Conversations That Matter: Vancouver: Beautiful, yes - but!

May 17, 2024
Ep 504 - Vancouver: Beautiful, yes - but!
Guest: Bridgitte Anderson
By Stuart McNish
No doubt about it: Vancouver is beautiful. It’s beautiful to visit, it’s a beautiful place to study, and it’s a beautiful city to retire in. “But,” says Bridgitte Anderson, the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, “it’s not so beautiful of a place to build a robust economy.” In fact, according to a new report commissioned by GVBOT, “the region’s economic size and mix under-performs when it comes to creating high-paid jobs or high-performing companies.”
Compared to 20 other “high quality mid-sized city-regions, spanning 9 pillars across economy, liveability and infrastructure and sustainability, Vancouver is well below par.” Anderson says. “Vancouver ranked 14 among the 20 cities for prosperity factors.”
Looking ahead, Anderson says, “The region has to address its underlying weaknesses soon if we hope to stay competitive.” Central to our ability to compete is Vancouver’s beautiful geography, an area that is confined by sea and mountains. Anderson says, “The upshot is that we have to innovate more deeply to stimulate housing, job and economic development.”
We invited Bridgitte Anderson, the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, to join us as a guest on Conversations That Matter about where our attention needs to turn to close our productivity and prosperity gap.
You can see the interview here www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join us May 22 for Conversations Live - Critical Minerals

[@sachamm]

We have many problems, but our ridiculous land prices affect everything. It's harder to start a business if your workers can't live in near your business, for example. That, and -- as the guest says -- infrastructue, esp. transit, needs to be funded and done intelligently.
If you look at any other world-class city, you'll see block-upon-block of low- and mid-rise buildings. Here in Vancouver, it's "tall and sprawl" -- and it doesn't work! FINALLY the NDP has forced (is forcing?) upzoning near SkyTrain stations and made other changes like allowing duplexes and secondary suites where single-family detached was located previously.

[@ianleslie6971]

This is not a surprise. The current government has systematically dismantled the resource sector. Gives short shrift to all the agricultural sector except winerys which they view as acceptable to the management and representatives of the government. Spend millions trying to attract tourists when in the main the industry is the lowest paying in the world.
To continue on would be redundant.

[@jamiealguire7190]

I disagree that its beautiful to visit Vancouver, at least downtown. Its like a zombie apocalypse. Had several tourists comment this, so start realizing the truth.