Windsor Version 2.0
I’ve been trying to understand exactly why I’ve been fielding calls from the national media so much lately. I know that people suffering makes for good press: just look at Iraq, Afganistan, and the Bush presidency for evidence, so it should come as no surprise when the tide turns and all of a sudden it is Windsor who is suffering and making the national news.
After my heavily-edited segment with Carole MacNeil and Evan Solomon on CBC: Sunday Morning, (didn’t see it? click here) I got a call from the producer of CBC radio’s The Current, asking if I would like to be a part of an episode with Anna Maria Tremonti on Monday. Besides stroking my inflating ego a bit (they really DO love me!) I can’t help but wonder why the national media is so attracted to what we’re doing here, where the local press is and why they are only choosing to focus on the bad news?
It seems that somebody is interested in the viewpoints of the ScaleDown community!
From the conversations I’ve had with both CBC TV and radio, it sounded like they were interested in discussing some solutions to the problems, aside from focusing on the ever-present “bad news”. Besides the guest column in todays Windsor Star from Sam Gundin at York University, (which seems to have been written while he was watching my performance on the CBC panel 
they have been dwelling on the repurcussions of our decades-old reliance on the auto industry. We can’t move beyond our situation if we don’t engage in some serious diaogue, people!
At least the national media is trying to move us in that direction. Unfortunately, we need our local media and politicos to start an open dialogue on what Windsor is going to do to sustain itself if things continue down this road.
I am going to ask you the question that Dominic Girard, producer for The Current, asked me yesterday. What will Windsor do if the automotive industry leaves it behind? What will we do to change our economic outlook? How can we take our future into our own hands?
These are the kinds of questions that need to be asked. We can’t hope for some super-hero corporation to swoop in and save us all the time. We need to start relying more on the wits and entrepreneurial spirit of Windsorites to move ourselves forward. And if our elected leaders won’t start the dialogue, it’s up to us!
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Master of the media? I think I was right, Chris.
The Sunday morning show was great. Short, but balanced. It was a great discussion on the problems and the difficult journey towards the solutions that we face. Thank you Chris for taking the time to represent the your point of view.
The guest column is great. I think, that we in Windsor have the opportunity to be the guiding light for the rest of the country when it comes to building a sustainable city. Politically, geographically, socially, economically, environmentally, (all the –llies) we are the ideal city.
Political reasons why Windsor is the ideal Canadian city:
Windsor is the perfect place to really leverage the political kudos from leading this transformation. We are incorrectly perceived to be both the hardest to transform and the least able to do so. We are branded as the automotive capital of Canada. Our economy is ranked, by some measures, as the worst in Canada. We are view, deserved or not, as being a polluted city. Transforming Windsor will be perceived as a Herculean outcome when in reality it was not. I think the provincial government is on board. How about municipal and federal?
Geographic reasons why Windsor is the ideal Canadian city:
1.Southern most Canadian city with little rain and snowfall. (All year bike/walk/public transit potential)
2.Flat
3.Elongated development east-to-west along riverfront. This creates car traffic congestion, conflicts between people and cars, and is ideal for public transit.
Social reasons for a sustainable Windsor:
For thousands of years cities have been built as a community, where a community is a group of interacting people living in a common location. Cities have been pedestian centric with walkable streets and abundent public spaces. People of all social classes and backgrouds would interact and share a common identity. Over the last 60 or so years cities have changed to an anti-community, where we sub-divide and isolate ourselves. My view is that our personal transportation bubble (the car) and the suburban highway transportation system is the main culprit.
