9 attitudes of Highly Creative People

I couldn't resist reposting an article I found somewhere else, I think this is what Windsorites should look for in who they listen to

Written on May 9th, 2007 at 12:05 am by Darren Rowse

Today I’d like to look at some attitudes to build into your approach if you want to be a more creative person:

1. Curiosity

I’ve written previously on the topic of curiosity because I’m convinced that it is an essential skill to build as a blogger. Learning to ask ‘why’, ‘what if’ and ‘I wonder…’ are great questions t build into your life if you want to be a more creative person.

2. Seeing Problems as Interesting and Acceptable

One of the problems of the Western mindset is that we often see problems or obstacles in life as unacceptable parts of life. We avoid pain or suppress it when it comes and in doing so don’t often see and feel symptoms that are there to tell us something important. Creative people see problems as a natural and normal part of life - in fact they often have a fascination with problems and are drawn to them.

3. Confronting Challenge

Many of the most creative ideas through out history have come from people facing a challenge or crisis and rather than running from it asking ‘how can I overcome this’?

4. Constructive Discontent

Creative people often have an acute awareness of what’s wrong with the world around them - however they are constructive about this awareness and won’t allow themselves to get bogged down in grumbling about it - they take their discontent and let it be a motivation to doing something constructive.

5. Optimism

Creative people generally have a deeply held belief that most (if not all) problems can be solved. No challenge is too big to be overcome and no problem cannot be solved (this doesn’t mean they’re always happy or never depressed - but they don’t generally get stumped by a challenge).

6. Suspending Judgment

The ability to hold off on judging or critiquing an idea is important in the process of creativity. Often great ideas start as crazy ones - if critique is applied too early the idea will be killed and never developed into something useful and useable. (note - this doesn’t mean there is never a time for critique or judgement in the creative process - it’s actually key - but there is a time and place for it).

7. Seeing Hurdles as leading to improvements and solutions

This relates to some of the above - but by ‘hurdles’ I mean problems and mistakes in the creative process itself. Sometimes it’s on the journey of developing an idea that the real magic happens and it’s often out of the little problems or mistakes that the idea is actually improved.

8. Perseverance

Creative people who actually see their ideas come to fruition have the ability to stick with their ideas and see them through - even when the going gets tough. This is what sets apart the great from the good in this whole sphere. Stick-ability is key.

9. Flexible Imagination

I love watching a truly creative person at work when they’re ‘on fire’. They have this amazing ability to see a problem or challenge and it’s many potential solutions simultaneously and they have an intuitive knack at being able to bring previously disconnected ideas together in flashes of brilliance that seem so simple - yet which are so impossible to dream up for the average person.

Is Creativity tied to Personality Type or Can it be Learned?

As I read through this list of traits of creative people - the question that I find myself asking is whether creativity is tied to personality type or whether it can be learned.

My own uneducated answer to this question is - ‘yes’.

Some people are just creative - they don’t train themselves to think like they do and they often don’t even know that they are any different from the rest of us - it’s just who they are.

However I believe that we can all enhance our ability to be creative over time.

Let's Get Windsor Moving (out to the county)

On Monday, January 7th, there will be a couple of items going before city council that will continue Windsor’s drain of residents out to surrounding bedroom communities and further solidify the automobiles dominance in our transportation hierarchy.

Smart Growth, here we come…

Item #5 is the Essex-Windsor Regional Transportation Master Plan. In classic Orwellian double-speak, it pays homage to progressive notions such as following “a more regional approach to transportation planning matters including road infrastructure, transit, cycling and other sustainable transportation forms.”, yet the document continues on with a “list of critical projects that need to be completed.”, such as;

• Extend Wyandotte Street East to continue this streets push east.


• Widen E.C. Row Expressway to at least 6 lanes from Banwell Road to Ojibway Parkway,


• Widen Provincial Road/Division Road to a 4 lane arterial road from Howard to the south city limits,


• Widen and extend Lauzon Parkway to connect with highway 401 and then south to highway 3 in Maidstone “for the overall economc development and growth of the city”

Apparently, it is imperative that the city begin work on these projects, as “(f)urther delay will result in oppressive traffic delays crippling local industry and discouraging new investment and job growth” Wow, they seem pretty sure of themselves. My question to the city would be exactly how these projects will encourage new investment and job growth, as those are some of the reasons thrown about that nobody can question, because if you do you are anti-Windsor and anti-growth.

Item #4 is more of the same, as the results of the Manning Road and County Road 22 Class Environmental Assessment and the preliminary design are coming before council. I got a chuckle when I read that these “improvements” were being carried out under the slogan “Let’s Get Windsor Essex Moving Strategy”, as I figured it meant let’s get Windsor residents moving out to Essex county. I don’t think that’s what they meant, however.

This engine will just continue chugging along until there is a critical mass of residents crying out together for it to slow down. City council, it seems, is trying to be everything to everyone, yet it succeeds at nothing. It says it wants to strengthen out downtown and established communities, yet it paves and widens escape routes to the suburbs allowing more city residents to flee the same traffic those widened roads encourage. It wants to plant “a million trees” to help clean our toxic air, yet it encourages motorist-only methods of transportation to built-up areas where walking and cycling are not a mobility options.

"More of the same" is the kind of thinking that set us down the road that lead us to where we find ourselves today. Is this something you're happy with?

Neither am I.

Story of Stuff

I probably should have posted this entry prior to the beginning of the holiday shopping season (known affectionately as "Black Friday"), but yes - I got caught up in the cycle as well.

Baby steps, Chris. Baby steps.

Take 20 minutes of your time and watch this short, animated film. Try not to get put off by the preachy-ness of it, as it contains some great information about our stuff, and the life-cycle costs it imposes on our society and our overall quality of life. After you're finished hearing the story, be sure to pass it on to your friends and family. Everyone needs to know that we are voting with our dollars for things we normally wouldn't support in an otherwise sane world.

