Hall, especially the ins, and who did what. She knew how to get the right kind of help to the people who needed it.
While her successes were measured by the individuals she helped day to day, her strategy was long-term – how to get the safe and secure housing the city needed to keep people off the streets. Not something that can be done by a single person, or even single level of government. Success is rarely acknowledged after a project is funded and built, the ribbon is cut, the people housed – and attention turns to the left out or the newly arrived. But here’s the thing: when Graves retired from City Hall in the spring of 2013, Vancouver’s streets had fewer people sleeping outside because of her unwavering belief that the number of homeless in our city could – and should – be zero.
Judy Graves has an insider’s skepticism of the usual narratives, and the ability to dissect the social geography of a homeless camp or the surprising insights and support from the city’s elites.
Judy has a very Vancouver story to tell — in her youth, in her work, and in her life. She tells it here.