What am I doing here?

The lead-up to the website launch on Wednesday has got me asking myself; what is my contribution to scaledown.ca? I really believe in what we are trying to do here, but sometimes I worry that the task is so big and I worry that I’m not the right person to be out writing about how we should live our lives.

I’m not going to get all philosophical like Chris did the other day but, I just want to take a little bit today to let you know where my part in scaledown.ca is heading.

I’ve been researching stories for future posts. My background is in civil engineering and I have knowledge of and access to information on structures and civil-works. So I’m putting stuff together for posts about infrastructure and what needs to be fixed and what the costs might be. Personally, I am very interested in peak oil and its ramifications, I think understanding this issue will be important to how we move forward. Therefore, a couple of posts will talk about Transition Towns and initiatives like the Portland Peak Oil Advisory Group. Then there’s my love of bicycles. There will be posts from me about my bikes and commuting and maybe even a little “bike porn”. “Bike porn” is what my wife calls any website that features pictures of bicycles that I tend to spend long periods of time just staring at, usually followed by longing glances at my bank account. LOL.

Besides my posts I have been working on a public event to help us all learn more about Urban Planning and what is involved in the planning process. This event will feature professional planners and educators with a panel discussion and a question and answer session. Keep Saturday, March 22 open on your calendars.

My hope is for scaledown.ca to be a source of ideas and solutions for our community. What I really want is to bring the message that there are better ways to live than sprawl/consumerism. I want to help our community prepare and make changes for a future that could be very rewarding for the people of Windsor/Essex.

Bridge access to downtown

Just some clarifications.

This is not the first time the issue of downtown access from the Bridge has been dealt with. Several years ago the Bridge requested that the access route to downtown by way of Riverside Drive be closed down. That access to downtown be gained by Wyandotte.

The bridge had several valid safety concerns with keeping this route open, mostly to do with car traffic crossing truck traffic

Notwithstanding the valid bridge concerns, the DWBIA and the city asked the Bridge not close this access as Riverside was an obviously far more convenient, scenic and attractive route to downtown.

Examples
1. You cannot turn left from Wyandotte to Ouellette
2. If you turn before onto pelissier, most one way streets will lead you west and away from Downtown
3. If you turn after Ouellette One way streets on Park and Pitt will lead you east and away from downtown
4. As much as I like the asian flavor of wyandotte, it will never appeal to tourists as much as our world class waterfront which also has significantly less left turn traffic and traffic lights.

Now these traffic issues are not the fault of the Ambassador Bridge Company. Also, I understand and appreciate that the Ambassador Bridge may very well have perfectly good cause to temporarily close this access. As many have stated at many times, they are concerned with running an efficient operation at their location as they should be.

Many are fearful that in this antagonist climate that the Bridge company may be trying to test the waters to see if it can achieve its previously stated intentions which were to close this exit permanently. Without assigning fault, I personally think it sucks that this type of climate even exists in this day and age.

I think that a simple clarification of the Ambassador Bridge Company regarding the long term use of this downtown access would be appreciated and resolve this once and for all. I for one would be immediately satisfied by a clear statement of this nature by Mr. Stamper as it is the long term strategy for downtown access that is of greater concern. Riverside Drive is how we should want visitors to first experience Windsor rather than a congested and transitional Wyandotte Street. If someone thinks that difference is unimportant, I would suggest that reveals more about them and their motives.

The Casino's downtown road closures are not a comparable situation as the DWBIA was given notice months before the decision was made. In addition to that, Public meetings were held. The DWBIA had the full ability to express its concerns and weigh the pro's and cons. The elected DWBIA board unanimously supported that decision.

The same meetings have also taken place regarding a potential tunnel plaza. Again the situations are not comparable.

Hopefully in the long term, visitors to Windsor will remember their first impression being the Waterfront which we have so heavily invested in as a world Class Showpiece

The Arts: London funding vs. Windsor’s Creativity

london arts budget

Contrasting the way that London contributes to the the arts will ultimately address funding deal with funding. We are currently seeing across the board cuts in the Libraries, Art Gallery, Arts Council. Meanwhile we watch Arts funding in London Ontario increase, not only by the city but also by the Private sector. Further on this post, I’ll show examples of where Windsor’s creativity trumps London

Municipal revenue is $951,000, Windsor’s contribution is 2/3 of that amount

If it gets final approval later this month, council's vote to contribute $160,000 to a recently established public art fund could usher in a new era and reinforce London's future as a creative city. The Mainstreet London Association paid $200,000 for the public art that is the multi colored tree art downtown
In Windsor we see arts funding significantly reduced, even the Capital Theater dispute has funding as its root cause.

I am not one to simply want my tax dollars thrown at the arts, but we have to acknowledge what other cities are doing to find best practices. Secondly, there are ample opportunities to contribute to the arts with little or no cost by the city. One source I found that has not seen a dollar spent on Windsor is www.businessforarts.org.

One thing I see advantageous for Windsor over London is the fact that we seem to do things for a fraction of the cost of London. A couple of examples include downtown security camera’s up costing $30,000 per year while London’s program cost $200,000 or London’s Ambassador program spent $51,000 for a promotional video, while the DWBIA was able to make a much better promotional video for far less cost.\

Right Now, Londons’ struggling TAP (The Arts Project) cost hundreds of thousands while local artist Christian Aldo his own version of an arts incubator by creating Galleries displaying the work of local artists on Pelissier simply by working with building owners and artists with no other assets than his colourful and dynamic character. This initiative deserves its own attention and kudo's to Mr. Aldo

Before she left, Judith Veresuk proposed the idea of cladding the stark white new planters downtown with mosaic tile art. Implementing this public arts partnership with business could be a testament to Mrs. Veresuk downtown efforts.
Think of Cartunes, businesses could sponsor the winners from an art competition to decorate the planters like they did with Cartunes, except this time they would get far more than a one year bang for their art donation. We would have a permanent display of their contribution.

Secondly, the DWBIA has already committed $100,000 additional to maiden lane streetscape to turn it into a “European” style road with the plumbing infrastructure for a fountain in the center. No funds have been allocated or raised for the actual fountain. The DWBIA needs to come up with terms of reference and criteria for this fountain design. After that a design competition should also be conducted for this fountain to become another proud piece of public art.

Separately, the best thing Windsor could do for the arts is to coordinate grant writing between the different groups. This position was filled by Ed Agnew before but there needs to be a “311” type program to access this moneys.