As I review documents so that I make comments about the direction for the City of Victoria OCP, I discovered an interesting factoid. The City of Victoria has a maximum capacity of 95,700 people based on the current zoning that is in place across the the city. This piece of information comes from the 2004 City of Victoria Population Projections 1971-2026, found on this page.
The problem with this limit is that the population of the city has grown significantly faster than anticipated. The current population is estimated to be 83,000 but only a few years ago it was estimated it would only about 78,000 at this time. At the current projections of growth, the City will reach zoning capacity in 2023.
This one fact alone makes the need for a new OCP utterly crucial. To deal with the coming limits to zoning, there needs to be some serious considerations of changes to the city to deal with this problem. The OCP will have to have enough vision to find places where the more housing can be built and push for denser zoning.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Insanity of how UVic is Dealing with Rabbits
Back when I was at UVic there were no rabbits on campus, it was VGH that had the rabbit problem. Since then UVic has been the centre of a rabbit plague.
Lately they wanted to try and manage the rabbits through capture, sterilization and adoption. After 51 rabbits and $17,743 this program has ended. If I were a student at UVic, I would be appalled at this expense. The ongoing cost of the rabbits is also not free. It is time for some group like VIPIRG to do some research and analysis on what it is costing UVic to have these rabbits infesting the campus.
The 15oo or so rabbits on the campus are an introduced species and need to be completely removed. Killing them is hardly a horrible thing to do given that almost all of us eat meat and accept the death of huge numbers of animals for that purpose.
The 1500 rabbits could be trapped and then killed with the meat going to the food banks. Allow people to come the campus on weekends and trap rabbits for their own food needs.
Whatever is done, the University has a fiduciary obligation to the students to manage their financial resources well. Spending a fortune on a few rabbits is not my idea of looking after the interests of the students getting an education.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Royal Jubliee and Victoria General
Two of the largest employers in our region are the two main VIHA hospitals, the Royal Jubilee and the Victoria General. They could and should be significant local economic engines beyond the simple employment of a large number of people.
Victoria General
The Victoria General is well placed for people to get to in much of the region from the access off of Hwy #1 or Helmcken, much better than the old location just north of Beacon Hill park. The site was large enough to allow for the development of a significant sized hospital. But the location is isolated from everything else. There are no commercial areas nearby, there are no services nearby. The site is a completely isolated from everything else.
The site is large enough to allow for a number of neighbouring commercial buildings. Every hospital has a need for ancillary services nearby. It also makes sense for various businesses to be located nearby.
There is a six and half acre site to the west side of the hospital that could be a good site for a series of eight to ten story commercial office towers. The ground floor could host a drug store, a food fair, and some other related commercial stores. Some of the towers could also offer hotel space, there is a demand by families to be able to stay close to the hospital while their family member is in care. There could also be some interest in having condo housing on the site.
The parking lot of the hospital is an eight acre area of pavement. This is a complete waste of space on any and every level. VIHA should consider allowing the development of the parking lot space for other uses. The location would make a very good light industrial location. The parking could all by placed under ground on the six and half acre site to the west of the hospital.
There are needs for industrial uses of land near a hospital, labs, storage space, medical supply companies, specialized medical repair companies, and many more in house and private businesses. It is not unreasonable to have areas close to the hospital be available for these uses.
By building a neighbouring commercial development and allowing for an appropriate light industrial location as well, the hospital site becomes a more complete location. It also becomes more of a transportation hub.
The Royal Jubilee
The hospital is now a significant campus of buildings. There are numerous buildings near the hospital that are being used related medical businesses and various health related agencies. There is a case to be made for the creation of a hospital and medical related district.
On the site of the hospital about a 2.5 acres of land om the south side is parking lot. This is land that could provide a location for the development commercial and industrial use on the site. The old towers are supposed to come down in the future, this expands the space to allow for more development. Light industrial connected to the hospital would be well placed in this location.
At the southwest corner of Fort and Richmond there is a 1.3 acre property that is very underused and could be very easily redeveloped into commercial space.
The west side of Richmond from Fort through to Haultain has the potential to provide development on close to 15 acres of land. Much of it is still single family house, but there are other uses already along Richmond already such as CNIB or office blocks.
One significant need in the immediate area is a for a small reasonable priced hotel. This need is crucial in the Royal Jubilee because of the BC Cancer Agency. Patients from all over the island need to come to the Royal Jubilee for treatment. Family members come with them and need some place to be able to stay that is close to where the treatment is taking place.
