Kind of an odd and somewhat stilted profile of the city if you ask me. Not that I expect much more from the Guardian. It's as though Nenshi invented the bicycle, banned cars and got us all humming the Internationale.
The vaunted civic elite of the 2010 election was dim bulb who likes to say no to stuff (see my previous comment on MacIver, skepticism, competence and vision), a news anchorwoman of dubious substance and unclear political leanings and a guy whose mission in life was that a tunnel not get built. (Was that Hawkesworth? If so ironically, he was the hardest left of the bunch and couldn't even get swept in during the "Orange Crush") When Nenshi showed up with his pants on it was not shock that he won. The article's shameless NDP plug also failed to mention the factors that lead up their their election and their abysmal current popularity.
Our vast system of bike paths well precedes Nenshi and better integration with downtown was not only necessary but inevitable. What bothered me, was the suddenness, heavy handedness and obtrusiveness. Anecdotally, I saw too many cyclists not even using them. We've all learned to coexist, but I still don't think they should have been the priority.
Too much of the stuff about mass transit and suburbs too glowing and Nenshi centric. The odd personal battles between that builder and Nenshi were weirdly an issue in the last election (e.g. not current) and seemed to disappear rather quickly after and haven't been heard from since. I got the feeling at the time that he was just doing it so he had someone to fight in the media just to try to keep people awake since he effectively had no opponent. The Greenline is not a Nenshi initiative, it is a response to decades of people begging for it. The route is also noticeably kind to heavy car traffic routes. Adding to the overall capacity, rather than changing it.
As for burbs. I live in the them. I love them and I hate them. Parking is murder in this city and less a future job comps me, I'd have to live near a train. A lot of people don't work downtown and the more far flung the cheaper you get. They may not be my cup of tea, but if you're person who wants a home you can at least get one in this city. It's hilariously bourgeois of the Guardian to hate on cheap curddy burbs, because that's where working class folks can afford to live.
The only thing in there that I don't really get is the whole SW BRT thing? I'm not sure who does or doesn't want what and what will become if it. I'd be open to someone explaining it to me like I'm 5.
We are a city of douchy giant pick-up trucks though. There's no camouflaging that truth. Unless it's a camouflaged giant pickup, in which case it tends to have to opposite effect on the pick-up truck's visibility.
