Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
Yes it is. The Khyber is a good example.
Not at all. Previous generations also had planners and leaders. They were educated just like you were, using the theories of the time. The fact that you do not like what they created simply goes to show that the practice is not a science, but an art. And often, the results are not at all what the theory would suggest.
It is astounding that for such an obviously intelligent person, you do not see the reasons behind that statement you make. It is simply because people demanded govt solve all their problems. They kept voting in govts that promised to provide free health care, more higher education, all sorts of govt services, more, more, more. Just like this supposed "arts hub", only on a much bigger scale. You would appear to be too young to remember what that mid-20th century world was like. It was much different. Govt did much less. People were responsible for their own health care. Institutions were much simpler and smaller, demanding less public support. The social safety net was much smaller. Then that changed and everybody demanded more. Of course, nobody asked nor answered the question of how to pay for it all. Everybody wants something if there is no cost, which is what politicians constantly exploit to their advantage. But there is a cost to it all. That is the point of all this debate.
It is interesting that HRM's planning chief was apparently let go from his previous job because he was too hardnosed and ideological. I read that just a couple of weeks ago in a profile piece on him and it immediately struck me as very typical of much of what I see here. I do not know the person and have no idea if he is doing a good job or not, but being ideological in and of itself is not a bad thing. But it must be balanced with other ideologies like financial responsibility and economic growth and public needs and not be a single priority. You can't just say "this is good" or "this is bad" based on one narrow set of planning principles. Nor can you say "we want this and this and this" and not take into account the financial effects - that is what got us here in the first place. All aspects of the mosaic, all competing priorities, including the ability to pay for and operate each choice over the long term, must be taken into account.
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The history of Planning is actually quite interesting. Most of what we now hate was touted as modern scientific progress. the car was the Clean and efficient savoir form the horse. Houses were machines for living. mechanized production and the industrial asthetic were forward thinking and best for all.
Now planning has shifted to be less quantitative and more qualitative. while it attempts to be more of a social enterprise, it is still bound by the creation and enforcement of rigid zoning codes.
People expect the city to provide services. I dont use the Khyber, but i also dont use the oval, or any of the multitude of very expensive 4 pad rinks, or the community centers. its to simplistic to consider stuff i dont like or use to be wastefull.
As for the Generational thing, i was born in 1980, that makes me the first of the Millennials. Our grand parents went to war, and when they came home, they had a bunch of kids. as those kids grew up, the country prospered, a University education was cheap, and guaranteed you a good job. to blame government programs for bankrupting us is to simplistic. for much of this period of growth, industry was nationalized, and there was tight regulation, and governments everywhere built buildings and infrastructure.
but our parents, who had it good, changed the world. We no longer made things. they moved production where it was cheaper, and they created more service jobs. retail changed, things got bigger, and jobs were no longer full time with benefits. they gamed the system. decisions were made for profit on paper, not because it made any real sense.
Our Federal, Provincial and municipal debts are a misnomer, they are big scary numbers that are easy to blame, but they arnt the reason my generation is left holding the bag. were left holding the bag, because you had it good, then you changed all the rules, but raised us to believe it was going to be just as good as it was for you - only when we got into the world, we discovered we were sold a bunch of crap. Education was expensive, and no longer guaranteed you a good job. good jobs lacked pensions and benefits, and you no longer worked for the same company for 30 years.
are young people arrogant - sure, sometimes, its called being young.
are our parents stubborn and still stuck in an old world. yep. things need to change, and there needs to be major changes to how programs are delivered, but everything is still being run with the boomer mentality, and solutions to problems are that the program just needs tweaking. it needs a full on rethink. and the boomers arn't going to like the result.
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) when your talking to a bunch of biologists do you insert your wild ideas and tell them that they aren't authorities on the subject? You made it personal when you mock someones profession and credibility. Disagree, agree i personally dont care but that is a personal attack as well as the ones made against you.
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