City Councillors always worried about these folks and it is good for the most part that they did.
However, what the associations wanted sometimes was not good for the city as a whole. I often found that these groups existed to protect the status quo. No changes, not ever, even if it was best for the city. I know that we would not have a vibrant East Downtown and Downtown scene right now if some of these associations had their way.It was sad to see this morning in the Journal that badly needed infill development is being criticised by some northeast heights association officers. As I blogged yesterday, because of global warming there needs to be some changes on how development occurs in the Southwest and more dense housing is one of those options that are badly needed. Lets hope the city council doesn't overreact to a few people being upset about changes in their neighborhoods.
1 comment:
I'm on the board of the Sawmill neighborhood association so that's the experience I have to go on. I think that the major problem for virtually all associations is getting people to participate. They rarely do unless there's a crisis.
Some people say that means the associations aren't 'democratic' but it's hard to be representative when no one comes to the monthly meetings except Board members, police or land developers.
I've read the proposed city resolution to study the associations and found it mildly insulting. We do operate as democratically as our bi-laws require. But we're not mind readers and it's hard to know what people want or think if they don't interact or spend an hour or two every so often to find out what's going on.
Frankly, I'd like to see the city put the resources for the proposed resolution go into the associations so that they might improve communications with people who live in the neighborhood. For example, we put out a newsletter but could use help distributing it and paying for the printing costs which have gone up considerably over the past couple of years.
City-wide neighborhood spring cleanups are coming up later this month (April 28) - I'd like to see this event combined with some investment in neighborhood awareness.
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