Two Hikers in the Woods

Let me preface this post with a story you probably have heard about two hikers in the woods
Two hikers, hiking in the woods stumble upon a ferocious Grizzly Bear, the first hiker turns around and methodically takes off his back pack and changes his hiking boots for running shoes. The second hiker looks in sheer horror and shrieks “what the hell are you doing, there’s no way that you’re going to be able to outrun a Grizzly Bear”. The first hiker turns to him and says, “ I don’t have to outrun a Grizzly Bear to live, I just have to outrun you!”

Every day I have been coming across some article or blogger that chastises our leaders for not acknowledging Grizzly Bear type problems Windsor Faces. Meanwhile I think they miss the point that the city needs to collectively start running faster than its competitors. They want to see grizzly bears everywhere they look, remaining paralyzed. Look, I am not defending our leadership, I just want those who solely bitch and whine to get off their asses and start contributing.

Take downtown for instance; of course I realize the challenges downtown faces with border security, exchange rates, lack of dedicated nexus lanes on both border crossings, leadership that continues to support urban sprawl. Why on earth would I want to keep focusing and speaking about these problems . Once they are acknowledged, you develop a plan that recognizes them and then DON’T LOOK BACK.

Downtown has a plan that includes advice from a panel of experts from the International Downtown Association, Peter Bellmio, and the examination of highly successful comparable downtowns. It is a multi year plan that is in progress. It focuses on fundamentals such as Clean and Safe, and now Infrastructure and Beautification, next it moves into Business, Secondary Education and Residential Recruitment and eventually going into marketing and events in the future. Is this plan sexy? Probably not, then again neither are roads and sewers. The point is that this plan has been proven to work in every other Downtown that has adhered to it.

If someone came up with a better plan or even elements that furthered our goals, then we would review and adapt. That's not the case with downtown critics. They continue whining about nonsensical items such as not building an arena on insufficient lands (as if a single pad on 6 acres could have ever worked) that many damn well know would have lost money on an annual basis. Pointing out and discussing the Grizzly Bear may motivate some through fear, but I am motivated by envisioning the potential of what I am working on. Unless you have some new information to offer, talking about the Grizzly Bear becomes like drinking toxin that causes paralysis. There is no new problem downtown faces which would warrant a change in the current action plan.

I understand and appreciate those ridiculous statements and comments such as about Windsor’s problems being cyclical should be corrected. In my case, I’m not focusing on or talking about the problems because I see no value in doing that after they’ve been acknowledged. I believe the bloggers doing it think that it makes them somehow intellectually superior than those they criticize, seeing something they believe has been overlooked. Abraham Lincoln once said “he has the right to criticise, who has the heart to help” In Mr. DeRosiers case, he’s earned it and we should listen. However, there are many other critics (I would single out a certain blogger), have done nothing but poison our city. To think that bitching and whining about what others should do is some type of contribution is twisted. It's one thing to offer an opinion, it's another to claim to know what is in the hearts and minds of others. I would end with this; that it's not only about how much you love Windsor, it's about what kind of person you are, what kind of example you set for your children. Roll up your sleeves and find a way to contribute.

An Open Invitation

Dennis DesRosiers' annual, though unofficial, State of the City address brought cries for a change in city management, policy and the need to "think outside the box" from members of the Greater Windsor Home Builders Association. According to a Star article on the meeting, attendees agreed with DesRosiers' blistering critique of all things Windsor, blaming the majority of the woes of the city on "divisive leadership, fear of the unknown and overly-political media." (Ed: I wonder if DesRosiers would consider a guest column for SDW?!? )

While I missed the presentation last night (probably due to the fact that I can't swing a hammer to save my life), I have to say that, despite the reported fear-mongering, DesRosiers is on to something here. Dennis' love/hate relationship with Windsor is long recognized, but, as Joe Rauti stated (as quoted by the Star) "His speech was right on, but we've got to get leaders listening to him.", though I only half-agree with his statement.

For years builders have built sprawl-divisions, scraping fertile topsoil from farmers fields to plant a crop of raised ranch, back-split, two-car garages with attached 3-bedroom houses. While the economy was growing so fast it was almost tripping over itself builders couldn't churn the homes out fast enough as low interest rates enticed even moderate income earners to abandon the core of Windsor and seek refuge in suburban McMansions. Now that interest rates have climbed, sub-prime mortgages are defaulting at a record pace, and the local economy is tanking faster than the Titanic, builders are blaming council for bad policy decisions and 'not listening'.

The problem, as I see it, is that council DID listen. They listened to builders who wanted to rezone lands to build homes, wanted council to hold the line on building fees to prolong a softening construction market and support new subdivisions with sewers, roads, and emergency services. Now the homebuilders are calling on council to take on a leadership role in the hopes that Windsor will turn-around and save the industry.

There is a solution to this problem, and is has nothing to do with city council. Let the Greater Windsor Home Builders Association has to put their talent and money where their mouths are by assuming the leadership role that they are demanding of city council. Come together with urban advocates, cutting edge architects, 'green' technology professionals and other industry experts and build, within the city of Windsor, an example of Windsor's innovation in every aspect development. This can't be a cheap publicity stint, but rather an exercise in co-operation and innovation, a marquee development for a properous future. Dive into the core area (the lands to the west of the casino come to mind) and show that re-development can be just as lucrative as building new, not to mention mutually beneficial to the consumer, community and construction industry.

I extend an open invitation to any builders, or builder representatives, to contact Scale Down Windsor. We will assist you in bringing together the ideas, innovators and talent to make this project work for everyone involved. Let's show DesRosier, and ourselves, that Windsor not just a fading speed-bump on the 401, but a city of the future. This isn't about city council (trust me, they will be falling over themselves to support this one), this is about Windsor, who we are and, most importantly, who we want to be!

BTW: Here are the links to the DesRosier mp3 files that Chris Holt was promising, (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) along with the powerpoint presentation that accompanies the first part of DesRosier's keynote address. (Thanks to Chris Schnurr for the link to the powerpoint!)

Renegade Blogger Alert!

Man, I hope the Windsor Star reels in Monica Wolfson. She is - oh my god! - questioning the leadership of City Hall! Watch her blog get pulled very shortly.

Only this time, I'm not backing her up. She's talking out of her butt on this issue, advocating the Engineering school move out to the suburbs. Thanks a lot, Sprawlica!

So why be shortsighted? And why fold to local political pressure that isn't exactly putting the students, university or industry first in its demands. I see some of the best land opportunities out by the airport or in other industrial areas off Malden Road - but what do I know?

Yes, Sprawlica, what do you know? You don't think the residents of this community should have some say as to how the University develops. Funny, they didn't mind taking a weekly withdrawal (for 5 years, BTW) from my Ford/CAW paycheque for their new CAW Student Centre? Plus, you are arguing out of both sides of your mouth, saying a 3 km hike is too far for these students to trek, and then advocating for a much longer commute out to the airport.

I hope they listen to the people who know something about building technical facilities and not people who have lots to say with little to no substance backing them up.

Just ask, Sprawlica. We can back up every word we say.

P.S. SDW backs a different campus for the downtown location - say a relocated Lebel building or law school. However, we definitely don't want to perpetuate a sprawling, exurban land use cancer.

Trending towards Windsor?

If we see these national trends making their way down the 401 towards Windsor, do you think that we will be ready to capitalize on them?

Green and dense
Changing demographics, economics will make cities the crowded choice for the 21st century

When it comes to where Canadians choose to live, 65 per cent prefer to house themselves in suburbia and the balance in medium and large-size cities.

This ratio is about to change.

The past two decades show a steady decline in the population of small towns in many provinces and growth in cities.