Economically and environmental for a sustainable Windsor:
IEA World Energy Outlook 2008 Summary & conclusions
? Current energy trends are patently unsustainable —socially,
environmentally, economically
? Oil will remain the leading energy source but…
> The era of cheap oil is over, although price volatility will remain
> Oilfield decline is the key determinant of investment needs
> The oil market is undergoing major and lasting structural change, with
national companies in the ascendancy
? To avoid “abrupt and irreversible” climate change we need a
major decarbonisation of the world’s energy system
> Copenhagen must deliver a credible post-2012 climate regime
> Limiting temperature rise to 2?C will require significant emission
reductions in all regions & technological breakthroughs
> Mitigating climate change will substantially improve energy security
? The present economic worries do not excuse back-tracking or delays
in taking action to address energy challenges
PEI - 140,000 people with approximately 60,000 of those in the capital region. In the past two weeks over $55 million in private money has been pledged for investment in buildings in and around the downtown core including a new hotel, office building, condominiums, and some extensive facade replacement.
What makes the difference? A consistent approach to what Charlottetown wants to be, what it needs to do and, generally speaking, how it needs to get there. Is there room for improvement? Always! Are we happy to have $55 million in investment in Charlottetown during such economically uncertain times? Of course!
Check out this link to the latest announcement.
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=194930&sc=98&comments=submit&#thankyou
What will we do? Ask Eddie and council! I have been asking for years whre Windsor’s contigency plan is and what we are donig to move the city in a different direction. The reply was that we have an economic development commission and that they are working hard (whatever that means because I have yet to see one job produced by this 5 year old commission) to deliver jobs.
What hasn’t been stated by The city of Windsor is their willingness to listen to the taxpayer, BIA’s and Scaledown. They seem to know the answers but have yet to provide those statements. So I ask again in the public domain of the world wide web. WHAT IS WINDSOR DOING TO MOVE THE CITY IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION?
We have provided some great ideas here and yet our elected officials have continued to ignore all of us. At the very least they could say yes or no to our many queries and suggestions.
PFA, great post! I still don’t believe Windsor has even asked the question. What city are we and what do we want to be? Along with who are we and who can we tap to make these changes?
City Dividends Released
November 7, 2008
Posted by: Sheila
http://www.ceosforcities.org/news/entry/1955
CHICAGO (Nov. 6, 2007) Despite tough economic times, America’s 51 largest cities have the opportunity to collectively realize $166 billion in much-needed new wealth by focusing on performance improvements in three key areas: increasing the educational attainment of their citizens, reducing the number of vehicle miles traveled per person each day and reducing the number of people living in poverty, according to a new analysis, City Dividends, released by CEOs for Cities.
City Dividends, which was developed by Portland, Ore., economist Joe Cortright and presented to members of CEOs for Cities its National Meeting in Chicago, calculates the monetary gains the top 51 metros could realize if they increase their college attainment by one percentage point (The Talent Dividend), reduce VMT by 1 mile per person per day (The Green Dividend) and reduce the number of people in poverty (The Opportunity Dividend) by one percentage point.
City Dividends is designed to help urban leaders make the case for pubic policies that will help raise incomes, encourage citizens to drive less and increase opportunities for bringing people out of poverty. City Dividends establishes a framework for examining the policies, actions and conditions that are needed for cities to actually realize these gains in practice.
“In an era of fiscal constraint at every level of government, leaders must innovate new ways for producing wealth and opportunity,” said Carol Coletta, president and CEO of CEOs for Cities. “Representing the nation’s primary source of wealth, employment and global competitiveness, cities are where the strategies to keep America moving forward must be developed and launched.”
To engage cities in the initiative, CEOs for Cities has created the City Dividends Compact – a contract that urban leaders can sign to indicate their commitment to realizing these untapped revenue sources.
Over the next 18 months, CEOs for Cities will work with urban leaders in cities that sign on to the compact to develop strategies to capture these dividends and will track progress in each of the performance areas.
“Our objective in this work is to estimate the economic and fiscal stakes involved in each of these key aspects of urban revitalization,” said Coletta. “City Dividends can be customized and applied to the situations of individual metropolitan areas and used as a tool in policy planning.”
The City Dividends defined:
The Talent Dividend: Per capita income and college attainment rates are closely correlated. Using data from 2006, each additional percentage point improvement in aggregate adult four-year college attainment is associated with a $763 increase in annual per capita income. Raising the national median of the top 51 metro areas from 29.4 percent to 30.4 percent would be associated with an increase in income of $124 billion per year for the nation.
