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Welcome to 2013 at State of Vancouver: a year of peace, love, the end of the bike-car war, the end of the mindless anti-developer rhetoric, the end of treating all city residents like trolls

January 3rd, 2013 · 23 Comments

Okay, I’m back. Every piece of shortbread in our house got eaten, the pine needles have mostly been vacuumed up, the presents all exchanged. It’s time to get back to work. (Burp. Yawn.)

I’ve still got too much Christmas brain to come up with some brilliant list of Trends I Foresee for 2013, but here’s my beginning thought for the year.

Can everyone stop being so shriekingly pissed off all the time?

How about, as we’re biking, driving, walking on the public streets and open spaces, if we do NOT assume that the person we encounter — who has advanced into the crosswalk mistakenly or jostled us as they go past or who has moved ahead of us in the line-up — is some kind of malevolent moron who won’t get the point unless we yell at him/her.

It’s a busy city. We’re all a little bit distracted at certain moments. I don’t know anyone who is totally on at all moments.

So maybe that driver who let the car start advancing really just didn’t see you because s/he was looking in the other seven directions, trying to watch out for everyone there. Maybe the pedestrian who stepped into the crosswalk even though you had the right-turn signal was just careless or distracted or emotionally distraught. Maybe the cyclist isn’t actually aiming to destroy city life as you know it, but is just trying get from Point A to Point B without a car or bus, which isn’t the worst thing to do on the planet.

Same goes for movie line-ups, customer-service calls (tho of course I do always reserve everyone’s right to yell at a cellphone provider who has not given a satisfactory explanation for why YOU are responsible for your cell signal accidentally bouncing off an American tower near the border, even though you were on the Canadian side), blog posts, radio phone-in comments, public-hearing tirades about evil developers, muttered behind-the-scenes tirades about residents who are just against everything, and all the rest of it.

This goes doubly true for all political people (politicians and attendant media, spinmeisters, party stalwarts, etc.). How about if you stop slagging the other side, just because they are the other side. I’m so tired of listening to partisan commentators trash Politician A for doing something (because s/he is from the other party), when if their own Politician B were doing it, they’d be defending that brilliant decision all the way.

We actually live in one of the more privileged places on earth. Could we maybe appreciate a little bit how lucky we are? Could we possibly discuss our stupid little first-world problems like adults, instead of angry five-year-olds?

I realize, of course, that I have broken my own rule and am sounding shriekingly pissed off here. So, deep breath, how about it everyone? Just a little bit less nasty, a little bit less inclined to start yelling at the driver/pedestrian/cyclist, a little bit more willing to understand the other?

I’ll go first.

Categories: Uncategorized

  • Bill Lee

    Hmm.

    That is why many citizens of this City carry their
    mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cycling/BellsMirrorsReflectors/PRD~4013-597/samui-air-zound-cycling-horn.jsp
    [ 57 reviews ]
    “One of the biggest challenges of cycle-commuting is making your presence known above the din of traffic. This bike horn emits a 120-decibel blast that lets even the most inattentive driver know you’re there.”
    [ A water bottle with a air-horn attachment ]

    I prefer to just “SIGH”, and use the 50 percent cheaper MEC “Portland Design Works King Of Ding Bicycle Bell” (lower on the above e-catalogue page above).

    Meanwhile, increase my winter intake of vitamin Bs ( Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin or niacinamide), Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, or pyridoxamine, or pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin B7 (biotin), Vitamin B9 (folic acid), Vitamin B12 (various cobalamins; commonly cyanocobalamin in vitamin supplements)).
    Make an effort to eat seven colours each day. Have 300 ml of Guinness when it rains which washes the water-soluble Bs away.
    Stay out of Downtown and Malls. Buy some flowers on alternate weekends at the corner store.

    And cheer up knowing other crowded cities are worse.
    😀 🙂 😉

  • rico

    A good post and good sentiment I will try (and likely fail the odd time) to live by the spirit of your post.

  • Bill Lee

    and
    對不起
    (or 对不起 )
    [ Duìbùqǐ = Dway Bu Chee ]

    en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%AF%B9%E4%B8%8D%E8%B5%B7

  • Silly Season

    I’ll drink to all that!

    Civil discourse, exchange of ideas, less snark-fest.

    Happy New Year to all.

  • waltyss

    Frances I completely agree with you in spirit and I really want to agree with you in spirit but…
    Driving home tonight at Pt. Grey Road and Arbutus a cyclist blithely not even slowing or bringing his head up sailed through a red light.
    He did get points in that you could see him: he had more lights on him than a Christmas tree but…..
    I didn’t tell; I didn’t honk; I did think to myself that its his life in danger, not mine and the Darwin principle and all that. But then I realized that if I were the guy to whack him in my car, it would wreck my day. And my temperature started to climb. And it’s just January 3. God help me.