It is the general consensus by us SDW chaps that if we only took a few steps back and took in more of the "Big Picture", we wouldn't make the same choices we are making today.

Happy New Year, and look forward to some more regular entries here in the near future...

Respects and hope for change

What a horrific way to win an arguement regarding after hours clubs. The blame here should not fall on council and/or Mayor. They can only make decisions based on the reports that administration and Police give them. When a special interest group like the DWBIA conflicts with those reports, confusion results. This was not an unforeseen incident, this incident was foreseen. Someone needs to focus on why Police and administration reports claimed that there wasn't a problem at this location even though there was as many shootings in the past as there was years go by. Even though video footage exists that shows a problem existed at this location.

The only way I know how to honour this latest victim is take measures to ensure we don't need a 3rd plaque to commemorate the next victim.

Maybe Mr. Rogers was right after all...

For many of us in Generation X Mr. Rogers was a staple of television life in our definitve years. I still remember his cheery song, "Won't you be mine? Won't you be mine? Won't you be my neighbour?" Mr. Rogers was a true urban visionary with his veiled advocacy for a walkable and diverse neighbourhood. In spite of being a product of the automotive driven sprawl fanatacism that still permeats our culture today, Rogers was able to, with a change of shoes, find all that he needed in his mixed use habitat. Though Mr. Rogers wasn't really a new urbanism advocate, he was a concerned neighbour, a friend, hoping to make a positive change in his little part of the world.

I've been thinking about neighbours since moving to a new neighbourhood last year. South Windsor is highly car dependant, with a glaring lack of sidewalks and streetlights to impede its' walkability. In spite of the challenges I see multitudes of people out walking, riding their bikes and otherwise engaged in the experience of living in a diverse neighbourhood. Alas, my generation is quite addicted to our 'convenient' automobiles, but the older generation, many who have lived in the area since it was built in the mid-50s, take the time stroll the streets, mingle with neighbours, and stoke the fires of friendship that have burned for decades.

I'm quite proud of my little block on Academy Drive. When we moved in our neighbours, who have lived in their home since it was built, came to introduce themselves. They quickly got our names and phone number and added us to the neighbourhood directory. We were invited to the neighbourhood BBQ held every August and got the low-down on all of the neighbours; who had kids (more than I thought), who liked kids (pretty much everyone) and a myriad of other neighbourhood history. Although there are no sidewalks on my street the neighbours religiously reclaim the road for impromptu discussions, often under the auspice of "trying to round up the kids" or, my personal favourite, "mowing the lawn". Our small block takes pride in bucking the trend of isolation, instead cultivating and developing strong personal ties within our little enclave of urban happiness.

The real sense of community was displayed last Sunday when Windsor got its' first winter storm of the season and, even before the snow had stopped, neighbours were out shoveling their driveways. However, instead of each neighbour tackling their own drive neighbours swarmed each others driveway clearing the snow with military precision. From driveway to driveway this little army of snow shovels traveled, enjoying the process of simply being together.

It behooves each of us who cherish the neighbourhoods that we live in to echo the call of Mr. Rogers and ask our fellow citizens, "Won't you be my neighbour?" Sure, it means turning off the television, putting away the iPod, logging off the internet and going outside to interact with each other, but our future depends on restoring the strong human interaction that technological conveniences have unwittingly stripped from us. I am sure that you will find, as we have in our neighbourhood, that the richness of friendship and a vibrant community far surpass the electronic solitude sold to us as mass media.

He's makin' a list, checkin' it twice...

OK, class. It's time for your holiday homework. Take a cue from James and put your New Year's Resolutions down on paper and be sure to post them in a spot in your home where they are easily within view of not only yourself, but whomever you share your abode with.

You want to stick to them, right?

I am just about to do this myself...

Guest Blogger - James Coulter

…scale down, James

It’s that time again. The end of another year, a time when we look back at what has been and look forward to what may be. We make resolutions, some we can keep, some we can’t. Here are my resolutions for 2008.

Drive less. Over the last year I have gotten much better about how much I actually drive. This past fall I added lights and reflectors and was able to ride my bike to work into November. For 2008 my goal will be to ride to work no less than three times per week and other than big weekly grocery trips I will not drive for trips shorter than 5km round trip.

Get involved in my community. My wife has told me more than once “if you don’t like what’s going on, do something about it”. My first step has been to get involved with …scale down, Windsor. For 2008 I will watch, attend or at least read the minutes of Council meetings. Also for 2008 I will volunteer with my community residents association.

Use public transit more. If there is an event downtown I want to attend, I will use the bus to get there (if my bike is not an option).

Start a garden. My backyard needs some sprucing up, so I will plant a vegetable garden rather than a cartoon landscape.

Continue to work on my home to improve its energy efficiency.

Visit the library twice each month. In 2007 we started to go to the library as a family activity. Our visits have been irregular, so for 2008 I will plan to hit the books more often.

Keep stirring the pot. In 2007 I sent a couple of letters to the editors at the Windsor Star. I kept that up in 2008 along with my work here. I think the Windsor blogosphere will have a big impact on the next municipal election and I want more Windsorites to get involved with the blogs and other activities to make a difference until 2010.

James Coulter is an Engineering Technologist with the School of Building, Design and Construction Technology at St. Clair College. His opinions are plentiful and may not reflect those of his employer or the teaching faculty at the college.

Advice from beyond the grave

Dean Vernon Wormer, of Faber College fame, came back from the grave last night to repeat these words of advice for our City Council...

