Victoria/Vidal values

Friday, October 26th, 2007

As our community changes, how do we protect the values that support our unique identity and great quality of life?

I wrote a post a couple weeks ago, titled friendly & inclusive?, about what I thought “small town values” means in terms of how we treat one another. Now let’s think about the values of the built environment. Consider the Miramar Village project and Victoria/Vidal proposal (Turtle Recording Studio behind the Boathouse); What does community reaction tell us about their fears and the values we want to protect? Read on »


regressive tax priorities

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

Should we tax the money you make or tax the money you spend? Read on »


Suzuki speaks

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

Following are notes from David Suzuki’s keynote address at the WALK21 conference in Toronto, Oct 2 2007.
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The argument against doing something about climate change is always that it would be too expensive and would harm the economy. But, what is the cost of not doing anything? Read on »


walking is good

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

These are some quick, very brief notes from the opening plenary of the WALK21 Conference in Toronto, Oct 2 2007. Read on »


Beasley dreams

Sunday, October 21st, 2007

Dreaming is a fundamental tool in planning.
– Larry Beasley

Today (Sun Oct 21), I attended a Dream Vancouver conference. A daylong Appreciative Inquiry exercise was facilitated by Bliss Brown. It demonstrated a process for engaging citizens in dialogue to dream of the possibilities for the future, work toward a consensus vision, and commit to actions toward that shared vision. The day also featured a keynote speech by Larry Beasley, former Director of Vancouver City Planning. The following are notes from that speech. Read on »


sustainable perspective

Sunday, October 21st, 2007

A pretty view is not the same as a healthy ecosystem. Read on »


creativity, trust & respect

Saturday, October 20th, 2007

Creative thought is critical to design. It is nurtured in an atmosphere of trust and respect, in which ideas from all participants are accepted as gifts to the common endeavour: Generousity of spirit is critical to creativity in a group endeavour.
– Rand Iredale (1929-2000)

Read on »


lessons from past societies

Saturday, October 20th, 2007

Watch this Jared Diamond lecture on what we can learn from past collapsed societies. He is speaking about his book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, which is on my recommended reading list.

He speaks about the need to adapt to the world changing around us and question our values when they become self-destructive.


PPS public spaces workshop

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Monday Oct 1 2007, I attended a workshop sponsored by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The FCM Walkability and Placemaking training seminar was presented by the Project for Public Spaces. PPS is an organization from New York “dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build communities”. It was a pre-conference workshop at the Walk21 conference in Toronto. Read on »


prescriptive principles

Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

Last night, the City’s consultant working on the OCP said that there must be a balance between statements of principle and prescription (flexibility and certainty) in the OCP. I don’t disagree with that, but I remain concerned about creating policies that might discourage creativity, or worse, end up ignored because they are unrealistic, impractical or completely inflexible. Read on »


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