  • Dr. Frankentower

    Yes, quite, can we please stop with the anti-developer rhetoric! We all know that our wise and benevolent Council are not dumb enough to listen to your flaccid hissy-fits anyways, so why waste your breath?

    Like me and many of my cohorts, developers are merely trying to make a living. Just because we do it by eating your brains, warehousing you in coffin-like confines, and sucking the life out of your neighbourhoods doesn’t mean you have be nasty about it. Vive la difference!

    And please, take Bill Lee’s excellent advice on the vitamins. Healthy blood and brain matter are far more tasty than those lacking in essential nutrients. However, bike horns, bright reflective clothing, and tolerance of other types of commuters is not something I can support. It took seven bodies to create me (my wife took nine), and with those cursed separated bike lanes, there are only so many road kills to go around these days, you know. Any more new bike lanes and I might be forced to move the family out to the burbs, which surely would be the death of me…

  • Michael Geller

    And lovely post to start the year. Thx for getting us off to a good start…with additional advice about vitamins as a bonus. But then Frankentower brought me down.

    I’m not so foolish as to suggest that all development is well intentioned and beneficial for the environment. But a lot is. Yes developers want to make money…so do most of the people reading this BLOG.

    So here’s my thought for the year. We need to be more open to hearing other points of view. To start things off, I will happily buy Frankentower a coffee And share my perspective on good and bad development. Who knows…maybe he’ll gain a better understanding of why we need more good development.

    Other similar conversations might take place between those for and against bike lanes, vehicle levies to fund transit, and the benefits of rooftop greenhouses.

    So Frankentower…give me a call or send a note to and let’s see if we can alter each other’s views.

  • Agustin

    This is a great new year’s resolution. I will take it to heart!

    When I’m on my bike I do sometimes get frightened by fast-approaching people on cars/bikes/feet and I have reacted angrily. However, over the past year or so I have made a conscious effort to diminish my angry reactions, and when I’ve been successful I’ve usually felt better afterwards. (Though I admit it’s harder when the near-miss is caused not by distraction but by recklessness…)

    I have also noticed that since the green paint started showing up more on our roads, I’ve had fewer scary encounters, so thanks all around.

    (Small technical note to Michael: there are scripts that trawl the web looking for email addresses to spam. I hope you have a good spam filter!)

    Happy 2013!

  • IanS

    Frances,

    Good advice. And Happy New Year.

  • Mark

    Amen to that Frances.

    We are all in this together, lets make it work!

  • Adam O’Neill

    I cast my vote for Michael and Frankentower to have coffee, covered by Frances!

    Thanks for the great resolution Frances. Assuming the best of people instead of the worst is an admirable goal.

    I hope 2013 will be full of real discussions about issues between people who haven’t made up their minds yet and are open to the possibility that they don’t know everything.

  • Bill Lee

    Wanting to join the SPCT, could you clarify “the end of treating all city residents like trolls”?

    How are trolls (jötunn, thurs, þurs and risi,) mistreated? Is it implied in the “This goes doubly true for all political people (politicians and attendant media, spinmeisters, party stalwarts, etc.)” sentence.

  • Frances Bula

    @Bill Lee. Your questions are too hard. They are making my head hurt.

  • Higgins

    A good feel post will not deflect from the fact that Vision Vancouver and their chief in laugh mayor will continue the BIXI- alienation of its citizens, will continue to plan for the taking down of the Dunsmuir/ Georgia viaducts and kiss up to their sugar daddy developers. 🙂

  • Bill

    I would welcome the end of the “bike-car war” but I’m not optimistic as long as the City does dumb things like clearing bicycle lanes of snow while at the same time busses can’t get over the Granville Street bridge.

  • Boohoo

    Bill, I would welcome the end to the ‘war’ on anything.

  • Joe Just Joe

    Anyone else bummed that the Mayan Apocalypse didn’t happen?
    When is the next doomsday? This one sucked.

    Anyways I will be a better person this year, apparently it will be very hard for me not to be. 🙂

  • Roger Kemble

    “Could we possibly discuss our stupid little first-world problems like adults, instead of angry five-year-olds?” Perhaps, Frances our anger, petulance, can be attributed to deeper causes: a fin de siècle syndrome.

    “This makes readers of this site ” http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/ “unique. In my 35 years of experience in journalism, I have found that most readers read in order to confirm what they already think and believe. It is the same for the right-wing and the left-wing. They cannot escape their ideological boxes and are creatures of their biases. They want their prejudices vindicated and their beliefs supported. A writer who tells them something that they do not want to hear receives abuse. These readers cannot benefit from facts and new information and change their minds. They already know everything and only want information that supports their beliefs and advances their agendas.” Paul Craig Roberts, January 03, 2013.

    So many really bad decisions seem to rain down on us from those we elect to watch out for our best interests. I know from professional experience much of the current greening legislation is more intent of preserving the status quo than the environment.

