Sunday morning reading
Ahh! A beautiful Sunday morning, hot coffee in hand (dark-roast Guatemalan shade-grown, fair trade - mmmm!) and a Wi-Fi connection that reaches out to the front porch. It just doesn’t get any better than this, does it?
The city of Guelph, you know that progressive community that joined together to keep Wal-Mart out for ten years, (they finally got in, but all the councillors responsible for that went on to lose the next election) has determined that THEY are fighting a losing battle against urban sprawl and need to do something about it. Wow.
If everyone else focuses on attracting the creative class that Richard Florida insists will revitalize urban centres, will there be any crumbs left for Windsor when we get our act together?
Maybe our case of severe inferiority complex is nothing new? It seems that other communities are realizing that they just need to begin believing in themselves before they reach their full potential;
Has downtown Windsor transformed into the new “edge” community just like downtown Nashville? Realtors in that city believe that they can and need to market this new product in light of their current real estate slump.
Windsorites tend to believe that we are a “special case” when it comes to our community and the problems before us. I’m going to let you in on a secret. There’s nothing special about our problems! They’re being addressed in other communities, just like they need to be addressed in ours. We just need to follow their lead and meet our problems head-on
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Good morning Chris!
I updated “Playing yo-yo Downtown” with a story from Guelph. See if you can get Gord Henderson, to let you publish here his column on Saturday, “Eyesore to eye candy.” It would be a good discussion article.
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/columnists/story.html?id=c94d7f17-3b47-4884-abd7-ac7e10e2c974
I’m on my third cup here on the balcony..beautiful warm morning!
You and I must get the same RSS feeds! LOL
We lucked out with a news-clipping service (CustomScoop.com) that likes what we are doing so much that they are providing their service (regularly $300/MO!) to us FOR FREE!
We’ve got a lot of good people behind us, now we just need to coordinate our efforts a little bit better, knock down some more barriers and make Windsorites believe that they deserve better.
A full circle of life. Back in the mid to late 70’s and early 80’s I tried to set up a clipping service in this city, when fax machines cost a thousand or so dollars, and the same for photocopiers, nobody saw the value in it. I come from a long line of newspaper readers in the family, on average, eight newspapers came in every day. I cut my teeth on The Atlantic, Harper’s plus the Sunday New York Times, plus many more. And that doesn’t account for books! Now a private firm does the same thing over the internet, and charges $300 per month per customer, I’m in the wrong business!
Chris, I have stated time and again. I would rather the city spend their millions of dollars fighting the Sprawl-marts of the world instead of chasing dreams of $75 million tunnel transactions and spending over $800,000+ on a Greenlink “idea” that according to the mayor over 80% of people in Windsor support. So again, Why are we spending this money to convert the converted?
As for Windsor getting its act together. Well, Windsor has been one of the slowest “progressive” cities in Canada. Is it realy any wonder why we are at the bottom of the barrel today? The world today is just too quick for Windsor to get on with its solutions. The days of studying to death, re-doing plans and then re-doing them again are long gone. Either you crap or get off the pot. I think Windsor is still trying to figure out if it has to crap.
Windsor talks a good game about being positive but you have to shake your head when all Windsor really has done in the last 6 years is whine to other levels of gov’t for more and more money. Because we are a “special case”. I don’t think Windsor is a special case at all! I do believe that the policies and policy makers at city hall are special cases who are not held responsible for their choices and actions because of CUPE. If I had done such a poor job in my profession I would have been fired long ago. Most don’t live in Windsor anyway so their actions don’t affect them.
I am not saying they are doing less of a job because they don’t live in the city but I am sure if a mistake is made it is oh well, no big deal.
I know one thing. The mayor speaks a good game about being positive; About showing how great Windsor is but what is so positive about being the perennial beggar at the table of the other levels of gov’t? That in itself shows more about the state of Windsor than any blog site ever will.
Lets keep up the good fight to make a better change for the neighbourhoods of this once glorious city.
Dave you may not have to worry much longer about the sprawl-marts, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Globe and Mail are reporting that many retail chains in the malls of America are in real financial trouble. Linen and Things is reported to be heading into bankruptcy in the states.
They the sprawl-marts are building the wrong way, only Wal-mart has discovered that their profits now lie in the core of cities, that is what they are trying to do Lesileville area in Toronto. Also, the subprime mess in the U.S. hasn’t reached anywhere near bottom yet, that alone will become a category killer for Home Depot, Lowes etc.
Dave, those issues are not mutually exclusive, W.E. can have both.
I get the Greenlink campaign, it is moving us from “W.E. Support” to “W.E. CAN”
From another thread:
Its moving beyond talking about it to actual action. As much as I think about this internet site, you could categorize it amongst others as
“W.E. TALK”. Scaledown has always wanted to move beyond that to “W.E. CAN”, and then finally to “W.E. WILL” and “W.E. DID IT”
THe residents association represents the movement from “W.E. TALK” To “W.E. CAN”. I can’t wait to see it prioritize its goals and then work towards them arm and arm with not only the BIA but the Arts Council, the WEDC, the Council, the Administration, Windsor South Festival Network.
WE’ve never coordinated our efforts, we’ve never rowed in the same direction. W.E. Can do that now
Mark, we certainly will do just that. W.E. can work together to bring about a new direction. A direction for business and residents, artists and council all working together to make the heart of the city beat stronger and healthier for the city.
I will keep you posted about the residents association as more info comes up.