What we heard from Lookout readers

Good morning, 

Today’s newsletter is a bit different. We just finished our biggest reader survey ever, and I wanted to take the time to share the results with all of you.

Your feedback was about more than just story ideas. It was a way for us to take stock of where we’re at, identify ways to improve our journalism and help build what we hope to be Vancouver’s most impactful hyper-local publication.

Without further delay, let’s dive in to the newsletter.

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Monday: 16 🌡️ 9 | 🌤️

Tuesday: 18 🌡️ 9 | ☀️

Wednesday: 18 🌡️ 11 | 🌤️

THE LOOKOUT RECOMMENDS

Delightful baked goods: I stopped by Annabelle’s at 620 Quebec St. The bakery has been open since August of last year. It’s certainly a popular local spot, and with good reason. Their cinnamon morning bun was easily one of the best I’ve had, and the pea and pancetta danish was unique. But what stood out the most was the friendly staff. Highly recommend if you’re in the area. 

Netflix doc: Amanda Knox, known from the Netflix documentary detailing her wrongful imprisonment in Italy for a murder she didn’t commit, has a new book out recounting her experience. For anyone interested in her story, she’ll be speaking at the Vancouver Public Library on Monday at 7 pm. 

Food with a side noise: There’s a new trend beginning to percolate in the city, combining music and food. Burdock & Co has an ongoing series called Taste Sound, where the “bioelectric activity of fruits and vegetables” is turned into sound while guests wear headphones, listening while enjoying a meal. And a new spot called Bleach at 611 Gore Chinatown is framing their place as a listening room, with a nightly rotation of food and drink. 

Looking ahead: I’m keeping my eye out for a vote at city council on Wednesday about the future of Granville Entertainment District. The 20-year vision means the block could become a music and theatre hub, as well as a full-time pedestrian area. We’ll have more details on this later this week. 

SURVEY

What we heard from Lookout readers

What happened: Last month, we asked all of you, our 28,000 Lookout community readers, to share your opinions and insights about the Lookout, the things we’re failing at, how we can improve and new story ideas.

Over 600 of you completed the survey, each person completing over 35 questions. It was a long one, but many of you stuck with it, and we can’t thank you enough.

So what were the results? Let’s dive in.

Neighbourhood focus: The key takeaway is that you all want our journalism to have a neighbourhood focus — by far it was the biggest trend in the survey, with 90 per cent of you agreeing there should be more.

• With the hollowing out of local journalism, especially in neighbourhoods, this makes so much sense. We’ve tried to focus a bit more on neighbourhoods, but there is a whole lot more we can do.

A better balance: While all of you appreciate our stories and the journalism we produce, you’ve mentioned that some newsletters are a little long. You want in-depth, insightful stories, but that doesn’t mean they need every little detail that make stories harder to follow.

Focusing on new information: Most of you value two things about our deeply reported journalism — unique insights and analysis that help you understand what’s going on, and uncovering new information, whether through research, interviews or FOIs. 

• 65 per cent of you said new information had to be a key part of our journalism. We agree, and we believe we can do more of this.

Quality matters: Well, of course, quality matters! But to be clear, 65 per cent of you said higher quality stories matter more than producing more stories. This is great news, because as a small operation with only one full-time reporter, we just don’t have the resources to produce a massive number of stories. 

• Tied to quality, you also said grammar needs to be improved. We hear you. We’re a small team, with only one journalist working full-time without the resources of bigger publications, but we have a few ideas on how to improve this.

The future of journalism is journalists: This one was one of the findings we were most happy about. By an overwhelming margin, 94 per cent of readers don’t want us to use AI in our journalism. This was great news because we never, ever will use AI to write our stories; it will be real, local journalists, not bots. Full stop.

• 70 per cent of you also said you love knowing that, unlike some of the bigger publications in Vancouver, the Lookout is owned by Canadians.

Connecting with real: People don’t just want to read our stories, many of you expressed a desire to meet new people, connect and attend real events in the city, and that the Lookout should be a place to foster that.

• This is something we’ve wanted to do for a while, but now we feel a little more confident pursuing it!

But some bad news: The scale of our ambitions, and what our Lookout community wants us to do, is not possible with the current level of resources. Covering more neighbourhood stories, doing investigations to uncover key stories, holding elected officials accountable, all of this takes more time and resources, which, with one full-time employee, we don’t have. 

What it means: As the founder of the Lookout, reading all of your responses makes me feel like we’re on the right track. We’re focusing on the local journalism you care about, we’re showcasing things to do in the city, and we’re helping you understand the biggest issues happening.

• And yet… There are some problems. The newsletter has gotten a bit long. We aren’t covering enough neighbourhood news. And many feel that grammar and spelling need to improve.

What comes next: With this information, I’ll be meeting with Nate this week as we plan our next steps. Fear not; we don’t plan on changing much. Rather, it’s about improving and building on our journalism, focusing on the core things you care about, and maybe even expanding our coverage.

Stay tuned for that this month!

Anything you disagree with here? Want to share anything you didn’t get to say? Reply to this email and let us know!

THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

1st

While Vancouver is still a very expensive place to live, that hasn’t stopped people from loving the city. Ten years ago, Vancouver was ranked last in terms of happiness among 33 major Canadian cities. Now? According to the Happy City Index, Vancouver is first in North America. [CBC]

THE AGENDA

💰️ The park board is set to decide tomorrow on whether Indigenous people will be able to visit the VanDusen Botanical Garden and the Bloedel Conservatory for free. The recommendation by the board is based on Vancouver’s United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. [Vancouver Sun]

🤮 Lost Lagoon is covered in algae, which is abnormal as most algae blooms happen in July or August. The blooms are a result of little flowing water and pollution, leaving the lake with much less oxygen. The park board is working on a solution to improve the lake quality, but nothing has been done so far. [Vancouver Sun]

📉 A new report says that Western Canada could see around 75 per cent of glaciers and alpine ice lost in the next few decades, as global warming rapidly increases. This could be worse if temperatures rise by 2.7 degrees by 2100, reducing the region’s glaciers by 98 per cent. [Vancouver is Awesome]

⚽️ The Vancouver Whitecaps are experiencing one of their best seasons in recent memory, and part of the success is because of coach Jesper Sorensen. He’s only been the coach this season, already the club is on a 15-game win streak and sits at the top of the Western Conference with a 9-1-5 record. Unfortunately, the team did not do well in the CONCACAF final, losing to Cruz Azul 5-0 on Sunday. [CTV]

👮 Matthew Hutchings, a 20-year-old who was missing since May 24, was found near the tracks of the Commercial-Broadway station last Thursday. Police do not suspect a crime. [CTV]

EVENT GUIDE

Italian Day on The Drive | Commercial Drive (Venables St to Grandview Hwy) | June 8, noon to 8 pm | Street festival celebrating Italian culture | Free

Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo | Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St. | June 14, 11 am to 7 pm | Panels, vendors, and retro gaming fun | Tickets $25

Public Disco Granville Island Block Party | Lot 55, 1494 Old Bridge St. | June 7–8, 2–10 pm (Sat), 2–9 pm (Sun) | DJs, dance shows, kids' zone & food market | Free

Vancouver Francophone Summer Festival | Various locations | June 11–21, various times | Concerts by Francophone & indie artists | Various prices

40th Annual Vancouver Jazz Festival | Various venues across Vancouver | June 20–July 1, various times | Major jazz fest with free and ticketed shows | Various prices

¿PorQuéNo? Tulum Day Festival Experience | D/6 Bar & Lounge, 39 Smithe St | June 7, 1–11 pm | Rooftop party with DJs, dancers, body painting | Tickets $65

Make an Impact: Girl Guides Volunteer Info Session | Online | June 3, 6:30 pm | Learn how to volunteer with Girl Guides | Free

Celtic Picnic | 80 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver | June 7–8, 4 pm to 10 pm | Outdoor Celtic music, dance & food fest | Tickets $57

Vinyl Club: A Spin on Live Music | The Irish Heather Shebeen, 248 E Georgia St | June 4, 7 pm | Bring vinyls for DJ to spin, enjoy drinks & food | Free

An Ideal Husband | Jericho Arts Centre, 1675 Discovery St | May 30–June 22, various times | Oscar Wilde play on secrets and morality | Tickets $15–$35

Disney's My Son Pinocchio Jr. - Puppeteer Cast | Laura C Muir Performing Arts, New Westminster | June 5, 8 pm | The classic tale, retold from Geppetto's perspective as he learns the meaning of family | Tickets $14

The Vancouver Social - Networking Night | Chit Chat Burger, 955 Granville St | June 5, 7:30 pm | Expand your clientele, hire or get hired, find business partners, and more | Tickets $19

Jewish Culture Festival | Rocky Point Park, Port Moody | June 8, 1-4 pm | A vibrant celebration of Jewish heritage, with music, dance, art and mouthwatering Jewish cuisine | Free admission

Dancing On The Edge Festival | Firehall Arts Centre and SFU Woodward’s | June 12 to 21, 2025 | Dancing On The Edge Festival, Canada’s longest-running contemporary dance festival, returns for its 37th year, featuring 3 world premieres and 2 Canadian premieres | Tickets $25-$50

DreamLab | Center of International Contemporary Art, 228 Abbott St | June 14, 3 pm | An art therapy experience rooted in dreams | Tickets $35

CITY

Park board transition paused

What happened: The high-profile process to end the park board and bring its responsibilities under city council appears to be paused for the time being, according to CTV, at least until the fall.

In case you missed it: Mayor Ken Sim announced the plan back in 2023 after promising during the election to keep it in place. But it’s been caught in jurisdictional limbo, as any governance change like this has to be altered at the provincial level by legislating changes to the Vancouver Charter, which governs the city.

• The hope had been that the provincial government would’ve made these changes during the May legislature sitting, but this didn’t happen.

But for those who want to save the park board, it doesn’t change much. Sim said in a statement on Friday that they still believe the premier will follow through on his commitment to change the Charter. The province says it plans to continue to work with the city, but did not provide any timeline for the change, according to Business in Vancouver.

Why it matters: It’s a big governance change to the city to bring all the powers of the park board under city council. Sim sees the change as a priority, but the provincial government clearly does not given the slow movement to change it. The pause by the city should not be construed as a change in the policy, but rather a pause until the province moves forward.

NEW VANCOUVER JOBS

Discover your dream job in Vancouver:

• Brand and creative lead at Science World

• Executive director at David Suzuki Foundation

• Senior manager, homelessness at BC Housing

• Service supervisor at Coastal Mountain Bus Company

• Director, social media and contaen at Canucks Sports and Entertainment

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• That’s certainly one way to stop tall trucks from hitting the Stanley Park overpass. 

• Vancouverites love crows, with 67 per cent saying they had positive feelings. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be the same for seagulls. [CTV]

• I always love a good time-lapse video of the North Shore mountains and clouds. 

• It turns out the rise in coyote attacks in Stanley Park was related to social distancing and group restrictions, as coyotes became more aggressive. [Vancouver Sun]

VANCOUVER NEWS QUIZ

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Not my best photo, but the view from West Vancouver during my trail run was stunning.

STORIES THIS WEEK