On Monday night many aspirations and hopes for the Northdale neighbourhood were presented to Council by 22 delegations. A common thread in what we heard was that what is happening now is not working but also that full intensification is not the answer.
Council voted to begin a land use study in the Northdale area. This will be followed by a community improvement plan. Council also directed staff to explore partnerships with the universities to develop a community outreach program.
This summer, staff will complete the terms of reference for the land use study, which included developing a Vision for the area. This will come to Council in September. It will include terms for the formation of an advisory committee of the stakeholders, and the hiring of an independent consultant to undertake the land use study.
As outlined in the report to Council on Monday night, the city does have many tools available to achieve its goals. It is now time to develop and articulate the vision, the first step in making Northdale a community that we can be proud of.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
No to Merger with Kitchener
Based on my 6 years on Council and research on the issue, I am against a merger with the City of Kitchener. History has shown that the expected benefits from mergers have just not been realized. There is a list of articles about municipal mergers on the right hand side bar.
In summary, mergers:
1) increase costs. It does not decrease them.
2) make government less responsive to the local citizens. A little friendly competition between the municipalities does wonders to make them accountable!
3) do not make a city globally successful. Many cities and regions areas like Boston, Silicon Valley and Sydney are made up of many small municipalities.
4) reduce diversity. Waterloo is different from Kitchener. The two cities' policies and corporate culture are different in many ways including financial stewardship, public engagement, urban planning and design, development priorities, environmental sustainability, heritage and the arts, etc. As a region, our strength is our diversity.
And lastly, what problems do the pro-merger group want to solve that would make all of the costs and disadvantages of a merger worth it?
In summary, mergers:
1) increase costs. It does not decrease them.
2) make government less responsive to the local citizens. A little friendly competition between the municipalities does wonders to make them accountable!
3) do not make a city globally successful. Many cities and regions areas like Boston, Silicon Valley and Sydney are made up of many small municipalities.
4) reduce diversity. Waterloo is different from Kitchener. The two cities' policies and corporate culture are different in many ways including financial stewardship, public engagement, urban planning and design, development priorities, environmental sustainability, heritage and the arts, etc. As a region, our strength is our diversity.
And lastly, what problems do the pro-merger group want to solve that would make all of the costs and disadvantages of a merger worth it?
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