With the number of people working in the area, and an increase through related development, there is a strong case for more development of retail commercial space on the ground floor. Over the last generation the face of the hospital has shifted from Fort Street to Bay and Richmond. Commercial retail development at Bay and Richmond would make a lot of sense now with the new patient tower opening.
Working With What We Have
The hospitals are already in place, it only makes sense for us to use these as the focus of a development area. New development would add to the what is already their and create a much more viable area. To date no one has made this a priority in local government planning, this needs to change
Victoria General
The Victoria General is well placed for people to get to in much of the region from the access off of Hwy #1 or Helmcken, much better than the old location just north of Beacon Hill park. The site was large enough to allow for the development of a significant sized hospital. But the location is isolated from everything else. There are no commercial areas nearby, there are no services nearby. The site is a completely isolated from everything else.
The site is large enough to allow for a number of neighbouring commercial buildings. Every hospital has a need for ancillary services nearby. It also makes sense for various businesses to be located nearby.
There is a six and half acre site to the west side of the hospital that could be a good site for a series of eight to ten story commercial office towers. The ground floor could host a drug store, a food fair, and some other related commercial stores. Some of the towers could also offer hotel space, there is a demand by families to be able to stay close to the hospital while their family member is in care. There could also be some interest in having condo housing on the site.
The parking lot of the hospital is an eight acre area of pavement. This is a complete waste of space on any and every level. VIHA should consider allowing the development of the parking lot space for other uses. The location would make a very good light industrial location. The parking could all by placed under ground on the six and half acre site to the west of the hospital.
There are needs for industrial uses of land near a hospital, labs, storage space, medical supply companies, specialized medical repair companies, and many more in house and private businesses. It is not unreasonable to have areas close to the hospital be available for these uses.
By building a neighbouring commercial development and allowing for an appropriate light industrial location as well, the hospital site becomes a more complete location. It also becomes more of a transportation hub.
The Royal Jubilee
The hospital is now a significant campus of buildings. There are numerous buildings near the hospital that are being used related medical businesses and various health related agencies. There is a case to be made for the creation of a hospital and medical related district.
On the site of the hospital about a 2.5 acres of land om the south side is parking lot. This is land that could provide a location for the development commercial and industrial use on the site. The old towers are supposed to come down in the future, this expands the space to allow for more development. Light industrial connected to the hospital would be well placed in this location.
At the southwest corner of Fort and Richmond there is a 1.3 acre property that is very underused and could be very easily redeveloped into commercial space.
The west side of Richmond from Fort through to Haultain has the potential to provide development on close to 15 acres of land. Much of it is still single family house, but there are other uses already along Richmond already such as CNIB or office blocks.
One significant need in the immediate area is a for a small reasonable priced hotel. This need is crucial in the Royal Jubilee because of the BC Cancer Agency. Patients from all over the island need to come to the Royal Jubilee for treatment. Family members come with them and need some place to be able to stay that is close to where the treatment is taking place.
With the number of people working in the area, and an increase through related development, there is a strong case for more development of retail commercial space on the ground floor. Over the last generation the face of the hospital has shifted from Fort Street to Bay and Richmond. Commercial retail development at Bay and Richmond would make a lot of sense now with the new patient tower opening.
Working With What We Have
The hospitals are already in place, it only makes sense for us to use these as the focus of a development area. New development would add to the what is already their and create a much more viable area. To date no one has made this a priority in local government planning, this needs to change
The City of Victoria Offical Community Plan process
This weekend saw the kick off public consultation of the process of developing a new Official Community Plan for the City of Victoria with a forum at the Crystal Garden. As I posted earlier, I had some reservations with the process.
The public consultation process is short, it is to be completed by the end of June. July through October the plan will be drafted by the City staff and then the draft plan will be available for review with the intent of passing the OCP in January of 2011.
I am concerned that the process is not doing an effective engagement with the public. The public is being asked for pie in the sky ideas early on in the process. The lack of any real parameters in the OCP process means the public are raising issues far beyond what is possible to be considered within the OCP. A lot of public energy is wasted if people focus on things the City can do nothing about.
I am trying to figure out if the idea of Community Circles will be a functional process to get useful public input. Who will actually organize these groups? Will the public be proactive? The workbook that goes along with the Community Circles is thin on details. I am not sure that much will come out of these groups.
