With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/347582
Portrait: adam blasberg I managed to avoid getting a car until the age of 23—and even then, it was a company van: a purple Ford Windstar affectionately known as the Barneymobile, used to traverse the Greater Toronto region and visit appliance stores as a travelling GE rep. I would spend no less than three hours a day stuck in one of the area parking lots: the Don Valley Parkway, the 401, the Queen Elizabeth Highway. I eventually did the thing young men do once they start making some money and bought my own wheels, a VW Jetta. But after 12 years, the odometer registered a grand total of 80,000 kilometres: an old-lady car, in other words. I decided to give it to my sister. Like a lot of city dwellers, I found the expense and inconvenience of owning and maintaining a car not worth it in the end. I now take transit to work, and am within a 10-minute walk from SkyTrain on both ends. It will surprise nobody, then, that I am fully supportive of spending more on buses and trains—and using the appropriate tax and regulatory sticks to get people out of their cars and into a better-funded public tran- sit system. Also not surprising is that not everybody agrees with me, espe- cially those living outside the Lower Mainland. For such people, tran- sit is a big-city luxury, and doesn't address the pressing infrastructure needs—roads, bridges, overpasses— of their communities. But what if better transit in the Lower Mainland actually supports and fuels economic growth in the rest of the province? What if a Broadway subway line is good for folks in Prince Rupert, never mind the resi- dents of Langley? That's the provocative question behind Frances Bula's fascinat- ing feature on transit ("Highway to Hell," p. 34)—and you'll want to go along for the ride as she attempts to answer it. In the pat-yourself-on-the-back depart- ment: BCBusiness recently won 2014 "Maga- zine of the Year" at the annual Kenneth R. Wilson awards for the Canadian business press. It's a testament to the incredibly talented team we have, and I couldn't be more proud. C O N T R I B U T O R S Matt O'Grady, Editor-in-Chief mogrady@canadawide.com / @bCbusiness editor'sdesk y Frances bula saw "a side of the city that's usually invisible to me–warehouses, distribution centres, the back doors of small manufacturing operations, " while reporting "Highway to Hell" (p. 34). Bula is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail, columnist at Vancouver Magazine and chair of the Langara College journalism department. JUNE's most popUlar storIEs oN bcbUsINEss.ca The Rebirth of Prince George Chip Wilson Takes on Lululemon Board Shoeme.ca's Executive Expansion Real Estate Boom Projected for Vancouver's West End B.C.'s Big Law Firm Shakeup /tourism-culture /retail /retail /real-estate /people 10 BCBusiness aUgUst 2014 Writer Heather Cameron reveals the cabin essentials for a weekend escape ("Cabin Accoutrements", p. 73)–be it in the Gulf Islands, along Lake Skaha or deep in the Rocky Mountains. In between achieving supermom status and spoiling her chickens, Cameron produces lifestyle stories for House and Home, Better Homes and Gardens and Canadian Living. Get Out of My Car N e x T M O N T H The Small Business Issue Local entrepreneurs on the lessons they didn't learn in school.