Wanting to minimize change
No matter how much change you're talking about, people will oppose it
A story in four acts as captured by local news media:
18 storeys is too high, we’d be fine with 4-6 storeys
6 storeys are too big, we'd be fine with multiplexes
Multiplexes are monstrosities, we are fine with existing post-Second World War bungalows
As a meme:
My favourite example: opposition to a garden suite (like a laneway house) in Toronto.
Garden suites and laneway suites were declared as legal “as-of-right” for property owners to build by the City of Toronto in a bylaw that passed in early 2022.
The bylaw means that as long as a proposed suite meets the criteria for size and location and is not requiring any zoning changes or “variances” it is automatically allowed. The property owner building it is under absolutely no obligation to inform or consult with neighbours about it.
The garden suite being built on the Eastwood Road site meets the city’s criteria. The neighbours said they were not informed in advance about it.
In this case, the garden suite is a two-storey one with the living space being over a garage. It meets all the legal and building code requirements and is allowed to be built – whether the neighbours like it or not.
The neighbours directly to the west of the Eastwood project have a sign on their front lawn objecting to the “monstrosity” of a garden suite being built beside their backyard.
Pretty funny that the very next day, Douglas Todd rails about the "villages" being a cunning plan, a plot, a secret agenda, to bring in.....DENSITY! (Density! Booga, booga.. be very afraid).
I cracked up when he named Denman Street as "struggling". It's a struggle to get down the sidewalk with your take-out without getting bumped...
https://brander.ca/doraspage/20250808.html ... on Alberni, 2 blocks from Denman
...I'm skipping the bigger one on Alberni and Denman, that's going up in the air now.
https://brander.ca/doraspage/20260511.html ... six blocks up Robson
....and I'm skipping the one just four blocks up Robson, still in demolition.
https://brander.ca/doraspage/20260310.html ... that site is across the street; hear it all day
That's five major construction sites: four highrises and a five-year project to put in water for the growth of Vancouver.
I really think my neighbourhood is doing its share. And more. Very hard to listen to complaints from Douglas Todd.
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