The Green Dividend: In the 51 largest U.S. metro areas, the average person drives about 24.9 miles per day. If we could reduce that by one mile per day (about 4 percent), 156 million Americans would collectively drive 156 million fewer miles per day, or about 57 billion fewer miles per year. At $3.50 per gallon for gasoline, the nation would save $10 billion per year on fuel. Add the expense of purchasing and maintenance of vehicles, and the total savings would be $28.6 billion per year.
The Opportunity Dividend: In the nation’s 51 largest metro areas, the median public expenditure on Medicaid, food stamps and assistance to families including the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program and other state administered general assistance was $8,200 per person living in poverty in 2006. At this level, the national Opportunity Dividend, resulting from a one percentage point reduction in poverty, is calculated at $13.1 billion per year.
Full study here: http://www.ceosforcities.org/files/City_Dividends_FINAL_11_17_08.pdf
Increase by 1%, Reduce by VMT 1 mile by person and Increase by 1%! These aren’t huge numbers or increases and or reductions in the scheme of things of today’s world but they produce huge dividends down the now emptying road. Education reduces poverty, increases talent and opportunity and money for the city and life that is better for all.
Detroit: Do the Collapse, well worth your time to read …long but very interesting
From the blog: Urbanophile
http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/2008/11/detroit-do-collapse.html
I enjoy swapping “war stories” about work as much as the next guy. I’ve heard a lot, but some of the most incredulous came from a college buddy who used to work for General Motors. He was a manager level employee in field operations, but was often called in to work auto shows and the like. What was his job at the auto show you might ask? Well, at one Chicago Auto Show, his first responsibility was to make sure the hotel room for the executive was prepped correctly. This exec had very specific detailed requirements as to the brands of soft drinks, liquor, chocolates and cigars that needed to be on hand when he arrived, so it was my friend’s job to make sure this happened. After that, he got his company Escalade and went to O’Hare to pick up said exec’s wife, whom he then spent much of the afternoon ferrying around on a Michigan Ave. shopping trip.”
And;
Detroit represents the American urban decline story in its purest form. The Detroit region and indeed the whole state of Michigan is in serious trouble. Of all the cities of the Midwest that are are struggling, I think it has one of the toughest roads ahead. It it is fighting terrible structural problems that hobble its ability to compete. The linkage of its fortunes and its public image to automobiles is of course a big problem. The auto industry not only brings many image stigmas, it is also an industry that is undergoing a painful restructuring. Until that restructuring is complete, the city and state can never recover.
The model here is Pittsburgh, which, with the disappearance of the steel industry in the 70’s and 80’s underwent a civic catastrophe the likes of which few places have ever seen absent being overrun in war. Today, while Pittsburgh still has serious problems, it seems to have hit the inflection point and many of the indicators for that city are now positive. I think there’s a powerful lesson there. Until Detroit hits what traders call the point of “capitulation”, there’s little chance of the city reversing its fortunes. That’s a painful reality. The auto industry and the city and state must work through their restructuring before things can turn positive.
Beyond the auto-industry dependence and branding, Detroit also famously suffers some of the worst racial polarization in America. Moreso that most Midwest cities, Detroit has a rich black cultural heritage, and it already has a powerful image in the public mind as a black city. Those who know me know that I think that there is a big opportunity for Midwestern cities to put their black communities at the center of their civic growth strategy. I’m astounded almost no one has done this. Just look at what having a robust and engaged black community in Chicago has done for that city. Without that robust black infrastructure, no President Barack Obama from Chicago in the White House. The problem for Detroit is while it has great assets in this regard such as its Motown music legacy, the racial polarization of the region vitiates them. Healing that divide is critical to the future success of the city. The antics of Kwame Kilpatrick, the disgraced and jailed former mayor of the city, only adds to the problem by reinforcing stereotypes. He also illustrates the feckless leadership in the city proper.