Pricey single-family detached dwellings and job opportunities are the two key factors drawing the young to cities.

Lower-cost urban condos are fast becoming homes to many first-time buyers. On this front, we are fast closing ranks with our European counterparts who have lived in high-density settings for centuries and where apartment living is common.

With the mounting popularity of Canadian urban centres, the built product is bound to change. We are likely to see more tall towers in the heart of cities and their periphery.

These are the issues we are preparing our city council to address. These are the trends that successful urban areas are embracing as they contend with their eroding traditional economic base's and moving forward in a progressive manner. They are also the issues that our mayor and councillor pay lip-service to but don't really seem to understand the implications of their procrastination.

We are also seeing an emphasis on the public realm and the resulting rise of our quality of life when we design and build a quality product. The current debate about our downtown's revitalization is elevated when we learn from the experiences of other communities;

"Streetscapes are for me the rivers of life in a city, revealing in the passing flow the character and culture of the residents and what makes them and their surroundings so special."

"For the last several years, the city's Planning Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency and its prime landscape consultant, Pat Smith, have published and promoted an ambitious set of urban design standards and guidelines laying out a streetscaping strategy. Critical to the effort has been the tacit support of the Department of Transportation, which until recently had considered its prime objective to move cars and trucks fast and efficiently through Downtown. Making streets attractive for pedestrians at best has been an afterthought."

So, we can see where we want to go when it comes to pedestrianizing our landscape. We can see the importance of human-scaled development both to our quality of life and to developing our local economy. Other municipalities have acknowledged the relationship between their departments of transportation and land use planning. So what priorities does Windsor seem focused on currently. Our recent decisions to accomodate suburban sprawl and big-box development are major hints. From the Washington Post:

"And all of this is a shame, given that Kiev has historically been considered the most pleasant of the former Soviet Union's capitals -- a walkable alternative to Moscow. In his book "Imperium," about his travels through the declining Soviet Union, the late Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski described Kiev as "the only large city of the former USSR whose streets serve not merely for hurrying home but for walking, for strolling." Kiev's main boulevard, Khreschatyk, he wrote, is something like a local Champs-Elys¿es, and he was impressed by Kiev's downtown "crowds of people" out "to get some fresh air."

A decade and a half later, the city that Kapuscinski liked no longer exists. Walking here can be dangerous because the sidewalks are covered with cars, both parked and moving. That ritual of city life -- the promenade -- has become an adventure in the sort of defensive, serpentine ambulation with which the pedestrian makes his way through a strip mall parking lot."

So the carrot-and-stick approach to an urbane lifestyle that community activists are attempting to employ here in Windsor is backed by the experience of numerous other cities. Curb sprawl while enriching the urban experience. The recipe for success.

Full plate at the loony bin...

Those of you looking for fun-in-the-sun this week have a full plate before you.

Tonight's council meeting is full of all-out craziness. Well, maybe not all-out, but certifiably interesting to say the least. We have yet another well-intentioned Community Improvement Plan to occupy city hall's dusty shelves. It's too bad, because it looks like an excellent plan that the community of Little River Acres would benefit from tremendously. Then, we head on over to the alternative transportation department and their plans to increase bus fares while keeping their level of service at sub-standard. And then to top the night off, a nice little reminder to everyone exactly what sprawling development actually costs our city. Take a look at those astronomical numbers that we're paying out and then tell me that you support all these infrastructure improvements to the 'burbs that we cannot afford.

Then, if your Monday night extravaganza hasn't worn you out, head on over to the Fogolar Furlan Club on Wednesday to hear our favourite union-basher speak at the conference on the Housing & Automotive Perspective for Windsor & Essex County, hosted by the Greater Windsor Home Builders’ Association. Now, when the GWHBA says "Housing" - they means sprawl. So they are finally coming out of the sustainable development closet and hosting a conference on the automobile and sprawl-development with keynote speaker Dennis DesRosiers. From DesRosiers mouth...

"I have agreed to speak again this year to The Greater Windsor Home Builders’ Association Viewpoint 2008 conference on the Housing & Automotive Perspective for Windsor & Essex County. It is scheduled for Wednesday November 28, 2007. I will be updating the City of Windsor on the current state of the auto sector in the area and discussing the implications for auto workers in Windsor of the recently negotiated contracts in the US. Needless to say it is going to be a difficult labour year for Canada. I also plan on a deep dive into the "Windsor Issue" and will provide an outside perspective on some of the problems facing Windsor and their root causes and offering some thoughts as to what I think needs to be done to 'rescue' this region."

Goodie! Hang up your hat, Mayor Francis. Dennis DesRosiers to the rescue! The circus at the Fogolar starts at 1:00 pm. Don't worry, he promises "not to hold back anything"!

Time's a Tickin'

It was almost a month ago that our beloved city council granted a zoning change "paving" the way to a west-end Big Box nirvana. The rules state that opponents have a month to file an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board. Well, that month window closes on Monday. The big question is; Has LaSalle filed an appeal? Any other residents or organizations filed yet? I guess we'll find out Monday.

But, in the meantime I thought I would pass along an article harvested from the London Free Press about some scrappy little Ontario town who apparently had the nerve to question Sprawl-Mart's motives and actually - GASP - turned down their application to build.

Yes, they are also going to the OMB, but this time it is Arkansas' Walton family who is on the offensive.

Because, what right does a piddly old municipality have to determine it's own future?

Stratford's plan to nix Wal-Mart bound for OMB

SmartCentres has launched itself once more into the breech as it tries to reverse Stratford's rejection of an east-end Wal-Mart store.

An appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board was filed this week to challenge Stratford city council's decision three weeks ago against rezoning industrial land into commercial land for a cluster of stores that would include a Wal-Mart.

"I don't think it's a big surprise" that the mall developer believes councillors erred in not heeding even their own consultants' studies, Alan Scully, lawyer for SmartCentres/Avonwood Shopping Centres, said yesterday.

The appeal is yet another act in the ongoing drama over the 22-acre site owned by Avonwood, near C.H. Meier Boulevard and Douro Street.

Council's decision came after years of debate and months of lobbying by groups for and against the development in the hometown of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Mainly, the public debate buzzed around the impact of Wal-Mart, which would be an 111,000-square-foot centrepiece of the development.

Traffic and retail-viability studies were conducted. Among them was a report that suggested the Festival City's downtown was healthy enough to survive and thrive with a big-box store in east Stratford.

"We had expected the zoning process in Stratford would take some time, that it is a very unique market and that the opening of Wal-Mart would be contentious," Scully said yesterday. But he said he was "somewhat surprised" by council's negative vote. "I'm not going to say I'm frustrated, but I am surprised."

Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson said the appeal was expected.

"Stratford has rendered a planning decision which we feel has represented the best public interests of the community," (ed: can we get this guy to move to Windsor?) he said. Mathieson said he has heard a month might have to be set aside for the hearing. He said money is set aside in each year's budget for planning processes, including possible OMB appeals.

Scully said he expects an OMB pre-hearing will take place within six months, with a full hearing "within the year." Stratford Mall has also appealed the same council decision, Mathieson said.

The lawyer representing that mall was not immediately available for comment.

SmartCentres, one of Canada's biggest retail developers, operates more than 185 shopping centres, including many big-box and national-brand stores.

Scully said "it certainly is an option" for SmartCentres to look at building just outside the city's easternmost boundaries.

That's nice, eh? We finish off the article with a threat from the Sprawl-Mart lawyer basically saying that if you don't want to play with us, we'll skim all your retail bucks over your municipal border.

