The trials and tribulations of Birmingham City Council, local, mayoral and national elections and the never-ending story of HS2 meant it was another vintage year for headlines in the Second City.
But despite all the doom and gloom, the city region continues to thrive with Aston Villa rejoining European football's top competition for the first time in four decades, cranes dominating the skyline and a lively night-time economy boosted by England's run to the Euros final.
It was another busy year in the West Midlands' business world so once again Midlands editor Tamlyn Jones rounds up some of the key headlines in our four-part Review of the Year, kicking off with the first quarter of 2024.
Our review of the first quarter of 2024 kicks off with disappointing news for fans of quirky architecture when a Birmingham university abandoned its plans to build a striking new 'lantern' teaching block more than two years after the project was given the green light.
Aston University said the decision to scrap the ten-storey building was as a result of "strategic adjustments" following the covid-19 pandemic and its own priorities.
Approved in August 2021, one councillor branded the project "garish" while another commentator likened it to "three car air filters stacked on the top of each other".
Delay after delay beset the regeneration of University station in Edgbaston before
The station, which serves the neighbouring QE Hospital and University of Birmingham campus, remained open throughout the work and played a key role in moving spectators around during the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
But its completion in January came 18 months after originally planned. The new-look station, which welcomes around four million passengers per year, has longer platforms, a new bridge over the canal, wider entrances, stairways and exits and a larger ticket office.
Culture lovers were saddened at the news the historic Electric cinema in Birmingham closed down.
The country's oldest working cinema with its future still uncertain at the time of writing.
The building, in Station Street, is part of a row of units owned by developer Glenbrook which has grand regeneration plans for the prime site opposite New Street station.
Campaigning has been taking place ever since to keep the Electric alive while a Glenbrook director later but did say major work was required, possibly including a tall tower.
One of the more bizarre developments ever tabled in the West Midlands was back in the headlines after new investors came on board.
In 2019, designs were unveiled for a new surf park and surfing school on 15 acres in the landlocked region east of Birmingham.
But little had been heard of it since then until a new team of Spanish funder Teras Capital and Swiss property investor Stoneweg bought the site in Coleshill.
The pair said they now planned to invest £50 million to create the park which would contain a 5.4-acre surf lagoon, academy, equipment rental and restaurant.
Florida-based businessman to take over West Bromwich Albion, bringing to an end Guochuan Lai's ill-fated reign at the Hawthorns.
Mr Patel, who owns holding company Bilkul Football WBA alongside his father Kiran, struck a deal to purchase an 87.8 per cent share in the parent company owning Albion.
The arrangement saw Chinese businessman Mr Lai, who acquired a majority stake from Jeremy Peace back in 2016, lose a substantial amount of his £200 million purchase price, with the Bilkul Football WBA group acquiring a majority share for circa £60 million.
HS2 is never far from the headlines and 2024 was no different.
Following the decision to scrap the northern and East Midlands legs, the Greater Manchester and West Midlands mayors announced in February they had started examining other ideas to combat the two regions' crowded transport networks.
Andy Burnham and now ex-mayor Andy Street said they were working with private-sector partners to explore three different options aimed at increasing rail travel between the two regions.
Following several months of consultations, it was revealed in September that building a brand new line between Handsacre in Staffordshire and High Legh near Manchester Airport was the most viable option.
The new owners of Birmingham City made a bold statement about their ambitions for the club when they in Bordesley Green.
The club later outlined plans for the disused site which include a brand new stadium and could also contain facilities for other sports, commercial space and community uses.
Council documents suggested the masterplan for the run-down site could see up to 3,000 new jobs created. The venue, formerly known as Wheels Adventure Park, was home to motor racing and kart circuits before it closed down in 2021.
Plans for a possible new rail service linking North Wales, the West Midlands and London and launching in 2025 were unveiled.
Under the proposals, the service would run every day and bring a direct connection between some stations for the very first time.
The trains would start in Wrexham and run to London via stops in Shropshire, the Black Country and West Midlands. Train and rail infrastructure manufacturer Alstom has teamed up with Birmingham-based consultancy SLC Rail to launch the so-called open-access rail operator.
This type of set up runs on infrastructure owned by a third party but takes full commercial risk for the operation of a service.
Rounding off our first quarter review was the news that budget airline easyJet launched 16 new flights from Birmingham Airport and based three additional aircraft at the hub.
The operator said in March the move had created 140 new jobs, including pilots and cabin crew, and would support a further 1,200 roles in its supply chain.
It was the carrier's ninth º£½ÇÊÓƵ base and first new one for more than a decade, with easyJet saying the Birmingham market provided it with "significant growth opportunities".
The good news was further cemented in November when the company announced plans to add two new aircraft to its operations at Birmingham Airport which are set to commence service from next summer and support around 800 jobs.