The time frame for the process is short in my opinion for getting the input from the public. I am not getting the feeling that the process is going to get the input from the wide range of the public that is needed to ensure that the OCP will be a reflection of the public vision of the city.
My approach to the whole process will be to develop concrete commentaries and specific visions for the OCP. I will be posting bits and pieces of this work over the next few weeks, I am hoping this will help stimulate debate.
The OCP will set the tone for the City for the next generation. For anyone not to put significant input into this process would be a mistake as where you live is crucial to each person's economic and social well being.
The public consultation process is short, it is to be completed by the end of June. July through October the plan will be drafted by the City staff and then the draft plan will be available for review with the intent of passing the OCP in January of 2011.
I am concerned that the process is not doing an effective engagement with the public. The public is being asked for pie in the sky ideas early on in the process. The lack of any real parameters in the OCP process means the public are raising issues far beyond what is possible to be considered within the OCP. A lot of public energy is wasted if people focus on things the City can do nothing about.
I am trying to figure out if the idea of Community Circles will be a functional process to get useful public input. Who will actually organize these groups? Will the public be proactive? The workbook that goes along with the Community Circles is thin on details. I am not sure that much will come out of these groups.
The time frame for the process is short in my opinion for getting the input from the public. I am not getting the feeling that the process is going to get the input from the wide range of the public that is needed to ensure that the OCP will be a reflection of the public vision of the city.
My approach to the whole process will be to develop concrete commentaries and specific visions for the OCP. I will be posting bits and pieces of this work over the next few weeks, I am hoping this will help stimulate debate.
The OCP will set the tone for the City for the next generation. For anyone not to put significant input into this process would be a mistake as where you live is crucial to each person's economic and social well being.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Victoria OCP Forum this Evening
I had wanted to get to this forum earlier but life intervened so Sheila and I got there just as people had started talking about what they wanted in their city. We got to sit at the table with the keynote speaker Mark Holland.
My Observations of the Evening:
I am not sure what is going to come of this evening in effectively guiding the city OCP.
Since the people at the meeting were a completely skewed representation of the city, the City needs to go out and find the Conservatives, the business people, and the blue collar workers and find out what they think and want of the city. The people there tonight reflect only the views of a minority of the population and relying on the data coming from the evening as being functionally useful for the planning process is not a good idea.
My Observations of the Evening:
- A very select audience. Very few blue collar, very few chamber of commerce types, older than average for the city and very few people that struck as likely Conservative supporters
- People focused on their neighbourhood and not the whole city. Downtown did not exist in the thoughts of the people.
- There was almost no discussion of anything related to the economics of the city - I was the only one that raised the desperate need for more industrial lands.
- Most people talked about transportation, the need to people out of their cars - this is odd as it is something Victoria does well on and not an area that needs much more work.
- Much was made of the need to have everything in one neighbourhood, but no one was making the connection that the reason there are so few shops in most neighbourhoods is that the public will not spend enough money there.
- Walkability was raised a lot. I think it is something the city could work on, but the areas that need the work are north of Hillside and west of Blanshard. The rest of the city does not need much help on this.
- Food security came up as an issue and frankly I do not think that the people had any idea what they meant by that and really using it as a code for locally grown food sold in small businesses. Once again there was no consideration of economics. More food would be grown here is people would buy it for the price it cost to produce.
I am not sure what is going to come of this evening in effectively guiding the city OCP.
Since the people at the meeting were a completely skewed representation of the city, the City needs to go out and find the Conservatives, the business people, and the blue collar workers and find out what they think and want of the city. The people there tonight reflect only the views of a minority of the population and relying on the data coming from the evening as being functionally useful for the planning process is not a good idea.
Food Matter Forum Held Today
I was at the Food Matters Forum hosted by CR-FAIR at the Friendship Centre. I posted some details on the event here.
Two interesting things I will be following up on here shortly are:
Seems someone is actually operating a small urban farm over seven backyards in my neighbourhood.
Two interesting things I will be following up on here shortly are:
- The Vantreight farm Hill Project
- The Tillicum Gorge Urban Farmers
Seems someone is actually operating a small urban farm over seven backyards in my neighbourhood.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Building a Stronger Social Connection in the City
One area in which small towns out do bigger centres is with the social capital in the community. The smaller the town, the more of the people you know and the more likely you are to be able to ask them for favours or will do other people favours. A small enough town, under 4000 people, means that you get to know all manner of people you would not normally hang around with.