Here's a word of advice to Windsor's city council: when the residents of the city of Guelph lost their 10 year old battle to keep Wal-Mart out of their community, their council paid the price at the next municipal election. One week after the Wal-Mart opened, Guelph voted in its civic election. Every candidate who supported Wal-Mart, including the mayor, was defeated.

Here's hoping that Stratford prevails and keeps this monstrosity from setting up shop. Apparently, they still have a town worth caring about.

Business Recruitment Downtown

I thought that a discussion in a previous thread warranted a new post.

The DWBIA made business recruitment the #1 priority for 2008. This was after creating a plan to move forward. Previously, we all wanted this but had no plan of action. This still follows the International Downtown Association's advised plan for Windsor's downtown. Its based on a heirarchy of needs. I don't think much of the public, (or even our membership) is aware that we are following a plan laid out by recognized international experts

First Clean and Safe - accomplished with streetcleaners, gum and graffitti removal security cameras and the establishment of a Hospitality Resource Panel to work with the bar owners

Second - Infrastructure - "take 3-4 blocks of your downtown and make them the nicest in the world". Streetscape will soon be complete on Ouellette from Riverside to Park. Decoration of that streetscape includes: led "wave" lights in the streetlights, led lights on all large trees, flower planters ordered for spring, directional signage manual waiting approval at planning (held up to ensure consistency with convention center) New directional signage will eliminate sign clutter and create sense of place.

Third - Business and Residential Recruitment. - with work in progress on items that follow, resources can now be allocated to this. Districting and facade incentives were the first two items

Fourth - Marketing - branding begun on the Downtown Mosaic, most marketing efforts tied in with business recruitment efforts

Fifth - Events - decision to minimize expenses on this until further ahead on the first four. Will facilitate events by businesses through contribution to street closure.

The DWBIA has a long term plan for downtown and so far we are not being swayed off course by reactive measures.

The DWBIA did a merchandising study by one of North America's leading consultants that said Districting would be the first and best way to lure retailers. Visit the DWBIA website to learn about the districts at http://www.downtownwindsor.ca/ . I am extremely proud of the video that was produced to get our message across. click on the bottom left to view it.

Clustering like minded Retailers is what needs to be done and districting can help that. I can't help but think that American Apparal could have easily been a success had it located near similar type stores (next to capish bling bling, or on Avenue South near more younger bars)

Districting will help direct retailers to cluster in areas that are more appropriate. Galleries in the Arts or on the Avenue. retailers marketing to youth on avenue south. Residential support businesses such as food, specialty wine on the West Village or the Square

Second, and more tangeable, the DWBIA is offering $10,000 facade grants ($15,000 if you're on a corner) to fix up the outside of your bldg. That is an incentive that is not offered anywhere else in the city other than downtown. This grant can be used for business retention as well as business recruitment. Check out the fresh fronts campaign

http://downtownwindsor.ca/freshfronts.asp

After that it's just getting the word out

I hate to say "I told you so" but...

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, in a report released this week , warned that municipal infrastructure is facing imminent collapse. (Check out the press release, the report and the powerpoint presentation) According to the report municipalities need $123 billion to replace infrastructure that is rapidly approaching the end of its' projected life expectancy. AM800 reported that Mayor Francis is pushing to establish a National Framework to address the issue of reduced funding levels from the federal level and make the sharing of gas tax revenues permanent in a desperate attempt to avert the catastrophe that has been decades in the making.

While the future prospects are ominous, but the question begs to be asked -- Why do we continue to support sprawling infrastructure? It's like the smoker who has lung cancer, yet continues to chain smoke -- we know that we are dying, yet the addiction to sprawling development continues. Alas, city administration tends to speak out of both sides of their mouth on this issue. It appears that Mayor Francis knows that changes need to be made, hence his push for the national framework, yet we expect that, in the 21st century, our pattern of consumption will continue to be sustained by ever increasing transfers of federal funds, spiralling taxes, or a combination of the two. While Francis is plotting his future path (he has already stated that this is his last term as mayor) on a national scale by pushing Windsor's chronic problems into the federal limelight, he still supports decisions that, on a micro-scale, compromise the sustainability of our community. Developments on Walker Road, which has ballooned from a couple of Big Box developments to a full-blown shopping-lot, complete with its' very own 6 lane road, were once heralded by the mayor as "smart development".

Chris Holt, one of the contributing editors as ScaleDownWindsor, put together a 12 part series on the myths of growth called Debunking the Growth Myth. (Ed: Here are all twelve parts, for easy reference -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12) The fantastic series addresses the many falacies and ideas of how to develop a strong city; and Windsor has been going about it all wrong. Instead of promoting sprawling sub-divisions and big box development, we should be concentrating on reinvigorating our core communities. Mayor Francis loves to tout his fiscal record and his "pay-as-you-go" policies for city hall. While I applaud the concept, it is nothing more than window dressing as the failed development policies, truncated community improvement plans, and a penchant for all things big, bright and sprawling mortgage our future prosperity for short-term fiscal and political gains.

The solution is simple -- stop sprawling infrastructure and invest in the currently built environment. We could take it a step further and start charging sprawl-divisions the real costs of establishing and supporting new developments. Once the real costs of building on the city periphery were passed on to the consumer, coupled with tax incentives for living and investing in our core communities, we would see an reversal of the exodus that has devastated both the residential and commercial landscape in Windsor proper and a real change in the face of Windsor. Our perpetually falling tax base would be bouyed up by new investments and reinvestments and, as the city coffers filled, a balance of decreased taxes and increased services would perpetuate a pattern of growth instead of the pattern of failure that plagues us.

Alas, council has, at least in my recent memory, continued to support the myth that we need to grow to be sustainable. Until council and administration take the initiative to be innovative and courageous in the redevelopment plan for Windsor we will continue to defer the payments of our current lifestyle for future generations to pay in full.

Curing the Doubting Thomas

The downtown campus debate has become quite the divisive issue in our community. Though I want to say that I get the other side of the debate -- I really don't. I, for the life of me, can't understand why there is such rabid opposition to building the new engineering campus in our downtown core. Call me hopelessly optimistic, but I believe that we can achieve great things in our community, of which the University of Windsor is a integral component, if we stop saying we can't and starting asking, how do we succeed.

I know that we all need a little inspiration so, to get everyone started, check out The Project for Public Spaces - Campuses page and see what makes a truly innovate and successful campus. Spend some time reading and dreaming with the folks at PPS (don't feel ashamed if you catch yourself exploring the other program areas). After spending a couple of hours (and that's being conservative!) digging through the pages of inspiration at PPS I think you'll find that it's not a matter of if we support a downtown campus, but a when will we suport a downtown campus.

AltTrans Philanthropy

Just when you think that we have a perpetual uphill battle before us pertaining to the notion of alternative transportation in this - the automotive capital of Canada, you get word of news like this.

Philanthropy is usually geared towards high-profile needs such the need for a new MRI or cancer clinic. Rarely do you see the proceeds going towards preventive measures such as bicycling infrastructure. That is why I wanted to spotlight some anonymous donations made to the City of Windsor for the purpose of undertaking bikeway initiatives.

A number of generous donations have been received by the City of Windsor since 2000 from an anonymous donor within the community who has been liaising with the Manager of Council/Community Services & Deputy Clerk for the purpose of undertaking bikeway related initiatives within the city. Since 2000, the city has received donations totaling $282,288.65 with the most recent donation of approzimately $97,000 having been contributed in November of this year.

Whom ever you are Mr/s Anonymous Donor, on behalf of every resident in this fair city, THANK YOU very much for your incredible generosity. Future generations of Windsorites will be healthier both physically and economically because of your investment in this cities transportation infrastructure.

Something good out of DRTP?