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

A dying city's magic pill

I have always enjoyed spending my time in places that were geared towards pedestrian movement. They are just places that I feel most comfortable in. Judging by the numbers of people saving their money and vacation time for places like Walt Disney World, Greenfield Village, Amsterdam, Venice, all-inclusive tropical resorts and even cruise ships (all vacation hotspots with a glaring lack of cars whipping about), I am not the only person who thinks this way. That is why I have always been perplexed as to why people do not demand that their home towns and communities start exhibiting the same qualities they demand in their vacation places. Maybe when they did, we wouldn't feel the need to save up thousands of dollars to "run away" for a little R & R.

Building a business case for a walkable and livable Windsor is what's needed today. By living through a tremendously difficult transition period where our entire economy is going through some extremely tumultuous growing pains, now is the time to investigate exactly how we can not only survive and thrive in the new economy, but how we want the built environment we spend our daily lives in to evolve as well.

In the following article by Neal Pierce of the Washington Post Writers Group, Christopher Leinberger, one of America’s top real estate analysts and now Brookings Institution fellow (also an Ann Arbor teacher - listen to Smart City's interview with him here), is quoted as saying that cities that do not develop “walkable urbanism” -- places with the mix of destinations people want, from shops and parks and schools to pubs and entertainment, all accessible on foot" are “probably destined' to lose out economically"

I have deep roots in this community and do not want to see Windsor lose out economically. Do you?

WALKABILITY = LIVABILITY = BILLIONS
By Neal Peirce
Sunday, December 16, 2007

WASHINGTON - Could it possibly be that Washington, for years bashed by politicians, its population shrinking and at one point almost bankrupt, has become a model of how the entire nation might smartly develop in the 21st century?

I never thought I’d see the day. But Christopher Leinberger, one of America’s top real estate analysts and now Brookings Institution fellow, makes a startling case for it in his just-published book, The Option of Urbanism - Investing in a New American Dream (Island Press). Leinberger’s case isn’t about Washington’s radically improved politics and city management. Rather, it’s about walkability. It’s about dramatic reinvestment --some $8.2 billion worth -- pouring in the city’s downtown since 1997. Complementing monumental Washington, there’s been a rush of new cinemas, theaters, quality restaurants and trendy retail stores and a wildly popular sports arena, all helped along by a downtown business district providing special security, marketing and planning.

But the success story’s not exclusively a downtown one -- the entire Washington citistate of 5.3 million people is now booming. And it’s starring especially in what Leinberger calls “walkable urbanism” -- places with the mix of destinations people want, from shops and parks and schools to pubs and entertainment, all accessible on foot.

In a sense walkable urbanism is nothing new; it was the way towns and cities were organized from the first urban settlements some 5,500 years ago into the 20th century.

But after World War II, with Americans’ rush to thousands of new suburban locations, a never-before-seen norm appeared. Leinberger calls it “drivable sub-urbanism.” And what a market smash it proved, offering Americans a sense of freedom, mobility, privacy, their own piece of turf and a yard for the kids to play. Plus plenty of jobs and profits, from autos to oil to real estate to fast food. The new form became virtually synonymous with the American Dream. Two generations of Americans knew practically nothing else.

But in the 1990s the model began to lose some of its luster. Suburbia’s big parking lots and low-density zoning meant an auto for every trip. Walking and transit were impractical. Older suburbs began to decline, inducing families to drive farther and farther to new suburban rings. Thousands of malls and shopping strips were abandoned.

Traffic congestion -- and Washington’s no exception -- became so severe many families were obliged to build their lives around it. Kids had to be driven everywhere. Vehicle miles driven in America shot up a stunning 226 percentfrom 1983 to 2001, while population increased just 22 percent.

So by the mid-1990s a significant number of Americans -- and not just the poor and minorities long-consigned to inner cities -- began to ask: Isn’t there abetter way? Popular media began to shift its images of the city from crime and violence to the exciting, hip, place to be (such television shows as Seinfeld,Friends, and Sex in the City).

Urban crime rates took a deep dive. Most downtowns began a surprising revitalization, with more offices, entertainment, restaurants, and a leading edge of middle-class people (often youth and empty nesters) returning. And the ideas of walkable town and city life, spread with fervor by the architects and planners of theNew Urbanism movement, gnawed at the decades-old supremacy of the suburban ideal.

None of this, Leinberger insists, means “drivable sub-urbia” will disappearany time soon: a huge weight of custom, continued consumer choice, zoning and the sheer vastness of today’s spread-out suburbia assure it will remain dominant for years to come. Nor will cities’ problems, from poverty to schools, disappear soon.

But walkable urbanism has demographics going for it. The share of U.S.families with children at home has been declining sharply; the largest household growth in the decades ahead will be empty nesters, never-nesters and singles, many likely to look to cities and their excitement. And cities, competing, will likely keep heeding advice to lure creative young professionals; in fact those that don’t offer true walkable urbanism, Leinberger suggests, are “probably destined” to loseout economically.

In the 1980s the Washington region had two highly walkable places--Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria. Today, Leinberger calculates, it has 17 highly walkable, beckoning urban centers, with at least five more emerging -- the most of any U.S. metropolis.

Significantly, 16 of Washington’s walkable centers have subway stops; the modern Metro system, begin in the 1970s, has transformed the region as communities --Arlington County, Va. is the star -- have consciously planned dense, multi-use development around the stops.

But Washington started its Metro when generous federal aid still flowed. Denver’s doing it the harder way, with a $4.7 billion light rail system that’s 80 percent financed by local taxpayers. But the Denver region will end up with 119 miles of track, many walkable centers, and a burnished reputation. In the process it, too, is setting a national model.

Think you have it bad? Try a 240-km commute

How about this? Would this be defined as "progress"? Then why is this lifestyle the one the majority of Canadians/Americans aspire to?

From the Toronto Star;

Think you have it bad? Try a 240-km commute

December 08, 2007
Tim Harper

BERRYVILLE, Va. – With West Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and bucolic farmland still virtually in her rear-view mirror, Lori Forrester wheels onto Route 7, her target fixed, 120 kilometres southeast.