I lived in Lillooet for most of decade. I was on a first name basis with people from across the political spectrum, from all ages, and from all cultures. Even when people did not like each other, they came together to make the town a better place.
Victoria was a city of only a bit more than 200,000 when I first started University in 1983. At that time there were a lot more service clubs, more youth sports, more Scouts and Guides and in general just a lot more groups of people willing to give their time to make their community a better place. For many people their social involvement was their primary out of work interaction with other people.
Lillooet was small enough that I knew a lot more people through casual interaction than I do here in Victoria. The people serving me at the grocery store I got to know, post office staff, the teachers outside of the school and almost everyone else. I got to know them because the town was small enough that I would see them in multiple settings.
We have 1/3 more people than 1983 in the city, but we have a lot fewer groups in the community. People claim to be busy, but I can not see how they are any busier now than a generation ago. I run my own business and I find the time to volunteer for Scouts. My friend Malcolm is a vet that works 75 hours a week and he finds time for Scouts as well. Time is not the issue, I think it is alienation from the larger whole of the community.
More and more people are only really interacting with a small set of people that they generally agree with. In a real life setting most of the public has a connection to only around 75 people. People are retreating into groups of people that are like minded and not choosing to venture out of that safety zone. Going to the stores you may see the same cashier, but you are unlikely to run into her at your school or walking the dog on your street. You do not get other chances to get to know them.
All manner of community groups and churches are falling in membership. People are not joining and the membership is getting older. There are some churches that are doing well, but they seem to be the professionalized ones with large staff and religion as a consumer item and not a community based thing.
This interaction of people that is abundant in small towns and rare in cities is the social capital of the place. It is bad for the city to lose the social capital it has. Loss of it means people do not come out to help each other, they do not 'agree to disagree', they do not vote, they do not contribute to the society.
Look at all the money raised in Victoria for Haiti, but where is the same community effort to raise money for a family when their house burns down?
I am the first to admit I do not know what can to be done to build more social capital in this city, but it seems to me there needs to something done to change this. Here are some suggestions:
These are just quick ideas off the top me head, I ma not wedded to anyone of them. I am hoping others agree that there is a need for more social capital in our city and are willing to suggest ideas or take action to improve our social capital. There is a lot done to plan our city, but very little is done to improve the social capital.
I lived in Lillooet for most of decade. I was on a first name basis with people from across the political spectrum, from all ages, and from all cultures. Even when people did not like each other, they came together to make the town a better place.
Victoria was a city of only a bit more than 200,000 when I first started University in 1983. At that time there were a lot more service clubs, more youth sports, more Scouts and Guides and in general just a lot more groups of people willing to give their time to make their community a better place. For many people their social involvement was their primary out of work interaction with other people.
Lillooet was small enough that I knew a lot more people through casual interaction than I do here in Victoria. The people serving me at the grocery store I got to know, post office staff, the teachers outside of the school and almost everyone else. I got to know them because the town was small enough that I would see them in multiple settings.
We have 1/3 more people than 1983 in the city, but we have a lot fewer groups in the community. People claim to be busy, but I can not see how they are any busier now than a generation ago. I run my own business and I find the time to volunteer for Scouts. My friend Malcolm is a vet that works 75 hours a week and he finds time for Scouts as well. Time is not the issue, I think it is alienation from the larger whole of the community.
More and more people are only really interacting with a small set of people that they generally agree with. In a real life setting most of the public has a connection to only around 75 people. People are retreating into groups of people that are like minded and not choosing to venture out of that safety zone. Going to the stores you may see the same cashier, but you are unlikely to run into her at your school or walking the dog on your street. You do not get other chances to get to know them.
All manner of community groups and churches are falling in membership. People are not joining and the membership is getting older. There are some churches that are doing well, but they seem to be the professionalized ones with large staff and religion as a consumer item and not a community based thing.
This interaction of people that is abundant in small towns and rare in cities is the social capital of the place. It is bad for the city to lose the social capital it has. Loss of it means people do not come out to help each other, they do not 'agree to disagree', they do not vote, they do not contribute to the society.
Look at all the money raised in Victoria for Haiti, but where is the same community effort to raise money for a family when their house burns down?