Quick post -- check out the article in today's Star. Apparently the DRTP is dropping the truck component of its' plan and going with the full-height rail tunnel plan.

Two comments on that -- 1) It's about time! and 2) Hey, isn't that part of the Schwartz proposal?

Of course, with all things DRTP, only time will tell the real story. (That or some industrious blogger with the inside scoop! )

Windsor 20/20 on CBC

I was tuning into the webcast of last nights CBC news to catch Windsor independant film maker Gavin Booth being interviewed regarding the Windsor International Film Festival's 48 Hour Flick Fest, when I stumbled across this series the CBC is doing. From their website...

Windsor is an enigma. It should be an overwhelming success story.

It has great weather, hot humid summers and fairly mild winters. It sits in a geographic pocket that puts it four hours from Toronto and five hours from Chicago. It has the busiest international border crossing in North America with one-third of all trade between the US and Canada passing over the Ambassador Bridge. It has affordable housing within the city limits and a skilled workforce. It's a boater's dream with quick access to Lakes Erie and St.Clair from dozens of marinas. It is home to Chrysler Canada and Hiram Walker Distilleries and has turned its once shameful waterfront into a garden oasis and outdoor sculpture park. It has a multi-million dollar casino-hotel-entertainment complex. And it is also the fourth most ethnically diverse community in Canada behind Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton.

Windsor should be an overwhelming success story... but it isn't. And in part what is missing is vision. The grand plan. The path that takes us to a brighter future. Windsor has the people to make things work. Windsor has a sense of itself as a community. What Windsor doesn't have is a sense of its own future.

Every Thursday, over the next 15 weeks, CBC and Radio-Canada Windsor will examine Windsor's potential and its future.

We're calling the series Windsor 20/20 because it's all about the vision.

Join us. Be part of Windsor's future.

What we've been saying all along.

The segment last night was on the University's possible move to a downtown campus and the impact that move would have on the city as a whole. After seeing Professor Rick Haldenby, who the DWBIA brought into town for a speaking engagement, the reporter traveled to Cambridge, Ontario, to check out the University of Waterloo's school of architecture and what the students and residents thought of their move. With over 90% of the core businesses reporting an increase in business, the overwhelming response was positive.

A big thumbs-up to the CBC for producing the Windsor 20/20 series. We need more progressive visions to guide our city through our current economic doldrums.

Check out the CBC's local website to watch last nights episode before they yank it down to post tonights.

Who's leading who here?

I don't subscribe to the Windsor Star, but an associate suggested that I check out Tuesday's column from Gord Henderson. Apparently Gord and I are on the same creative wavelength when it comes to opinions about the downtown Engineering School. In case you missed them, here are the two articles : Innovate or Die!, by yours truly and Engineering Excuses by Gord Henderson.

Maybe there really is something to this whole blogging thing after all!

Mixed Signals

In October, when SDW went before council to fight against the two proposed Big Box expansions, one on the east side and one of the far west side, we were rebuffed by every councilor except Alan Halberstadt. In spite of mountains of evidence defending our position and attacking the economic promises of the CocoBox, we couldn't win over any councilors nor did we solicit so much as an honourable mention. Imagine my surprise when, the next morning, Eddie Francis tells AM800 that the city is going to have to reduce services or raise taxes. 'It's just the way things are now' Francis pined. While I've already written about that revelation imagine my surprise when, on Tuesday, Mayor Francis dropped another financial bombshell on Windsor. According to Francis it costs approximately $70 million a year to manage and maintain the infrastructure throughout Windsor. That's roads, sewers, water, etc. Here's the kicker -- Windsor doesn't have enough money to cover a budget that large. Hold on a second...SDW was founded to fight against unsustainable growth and to direct development to the currently built environment, focusing on pedestrian and human scale alternatives to the past projects. (Ed: This does not mean we are anti-car ... we just want to have the option to go carless, or less-car, if we choose!) So when SDW said to council that BigBox was going to cost us $0.44 a square foot (that's about $185,000 a year for the CocoBox), why didn't they listen? More importantly, why, only a few weeks later, are they telling us that we can't support the infrastructure that we have after they voted to BUILD MORE! City Council and Mayor Francis either have very short or very selective memories.

It was suggested by a spectator at council a couple of weeks back that Windsor have a Shadow Council, a sort of Official Opposition, to help keep council in check and accountable. I'm not sure that even a Shadow Council could keep up with the confusion being propogated by some members of our council, but there needs to be something done to encourage accountability of our city officials. I'd like to think that efforts like Scale Down Windsor, and other like venues of new media and information, are making a difference in the way that Windsor, collectively and individually, behaves. As Mahatma Ghandi said "We must become the change we want to see."

Debunking the Growth Myth, Part 12

Myth Number 12
Environmentalists are just another special interest. There is no such thing as the public interest.

Reality Check: Environmentalism is both a general interest and a public interest.

It seems that the idea of a public interest has fallen on hard times. Nobody can put their finger on a precise definition of the concept. As a result, environmentalists (and civic activists) tend to be labeled as just another special interest. This labeling marginalizes the environmentalists' viewpoint and makes it seem that they are no different than special interest business groups. For example, a city council might appoint two chemical company representatives and two environmentalists to a committee and assume that these "special interests" would balance out to represent the "public interest".

Business groups typically represents the narrow, private, profit-making interests of a relatively small segment of the community. The focus of such groups is on maximizing short-term economic gain for their particular industry, and they are undoubtedly a special interest in the political sense. Other issues are only important as they relate to this focus. The person who represents a business group on a civic committee is usually financially compensated for representing the group and may receive direct business benefits from committee participation, such as policies and decisions favourable to his or her business.

On the other hand, an environmentalist typically represents a broad range of interests and multiple values that are oriented toward protecting the current and future quality of our environmental support system. The outcome of the environmentalist's interest is the long-term welfare of all citizens and the natural habitat we ultimately depend upon. There is rarely any personal financial reward associated with the environmentalist's positions and more often, this representation comes at a personal cost.

Read the rest of the argument against Myth 12 here.

$120 million for Montreal Arts District

See what is possible when a city has defined a vision, established a plan and co-operation between the different levels of government as well as the community itself?

Quebec Premier Jean Charest said the parties involved have "an out of the ordinary will to do something that is going to be significant for Montreal and really leave a profound mark."

Do you feel that the secret behind Montreal's success as a municipality stems from the fact that they have this high level of government/citizen cooperation? Imagine what Windsor could accomplish if we possessed that out of the ordinary will to do something significant and leave a profound mark? We already have established the need, now we just need to rally community support behind a cohesive plan for a rejuvenated downtown. Then, will we be the next municipality getting media coverage of our huge windfall?

From CBC's website (thanks AC);

"An area of Montreal is earmarked for a major facelift after all three levels of government pledged $120 million toward the revamp as an attractive arts and entertainment hub.

Representatives from the federal, provincial and municipal governments vowed on Monday to participate and contribute $40 million each toward the redevelopment of a downtown area of approximately one square kilometre that includes the city's Place des Arts complex.

The revitalized entertainment district will be known as Le Quartier des Spectacles.

The goal is to improve the area that already plays host to a number of prominent events, including the popular Montreal International Jazz Festival and the annual Just for Laughs Comedy Festival."

Read the rest of the article here.

Rumours confirmed

It looks like Alan Halberstadt is somewhat of a clairvoyant. When we presented to council about the evils of the CoCoBox development on the border of Windsor, Alan launched into a pretty good speech about how the west side WalMart and the Huron Church/Tecumseh Canadian Tire store would like close and leave us with more empty Big Box stores to deal with. I guess he is right!