A quick left. And then she stops.

Pastures of green have given way to taillights of red...

...Research by David Dinges, chief of Sleep and Chronobiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, shows that the work commute is squeezing Americans' sleep.

When he and colleague studied why Americans are sleeping less they found, to their surprise, that the extra waking hours were not spent on leisure, in front of the television or with family, but sitting in the car.

"The more time people spent commuting, the less they slept,' he said. "The other activities did not relate to sleep time.''

It is also known that a lack of sleep, fewer than seven hours a day (or more than eight hours) also leads to obesity and risk of heart attack, diabetes and stroke, he said.

While that doesn't mean that lack of sleep is killing people, it plays into other factors that might.

It could mean that long commutes mean more fast food, he said, but that has yet to be proved.

"What's really going on here is that we can't do anything without getting into our motor vehicle and going somewhere,'' he said.

Beyond the health risks of sleep deprivation, there are also psychological dangers.
Dinges says fatigue leads to more risk-taking on the highways, likely adds to road rage and general "emotional deregulation'' which leads commuters to expect greater rewards for their time.

Alan Pisarski, a commuting consultant and author of Commuting in America, said there is still a significant economic advantage if your housing prices are cheaper in the exurbs, even with transportation costs going up.

"You have something you wanted, something you have always valued,'' he said.
"But how do you get to enjoy this thing when instead of being there, you're sitting in a car?''

I'll take my ten minute bike ride anyday, thank you very much!

The times, they are a'changin'

Yesterday, my whole family decided to enjoy the first major snowstorm of the season and go for a walk. We headed up to Ottawa street, playing in the snow drifts and pelting each other with snowballs. We then ducked into Karen's 4 Kids, as two of the three tykes needed something a little more substantial on their feet.

The kids didn't know what to do when the salesperson lead them to a chair, sat them down and took off their shoes. When he sat on the stool in front of them, cradling their tootsies in that silver foot measurement device, they looked as if they were being strapped into some medieval torture device for some long forgotten offence. Then it dawned on me...

They've never had their feet measured before!

In all the years their parents have been putting footwear on their feet, those shoes and boots have just been pulled down off the department/big box store's shelves and thrown on without a second thought. Then, here was this salesperson, dealing not just in manufactured goods (some actually made in Canada as well!) but also in service, pulling out an assortment of boots for the kids to chose from, trying them on and test-walking around the store. It was an experience that I remember participating in hundreds of times growing up, but have since forgotten as those store owners and shoe salespersons evolved into "sales associates" over the years.

The kids actually had fun shopping for winter boots, once they realized they weren't in trouble.

Razing Reederz?

Guest Blogger - James Coulter

On Tuesday, the Windsor Star proclaimed “Windsor Rated 7th in Innovation”. The Dave Hall story calls Windsor “one of the country’s leading cities for innovation”.

The ranking came from a report published by the Conference Board of Canada titled City Magnets – Benchmarking the Attractiveness of Canada’s Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA’s). I went to the CBofC’s website looking for the report. It’s behind a paywall, if you want to read the full report it’ll cost you $2400. However, there is a ten page summary that is free and I read it over. The report ranks 27 CMA’s according to several categories including; economics, housing, education and innovation. CMA’s were given a letter grade A, B, C, D, depending on how each fared against whatever criteria they used. The report sheds some light on economic and social trends in Canada and who the best, biggest and brightest star cities are. The overall top three were Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver, while the report had Saguenay, St. John, and Thunder Bay at the bottom. Remember my last post, big cities getting bigger, smaller cities getting left behind.

I found what the report had to say about cities and innovation. The top CMA was Ottawa/Gatineau. Make’s sense, lots of government research facilities, software companies a good university. In fact there is so much research and ‘innovation” going on in Ottawa/Gatineau that they scored AAA. No other category had any CMA scoring more than an A. Calgary and Toronto were distant B grades. According to the summary more than half the CMA’s scored no better than a D. At best Windsor’s 7th place is a C. It seems a little misleading to describe Windsor as “one of the country’s leading cities for innovation” when our C is so far behind the AAA of first place Ottawa/Gatineau.

For me, the big news was in the Star story. Dave Hall revealed a dirty secret about our city. According to the Star Windsor’s “educational rank is dragged down by the worst adult literacy rate among the cities surveyed”. For a city that wants to reinvent itself as a knowledge economy centre this is a huge problem.

The last paragraph of the summary says, “Although some indicators, like climate, are beyond the control of policy-makers, we believe that all levels of government should look at the results of this benchmarking study to help determine priorities. Canada’s future depends on it.” In Windsor, our priorities need to change to include literacy. In light of this report’s findings it is outrageous for the Mayor and Council to impose budget cuts on the city’s libraries. Save the $900,000 branding monies and use them for literacy campaigns and reading programs. Education and knowledge are priorities and we should demand that our city give us every opportunity to learn and better ourselves.

James Coulter is an Engineering Technologist with the School of Building, Design and Construction Technology at St. Clair College. His opinions are plentiful and may not reflect those of his employer or the teaching faculty at the college.

Defining Progress?

How does our city define progress?

Is it a quantifiable measure of the increase in our standard of living? Our quality of life? Our cost of living? This is a definition that must be nailed down.

Today, after four months of heavy investment, the section of Wyandotte, between Walker Road east to Drouillard is scheduled to open to vehicular traffic. Watch the "progress" of this investment here.

This is where we need to decide our most appropriate definition of the term "progress". This infrastructure investment will (much like Riverside Drive's Peabody Bridge, which for the life of me I could not find a picture of!) no doubt increase the speed and safety for the cars, yet it doesn't provide for the safe passage of cyclists. The backfilled road cut has provided the abutting property owners with Wyandotte frontage - no doubt drastically increasing the value of their property.

