Love your list of differences in meeting styles. Also, the definition of 'missing middle' has apparently gone from laneway, infill, basements, duplexes etc a number of years ago to large apartment buildings today.
The survey is pretty poor, as most of them are.
Odd they suggest larger infill houses when a small existing main house is present. This is already the current policy. I was allowed so many square feet for infill based of the size of the main house. Are they unaware that this is the current policy?
I left the Dunbar event wondering about its value, aside from the city being able to say that it held open houses. The completely uninitiated might have learned something from the information boards, but it would have been overwhelming to try to absorb all that in a crowd setting — far better to read it online. The young staffers appeared to be minimally informed. I heard one assuring a questioner that the new buildings would be “a little bigger” than what’s allowed now, and “a little taller.” No numbers.
People who have already studied this plan wouldn’t have learned anything new, and probably knew more than the staffers. It was frustrating not to have any place to record opinions or concerns besides expressing them to the young staffers. Who, as Brian says, weren’t taking any notes. Overall, it didn’t seem like a serious effort to gather public opinion or answer questions. By the time I left, not long before it ended, about 90-95 people had signed in as attendees.
I went to the Dunbar event and share these sentiments. There is no accountability mechanism, no recording and measuring of the feedback at these events. A related problem is that members of the public aren't really seeing or hearing the questions and comments of fellow residents, as far as I can tell. I noticed people talking to staffers but not much at all to one another. Have we become more private and awkward after Covid? It looks like the 'small group' discussions at the online event (presumably using Zoom's breakout rooms) will have the same effect. Divide and conquer?
Did the survey. The questions are arranged to provide the answer the planners want or make it impossible to provide appropriate answers. So much for real citizen input....
We tried to get on Mondays on-line discussion, but not having used the odd city platform, and not being that computer savvy, we gave up after several attempts failed. We zoom regularly, but the app the city uses confounded us. A wanted half hour!
Love your list of differences in meeting styles. Also, the definition of 'missing middle' has apparently gone from laneway, infill, basements, duplexes etc a number of years ago to large apartment buildings today.
The survey is pretty poor, as most of them are.
Odd they suggest larger infill houses when a small existing main house is present. This is already the current policy. I was allowed so many square feet for infill based of the size of the main house. Are they unaware that this is the current policy?
I am so disheartened already with this council. It’s obvious that they are reading Vision’s handbook i.e ‘our way or the highway.’
I left the Dunbar event wondering about its value, aside from the city being able to say that it held open houses. The completely uninitiated might have learned something from the information boards, but it would have been overwhelming to try to absorb all that in a crowd setting — far better to read it online. The young staffers appeared to be minimally informed. I heard one assuring a questioner that the new buildings would be “a little bigger” than what’s allowed now, and “a little taller.” No numbers.
People who have already studied this plan wouldn’t have learned anything new, and probably knew more than the staffers. It was frustrating not to have any place to record opinions or concerns besides expressing them to the young staffers. Who, as Brian says, weren’t taking any notes. Overall, it didn’t seem like a serious effort to gather public opinion or answer questions. By the time I left, not long before it ended, about 90-95 people had signed in as attendees.
I went to the Dunbar event and share these sentiments. There is no accountability mechanism, no recording and measuring of the feedback at these events. A related problem is that members of the public aren't really seeing or hearing the questions and comments of fellow residents, as far as I can tell. I noticed people talking to staffers but not much at all to one another. Have we become more private and awkward after Covid? It looks like the 'small group' discussions at the online event (presumably using Zoom's breakout rooms) will have the same effect. Divide and conquer?
Did the survey. The questions are arranged to provide the answer the planners want or make it impossible to provide appropriate answers. So much for real citizen input....
We tried to get on Mondays on-line discussion, but not having used the odd city platform, and not being that computer savvy, we gave up after several attempts failed. We zoom regularly, but the app the city uses confounded us. A wanted half hour!