On a good source, I've been told that in addition to Loblaw's (which we already knew was putting a superstore sort of bigbox store out there) WalMart and Canadian Tire will be opening stores at the periphery of our city. Three stores filled, one to go.

I wonder what Windsor will do with all the empty Big Box stores in the city interior.

Oh yeah, one more psuedo rumour. The Home Depot store, which is moving out the SilverCity complex area in the 1st quarter next year, has already been sold to a new owner. Not sure who it is, but the rumour mill says Ikea has purchased it. We'll have to wait and see who buys that BigBox site -- but the papers are signed, sealed and delivered. Now it's just a matter of time.

Tonight, on the idiot box

I don't normally suggest that you spend valuable time out of the grave in front of that life-draining box in your recroom, but this CBC documentary seems like it may be the exception to the rule. I just wish it came out sooner so we could have driven people to watch it prior to our own little WalMart battle here in Windsor. From the CBC Newsworld website...

WAL-MART NATION
Tuesday November 13 at 10pm ET/PT and Saturday November 17 at 11pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld.

Wal-Mart Nation is an hour long, documentary journey through the complex and fascinating world of the international anti-Wal-Mart movement.

Wal-Mart's emergence as a global corporate force has triggered an unprecedented political backlash. Wal-Mart has single-handedly galvanized a progressive, grass roots and labour coalition of activists determined to roll back the tide of corporate power and domination. This is a generation baptized by the anti-globalization protests. This is the Wal-Mart Nation. These are their stories.

Carolyn is an unlikely anti-Wal-Mart activist. The former Miss America (1992) is a beauty queen turned feminist activist. She's also a Reagan Republican and anti-abortion crusader. Sapp founded Wal-Mart Versus Women as a vehicle to pu blicize the largest civil rights class action suit in US history.

Anna Liu is a 23 year old, Chinese Canadian union activist determined to unionize Canadian Wal-Mart workers. Despite her militancy, Anna tells us that before attending university she scarcely knew what a union was. We follow Anna and her cadres as they "gate crash" Wal-Mart stores in a desperate attempt to sign up members.

Forbes magazine calls Al Norman, Wal-Mart's number one enemy. Norman, also known as the "Sprawlbuster" is the dean of anti-Wal-Mart activists. Ten years ago the well-connected Democratic Party activist successfully prevented Wal-Mart from building a store in his Massachusetts hometown. His surprising victory spawned the anti-Wal-Mart movement.

Environmentalist Ben Bennett is the leader of a ten-year long battle to keep Wal-Mart out of Guelph, Ontario. But Bennett is now facing his final battle in this decade long war.

Chris Kofinis is a political science professor from Kingston, Ontario. But Kofinis has found himself on the front lines of the anti-Wal-Mart battle, along with presidential hopefuls John Edwards and Barack Obama. As Communications Director for the Washington D.C. based Wake-Up Wal-Mart, Kofinis is spending millions of dollars for on a sophisticated media campaign against America's biggest employer.

These stories are set against the colourful backdrop of the Wal-Mart annual general meeting. Here, Wal-Mart executives, employees, and shareholders gather for a weeklong celebration of the world's most successful company.

Through interviews, animation and actuality sequences, the filmmakers explore the Wal-Mart Effect and how the company has transformed the economy of the United States and the world.

Wal-Mart Nation is a first person journey through a year in life of the anti-Wal-Mart movement. The filmmakers blend actuality footage, interviews, archival film and photos, text and graphics in a provocative, engaging and often-humourous point of view documentary.

Wal-Mart Nation was produced by Ultramagnetic Productions and directed by Andrew Munger in association with CBC Newsworld.

Thinking Outside the Box Store

Hey - isn't there a Canadian Tire planned for the CocoBox development in Ojibway? Remember, just because they've got a reference to "Canada" in their name, doesn't make them the benign store that many think they are.

Many thanks to The Tyee for publishing this article and to Gord for sending it to me. (By the way, the author of this article is Ned Jacobs, son of the late and great urbanist Jane Jacobs. Man, I miss that woman!)

Thinking Outside the Box Store
By Ned Jacobs
TheTyee.ca

The stated object of Mayor Sullivan's EcoDensity initiative is to reduce Vancouver's "eco-footprint" by cutting energy use and waste, while improving livability and housing affordability.

These goals are laudable, but will EcoDensity actually live up to its billing?

The apparent willingness of the mayor and some councillors to significantly expand big box development in South Vancouver is clearly at odds with EcoDensity.

The environmental and social benefits of density are due to economies of location, mainly achieved through growth of neighbourhood centres with diverse functions.

In sharp contrast, big box retail exploits economies of scale, relying on a widely dispersed customer base, public subsidies for car owners, and plenty of cheap parking.

"Green" building design of a box store does not alter its fundamental dependency on cars and fossil fuels.

And while multi-chain big box plantations can be cost-effective and convenient for car-owning consumers, it's always at the expense of commercial diversity and stability in central and neighbourhood business districts. Retailers in our pedestrian-oriented centres pay premium rents for their location, often with limited or pricey parking. Big box retailers compete unfairly by converting lower-cost industrial land to retail use, while asking us all to suffer the consequences of car dependency.

The question before Vancouver City Council is an application by Canadian Tire for a 255,000 square-foot "big box" retail development that is expected to generate up to 11,000 car trips per day on heavily congested Marine Drive."

255,000 square feet is dwarfed when compared to the 420,000 of CocoBox that Windsor's city council just approved a zoning change for. I hope SouthVan does a better job at protecting it's local economy than Windsor.

Read the rest of this article at The Tyee's website here.

Impassioned plea for Ojibway

While I may disagree with this letter writer on some of his smaller points, I must give him accolades for writing such an impassioned letter to the Windsor Star. I am publishing it here, for the fact that if our daily paper prints it at all, it will be in a much neutred form.

Congrats, Gerry. We need more letter writers like you.

Letter to the Editor: Regarding “GreenLink/ Big Box”

Amid great fanfare and theatrics, the City of Windsor rolled out its new "GreenLink" border initiative. Within hours of its release, the spindoctors at the Windsor Star, official mouthpiece of City Hall, revved up its PR engines to full throttle.

Experience the rapture, they proclaimed! Call 311 and give us the thumbs up, they exclaimed! This is your final chance, they shrieked! The messiah has arrived, save yourselves! "Gridlock Sam" and his "Garden of Eden" caravan have just pulled up to Huron Church bearing gifts: 300 acres of parkland!

To a weary population beaten down by years of record smog, pollution and the endless rumble of trucks, the promise seemed enticing. To a city over-run by urban sprawl and cancerous growth, a city whose lack of trees and greenspace is a point of pride amongst members of the local conservation authority, to a sick, bloated worn-out shell of a city mired in its own waste, the second coming of "Gridlock Sam" appeared like a godsend.

I too wanted to be a believer. I picked up the phone to dial 311 and register my approval, when my eye caught a glimpse of an almost imperceptible headline on the front page of the Windsor Star, "Lure of Big Box Jobs Sways Council". I put down the phone and read…..

No! This can't be true I thought. Who in their right mind would propose such a ludicrous plan, a big box sprawlmart supercenter, complete with 48 acres of asphalt right at the gates of the internationally acclaimed, federally and locally funded, provincially protected, Ojibway Prairie Complex.

Imagine taking the family for a nice Sunday drive out to Point Pelee and upon arrival finding a Walmart Supercenter right outside the gate. As you enter, a Walmart greeter hands you a cart and proclaims, "Welcome to Point Pelee". Have they all gone mad?

There are numerous sites throughout this city more suitable for this type of predatory development, than the "Garden of Eden" that is Ojibway. The Lou Romano Sewage Lagoon comes to mind…or how about the Central Avenue Transfer Station? For a highly visible site that could act as a Big Box Beacon, I recommend building it atop of one of the city's numerous reclaimed landfills.