I am the first to admit I do not know what can to be done to build more social capital in this city, but it seems to me there needs to something done to change this. Here are some suggestions:
- Allow streets to be closed for street celebrations, also allow liquor to be at these events
- Create some sort of meet your neighbour day
- Make civic space free for groups like Rotary, Kiwanis, Scouts, or sports
- Have a regular volunteer and group sign up day in each and every community
- Highlight the volunteer community groups in the recreation guides - have them up front
- Make schools available free of charge to community groups in non school hours
- Allow people to write off some of the property taxes through volunteering for community based groups
These are just quick ideas off the top me head, I ma not wedded to anyone of them. I am hoping others agree that there is a need for more social capital in our city and are willing to suggest ideas or take action to improve our social capital. There is a lot done to plan our city, but very little is done to improve the social capital.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CRD Decision on Wastewater Project Today
I have not yet heard what the decision is, but the media is making much of the people there protesting the use of P3s. It concerns me that there is such a backlash against a tool that government can use to deliver infrastructure to the public at a reasonable rate.
If you read the report of the peer review team on the Wastewater Management Program Business Case, The results come out at about $925 million cost for a public, hybrid or P3 approach to the project. the P3 is the cheapest in cost to build, but loses ground once financing is included. If the project were designed, built and operated as a P3 but received local government financing, this clearly looks like it would come out significantly cheaper.
The P3 also offers more risk transfer away from the public, this is good and protects us. I especially like the P3 for the operation of the plant. Having a private company operate the plant means the public has stronger legal rights if something goes wrong. Suing a company is much easier than suing a local government. This liability alone should mean the private sector would be hyper vigilant in how the plant is operated.
My hope is that the CRD chooses to go forward with a P3 but retains the option to drop it if there are no decent proposals coming forward. If no one is willing to bid on the P3, this says to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the assumptions about the project. The Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre was a good example of this, no one went for the P3. This should have made someone go back and look at possible problems there might be with the project.
I am not wedded to the idea of a P3, but in the process of a project, looking at proposals as a P3 make sense as a step to consider first before going to a government sector option. If a P3 is not considered, there is no clarity if the option was a good one or not.
My biggest fear with the publicly built wastewater treatment system is the danger of cost overruns. Sticking to a fixed budget is much easier to accomplish in the private sector than the public. Also a good P3 would insulate the public sector from cost overruns. Large scale capital projects have a bad habit of going over budget, public sector more so than private sector.
If a public project goes over budget, the fiscal tap stays on. If a private project goes over budget, the company has to eat the cost. If it is bad enough the company will go under. If a P3 is partially built the company defaults on the agreement, a well written P3 should give the local government the partially built project at no cost.
The opposition to P3s is coming from public sector unions concerned that they will lose members - very self serving and short sighted as it once again makes them look bad in the eyes of the majority of the public. The opposition also comes from an economically illiterate part of the left that still thinks businesses making money must mean exploitation.
I hope the board makes a good decision and does not preclude any option for purely political reasons.
If you read the report of the peer review team on the Wastewater Management Program Business Case, The results come out at about $925 million cost for a public, hybrid or P3 approach to the project. the P3 is the cheapest in cost to build, but loses ground once financing is included. If the project were designed, built and operated as a P3 but received local government financing, this clearly looks like it would come out significantly cheaper.
The P3 also offers more risk transfer away from the public, this is good and protects us. I especially like the P3 for the operation of the plant. Having a private company operate the plant means the public has stronger legal rights if something goes wrong. Suing a company is much easier than suing a local government. This liability alone should mean the private sector would be hyper vigilant in how the plant is operated.
My hope is that the CRD chooses to go forward with a P3 but retains the option to drop it if there are no decent proposals coming forward. If no one is willing to bid on the P3, this says to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the assumptions about the project. The Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre was a good example of this, no one went for the P3. This should have made someone go back and look at possible problems there might be with the project.
I am not wedded to the idea of a P3, but in the process of a project, looking at proposals as a P3 make sense as a step to consider first before going to a government sector option. If a P3 is not considered, there is no clarity if the option was a good one or not.
My biggest fear with the publicly built wastewater treatment system is the danger of cost overruns. Sticking to a fixed budget is much easier to accomplish in the private sector than the public. Also a good P3 would insulate the public sector from cost overruns. Large scale capital projects have a bad habit of going over budget, public sector more so than private sector.
If a public project goes over budget, the fiscal tap stays on. If a private project goes over budget, the company has to eat the cost. If it is bad enough the company will go under. If a P3 is partially built the company defaults on the agreement, a well written P3 should give the local government the partially built project at no cost.