Yet, one must keep in mind that the road renovation removed much esthetic interest in the neighbourhood, as well as an historic structure that was excavated and built by hand by the town of Walkerville in the early 1930's. Anyone who has ever travelled along Wyandotte will remember this bridge.

How do you define the term "progress" and when, in the evolution of our city, do we stop "progressing" before we establish our version of that definition?

Driving Sustainability

The recent report from the Conference Board of Canada did not bring good news for Windsor. Our city received a C grade, ranking 23 of 27 cities on the list. Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Victoria were the top 5 cities, with Windsor, St. Catherines-Niagara, Saguenay, Saint John and Thunder Bay bringing up the rear.

One of the areas that Windsor scored poorly on was public transit. Anyone who has attempted to make use of our public transit system knows that we are in terrible shape, without some sort of 3rd party think-tank to tell us. With a decreasing tax base, and lacking a visionary council (aside from Alan Halberstadt), our infrastructure, from sewers and roads to sidewalks and bikepaths, has suffered. As council has permitted, through sins of omission, the sprawling residential, and now commercial, landscape, costs of providing a usable transit system have spiralled. Instead of increasing service and decreasing costs, Windsor is doing exactly the opposite.

A couple of months ago I read an article by Dave Olsen of The Tyee entitled Fare-Free Public Transit Could Be Heading to a City Near You. Olsen suggests that municipal transit systems are self-castrating, effectively stopping any possibility of growth because they insist on doing exactly what Caroline Postma and the rest of the transit board have done -- raise rates while restricting service. After reading the article, high on hope and delusions of grandeur, I emailed Alan Halberstadt and suggested that Windsor adopt policies similar to those of Chapel Hill (NC), Vail (CO), Logan (UT), and a myriad of European cities. Halberstadt's response was disheartening, 'great idea, but you couldn't sell that in Windsor'.

It seems that the blogsphere may be right, and council is the impedence to the growth of Windsor. Mayor Bloomberg of NYC was quoted in the New York Daily news saying "I would have mass transit be given away for nothing and charge an awful lot for bringing an automobile into the city." A massive population density has both allowed and compelled NYC residents to become dependent on public transit, even their billionaire mayor uses the subway to get around. With a visionary mayor at the helm of that city, the future looks bright for NYC public transit. Windsor city council plays it safe, opting to build an arena (hey, everyone loves a good hockey game right!?!) instead of leading out. When council tells us that there is no more money for transit, after spending $65 million (without ancilliary property developments), I find it hard to believe that they really have the best interests of the city in mind. I believe that the problem with council is that they don't often feel the impact of their decisions. It is easy to cut the library budgets, transit budgets, etc. because, I hypothesize, council does not frequent these public institutions. If they did, they might find public transit and library books a priority.

Fear not, I have a plan! I suggest that councilors be required to use public transit to travel TO and FROM all city meetings. That means council on Mondays, board meetings, and especially those all-to-frequent "closed" meetings. I think that, after a week or two of riding our buses, council might find their purse-strings loosened.

It really is a travesty when it takes 1.5 hours to travel from the University of Windsor to Forest Glade Arena, each way! The irony of the situation, as pointed out by Olsen, is that the more we fund transit, the more ridership increases, the less we spend on infrastructure development and maintenance. If you listen to Mayor Francis, we can't afford the infrastructure costs we have despite multi-million increases in funding over the 2006 levels. Investing in public transit would increase the mobility of all of the citizenry of Windsor, decrease traffic levels on all commuter routes (the Mayor said that EC Row is at capacity already!) and provide benefits to our air quality. This does not mean that the automobile will become outmoded, rather people will be able to decide to take the public or private transit as they discover all that Windsor has to offer. When we decide to invest in our built environment and learn to be good stewards of all that we have in this city, only then will our perception of ourselves, and perception of our city by others, experience a positive change.

Mike Kakuk - Enviro-Luddite

Ok, I'm not really much into name calling, etc. I think that, generally speaking, it defeats the purpose of a conversation. I suppose I could justify my enviro-luddite label for Mike Kakuk, but in reality, my emotions are running high and I'm resorting to name calling.

Mike's latest blog post, Is the price of convenience too high?, starts by acknowledging the destructive nature of idle-thrus but suddenly takes a wild right turn and demands that we examine the "bigger picture." The big picture, according to Mike, is that governments and car companies should make cars that will allow us to idle, guilt-free, with zero- and low-emission cars. He goes on to explain that in order achieve the perfect environment that we should all drive a horse-and-buggy and burn wood to heat our homes. (Truth be told, this is the part that wound me up).

Mike's solution to the whole problem!?!? Keep the drive-thru moving quickly by having people who want to order food go inside! Oh, come on man! The issue with drive-thru's isn't just the idling cars, but the volume of traffic, the impact on surrounding neighbourhoods and the exacerbation on our 'secluded' society. To think that Windsor and Essex County is subject to Mike's social babble every morning on AM800 scares the hell out of me. When someone with such a short view of the world around them is an integral part of the mass media machine we really have our work cut out for us.

I've often accused Mike and Lisa of throwing Mayor Francis a lob ball on his Tuesday morning spin session, but I really had no idea that the problem was this pervasive. I think the irony of this turn of events, at least in my mind, is that I decided that, aside from listening to the Mayor on Tuesday morning at 7:20, that I am an 1550AM (CBC Radio) man. I might only be one listener, but, as my favourite saying by Mahatma Ghandi goes, we need to be the change we wish to see in the world.

Last item -- here is a link to the Mayor's position on drive-thrus in mp3 format.

BTW: Don't forget to vote in the online poll that ends on 17 December. The question is Should drive-thru's be banned to improve the environment? Just click on the link to Mike's article (see above) and then scroll down on the right side. Let's show Windsor, Mike Kakuk and our city administration what we really think!