The well oiled, snake oil salesmen at city hall claim this big box monstrosity is a compatible development for this site. "There will be no negative impacts to the surrounding Ojibway corridor" they spout. To further allay our fears, they point out that E.R.C.A. (the protector of our conservation lands) has given its approval of the project. I can't recall a development in the history of Essex County in which E.R.C.A. has denied approval. This should come as no surprise, for like a fox guarding the henhouse the E.R.C.A. board is entirely stacked with politicians from representative municipalities who know nothing of conservation and whose primary interests are to ensure that development in their respective turfs aren’t impeded.

Equally not surprising, although very disheartening is the fact that the city's own (neutered) Environmental Planning Advisory Committee (EPAC) “reluctantly” supports the project. According to their sad logic, “a commercial development is preferable to a residential development”. They don’t realize that either option is like a Trojan horse that will open up the entire area to further encroachment and fragmentation, thus destroying the very fabric and connectivity of this sacred “GreenLink”. The EPAC naively believes they can somehow lessen the impact of this “Boxing In” as long as they “get a seat at the table”, apparently when the feeding frenzy begins. Thus "E-Pack" unknowingly plays pawn to the city puppet masters, who exploit the PR potential that an “Environmental Group” provides by lending an air of credibility and justification to the city's sordid scheme. Why create a costly PR department when the City can exploit these various volunteer committees?

Most self respecting environmental groups, citizens, the MNR, the racetrack, the Windsor Business Association Advisory Committee (WBAAC} and the Town of LaSalle are outraged and opposed to this project. In fact, the Town of LaSalle’s planning department issued the following statement from its commissioned peer review of the Applicant’s Market Impact Assessment and Planning Justification Report which concludes….. “….It is difficult to imagine a more inappropriate location to plan a major big box commercial centre such as that proposed on the subject lands….”

The one hope for the “Ojibway Complex” is that the progressive and farsighted Town of LaSalle take up the fight to the Ontario Municipal Board. LaSalle has already publicly stated that it does not support this Big Box commercial development. The project “does not represent good planning, is contrary to both the Town of LaSalle and the City of Windsor’s Official Plan and does not meet the requirements of the Cabinet Approved Provincial Policy Statement” and most certainly is in conflict with the Endangered Species Act. There are many citizens in both LaSalle and Windsor who would stand up and fight if LaSalle would take the lead.

The renown conservationist Robert Marshall stated, “It is exigent that all friends of the wilderness ideal should unite. If they do not present the urgency of their view-point the other side will certainly capture popular support. Then it will be only a few years until the last escape from society will be barricaded. If that day arrives there will be countless souls born to live in strangulation, countless human beings who will be crushed under the artificial edifice raised by man. There is just one hope of repulsing the tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth. That hope is the organization of spirited people who will fight for the freedom of wilderness”.

It is glaringly obvious that the Mayor and City Council, with the exception of Councilor Halberstadt lack both the vision and intent to safeguard the natural habitats that so many citizens, many of them children, have fought so hard over the years to protect. All the rhetoric and public relations propaganda in the world can not hide the fact that this council has no regard for its citizens or the earth. This council makes a sham out of the city’s motto: “The River and the Land Sustain Us”. Just look at the area of the “Little River Enhancement Group”. Children spent years of toil rehabilitating this site, only to witness the city’s encroachment with roadways and bridges, urban sprawl housing projects, and the soon to be $100 million dollar future “white elephant” arena and 2400 car parking lot.

The City has truckloads of taxpayer dollars for lavish projects that primarily benefit the wealthy few; the developers, lawyers, planners, consultants and so called hired experts. This is the real “Green-$-Link” of which the city refers to in the new improved Schwartz Plan 2. A green-$-link that has already cost Windsor taxpayers upwards of $5,000,000! Lost in the public memory hole is the fact that the current “1500 Jobs?/ Big Box Beacon” is almost the same location of the original “Schwartz Plan Ring Road” proposed by our enlightened council. For this same council to now advocate a disneyscaped 300 acre parkland Greenlink border plan while aiding and abetting the destruction of the real green-link, the Ojibway Provincial Prairie Nature Reserve, is hypocrisy at its finest.

I urge everyone who still cares about the natural world, who still values community and integrity, who still envisions a world worthy of leaving for our children, to stand up and fight against the City of Windsor’s betrayal of its citizenry, its neighbors and the natural world. Call or Write LaSalle and encourage Council to oppose this sordid plan at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Call Windsor’s 311 or write/e-mail Windsor City Councilors to object to this Big Box Boondoggle!

Gerry Kaiser

Innovate or Die!

I've been reading the rhetoric that the proposed, and now likely defunct, University of Windsor School of EngineeringDowntown Campus has been generating both online and tranditional media outlets. The blogging community has come alive withall sorts of opinions and gyrations on both sides of the issue. Reading Gord Henderson's column from November 8th made me green with envy, and then it made me mad.

What really turns me up about this whole process is the very name of the new engineering school -- Centre for Engineering Innovation. In fact, to be completely honest, I am extremely disappointed in the sheer number of engineering students and faculty who have come out in opposition to moving downtown. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but aren't they supposed to be engineers? Aren't they going to spend the rest of their careers coming up with innovate and new solutions to meet, and exceed, business objectives? It seems to me that, when trying to build an engineering school downtown, that the very best ideas, the most brilliant solutions, should be springing from the collective intelligence of the resident faculty and their students. Instead, what we are getting is a glimpse into the product that the engineering school at the University of Windsor will be delivering over the coming decades -- a giant helping of the same old thing.

Innovate or die, that oft repeated, though completely accurate, mantra of the business world, should be the new slogan for Windsor. We've tried 50 years of doing things, or more accurately, undoing things, without so much as a hint of success in staunching the flow of jobs, money and people out Windsor. Clayton M. Christensen, a professor at the Harvard Business School, established the critical need for businesses to innovate or risk losing both customers and profit to the competition. In fact, Christensen, in his 2003 book The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth, found that the odds of creating successful growth, albeit in a business environment, jumped from 6% to 37% when a distruptive strategy is implemented versus the tread-worn path of incremental growth.

Mayor Francis, to his credit, is finally running the city like a family-business -- sort of. He abhors debt and is working to set the city, at least on paper, on firm financial footing. To Mayor Francis I say, "If you want to run Windsor like a business, you need to do what good businesses do!". We have to pull out all of the stops to find new and innovative ways to engage the citizenry, whether residents or businesses, in building a more diverse and sustainable Windsor. We are building the image of Windsor, much like Chrysler builds minivans, and trying to sell our product to the highest, and hopefully most sustainable, bidder. It is time to stop hashing out the same old plans, in the same old ways, just with different councilors at the table. It is time to take up the position being suggested by Larry Horowitz of the DWBIA, Gord Henderson of the Windsor Star and, of course, the editors of Scale Down Windsor and transform Windsor into a land of milk and honey. I think that if we look deep enough we'll discover that we have the talent, the desire and, if we look in the right places, the money to make the changes that need to be made. Just don't look to the University of Windsor School of Engineering -- apparently the talent and desire to innovate are in short supply in Essex Hall.

Community buys into Downtown Campus

I know from personal experience that the Windsor Star and Gord Henderson are not normally representative of the general public's attitudes, but they've got that attitude nailed this time.

Now - I have yet to complete any empirical studies or thorough surveys a la Ipsos Reid, but I do tend to talk to a lot of people around this city. And the vast majority of people I talk to admit incorporating a downtown university campus is a seeming no-brainer.

