Another step towards an improved Saskatoon.
Condo battle about city's future
By Steven Lewis, Special to The Star PhoenixMay 15, 2009
Following is the personal viewpoint of the writer, a Saskatoon resident and president of Access Consulting Ltd.
After listening to some heated arguments against the project, city council approved a zoning change that allows 120 condo units to be built on a forlorn piece of underused land bounded by Haultain Avenue and Ruth Street.
Coun. Bob Pringle stood loud and proud for the NIMBY legions who overwhelmed proponents of the project at the April 20 meeting of city council. He went so far as to suggest that only residents of the immediate area were entitled to an opinion.
I suppose by that criterion I no longer count; while I lived at Munroe Avenue and Ruth Street for 28 years, my wife and I moved to Nutana last October. I watched the debate with a growing sense of irony. What the opponents of the project wished to preserve, we wished to leave behind.
Adelaide-Churchill has a density of 3.5 units per acre. In some countries this would be considered semi-rural. The lifeless streets are needlessly wide and are, despite the noble efforts of homeowners, the dominant aesthetic feature.
There is little pedestrian traffic, and for good reason. Woody Allen observed that the problem with the countryside is that there's no place to go for a walk. He meant, of course, that a good walk requires human and visual stimulation, variety, and the prospect of a spontaneous experience.
Opponents of the project want neither density nor the prospect of commercial enterprises intruding on their solitude. The essence of an interesting urban landscape is mixed use on a human scale. Big box retail outlets are as ruthlessly efficient as they are sterile; they are built for cars, not people. Monochrome subdivisions are their residential counterpart. They are isolating by design: the private preserve of the big backyard; the firewall between the domestic and the commercial; houses set well back from the street.
The obvious response to this is that I'm entitled to my perspective and the locals are entitled to theirs. To each his own, and, as the area residents kept repeating, they like what they have, and all they want is its perpetual enjoyment. Fair enough; my question is whether, even on their own terms, they are overreacting and needlessly fearful.
No one is proposing to turn the neighbourhood into Hong Kong; the project would add perhaps 200 residents who are 55-plus. The traffic argument was almost surreal. Yes, Clarence Avenue has become much busier in the past year, but it is entirely due to thousands of people living the same dream that created Adelaide-Churchill half a century ago. The Law of Sprawl comes back to haunt: Today's pastoral sanctuary is tomorrow's drive-through corridor to Home Depot and Stonebridge.
How the presence of a couple of hundred older, mainly churchgoing adults would disturb the tranquillity of the neighbourhood taxes the imagination. The complex will have its own parking. Building up the site would turn a desolate landscape into something potentially pleasing; the risk of it being aesthetically worse is near zero. And there is no better deterrent to speeding drivers than density.
From a quality of life perspective, the opponents may have it exactly wrong. They should insist on 200 units, not 120. They should demand an intimate pub, a coffee house, a courtyard, a multi-purpose centre for community get-togethers. The development should create volunteer and paid work for teenagers and ecumenical services at the church. Set aside a unit or two for artists-in-residence.
This was not just a local skirmish in Adelaide-Churchill; it was about the future of the city, the viability of the low-density model typical of prairie cities without natural boundaries, and a meditation on civic democracy.
Saskatoon is not immune to global realities, and time and economics will have the last word on the sustainability of how we live, travel, and work. The good life comes in many packages. Happy children grow up on Saskatchewan farms and in Manhattan amid the concrete and the towers. No one in central Barcelona or downtown Vancouver lives in a single-family dwelling. By choice and necessity, public and private life are more integrated, the streets are abuzz, the cafes are full, and pedestrians still matter.
There can be no gentler introduction to densification than what's proposed for my old neighbourhood. The opposing passions seemed disproportionate to the stakes and the risks. If anything, the problem with the project is that it lacks ambition.
It is neither imaginative nor transformative, but on balance it is better than doing nothing or doing less. It will be pleasant and quiet; its imprint on the neighbourhood will be minimal.
The gentleman who feared for the loss of his sunsets may find compensation in a new friend or two. The people accustomed to looking across their back fences at nothing might come to appreciate a different view. My hope is that we are all at the beginning of a larger conversation about adding vitality to neighbourhoods, and how Saskatoon might become the little metropolis that could.
