February 28, 2013

 

SFU City Program director Gordon Price has just returned from a speaking engagement in Amsterdam, where he shared his insights on Vancouver’s high global city ranking with participants and media.
It’s just one of many examples of why Price is the winner of SFU’s 2012 President’s Award for Service to the University Through Public Affairs and Media Relations.
The award acknowledges his consistent media availability to the media to discuss urban issues ranging from rapid transit, the Olympic Village and the Port Mann Bridge to oil pricing, TransLink, rental housing and homelessness.
A former six-term Vancouver city councillor, Price’s long political career, knowledge of the city and discerning analysis of urban trends give him a unique perspective that is much in demand.
“I try to provide more depth to an issue, particularly by drawing on previous experience on council, and giving the back story,” says Price.
He’s been quoted more than 1,200 times in Canada’s major newspapers and “thousands more times” in community newspapers, radio and television, says Vancouver urban affairs journalist Francis Bula, who frequently solicits his astute analysis.
And his rapport with media extends internationally to The New York Times and other global media outlets.
Price is committed to community engagement, frequently serving on community panels, hosting city tours for visiting delegates, and making public presentations. He also writes frequently on urban issues in local publications, including a monthly column for Business in Vancouver and his blog Price Tags.  
Price uses his voice, says one nominator, “to keep reminding people about the importance of urban planning, of good transportation policy, of the way that buildings and bridges and other parts of our designed physical world affects us.”