The Shock Doctrine

One of my favourite authors over the past couple of years has been Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, among other hard-edged non-fiction. Her newest book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, including the accompanying short film (high quality version here), makes some serious allegations about the profiteering and politics associated with the natural, and unnatural, events of our global community. While I haven't yet read her book (I'm trying to frequent the library to help sustain those vital knowledge stores -- but that's for another article), her short movie reinforced an idea that has been festering in my mind, and has occassionally found it's way out of my mouth, for more than a year now. The idea is, to echo Klein, that our local economic disaster is being exacerbated by capitalists who masquarade as saviours to a city, but offer nothing more than a rich-get-richer scheme dressed up in slick marketing and spin.

A case in point -- the CocoBox bigbox development proposed for the border of Windsor and Lasalle. Though Jenny Coco has owned this land for nearly a decade, during which time she has switched from commercial, to residential, now back to commercial zoning, she has only recently settled on a project for these lands. To hear Jeffrey Slopin, her legal representation, sell it, this is the best thing for Windsor since the automotive industry. Slopin and Coco are selling this development as a well-spring of prosperity, creating 1500 jobs and generating nearly $4 million in tax revenues for the city of Windsor. It reminds me of that 80's classic from Dead or Alive, You Spin Me Round - "you spin me right round, baby, right round". The facts are meaningless when the promise of jobs and money are dangled over the heads of the unemployed masses. Let's be honest, the last thing that Windsor needs right now is another shopping centre to siphon away our dwindling paycheques. Consumption consumerism is the drug of choice for so many people. Coco, Slopin, and even city council, are spinning this development into a cure-all for the economic ailments of Windsor when, in reality, we are severing our hand to cure a hangnail.

There is a moral to this story. Information is knowledge. Knowledge is power. We have elected representation, but that does not mean that we cannot, or should not, speak out about the issues facing the community around us. More important, we must be educated, even vigilent, about the slick marketing, information spinning profiteers at all levels of business and government. The message of SDW is to reinvest in our built environment, developing sustainability and quality into our community, not just quantity. Projects like the east end arena, tunnel purchase, CocoBox, GreenLink, etc. etc. should all be examined with a discerning eye. There is no quick-fix for Windsor; only hardwork and perseverence are going to return the social and economic dividends we are hoping for. Let us all be wary of those preaching economic salvation without works. We can change Windsor, but we are going to have to pay penance for our past, and, most important, challenge the status quo of disaster economics, in whatever form it takes.

The Future of Festivals in WIndsor

I am proud of having been a part of Windsor’s Destination Development Committee - a committee that spent significant monies to research and prove, once and for all, that Windsor and Essex County should do more to support its festivals. I do, however, want to draw attention to a number of issues that need to be addressed if we’re ever going to be successful in accomplishing our mission.

Again, I have to declare my vested interest in both Downtown and the Windsor International Film Festival. Just as I have invested in property in the city centre because I believe that the future of Windsor lies in its Downtown, I have also invested my community service in the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) for numerous reasons including:

1. I believe that the future of Windsor’s tourism lies heavily with the number of people draw to its festivals which significantly contribute to distinguishing our city from that of any other

2. I am an avid movie fan who believes that Windsor is deprived of independent Canadian and international films due to the fact that conglomerates, with programmers, agents and bookers based in Toronto, control the programming of the silver screenings. These individuals have little interest or understanding of our market.

As an international Film Festival that has ties to Windsor and Detroit, WIFF is accomplishes our political leaders stated goals including:

- Municipal government’s Two Nation Destination, and our
- Federal counterpart’s slogan “The border connects us, not divides us”
- WIFF has numerous initiatives that reach far beyond its six-day festival including the 48 Hour Flick Fest, its educational component, and its monthly screenings.

In my opinion, many if not all festivals face obstacles related to the costs and bureaucracy of starting and maintaining these events including:
A. Professional fees to incorporate a non-profit or for-profit organization, obtain charitable status, and annual audits
B. Significant cost of due diligence related to insurance.
C. In order to qualify for future municipal funding, each festival will be required to become a member of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) at a cost of $131, and a member of the Canada South Festival Network (which has not held regular meetings in over a year, if not longer) at a cost of $200 plus $50 per additional event.
D. It is highly recommended that festivals also sign up for membership of Festival and Events Ontario which facilitates provincial listing, aids in provincial funding etc. Attending the annual conference is an additional cost but critical to success. Membership to FEO comes with a price tag around $200.
D. Windsor City Council has just adopted a new insurance policy that appraises each festival based on a far too simplified point system (the liability of an event serving alcohol with an attendance of 200 is equal to that of an event which draws 10,000 people). Estimated cost of $5 million liability insurance is in excess of $4,000 annually.
.E Provincial and Federal funding streams refuse to align their application processes. Cultural Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Telefilm Canada, OCAF, Trillium etc. all have a completely different application process - each of which require a considerable amount of time (many in excess of 50 hours) to complete, add or modify the application. (BTW, virtually all successful non-profit festivals receive a minimum 20% of governmental sponsorship funding. It’s an industry standard everywhere but Windsor!)

Basically, as a festival you’re having to raise over $10,000 cash as well as countless hours of professional services just to say "Hi, how do you do?"

I think it’s great that the City of Windsor has taken the first step (more like a giant leap) and recognized that festivals are a significant part of our tourism and economic future, not to mention the cultural and entertainment benefits we are derive. Now we need to begin focussing on the issues outlined above. These issues must be addressed if we are to move forward strategically. Whether it is through a festival ombudsman to help obtain public funding (a position that Ed Agnew successfully held for many years) or though any other creative means, this is a discussion that must begin right now!

Windsor - the rebellious teen?