    Tiny suites sure as hell are no way to solve the affordable housing conundrum!

    Homeless numbers are so small they merely provide gossip fodder. Is not one of our Real housewives of Vancouver dishing out grub on Hastings while slagging one of her pals in court: the sleezy bastard!

    The political conversation refuses, (will not, given the current political party finance system), address the massive disparities in wealth that skew our priorities.

    Perhaps we all instinctively understand that all the by-law tinkering, the tiny suites, bike lane’s inconvenience and dull gray developments are the result, not the cause, of a deeper dilemma that has gone way beyond our ability to influence.

  • Sean Bickerton

    Happy New Year Frances et al!

    A wonderful wish, difficult to achieve, although someone like Michael Geller in public life certainly would have helped.

    I think though that we have to understand where the strife comes from in order to reduce its volume.

    Much like the turbulent era 100 years ago, we’re living through a time of unprecedented change, witnessing on a global scale dramatic economic breakdown, political upheaval, environmental degradation and the failure of many institutions we’ve grown to rely on.

    Faced with that change, people react from fear, and even here, sheltered as we are from nearly all of it, we watch and worry that what we have too can be snatched away in an instant if we don’t pay attention.

    In that kind of fear-heightened climate, every small local issue comes to stand in people’s minds for all of the great cataclysmic events we’re watching on the world stage, so every small change is resisted vociferously, the “other sides'” motives are questioned, as fear of the unknown brings out the worst in people.

    A new separated bike lane, any new housing in the DEST, new transit proposals, one new tower in the west end, the new more natural approach to park maintenance, the new city website, the endless VAG debate, the Viaducts – all become stand-ins for those seeing their own ox or way of life gored, for all that worry that some “other” group is getting something that will somehow take something precious from “them” …

    And partisan politics exploits those differences, emphasizing the “us”es and the “thems”

    So I don’t know how we get everyone to calm down when certain media and professional politicians seem to thrive by inflaming issues and exacerbating differences. And the public seems to reward those that are predictably and safely partisan, bypassing more moderate, independent thinkers like Mr. Geller for instance.

    All that being said, there are good people doing good work, that don’t fan flames, and they should be supported by those that share your hopeful sentiments.

    In response to your call, I”ll state for the record that I’ve grown to admire Mayor Robertson’s restraint in this area, and his attempts to find serious solutions to big problems in ways that create broad-based support, rather than inflaming divisions.

  • Dr. Frankentower

    Ah, Mr. Geller, the first (and only) time we had coffee you were a most charming and affable fellow, and the discussion was illuminating on many levels. I respect you greatly as one of Vancouver’s public figures that is genuinely dedicated to improving the civic landscape. You offer rare insight and invaluable information here on Frances’ blog and are undoubtedly one of the reasons that the discussions are sometimes very stimulating. Please keep commenting here, OK? Our civic discourse is the better for it.

    However, I will save you the cost of a coffee (you bought the last one, too) because you certainly don’t need to convince me that Vancouver needs more neo-Gothic architecture, or, as you plainly put it, “more good development”.

    I also don’t need to hear what the uber-rich UDI board members, Rennie Marketing System drones, or champagne socialists think comprises “good development” because I, and everyone else around here, already knows what they think. Actions, as they say, speak louder than words. For every charming, human-scaled, architecturally pleasing building that gets built in Vancouver, there are 50 bland, homogenous monstrosities with empty retail sucking the life out of their surroundings. We’ve been getting this right for 20 years, and that’s a good thing.

    Monster Homes and Micro Coffins predominate the Code we are blessed to build by, and so I hardly think that we need to change a thing. Sure, we can pretend that a few units of this or that type might change the speculative fiction that is, and always has been, the story of this town.

    But the reality is, the State of Vancouver has become pure, unadulterated bliss for the undead and brain-dead, like me.

  • Raingurl

    I think we can all agree to STILL get shriekingly pissed off at the dumb guy/gal that walks in the crosswalk using his/her cell phone as an emergency vehicle is shrieking its way towards him/her. Dumb *^$%@…..There are legitimate people in this town that really need saving. Hitting that guy/gal with a fire truck will hinder the response time AND I don’t wanna see your DUMB ASS squished on the sidewalk.

  • Frances Bula

    @Raingurl. Yes, I was pondering my own post over the weekend and realized it is still legitimate to get angry at e.g. crazy drivers who weave down Broadway at 100k or others of that ilk who are incredibly stupid, as opposed to just inattentive for a minute.

  • Raingurl

    I’ve been walking with folks who are in the crosswalk and I say things like “Watch out for that tree” LOL. If they were older they would know I was talking about “George of the Jungle” 🙂 Usually they just look up for a SECOND and go back to texting in the crosswalk. Our MEDICAL dollars hard at work when they get SQUISHED on Broadway.