The opposition to P3s is coming from public sector unions concerned that they will lose members - very self serving and short sighted as it once again makes them look bad in the eyes of the majority of the public. The opposition also comes from an economically illiterate part of the left that still thinks businesses making money must mean exploitation.
I hope the board makes a good decision and does not preclude any option for purely political reasons.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tillicum School
Tillicum School is in my neighbourhood. Three of my boys went to this school. The school grounds take up a full block between Burnside, Orillia, Albina and Maddock.
View Larger Map
The school has been there since 1915 and really is much the same today as then. The front and back fields are large empty green spaces and very much under used by the schoolkids. I think there should be some changes to the school grounds.
On the back field it would be nice to see two well maintained and proper baseball diamonds and a decent soccer field.
In the front it would be nice if there were trees and some small hills. Without these sort of things the place lacks the spaces for kids to really explore their imagination. An empty blank field is not a space where there are castles and pirates and spaceships and houses and all the manner of other pretend games little kids like to play.
The two elementary schools I went to had forested areas and some slopes. At Weaver Elementary in Tsawwassen we had about 2/3s of an acres of woods. We had trails through there, we had trees with spots we could climb to, we had small hollows. We had 101 and adventures there every day we went to school.
View Larger Map
This school still retains the same small forest, it is a shame not to have this at all schools
View Larger Map
The school has been there since 1915 and really is much the same today as then. The front and back fields are large empty green spaces and very much under used by the schoolkids. I think there should be some changes to the school grounds.
On the back field it would be nice to see two well maintained and proper baseball diamonds and a decent soccer field.
In the front it would be nice if there were trees and some small hills. Without these sort of things the place lacks the spaces for kids to really explore their imagination. An empty blank field is not a space where there are castles and pirates and spaceships and houses and all the manner of other pretend games little kids like to play.
The two elementary schools I went to had forested areas and some slopes. At Weaver Elementary in Tsawwassen we had about 2/3s of an acres of woods. We had trails through there, we had trees with spots we could climb to, we had small hollows. We had 101 and adventures there every day we went to school.
View Larger Map
This school still retains the same small forest, it is a shame not to have this at all schools
Royal Bay Colwood
The Royal Bay development in Colwood will eventually cover over former gravel pit in Colwood. When built out the development will have 2800 houses. The first areas have been completed
View Larger Map
I find the area neat, clean, and utterly uninspiring. The neighbourhood looks and feels like the world Malvina Reyonlds talks about in her song Little Boxes. It is not really different than most new developments which depresses me. There is nothing organic about how the community will arise in this area.
The houses look like they are all of the sort of design that is larger than needed and will feel empty and alienating. This goes along with a neighbourhood that feels alienating.
Long term the developers talked of having schools and commercial areas within the development, but I am not sure that this will happen. Specifically in the case of the commercial development I do not see how there will be enough density in the area to support retails businesses.
A bigger concern I have about this development is that it is being constructed in an area that would have made for a perfect location to an industrial park after the gravel pit is done. The land is flat, it is dug down to bedrock, it has no close neighbours to it and it would help deal with the shortage of industrial lands in the region.
View Larger Map
We do need the houses to be built as we need about 1000 to 1500 new housing units each year just to keep pace with the demand. We really need 2000 units a year for the next decade to drive the price of housing down. A basic condo should start at $100,000 a year and a basic 1500 sq ft house should start at $250,000.
View Larger Map
I find the area neat, clean, and utterly uninspiring. The neighbourhood looks and feels like the world Malvina Reyonlds talks about in her song Little Boxes. It is not really different than most new developments which depresses me. There is nothing organic about how the community will arise in this area.
The houses look like they are all of the sort of design that is larger than needed and will feel empty and alienating. This goes along with a neighbourhood that feels alienating.
Long term the developers talked of having schools and commercial areas within the development, but I am not sure that this will happen. Specifically in the case of the commercial development I do not see how there will be enough density in the area to support retails businesses.
A bigger concern I have about this development is that it is being constructed in an area that would have made for a perfect location to an industrial park after the gravel pit is done. The land is flat, it is dug down to bedrock, it has no close neighbours to it and it would help deal with the shortage of industrial lands in the region.
