11779 replies to this topic

[Spy Black]

Is it time to re-brand the Eatons Bay Centre again? How about the "Winners Centre"...as an homage to the CoV council? 

At the rate shops are closing currently, and with The Bay looking questionable ... there will soon be no option but to call it the "Glens Fabulous Sandwich Centre".

Edited by Spy Black, 18 October 2021 - 09:38 AM.

[sdwright.vic]

The Mayfair Bay store is a little run down- if they go with one store I would hope they would renovate. 

[Spy Black]

The Mayfair Bay store is a little run down- if they go with one store I would hope they would renovate. 

Indeed, it's basically still just Woodwards with a bit of paint.

[Midnightly]

mayfair location very very much needs some serious renos, it looks old and worn out you can see where displays have been moved due to wearing on the floor... considering everything else that been done to that mall in upgrades the Bay location looks pretty sad

[spanky123]

Listened to Mayor Helps' interview yesterday with the Capital Daily.  She is determined to get her plan to rezone all residential lots in Victoria to allow for up to 4 story 6 plexes by the end of March so that the bylaw is passed before she leaves office.  As City staff have told us before, increasing density allowance does not effect land prices so this will just mean that a $900K lot will now have 6 x $150K buildable parcels and thus housing prices will drop substantially!

 

The City is conducting another "survey" on opinions related to this change (although you can tell from the Mayor's interview that the decision has already been made. The survey is at. https://engage.victo...middle-housing/

 

There was only 130 odd responses the last time around so a good chance to add your opinion.

[Nparker]

...There was only 130 odd responses the last time around so a good chance to add your opinion.

Is there any point in voicing opposition? As you say, the decision seems like a fait accompli.

[spanky123]

Is there any point in voicing opposition? As you say, the decision seems like a fait accompli.

 

At least they would need to report the responses. The last report was amusing in that in some cases there was less than 15% support for the policies they are proposing.

[Awaiting Juno]

Leading questions much?!?!? There was a lack of balance in the material provided before asking the question, and the questions are very much so engineered to give participants no choice but to provide the answer desired - want off street parking? - You must hate trees! Want accessible housing? You must agree to three story buildings!!! How can we get you out of your car, because the only justifiable reason for having one is if you have a placard meriting disability...

 

Also really not a fan of the black/white form of the discussion. I might agree with there being more "missing middle" - but would I agree with every house on my block being converted? I might also be more agreeable in areas with roads capable of supporting higher traffic volumes (secondary collector streets, as Richardson once was) than on narrow side streets.

[Nparker]

Leading questions much?!?!? ...the questions are very much engineered to give participants no choice but to provide the answer desired...

Just like every other CoV survey. A complete waste of time and resources.

[Barrrister]

So the whole city will convert to crappy four story apartments. Once this is passed 

it will be next to impossible to get rid of in the future. 

[Victoria Watcher]

It really won’t happen like that.

Just like every house now is not built out with additions to their maximum FSR.

Just like every house now does not contain a basement suite although they are legal in pretty much every house.

Just like every house does not now have a back yard garden suite now.

[spanky123]

It really won’t happen like that.

Just like every house now is not built out with additions to their maximum FSR.

Just like every house now does not contain a basement suite although they are legal in pretty much every house.

Just like every house does not now have a back yard garden suite now.

 

Won't be every property that is built out but every property will jump up in price now that it has effectively been rezoned to 4x the density. Good for me as I own property, don't see how this impacts affordability positively though.

Edited by spanky123, 19 October 2021 - 03:08 PM.

[spanky123]

Leading questions much?!?!?

 

Par for the course. You want green space or parking. Obviously there is no middle ground that allows both.

[Victoria Watcher]

Oh I agree. Every house now is a potential development property. But everyone keeping their new price high means not every property will be developed.

And yes, this does not really help affordability.

Ask Helps to point to a jurisdiction that did this and show how affordability improved. Never happened in the history of the world. But won’t stop idealogues.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 October 2021 - 01:59 PM.

[Awaiting Juno]

Oh I agree. Every house now is a potential development property. But everyone keeping their new price high means not every property will be developed.

And yes, this does not really help affordability.

Ask Helps to point to a jurisdiction that did this and show how affordability improved. Never happened in the history of the world. But won’t stop idealogues.

 

Alternatively if you do conditional rezoning (ie: if there aren't any other similarly developed properties on the block, the area has the capacity for increased density AND its consistent with OCP) - you create an incentive to be "first mover" as once the one parcel is developed, there isn't another parcel zoned for it (second movers are too little, too late). A developer or more ideally a co-op would approach all owners on the block, and the one who offered the best deal would see their property redeveloped, as it is competitive, there's a better chance of the developer getting a reasonable deal on the land. There's also more incentive to "go first" so in terms of getting development done quickly, it's better as there's incentive to do it sooner rather than being unable to do it at all. As a bonus, it maintains neighbourhood character and prevents entire neighbourhoods from being remade as the zoning isn't blanket in nature. It would also help distribute the density to areas that are below target density, while preventing areas that already have higher densities from becoming overwhelmed. One house on a block being made a town house is likely no big deal, but if all the houses were, many would feel that the nature of their neighbourhood had fundamentally changed.

[spanky123]

City asking for input on another decision that has been made. This time they want feedback on whether you should pay .$10 or $.50 for every cup you get from a Victoria business (and $.25 to a $1 for every container). 

 

For what it is worth you can have your say at engage.victoria.ca/reducesingleuse

 

 

[Nparker]

When this passes I will buy cups just to drop them on the ground.

[sebberry]

When this passes I will buy cups just to drop them on the ground.

 

I saw one poor sap the other day have their paper grocery bag rip on them with their stuff spilling onto the sidewalk.

[Matt R.]

Switched from paper grocery bags to plastic for takeout and the feedback has been awesome. About 1/5 the price too.

Matt.

[sebberry]

Switched from paper grocery bags to plastic for takeout and the feedback has been awesome. About 1/5 the price too.

Matt.

 

Every time I do Chinese take-out the foil containers are in a big paper bag, which is inside a plastic bag as there's always some oil that spills out.