3521 replies to this topic

[aastra]

Pick your poison. Which pile of BS has the least offensive smell? The pile on the left or the pile on the right? Exercise your free will to choose between them.

One side wants to drive off the cliff at 100mph in a red car, whereas the opposing side wants to drive off the cliff at 90mph in a blue car. No worries, we can rely on statesmanship to address the political divide and craft an acceptable compromise.

 

Media gatekeeping is all about keeping minds trapped within the confines of false dichotomies. Funny thing about choosing the lesser of two evils: no matter which one you choose, you're choosing evil.

Good cop versus bad cop no longer works once you realize they're both wearing the same uniform. Left wing versus right wing no longer works once you realize they're both attached to the same bird.

 

And so forth...

[Mike K.]

Just be glad you’re not the guy forced to drive either car.

[Nparker]

Just be glad you’re not the guy forced to drive either car.

But the rest of us are passengers in one of those cars.

[Mike K.]

Then buckle up.

[Victoria Watcher]

Missing middle housing? Follow the plan instead

David Eby’s idea of municipalities automatically allowing zoning as per the Official Community Plan is a much better solution for creating housing that the ‘missing middle” solution that the City of Victoria has come up with. Eby’s solution still provides a modicum of control through the development permit process while providing the developer with properties to build more multifamily housing on.

 

 

The OCP was developed through discussion with all the neighbourhoods. The “missing middle” solution is clearly not supported by a majority.

 

Many people who do not support it worked hard and saved to buy a home and now pay property taxes that support the city. The support for the “missing middle” seems to emanate from those who seek a solution to our housing crisis that can better be achieved by Eby’s OCP idea.

 

Mayor Lisa Helps has indicated that neighbourhoods were not affected by the change in rules that allowed the division of larger buildings into apartments. I can assure you that the Rockland area was negatively affected and Victoria’s version of the “Uplands” was no longer. Property values went down.

 

If it is truly more housing they are attempting to create and not just their legacy, they should pass a bylaw requiring the OCP to be followed.

It would save a developer about $250,000 to provide all the plans and consultants reports required to apply for a rezoning — and about two years.

 

 

Douglas Foord
Victoria

 

 

https://www.timescol...tteries-5684107

[Victoria Watcher]

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 August 2022 - 05:52 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

More than Missing Middle needed to address housing affordability in Victoria

 

But that’s not a reason not to proceed with the policy, which one expert says will ‘make things less bad in the long run’

 

https://www.capitald...bility-victoria

 

 

 

 

 

Sue Hiscocks, who has lived in the city for 18 years, waited more than two hours for a chance to express her opposition but left before her turn was granted.

 

Hiscocks told Capital Daily she does not believe the city has done adequate consultation on the policy and says without efforts to curb real estate speculation and investment, new developments could be bought up by investors rather than providing homes for residents. She would not have been alone in expressing those views, which were a common refrain among opponents and even some supporters at the hearing.

 

“I was going to say at the microphone … ‘Mayor, Victoria is full,’” Hiscocks said.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 August 2022 - 06:06 AM.

[dasmo]

Not really representative of the opposition. Doesn’t mention the 800 letters and the ratio of opposition there nor provide a link to that. “Journalism”.

[Victoria Watcher]

So is the council - including at least 6 that are leaving - still going to vote this thing in on us?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 August 2022 - 07:55 AM.

[spanky123]

So is the council - including at least 6 that are leaving - still going to vote this thing in on us?

 

AFAIK, Stephen is still the swing vote and I haven't heard him state which way he is voting.

[Victoria Watcher]

What is the missing-middle housing initiative?

As the City of Victoria prepares to host another public hearing, we look at what the missing-middle housing initiative is, what it isn’t, and what people are worried about.

https://www.timescol...tiative-5761104

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 August 2022 - 05:05 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The program requires amending bylaws, land-use procedures and official ­community plans to permit infill, houseplexes and ­corner townhouses in some neighbourhoods.




“Some neighbourhoods”? Isn’t it all neighbourhoods?

[Mike K.]

Not in downtown or Harris Green.

[Victoria Watcher]

Not in downtown or Harris Green.

 

I guess, but they already have higher density zoning.

[Jacques Cadé]

Globe and Mail endorses Victoria's Missing Middle initiative: https://www.theglobe...missing-middle/

 

Debate on the plan continues at a city council public hearing on Thursday. It has sparked the usual fervour on both sides. Those against argue it will be the ruin of existing neighbourhoods – the ones where, increasingly, only the wealthy can afford to buy. Those in favour argue that change is necessary, and overdue. We side with the latter.

 

And the proposed change is modest. This is not about bulldozing old neighbourhoods and replacing them with blocks of towers. Victoria’s ground-oriented missing middle designs can blend into older neighbourhoods. The new rules are also crafted with families in mind; a new sixplex, for example, will require at least two three-bedroom homes. It is not revolution. It’s evolution.

 

Victoria is not alone in considering new zoning, but among Canadian cities it is the leader of the pack. Edmonton is working on a similar broad upzoning. And research suggests that slightly more liberal rules, citywide, is the approach that makes the most sense. It’s far better than squeezing ever-taller towers on a few bits of land while continuing to forbid new housing almost everywhere else.

[Mike K.]

Oh please, what a bunch of hogwash.

[Nparker]

When has the Globe and Mail ever cared about Victoria?

[Mike K.]

They never say in these editorials that Victoria is already one of the most densely populated jurisdictions in North America. It is ‘already’ a municipality of missing middle.

Compare Victoria's density to that of Saanich, or Oak Bay, or Toronto or Calgary. Victoria, foot for foot, has a higher population density. In other words, the municipal land use as a whole is already one of the most efficient on the continent.

[lanforod]

You know as well as the rest of us that comparing the density of the CoV to Toronto or Calgary is not fair. It has to be the density of greater Victoria if compared to those -or- the density of the CoV to the core centre of those cities.

[Victoria Watcher]

No it doesn’t.

The fair comparison to those cities shows that the CoV is not where added density is best placed. It’s best placed outside of Victoria.