According to Henderson's column today (and I saw Gord taking feverish notes during Haldenby's speaking engagement, and the subsequent nauseous look on his face a few times) "The contrast between Cambridge, where people rolled up their sleeves, wrote cheques and got it done in short order, and Windsor, where the university seemingly doesn't understand the role it could and should play in this community, and where the public remains largely indifferent, is stark and painful." I must tell you that I share the same thoughts as Gord here. When I listened to Haldenby describe how enormous the impact was to the City of Cambridge (my mother is from Sheffield - very close by so I know it well) my heart began to ache.

"On Sept. 13, 2004, nine months from the start of construction, this riverfront showplace welcomed its first students. The payback, for Cambridge and the school, has been remarkable. It includes 800 new or refurbished housing units in the once-derelict core. An area where you couldn't get a cappuccino now boasts six such establishments. There's always something interesting happening downtown, courtesy of 350 creative, fun-loving minds. The boost in tax revenues exceeds the city's phased contributions. And the school, which has made headlines around the world, now attracts the nation's best talent, with applications soaring from 600 to 2,000 for 72 first-year openings. I listened to Haldenby and it made me sick with envy that our university, unlike the can-do folks at St. Clair College, can only come with lame excuses for not becoming a community partner in the revival of our dying downtown.", Henderson has every right to be concerned for Windsor.

What the University is proposing in it's new Centre For Engineering Innovation is about four times the size of the school of architecture in Cambridge. Four Times! Now take the numbers from the spin off developments credited to their downtown move, multiply it by four, and lay it over our downtown. Now you can see why the editorial board of the Star is rabidly behind this concept.

To put things in perspective, the University has stated that it is still $20 million short of the $110 million campus (U of Waterloo's architecture campus cost a total of $27 million). Whoever provides that final $20 million would have a lot of say in where the campus was located. Remember a year ago when the Star reported that "Council approves $48M arena plan: Move won't raise taxes, Postma tells voters", yet today the arena numbers have ballooned to a hefty $65.9 million.

Yup, that extra (nearly) $20 million recently tacked onto the sprawling east-end arena's budget would have done a lot of rejuvenating in our downtown.

Henderson paraphrases Haldenby by stating that "(w)ith its textile industry dead and its core area battered by floods in 1974 and ravaged by subsequent flood-control measures, Cambridge's movers and shakers spent years looking for a miracle. They kicked around proposals, ranging from an Imax theatre to a textile museum, that would have been chronic drains on the public purse."

Do we really feel that we've seen the last of the budgetary manipulations with regards to the arena? Do we really feel that we won't be propping up their annual budgets on a yearly basis resulting in "chronic drains on the public purse"? Cambridge understood the economic ramifications of all those different proposals, and obviously Windsor doesn't.

(ED: we will be posting the complete video and audio files from Professor Rick Haldenby's forum on this site very soon, so keep checking back to see if my google-fu has produced a final edit yet.)

Downtown Campus Part I

Last night's speaking engagement was a success on many levels.

Here's what I've learned

1. 19 cities tried to impose retail malls in their downtowns, 19 of those projects failed (including London Ontario's)
2. Every successful midsize city had 3 common elements
a. Protection of Heritage bldgs
b. a river or some other body of water
c. a post secondary campus
3. The benefits of a downtown campus are mutual. Some Universities benefits include:
a. Higher amount of applicants which yield a more prestigious student body
b. Greater recognition for graduates. Higher % of applicants that take jobs worldwide
c. Greater visibility increases ease of fundraising efforts

One of the problems that the speaker pointed out is that the continuation of this debate will help no one. A university Campus will come downtown only when the debate has ended.

Ross Paul made some comments that I can disagree with for good reasons. He mentioned "cobbling" together a smaller campus for another department might be a small start.

I disagree, as I think that would be an incredible victory. Our greatest problem is that we have no set and established vision for the City Center West Lands. Even a smaller campus created by the university would combine with efforts from the college to designate that land once and for all as a post secondary campus site with more to follow.

This would end all uncertainty for property owners adjacent to this land. For the first time in decades they could start producing plans for the surrounding 100 acres. It is not important whether the campus is not fully complete for a decade. If my hopes come true it will never be complete as it will always be a work in progress that keeps building. The point is that the process will begin whereas right now we sit in an unbearable limbo.

The first recommendation by the International Downtown Association Panel was that we make a decision regarding this land. Regardless of what the university decides to put on this land, a decision will be made.

Unfortunately too many people are caught up in the specific department that should come downtown where I agree with Dr. Paul that this is not what we should focus on. Finger pointing must end, we must work together as true partners to save our community.

The only other comment I felt that Dr. Paul made that should be addressed is his contention that the university is not only supposed to help downtown, its meant to help the entire region.

Well, he should remember that a successful downtown will also benefit our entire region. That is of course unless someone can point out a successful region that has turned their back on their downtown.

Remember this is not only about downtown, this is about the core of Essex County. Erie st., Ottawa and all the other BIA's will be affected by the decisions made to reinvest in the city's core.

Fumbling around in the void of information

A funny thing happened on the way to the editorial pages in todays Windsor Star.

I read through Gord Henderson's column which continued on his previous columns in pronouncing the death of a downtown university campus. Gord tells us about these City Centre West renderings I have been hearing so much about. The ones that I was told would make my mouth break out in an instantaneous torrent of saliva. The ones that "show the area from the new bus terminal west to Caron Avenue, and from University Avenue north to Riverside Drive, changed from asphalt wasteland into a dynamic urban space featuring attractive academic buildings, creative museum space, student residences and existing housing." If Francis wants to build public suport behind the downtown campus, the best thing he could do would be to "leak" these drawings. However, according to the Henderson, the dream is all but dead - "Plenty of vision. Lots of great pictures. But no cash. The story of our lives."

Then, right next to Gord's column on page A3, sat Grace Macaluso's "Mixed signals sent over U of W project", which basically apologises for Gord's current stance that the project is dead: "(t)his is despite the fact that Star columnist Gord Henderson today cites university board of governors chairman Marty Komsa explaining that the board has not only rejected putting the engineering school downtown, it has also passed on a follow-up proposal to put an ambitious $58-million mixed-use campus downtown due to lack of funds." According to Macaluso, , Lori Lewis, U of W manager of news services, said her comments on the weekend about the downtown proposal were premature. "I may have spoken out of turn," she said.

Talk about mixed messages.

This is what happens when the public is given only tidbits of tantalizing news. Like the land developers we love to hate, we speculate, guestimate and postulate, which benefits nobody but the people selling newspapers.

I am excited by the fact that the University appears to be backpedaling on their firm stance against a downtown campus, however. Maybe the DWBIA's forum tonight featuring Rick Haldenby from the University of Waterloo will open up a few eyes and ears to the possibilities that lie ahead if the public rallies their support behind these plans.

I don't think we are hiding our support here at SDW. The evidence is clear about the benefits hundreds of students living, learning and playing in an urban campus brings to the host community. We are also not convinced that the new Centre for Engineering Innovation is the only campus that would work. How about the new Law or Medical campus?

We must dare to dream, and this is where publicizing Francis' dreams-on-paper of a rejuvinated downtown would catapult us closer to that reality.

Good read for the start of the cold winter

This artful and entertaining collection of essays by the novelist Will Self (The Book of Dave) will delight anyone who enjoys his weekly column of the same name in the Independent or his last collection of essays, Feeding Frenzy.

Here Self shifts from gonzo journalism to the study of psychogeography, the study of how geographical environments affect emotions and behavior.

