European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 21, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                We can flow de i pretty a to dont too he pfc Mac Fml Harcourt Tamer mayor of Vancouver British Columbia Hen Valew Olha downtown Ana. Vancouver 87 a Brigadoon of boutiques and sad stories by John  new York times he floatplane banked for its approach Inlo Vancouver Harbor giving passengers a stunning View of cruise boats anchored at the Royal Vancouver yacht club of chg lowering redwoods in Stanley Park and of mountains lopped Wilh Snow in a springtime Ernie a ure of 80 degrees. We canadians do cities Tetly Well Don t you think said Michael Harco Orl who was mayor of Vancouver Lor six years. As he alighted into the Brilliant Sunshine on the floatplane Dock a few Hundred Yards ii urn me Dank towers that dominate the City s downtown Core. Stepping Inlo his car Harcourt added does anybody anywhere do them belter a court slapped Down As mayor this year leaving behind a record of  As the Man who led the cily through expo 86, the glittering world s fair that Drew 22 million visitors. Like Many there his conversation Oscil Bles Between iwo petes the Pride that Alt citizens share in the rial i a Beauty of the City and a concern about the social and economic Slains that Aie an equally immutable part of the local scene. How the iwo balance each other is reflected in voters choices and the signs lately have been that a sizable majority is More than usually Content with the Way things Aie. The socialist new democratic party now led by Harcourt. Was routed in a provincial election last year by the conver Salive social credit paily. And has position As Vancouver s mayor was won in a landslide by Gordon Campbell a pro development candidate who Defeated an opponent with Strong left Wing ties. The City and the bedroom communities tha surround in on the lower Mainland of British Columbia Are Home to More Ihan half the province s population of 2 5 or floor. While the Forest products Industry tourism and exports to the far East from the port of Vancouver Are buoyant the Ata Senco of a manufacturing base has left the Region with a stubborn unemployment Rote of 12 Petcen that is double the Ligure in Tunolo which & enjoying one of its biggest booms since wont War ii. While expensive new Bou Liouns along Robson Street in downtown Vancouver Are Busy with Chic women arriving in Bow s and Mercedes cars local social agencies report a rising incidence of despair among those not sharing in the Good times on a recent sunday morning an unemployed landscape Gardener walked to the Center of Trie lion s Gate suspension Bridge and jumped 200 feet into the Harbor. Telling a policeman who tried to Stop him sorry i have to  his body was pulled from the Harbor amid a passing Parade of yachts but the incident attracted Little notice in local newspapers the issues of the moment included the introduction of Slot machine gambling aboard provincial owned Jerries the Battle by a hotel owning Alderman Ralph Caravetta to overturn a new cockroach spraying ordinance and the late at the City s antique Lifeboat til tie used since waterfront construction Here shifted from Wood to Concrete after world War ii. Out Here Tor the majority in s always Brigadoon readily always just Over the Hill said Peter Cundill a Canadian financier who organized a schedule that has him spending about equal parts of the year in Vancouver London and new York so Aslo be abbe to compete in the Vancouver Marathon. The Marathon with More Ihan 1,350 competitors Many of them americans is Only one of the Vancouver events enjoying the Backwash of the world s Lair which Drew More attention Han any other event since the City was founded in 1b86. Not All Vancouver ites Are convinced that the City needs More renown. Wal Chang the Sun descend behind who mountains from the Terrace of the Vancouver yacht club Awell Irav eled group Hal included a real estate Developer a doctor and a comm Odilion broker agreed that the City was just about perfect As it is. An american asked me once where i came from and when i told him it was Vancouver he said. Vancouver in l Hal somewhere near toronto9 " recalled Roger ovens the broker. I m not sure to Feally want to lose that sense of being just beyond the Boundary of the known world a feature of the cily Hal stirs widespread Pride is the peas and Par like Quality of the downtown Core where almost every Block features a Plaza strewn with lower boxes and shrubs. Lately the plazas have been filled from Early on by clusters of people relaxing in Iho Sun Many women could be seen Luig Back with apparent unconcern for their purses reflecting a crime Rale that while High by Canadian standards remains Well below that of american cities of comparable size. Harcourt he Lormer mayor recalled waging Battles to keep the ii  not Long before he stepped Down the mayor heard a presentation from a group that included . Pei the american architect which proposed to build a 70-Story skyscraper with a subterranean Plaza in the heart of an area where the tallest budding currently is 30 stories lower. Harcourt told the group that in was not Worth putting the protect Forward for official approval i Lold them genl Emen. It s a matter of mountains monuments and moles " Harcourt said. Your proposal would Block the View of the mountains which we love and turn us into moles which we Aren t. Finally if would be a Monument not a building of human scale " the Youthful mayor Campbell previously an executive in a map real Stalc company is less wary of ambitious building schemes. But he has been cautious Over the future of the biggest project of All one my Mong the 220-Bcre e to site set alongside the waterfront near he Down town Core the pavilions built by More than 50 nations Are mostly gone now leaving a derelict Vista of demolished buildings scrap Metal and abandoned fun fair rides one Campbell backed plan called Lor creating a social mix in the area by building subsidized housing units amid More a pensive residential and recreational projects. But Ine province vetoed the idea saying that it was not pie paid to pump still More Money into an area that already during expo absorbed Hundred Sot millions of dollars of taxpayers Money. Campbell is working on alternatives and appear Imp to the provincial government to be less combat Ivy epo was a Success because everyone finally worked Foge Lher the mayor said what we need is some of the same spirit  Page 18 the stars and stripes sunday. June 21,1987