View Larger Map
We do need the houses to be built as we need about 1000 to 1500 new housing units each year just to keep pace with the demand. We really need 2000 units a year for the next decade to drive the price of housing down. A basic condo should start at $100,000 a year and a basic 1500 sq ft house should start at $250,000.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Would we draw the boundaries like this?
I have to once again look at the stupidity of the municipal boundaries in the CRD and I can only ask would we have drawn the boundaries we have today in the same way? I can not imagine anyone saying that we would.
The boundaries in the CRD are remnants of parochial decisions, some more than a century ago. The city of Victoria boundaries were natural ones for the urban areas when they were drawn up. Problems began with the creation of Saanich and Oak Bay in 1906 and Esquimalt in 1912. The Conservative government of Richard McBride made a huge error in allowing the creation of Oak Bay, Saanich and Esquimalt.
There may have been a case for Saanich as a rural municipality, but the provincial government should have seen that Saanich was going to become urbanized in the future. The government at the time should have created a Saanich that was rural and farming in nature and expanded the boundaries of the City of Victoria.
The divide between urban and rural was a problem in Saanich very quickly. It was enough of a problem that Ward #6 of Saanich petitioned to leave Saanich and was incorporated in 1950 as Central Saanich. It should have been clear in 1950 to the Coalition government of Boss Johnson that the existence of Saanich as a local government did not make sense. When Central Saanich was created, the rest of Saanich should have been amalgamated into Victoria.
I have yet to have anyone explain to me why View Royal, Colwood and Langford were all created as separate municipal governments between 1985 and 1992. There was no plan to how this happened, it was just allowed to happen in a disorderly manner which has left us with more local government than is needed. Certainly the boundaries of what is View Royal now was not a single community before 1985. How did the neighbourhood around 4 mile end up in View Royal?
In understand why Metchosin and Highlands were created and I fundamentally disagree with it. Both were created in my opinion to facilitate the legislated NIMBYism. They are simply further examples of how chaos has been allowed to overrule good governance. Both Social Credit and the NDP bear responsibility for creating the jurisdictional mess that is the Westshore.
Good local mayors would call for a complete redrawing of the boundaries in the CRD. The only reason a mayor would oppose this is for personal selfish reasons.
Not only does it lead to bad local governance having boundaries that do not reflect the communities we live in, it also leads to an undemocratic situation. This unfair situation could be a way to encourage amalgamation.
One way the provincial government could encourage amalgamation of local governments is to change how regional districts are funded. If the funding were changed to a per capita basis based on representation for each local government. At the moment CRD does not give Saanich or Victoria enough weight on the CRD board based on population.
It is unfair that Saanich and Victoria have a majority of the population but do not have the majority of the CRD board. It is fundamentally undemocratic to allow Highlands to have a vote that is 1/5th of Victoria's when they have 1/40th of the population.
Maybe it is time to give Saanich and Victoria 10 years at the CRD with representation on a better per capita basis than Highlands. In know that will never happen, though the people in Highlands are happy to have a much bigger voice than they democratically should have in the CRD.
There are so many ways in which good governance is harmed by continuing with municipal boundaries that everyone knows no one would draw today. We have planning that does not work well, we have a multitude of councilors and mayors looking for things to do even though they know the region is harmed by the continuance of their local government.
The real leaders in our area will call on all the existing boundaries to be erased and to have the provincial government set up a non-partisan board to draw modern and relevant boundaries for our area.
As a final note, I defy anyone to give a rational argument for how the current boundaries serve us in any positive way. In fact, I would happily debate anyone anywhere at anytime about this because I know there is no ethical justification for View Royal or Oak Bay.
The boundaries in the CRD are remnants of parochial decisions, some more than a century ago. The city of Victoria boundaries were natural ones for the urban areas when they were drawn up. Problems began with the creation of Saanich and Oak Bay in 1906 and Esquimalt in 1912. The Conservative government of Richard McBride made a huge error in allowing the creation of Oak Bay, Saanich and Esquimalt.
There may have been a case for Saanich as a rural municipality, but the provincial government should have seen that Saanich was going to become urbanized in the future. The government at the time should have created a Saanich that was rural and farming in nature and expanded the boundaries of the City of Victoria.
The divide between urban and rural was a problem in Saanich very quickly. It was enough of a problem that Ward #6 of Saanich petitioned to leave Saanich and was incorporated in 1950 as Central Saanich. It should have been clear in 1950 to the Coalition government of Boss Johnson that the existence of Saanich as a local government did not make sense. When Central Saanich was created, the rest of Saanich should have been amalgamated into Victoria.