Guest Blogger - James Coulter

A recent post on …scale down, Windsor featured an article by Avi Friedman. Mr. Friedman described the trend of small town populations declining and city populations growing. He goes on to tell us that high-rise development will evolve into high-density clusters and the residents will be serviced by economical transit services and so on.

Last week the Star reported that the city of Windsor’s population increased 3.5% from 209,218 in 2001, to 216,473 in 2006. What is more important is how Windsor grew. The population of the central part of the city experienced significant population losses –“areas west of Pierre saw steep, double digit dives" - while the outer edge of the city saw new housing development and increased, lower density population. We should be very concerned about this because the cost to provide basic municipal services increases significantly as the area increases. If the density is too low it will mean even higher tax bills or much less service per taxpayer. So far, Avi Friedman’s future is not playing out here.

It could be because Avi Friedman’s future doesn’t apply to all cities. I came across the 19.20.21 project the other day. The 19.20.21 project is a multi-media study of the nineteen largest cities in the world as they approach populations of 20 million (or grow even larger) in the twenty-first century. If the world’s largest cities are going to grow even larger, will Canada’s largest cities grow too, at the expense of smaller, economically distressed cities? The almost gravitational pull of the larger cities, more jobs and more opportunities in an increasingly centralized economy may be irresistible to people desperate for work.

In his recent presentation to the Greater Windsor Homebuilders Association, Dennis DesRosiers said that the worst wasn’t over for us in Windsor yet. The CIBC’s Metro Monitor (Dec. 7, 2007) says, “Reflecting the difficulties in the manufacturing sector, cities such as Windsor and Saguenay still face major challenges.” Another CIBC report on the same day reported that October to November of this year 16,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in Canada. With this kind of economic outlook (and the looming disaster of the “sub-prime mortgage fiasco” still playing out in the financial markets) and the pull of the big cities, will Windsor see a population increase in the next census or will the population start to decline?

If our population declines, is it a bad thing? No. If our population continues to grow, is it a bad thing? No. If our density continues to decrease, is it a bad thing? Yes.

We are already seeing the cost of lower density development on our utility bills and in the current city budget discussions. Less service with bigger bills to keep it all spread out.
How can we get the leaders of this city to understand that what is happening is going to turn out horribly wrong? Perhaps we can file a class action suit and sue to city for negligence or incompetence? Just a thought.

I want to repeat a paragraph from Chris’ first post on …scale down, Windsor.

“So now it's time for our community leaders to add a new term to their repertoire ...scale down. By scaling down our drive to grow for the sake of growing, we will in turn strengthen our community. (Organisms in a natural environment do not grow in perpetuity. At some point in their existance they reach their limit to growth and start to mature and strengthen) By redirecting the millions of dollars we're allocating to auto-centric infrastructure, we can invest in welcoming, pedestrian-scaled walkable neighbourhoods. By scrutinizing our current fixation on Big-Box retail development being built on agricultural greenfield sites, we will reinvest in our locally owned Mom-And-Pop stores that keep our wealth right here in Windsor where it belongs.”

What we are talking about is the survival of the City of Windsor. Scaling down our community isn’t about branding, or marketing or appealing to certain demographics. It isn’t a mental exercise, or a “wouldn’t it be nice” thing. If this city does not scale down it will go bankrupt or we will, trying to pay our taxes and user fees

James Coulter is an Engineering Technologist with the School of Building, Design and Construction Technology at St. Clair College. His opinions are plentiful and may not reflect those of his employer or the teaching faculty at the college.

Francis on banning the sale of cats and dogs at pet shops...

Want to hear exactly how Windsor mayor Eddie Francis thinks drive-thru's are as natural to an urban area as cats and dogs are to a pet shop? Listen to his spin during his weekly talk with AM 800's Mike and Lisa here.

When other municipalities, like the ever-successful London, Ontario, are putting forward progressive legislation in the hopes of making their communities better places to live, we have our Mayor essentially making fun of them.

Who do they think they are, anyways? These "outside experts" who run successful cities?

Lifestyle Center vs. Power Center

I have a bit of a different view than some of my fellow Scale Down Bloggers when it comes to the Big Box Power Centers. Although I became a part of Scale Down because of my desire to support locally owned independant businesses, I am not opposed to the multinationals in themselves. I am opposed to what I believe is the City Of Windsor and Essex County Prostituting themselves to these Corporations.

Righ now I'm in Florida and was just at a wonderful example of what a big box development could look like. Coconut Point is a mixed use complex that almost recreates a main street.

Why can't Windsor and Essex county demand the same type of site plans? I mean, sure, it would drive up the costs of development but have you ever heard of Walmart, Home Depot or the rest bypassing a city because of development costs? Do you actually think that there wouldn't be a Walmart in Windsor if we raised the price of admission.

We're selling out, and we're selling out very cheap. Why? Mainly because the city and the county refuse to work together as a region and compete against each other in a race to the bottom.

These well planned Lifestyle Centers can actually address the economic development and social fabric problems that Power Centers create although they would still not be able to address the fostering of Windsor's distinct and unique Culture. There would be no cool owner- operators you could meet there. Still, 2 out of 3 ain't bad and is a lot better than the current big goose egg (or should I say Goose crap) our city gets now.

Now don't get me wrong, I still prefer the independant locals, but I think democracy is all about freedom of choice. If someone wants to shop big box or multinational, that's their right. But why are we letting these big box's create unwalkable blight in our community. Why do we allow the parking lagoons to exist. Democracy also means that the citizens of WIndsor have the right to demand certain things from developers as well

I'd like to hear a report from Planning on this, I feel like the Jack Nicolson scene from "a few Good men".

"The Truth, You can't handle the truth"

As an explanation

What is a Lifestyle Center?