Setting off on a quest for the intrinsic character of various places as well as the manner in which the contemporary world warps the relationship between psyche and place, Self casts a dismissive eye on most of the world. Singapore strikes him as Basingstoke force-fed with pituitary gland; Sao Paolo's lack of a street plan makes it an unholy miscegenation between London and Los Angeles. But Steadman's beautifully harsh illustrations (worthy of their own book) and Walking to New York, a previously unpublished semi-autobiographical meditation on life and death, reveal a surprising depth to Self's cynical insights.

"Cars and bullet trains may speed up our transit time, but they do nothing to enrich the quality or depth of our interactions. On the contrary, because we arrive so fast, we have no reason to make occasions of anything. By nudging others into this consciousness, Self acts as "an insurgent against the contemporary world."After an afternoon of overload at a local mall, he escapes to the suburbs with his kids, where he reflects on how interzones -- those places where "country and city do battle for the soul of a place" -- excite him. This suburban expedition is Self's way of dragging his children into their own consciousness of place. He wants to yank them "out of all this intense urbanity" and expose them to the suffocating pressure of "the sheer orderliness of all the neat verges and linseed- oiled garage doors" -- just like the teenage Self once felt. Once again, the insurgency: Self watches as his son tenses on his way into the suburbs and relaxes on his way home to the city, his psyche penetrated.

This new book promises to be an excellent read. Check out the book review published by the L.A. Times. Unfortunately, it's not yet vailable at the Windsor Public Library, but it is available at the St. Clair Shores Indigo store - but please try and purchase it from an independant retailer first.

Toronto's SPACING editor in Windsor

Join writer Shawn Micallef, Associate Editor of one of my favorite blogs Spacing as well as the Magazine of the same name in discussing how growing up in an automotive border town inspired him to pursue urban-minded projects. Associate editor of Spacing Magazine, Micallef created the mobile phone documentary called [murmur] which allows people to hear memories and stories of specific geographic locations.

It's really unfortunate that Shawn's lecture is taking place at the same time as the DWBIA's symposium on Downtown Regeneration Through Campus Location, because I've been a fan of Shawn's work and would love to hear him talk about how his early life in Windsor has shaped his views on urban design.

Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Central Branch -- Fred Israel Auditorium
Street: 850 Ouellette Avenue

Check out this events Facebook listing here.

Debunking the Growth Myth, Part 11

Myth Number 11
A person's visual preference is no basis for objecting to development.

Reality Check: The beauty of land is priceless and its destruction is permanent.

Citizens who oppose a development because it will ruin a pleasing view, or an attractive natural setting are often trivialized and dismissed by local officials who feel that profits and economic criteria are what is important. However, a pleasing natural view can be one of the most significant qualities in a good community. Unfortunately many people tend to dismiss such benefits of natural landscapes. It's all too rare that human development is a visual improvement upon a natural setting.

Seldom is a development stopped because it will harm an attractive natural setting. However, the "view" is often the most important siting criteria for a home or commercial development. The right "view" can make a $100,000 home sell for twice as much.

A 1994 study by the National Association of Home Builders found that the surrounding environment is the single most important factor affecting the market value of a home. A mountain vista or the proximity to a park, beach, or stream affects home value more than the size of the house (square footage), number of rooms, pools, or appliances. When visual preferences carry such a price tag, they can hardly be dismissed as trivial.

The aesthetic values of undeveloped land probably represents other human values as well. Our preference for natural landscapes may reflect an innate appreciation for the multitude of ecological values that can be derived from them – clean air and water, wildlife habitat, species diversity, etc. – as well as food generating potential from hunting and foraging that our ancestors depended on. The quality of our surrounding environment is still a direct reflection of our own health and well-being. Urban natural areas can also be extremely significant to children as places to play, explore, and build a closer relationship with nature.

for a printable version of the argument against Myth 11, click here.

GST tax cuts and "Trickle Down Economics"

Is anyone else concerned when they see the upper-tier governments post HUGE budget surpluses, while we here at the municipal levels can't afford to replace our water mains?

Barbara Yaffe had an excellent op-ed in this weekend's Windsor Star that helps link the two issues.

While the municipalities struggle with providing the basic requirements to live, only receiving $0.08 out of every dollar, our federal government is posting $13 billion surpluses and passing out tax cuts like Hallowe'en candy.

Canadian Federation of Municipalities president Gord Steeves pulled no punches in this press release, following Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's October 30 economic statement;

"The federal government obviously has room to cut taxes and invest in our cities and communities. Even after all the debt payments and tax cuts announced today, the government will still have $26 billion more than it needs over the next six years.

If the Government really wants to provide Canadians with tax relief, it should start by sharing the equivalent of one cent of the GST with cities and communities and making the gas-tax transfer permanent.

By providing cities and communities with more resources to meet growing needs, this would take the pressure off the property tax—the most regressive tax we have. This would also help our cities and communities compete with the best in the world, providing a sound basis for Canada’s future prosperity.

This year’s $13.8-billion federal surplus showed the government has been collecting more tax than it needed. The cost of not renewing our municipal infrastructure —pushed off the balance sheet where we can’t see it—is a massive municipal infrastructure deficit pegged at between $60 and $100 billion.

The government has so far failed to tackle this deficit, one of the most critical issues facing Canada’s cities and communities, with a long-term plan and commitment. The government’s Budget 2007 infrastructure investment of approximately $18 billion over seven years is important, but it pales when compared with the massive and growing municipal infrastructure deficit.

Today’s actions by the government leave this deficit untouched and continuing to grow, and the longer we fail to tackle it, the greater the cost when we finally do. Declaring victory and walking away from the battleground will not fix our cities. We need a plan, and we need long-term commitment.”

Think of this as we enjoy our GST cut. I think that I would prefer to spend my tax dollars on what's important to my family and my community. The first place I would start is to preserve an affordable flow of water into my house and alleviate the sewers backing up into my basement.

I would gladly forego a cut in GST for that.

Weekend chuckle

It's strange how comedians are the bravest social commentators around. Check out this skit from MadTV for their take on Wal-Mart

Urban Renaissance Through Campus Location

Are you still wondering whether a downtown University campus would be the right thing for Windsor? Bring everyone you know to the Armouries this Tuesday night at 6:00 PM to hear first hand why this may be the single-most important development decision of our generation.

Urban Renaissance Through Campus Location:
A DWBIA forum exploring the potential impact of a downtown university campus.

Keynote Speaker
Professor Rick Haldenby
Director of University of Waterloo School of Architecture, Cambridge Downtown
Co-Director Centre for Core Areas Research and Design

Professor Haldenby is an internationally respected architect and an

expert in the study of issues facing core areas in middle-sized cities.

Windsor Armouries
37 University Avenue E.,
Downtown Windsor
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Downtown Windsor – The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA) believes the establishment of a downtown University of Windsor engineering campus would revitalize the entire city of Windsor and offer enormous benefits to the university, as well.

And they are out to prove it.

“Once every century an opportunity occurs that can change the texture and quality of downtown,” explained DWBIA chair Larry Horwitz. “Let’s stop complaining about downtown Windsor not being the way you want it to be – let’s do something about it. Scores of other cities have transformed their cities by creating university campuses in their downtown hubs.”
The DWBIA has invited Professor Rick Haldenby, Director of the University of the Waterloo School of Architecture, co-director of the Centre for Core Areas Research and Design and respected architect and expert in the study of issues facing core areas in middle-sized cities, as the keynote speaker for Urban Renaissance Through Campus Location: A DWBIA forum exploring the potential impact of a downtown university campus, which takes place at the

Windsor Armouries on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.
“Professor Haldenby was instrumental in University of Waterloo’s decision to build its School of Architecture in downtown Cambridge,” said DWBIA executive director