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I don’t want to live in one.
Trudeau Popularity - or not (various polling, etc.)
- Thread starter daftandbarmy
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I don’t want to live in one.
Brad Sallows
Army.ca Legend
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Government is supposed to govern for all Canadians. Pretty sure I've heard a few politicians make that claim. Voting record doesn't enter into it.
Brad Sallows
Army.ca Legend
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Those are someone else's dream. I doubt there are any places in Canada with a couple each of well-stocked bookstores and game/hobby shops with 15 minutes of some particular location. Wait till the power goes out for two weeks to some high-rises, or we have a truly noxious pandemic that rips through a few. Then we'll see if anyone has their "oh, fuck" moment.
OldSolduer
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I quite agree with that but if 90% of voters would have voted perhaps this could have been avoided,
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I grew up in 15 minute cities/towns. We emigrated.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Because...
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That's no what a 15 minute city is. You don't need to be a massive congested city to be a 15 minute city. In fact, 15 minute cities aren't even cities, they are neighbourhoods and subdivisions of cities.
When I lived in Hamilton Ontario, I lived in a "15 min city", but it wasn't a new area, it was an old area. Just by chance is was really well organized (gotta love cities with roads built in grids). Other than my work, everything I needed was within a 15 minute walking distance. It's nothing more than an urban planning philosophy/method.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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I know, I know...
It's worth looking at some of the drawbacks though...
The real problem with 15-minute cities
The poor in the UK, and then around the world, escaped from the poverty of agrarian life in the 19th century for the opportunities of urban industrialisation. Trying to re-create 15-minute villages would be turning the clock back on 200 years of social and economic progress. Cities should emphasise affordability (of housing) and mobility (of labour) to provide choice to the poor and ensure that they retain their role as engines of inclusive economic growth.
I love the 15-minute feel when I walk around Tooting, but growing up in a rural town that took the same length time to traverse in its picturesque entirety, I couldn’t wait to leave. The reason cities have been so historically socially transformative is precisely because they enable people to escape their 15-minute bubbles.
The real problem with 15-minute cities
In February, a protest against planned traffic reduction measures took a surprising turn, as around 2,000 people took to the streets carrying placards with slogans about ’15 minute ghettos’, ‘the new world order’, and exhorting onlookers to, ‘wake up, people, wake up’. The historic city has...
capx.co
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15 minute cities make sense... when you have a population density to support it.
We happen to have one of the lowest population densities in the world.
We happen to have one of the lowest population densities in the world.
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Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
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15 minute cuties ? What exactly are we talking about here ? Specifically CFB Kingston ?
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Typos that hit far too close to home for CFB Kingston at the moment
We had 15 minute cities until Walmart/Loblaws came along. Small groceries couldn't compete with the prices. Beckers put the milkman and breadman out of business. Indoor malls replaced shopping plazas and put people into their cars to do the clothing furniture shopping bit. There are lots of small steps on the way but the biggest one in my mind is the loss of neighbourhood shopping. Second comes the closing of smaller schools and busing so kids no longer associated with their neighbours. Add in the loss of the feeling of safety for children to go out and play in the local parks. Then couple that with the loss of the backyard as couples without kids dominated the housing market. They don't need a yard, just a patio for the beer and the barbeque. Lots of reasons and it is probably irreversible except in isolated cases you have a rural location and a single industry such as a mine and it is hard to get people for those type of conditions. Just think Cold Lake and apply it
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So, again, I go back to what I considered a "15 minute neighborhood" in Hamilton. If you want to look it up, it's called Hampton Heights. Specifically, I lived on East 45th between Fennel and Mohawk. Within 15 min walking distance there were 2 large chain grocery stores, branches for 3 or 4 of the big 5 banks, 3 Tim Hortons, several bars, several restaurants, easy access to public transit, several elementary schools (the high school is a 20min walk), and a park that you absolutely could let your kids go to by themselves. And all this inside a large city.
Could you replicate this in a more suburban setting? I believe so. A lot of the newer subdivision (meaning going back 20-30 years) in southern Ontario were all designed as apartment communities with very few if any amenities within walking distance. Just a lot of houses, a park, and maybe a school if you are lucky. We can do better. Be like Hamilton mountain!
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See that the thing, this isn't an argument between "city living" and "country living". If you want country living, fill your boots. I myself am thinking about moving further out into the country and understand and accept that means a bit of a drive to get anything.
Instead, this argument is between "15-minute-city living" and "non-15-minute-city living". If you are already going to live in a city, why WOULDN'T you want your neighborhood and the adjacent ones to be urban planned such that everything you need is within a 15 minute walk? It makes no sense. That would be like urban planners saying they are going to design the roads and highways going forth with a new philosophy such that even at peak rush hour traffic should only increase travel time "by no more than 20%" and someone coming along and saying "I don't want to live in a 20% city! I WANT my drive home to be 50% longer than a drive without traffic!". Just, dumb.
IKnowNothing
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Those are the drawbacks to the author's strawman though, not to the actual idea- which the author expresses approval for.
That includes travel time, right? Asking for a friend.
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Some say maaaaaaaaaaybe enough people will think that PP may be a better advocate against a (if track record is any guide) bullying, chaotic POTUS47 than JT - at least according to some polling last fall - to tip the scales. That said, I don't know how much "best PM" preferences translate into "best party rep in my riding" votes.
Also, pigs may fly & Team Red will eventually 1) do the full-on attack narrative on PP, and/or 2) come up with policies/storylines showing they can solve the problems Canadians are actually worried about, and/or 3) pull out some divisive wedge issues to poke Team Blue with.
Also, this is an interesting breakdown of US presidential preferences among Canadian voters (source - archived link)
Still lotsa time before an election here for "stuff" to happen on either side ...
daftandbarmy
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