I have yet to have anyone explain to me why View Royal, Colwood and Langford were all created as separate municipal governments between 1985 and 1992. There was no plan to how this happened, it was just allowed to happen in a disorderly manner which has left us with more local government than is needed. Certainly the boundaries of what is View Royal now was not a single community before 1985. How did the neighbourhood around 4 mile end up in View Royal?
In understand why Metchosin and Highlands were created and I fundamentally disagree with it. Both were created in my opinion to facilitate the legislated NIMBYism. They are simply further examples of how chaos has been allowed to overrule good governance. Both Social Credit and the NDP bear responsibility for creating the jurisdictional mess that is the Westshore.
Good local mayors would call for a complete redrawing of the boundaries in the CRD. The only reason a mayor would oppose this is for personal selfish reasons.
Not only does it lead to bad local governance having boundaries that do not reflect the communities we live in, it also leads to an undemocratic situation. This unfair situation could be a way to encourage amalgamation.
One way the provincial government could encourage amalgamation of local governments is to change how regional districts are funded. If the funding were changed to a per capita basis based on representation for each local government. At the moment CRD does not give Saanich or Victoria enough weight on the CRD board based on population.
It is unfair that Saanich and Victoria have a majority of the population but do not have the majority of the CRD board. It is fundamentally undemocratic to allow Highlands to have a vote that is 1/5th of Victoria's when they have 1/40th of the population.
Maybe it is time to give Saanich and Victoria 10 years at the CRD with representation on a better per capita basis than Highlands. In know that will never happen, though the people in Highlands are happy to have a much bigger voice than they democratically should have in the CRD.
There are so many ways in which good governance is harmed by continuing with municipal boundaries that everyone knows no one would draw today. We have planning that does not work well, we have a multitude of councilors and mayors looking for things to do even though they know the region is harmed by the continuance of their local government.
The real leaders in our area will call on all the existing boundaries to be erased and to have the provincial government set up a non-partisan board to draw modern and relevant boundaries for our area.
As a final note, I defy anyone to give a rational argument for how the current boundaries serve us in any positive way. In fact, I would happily debate anyone anywhere at anytime about this because I know there is no ethical justification for View Royal or Oak Bay.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Fundraiser for Camp Barnard Scout Camp
DATE: Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Time: Doors Open at 7:00am Breakfast at 7:30 to 8:30am
Where: Victoria Marriott in the Pacific Ballroom
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this invitation and thank you in advance for your support of the ongoing development at Camp Barnard. Please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned if you have any question about this event or about Camp Barnard.
Penny Hill, Chair Barnard Club Breakfast
Email: prhill@shaw.ca
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Transit use in the CRD, how to boost it
The people that commute at the moment are the firm base for BC Transit in this region. What BC Transit needs to do is bring more people onto the buses that are not using it at the moment. Here are some ideas:
- Sell day passes on the buses. With the sort of fare boxes that are used by Translink, this would be a very easy task to do. Even without, it would mean selling a dated day pass in manner similar to transfers.
- Drop the price for a day pass to $5 for adults and have just one price for them.
- Drop the rate to $2 a ride - the extra money generated by the extra 25 cents now (50 cents as of April 1st) does not strike me as worth it when compared to a simple $2 fare one could advertise to attract riders. If this is too much, offer Sundays and Tuesdays as $2 ride days. The idea is ease of use and a sense of value for money.
- Distribute free day passes for one Saturday each month. If you give them out to everyone in the region, there are people who may choose to try the bus. If there is a worry that too many people would get free rides that would pay, it could be tied to the name on the bill that is paying the transit levy. The coupon for the free ride could be in the bill envelope.
- Have as many bus stops as possible have real time information on when the next bus is coming. Casual users avoid buses because they do not know when the bus will come. The easier it is to see when the next bus is coming, the more casual users will board the bus.
- Developing a smart phone ap that allows people to know access information on buses. Translink has a good one that could be emulated So many people have smart phones now that it does not make sense not to make use of them. This will help the casual user make use of the buses. It will also feel like more value for money to the public.
- Offer to sell permanent bus passes. have the cost deducted from an account or credit card each month or allow payment for up to a year at a time. Essentially this is the sort of bus pass that is available for youth, though they have to buy if for at least six months at a time.
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