Lifestyle Centers are open-air shopping centers generally designed with a pedestrian orientation. They may or may not include any anchor stores. These centers focus on upscale national chains, entertainment and theaters, restaurants, and specialty stores. Lifestyle Centers are often designed as a destination center with more than just retail to encourage browsing and multiple activities in one visit. A Lifestyle Center can generally be defined as a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented towards consumers. Lifestyle centers emerged as a retailing trend in the late 1990s and are often located in suburban areas. More info on shopping centers here.

The International Council of Shopping Centers indicates that the service area of a Lifestyle Center is typically 8-12 miles. Examples of Lifestyle Centers are: University Village in Seattle, and Redmond Town Center in Redmond.

Windsor's Culture slide

I wanted pass along this news, as it speaks to the closing of yet another local venue whose support of the local arts scene has been immeasurable. I wrote about the closing of Sky Lounge back in October and the impact it will have on our local music scene, and this news only reaffirms the notion that if we are to possess a vibrant, culturally rich downtown, that we must stem this bleeding of venues for our local talent. From the news posted on The Avalon's website, it seems that there's more to this story than simply a business with too few customers to support it's bottom line - a tale I hear more and more in this city.

From The Avalon Front's website;

A situation has been developing for quite a while that has brought us to this decision. To generalize, The Avalon Front was audited, as many businesses are and the findings approach the insane. We believe that we have had our rights and privileges taken away. Once again, it’s a case of David vs. Goliath, which is happening increasingly more often. We have fought as long as we could but it seems that this is the end. Our hope is that there is still a last minute chance that the doors will stay open but it doesn't look good. All things come to pass and it seems now it's The Avalon Front's turn. We are trying to put together an entertaining last week in business and hope that you can share it with us. Keep checking the website for details as they come."

...and this notice from Jamie Greer of The Windsor Scene,

"As some of you may or may not know, The Avalon Front is closing this coming weekend.

Opened 8 years ago, The Avalon Front has become Windsor's premiere indie rockshowcase, bringing in so many bands from around the world to play Windsor. All thosebands that magazines like MOJO, Uncut, Blender, Rolling Stone and more have writtenabout as the future of indie music, have stopped through the Avalon Front.

They have been the Windsor stop for bands such as:The Dears (Montreal), The Besnard Lakes (Montreal), You Say Party! We Say Die! (Vancouver), Young Galaxy (Montreal), Bionic (Montreal), Matt Pond PA (New York), Junior Boys (Hamilton), The Marble Index (Hamilton), Controller:Controller (Toronto), The Organ (Vancouver), The Golden Dogs (Toronto), NOT TO MENTION THE COUNTLESS LOCAL WINDSOR BANDS WHO HAVE GRACED THIS STAGE!

With the recent closing of Sky Lounge as well as last month's folding of UpfrontMagazine, this third hit to the Windsor Music scene is a critical one. The time is NOW for bands to start getting more creative with their venue choices, start examining venues that they may have ignored in the past and start putting on better line-ups - with all the talent available in this city, why are we subject to in adequate show line-ups? Too many times I have seen shows where some amazing bands let friends bands have their first show with them (when they are clearly not ready to be playing live). There is a bubble of bands on the verge of making it, several who are talking to "people"...it's time this city realized if it ignores it's music for much longer, soon you won't see many bands claim to be from Windsor.

They'll all be moving on to other cities who actually SUPPORT their creative members, not shut down the only venues that DO support it (while leaving the over-serving blights that are the booty dance bars).With all that said and done, I encourage ANYONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A WINDSOR MUSIC FAN to come to the Avalon's closing night on Sunday December 16th. It's time to put your pettiness aside. On this night, put away your "I'm a Phog person" or "I'm a Chubby Pickle person" and realize that for this city's music scene to work, you must be a "Windsor Music person" and see music in ALL venues, not just the one who's bartender knows you and who's door staff lets you in for free (which takes away money from the band anyway, so you're really NOT a music fan). Come and witness the end of an era and let's use this celebration to meet with other musicians andlocal music fans and celebrate the launch of as new era.

Finally, here is a letter from Tony Facchinerri, the owner of The Avalon Front:

"Dear Patrons, Due to circumstance beyond my control, the last night of The Avalon Front will be Sunday, December 16, 2007. I can not justify keeping the doors open, so it is with great sadness, and even greater thanks that I must say goodbye.

The Avalon after all is only four walls, and it is all of you that have made this small bar what it is and all of you that have provided the memories for so many of us.I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the experience of the past eight years. I am very proud of the Avalon and what it has meant to me and to many others over the years. The Avalon has, in my humble opinion, been an oasis in the midst of chaos, hopefully a fitting tribute to its name. Its reputation and staying power is a compliment to all of you.

In my mind, the Avalon has always been about the people. It all began eight years ago with Lira and the boys opening the doors and getting the party started. What a party it has been! I won't ever forget the music, the conversations, and the laughs. I have been privileged to have met many amazing people coming through that big wooden door, and I am honoured to count so many people that I have met at the Avalon friends. I would be remiss if I didn't thank Scott. He has been with me since before the doors even opened and we have been through much together. You are one of a kind White shoe! Also, the music would never have sounded so good without the talent of Adam who got his start at the Avalon. I am sure he will be famous one day.

The staff of the Avalon, past and present, has been like family to me. I am honoured to have worked with so many talented and wonderful people.It has been one hell of a ride. Again, please know that I am proud and grateful for the opportunity to run The Avalon Front. It has been my home for the past eight years. I will miss being here more than I can ever express. But eight is enough.My thanks,

Cheers,

Tony"

With all the city's talk about revitalizing our downtown core, with the steady closing of numerous establishments, it seems that they have yet to fully comprehend the task in front of them.

Either that, or they have alternate plans which run counter to their public statements.

(Courtesy of Darren B, a video tasting of the local talent within the Avalon's "four walls"; The Locusts Have No King, Citywide Vacuum and NOT_digital)