© Copyright (c) The Star Phoenix
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Ha, Councilor Bob Pringle has a very contradictory vision for the City of Saskatoon, as evident in his opposition to the Adelaide-Haultain 120 unit condo development.
He is for vibrant neighborhoods...
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DOWNTOWN MUST BE DAY-NIGHT DESTINATION
By Coun. Bob Pringle
Downtown Saskatoon should be a place where we all want to come -- to live or work, shop, dine, learn and gather and experience its beauty. It should be economically vibrant, affordable, fully accessible, welcoming and safe.
A group of young people recently told me they want public engagement in River Landing and core area development. They desire more benches and public washrooms, dark-sky lighting, art displays, green spaces, important cultural symbols, festivals, entertainment, cycling paths and many small businesses. The Mendel Art Gallery and the Public Library have relatively high visitors/members because they are accessible -- both by location and affordability. This is not the case in every city in Canada.
The youth also would like to see a general grocery store -- a common concern among many who reside downtown.
Those of us who do not live downtown need to be able to get there safely when the need or desire arises. Our transit ridership is increasing significantly, which is positive. Some of us may need to drive, and the city has plans for additional parking spaces.
Saskatoon enjoys the second highest per capita rate of cyclists in Canada and the city has plans to provide greater road safety for this environmentally responsible practice. Fundamentally, our businesses have to be doing well for our downtown to thrive, and the signs here are generally very positive.
Many people tell me they like to sit outside at quaint coffee and eatery places: around food is always a great place to socialize. We should continue to plan and design gathering places for children close to the river, and these will become family places. (eg: Kinsmen rides). Additional murals on "character buildings" would brighten up the downtown and, at the same time, display the creative talent of our artists.
Regardless of how we get to downtown, a vibrant city ensures that its citizens want to be there on both evenings and weekends, as well as during the workday. While downtown needs to be a desirable destination, we must ensure that all areas of Saskatoon are appealing and vibrant -- the two are connected. Our entire community should be a desirable place, where all citizens can participate in the life of our community in a meaningful way.
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He is against vibrant neighborhoods...
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City council passes eastside condo development
By David Hutton, TheStarPhoenix.comMay 4, 2009
The need for more housing in older neighbourhoods trumped the loud voice of concerned Adelaide-Churchill residents as a controversial condominium development was passed Monday by city council.
Saskatoon Full Gospel Church has approval to build a 120-unit, three-storey seniors’ condo complex at Ruth Street and Haultain Avenue. Condo developer Medican will build the complex in exchange for a new church and Christian school at the east end of the park site.
The development has pitted the church against local residents for more than a year. Many area residents argued the development was out of character in the primarily residential neighbourhood and would lead to further traffic problems. Council chambers were packed again on Monday night as residents and church congregation members awaited a decision.
The debate at council lasted about one hour before the decision was made to pass the zoning change.
“I’m very disappointed,” said area resident Darryl Millar in an interview after the decision was made. “I don’t know how else you can get involved and get the majority of the people from the neighbourhood stating their opposition to the project. . . . It seems city council just doesn’t get it.”
Coun. Bob Pringle said he could not approve the rezoning because of overwhelming neighbourhood opposition. To make his decision, Pringle counted letters and people who spoke at council two weeks ago and concluded a large majority didn’t support the condo complex going forward.
“The whole concept of designing a community is listening to the community,” Pringle said.
Historically, controversial housing projects in the city almost always work out to benefit a neighbourhood, said Coun. Glen Penner.
“The fact of the matter is that this isn’t just a neighbourhood issue, it is a city-wide issue,” he said.
Norman Rawlings, representing the church, said the group will have to work hard to repair the divide in the neighbourhood created by the issue and “convince residents it’s a good development for them.”
Several councillors and Mayor Don Atchison voted for the project in order to send a message council needs to be consistent with promoting more housing developments across Saskatoon, not just in the inner city, in order to reduce urban sprawl.
“We are faced with growing more responsibly as a city,” said Coun. Charlie Clark. “The costs of servicing the city, infrastructure and providing transit is coming to bite us.”
dhutton@sp.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Star Phoenix
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Say one thing, do another...that can not continue, lest we threaten the success of our entire city.
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