Monday Resident reminder and greetings from NY
Just a reminder to residents who want to input on the downtown to register on Monday.
Just so you know, the DWBIA has a policy of (paraphrasing) supporting a buffer between daytime business/residents separating them from nightime businesses. I don’t believe it is for us to say how that buffer is created, only that we want one. I support listening to police, licensing and legal to tell us how it is done. It is only for Residents and Businesses to say what we want done and why.
A couple of tips for anyone speaking at council
There is a confusion between clean and safe. I would offer that it is because these two words go together. Clean downtowns are safe downtowns. Safe downtowns are clean downtowns. Does one cause the other or is there simply a correlation only? who knows and frankly who cares. Some will try to trip us up by asking what the motivation is. They say that safety reasons will not stand up in court. Fine, don’t argue with them. Just say that we know they work hand in hand and clean is just as important as safe.
For example, in New York, they showed that fixing broken windows lowered serious crime without directly proving one caused the other.
Secondly, you should tell council what you want for downtown without trash talking it. We’re not going to build up downtown by tearing it down. I love it, I hope you love it, and I want to make it better. That is the message that will get the response we need.
Getting back to Tribeca Film Festival where I’ll report back from next week.
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Is there anyone speaking before council on Monday that might mention the article in todays Windsor Star regarding the near future price of oil and gas which can be found at the following link:
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=67771e46-d27c-4872-9224-efda9e086dfe&k=62562
I think it’s imperative that our city leaders should understand that long term thinking with improvement of the core of the city will save their constituents money through lowered fuel consumption and costs and that it is their job to educate the public on such matters so everyone understands the benefits of the decisions they make. All we see right now is pandering to big box, developers and sprawl which in the long term will cost us as citizens hundreds of millions more in travel expenses and ill health, what do we have to do to convince this council and mayor of the right thing to do?
I am not prepared to speak in front of council on Monday and am hoping someone will bring this issue up, $2.50 a liter gas projected for 2012 from a source that council respects (because obviously they do not respect any research done by the citizens or their input judging by the way they are dismissed out of hand on a regular basis) would hopefully be a wake up call that the way we are currently developing this city is wrong headed and not sustainable. It’s hard for anyone to admit they were wrong but the time has come for council to admit their mistakes and start moving the city forward in a positive direction.
Hi Mark,
I will see you there at the council meeting Monday night. I know we have 4 councillors on our side but it is going to be tough to find 2 more.
The sad issue is that this has nothing to do with the other wards so why would they go against the councillors whose wards the downtown is in?
I am hoping that the other councillors realize that we are trying to make for a better downtown. No agenda’s, just caring about the RESIDENTS who live there and caring about the perception of our downtown.
See you there…
I think that safety is almost a side-effect of cleanliness. I always thought that criminals naturally feel uncomfortable and a bit paranoid in a clean environment. It sends out a sign that someone is watching the area and paying attention to what’s going on in the neighborhood.
I think criminals actually LIKE areas that are filled with garbage and weeds. It’s their native habitat, they feel right at home.
I’ll bet that all you have to do to reduce crime and improve a neighborhood is get residents (or landlords) to
1) pick up trash on their property
2) cut the lawn