But there’s another structural problem as well, one that is not often remarked upon or considered. Namely, Detroit is just plain too big. With a metro area population of 4.4 million (effectively even higher since Canada isn’t included), Detroit is the second largest metro in the Midwest by a good margin and one of the largest cities in the country. This creates a gigantic mouth to feed. And it makes it just incredibly difficult to turn the ship around. Detroit and the state of Michigan (and Ohio) are the size they are because large volumes of unskilled labor were needed in their factories. Without those factories, the need for the people evaporates. There is simply no raison d’etre for a city the size of Detroit in Michigan today. One reason Indiana is faring much better than Michigan and Ohio despite having lower educational attainment levels and a higher dependence on manufacturing is that it is half the size of those states. This makes its problems much more tractable. One of the biggest problems facing Michigan and Ohio is simply the sheer size of those places. (Illinois is big too, but its population is heavily concentrated in Chicago, which creates a different dynamic).
Maybe the city is listening too?
Read the mayor’s comments below from:
Building for a better economy
Grace Macaluso, The Windsor Star
Published: Friday, November 28, 2008
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=33169ad1-4a85-49e7-939b-275b721019f4
…Dollars could also be funnelled into a revamped transit system, he adds. “We’re hearing that our transit system is outdated,” says Francis. What we need to do is restructure transit services so it meets the needs of the community; so you can get on a bus and it’s not taking two hours to get to your stop, it’s taking 20 minutes. If you’re able to provide a more expedient and rapid transit service, you’re able to get people to work quicker, improve their quality of life, improve the sustainability of the community.”
That project carries a price tag of $10 million to $15 million.
The ultimate transit upgrade is the long-discussed high-speed Via Rail passenger service between the Windsor-Quebec City corridor - a project that Francis plans to raise with Premier Dalton McGuinty during his visit to the city next week.
“I applaud him and (Quebec Premier Jean) Charest — they’re focusing on a real good priority in terms of moving the economy and creating new opportunities for us,” says Francis.
“High-speed passenger rail is a business case that really speaks for itself. You see what it’s done in Europe, in Asia - it’s time for us to get into the 21st century.”
Copenhagen the model for what is possible in Windsor!
I have stressed the importance of Windsor’s location before. I like to think of Windsor as being at the center of one of the three most important gateways in Canada the continental gateway (the other two being the pacific gateway and the atlantic gateway).
I have suggested we re-brand our city to take advantage of this location. For example something like: “Windsor, where North America meets and connects to the world.”
I have argued that a large part of our economic revitalization depends on connecting Windsor by the most efficient method to the rest of the world (walking, biking and public transit at a local level; rail and high-speed rail at a regional level; and shipping and airports at a global level). This connectivity along with producing attracting and retaining human capital and an unwavering commitment to quality of life is the secret recipe.
As councilor Halbertstadt points out, Copenhagen in Denmark is a good example of what is possible in Windsor. Just look at the similarities and take note of what we are lacking:
1.border city with malmo Sweden
2.strategically located at the crossroads of Scandinavia and the Baltic Region
3.major airport connected by bus and rail
4.direct trains from all major cities in Europe
5.40 percent rides a bike every day
6.the University of Copenhagen located in the heart of the city has almost 35 000 students
7.first in most livable cities
8.ranked 3rd in Western Europe in terms of attracting regional headquarters and distribution centers
9.one of the most important business cities in the Nordic Region
10.described as “The Paris of the North” because of its Design, Fashion and Beauty
Connecting Chicago, Detroit-Windsor, London, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City with high speed rail would be a vast leap forward for this city. Impoving connectivity is a wonderful way of spreading and sharing financial/cultural wealth, and on a personal note, would enable me to live in Windsor and go to the U of T or Ryerson without having to pay 6 zillion dollars a month rent : )
I really like where Edwin is going with this…
Read the guest column in today’s Star? http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/case+high+speed+rail/1009344/story.html
Yet ANOTHER Scaledown-esque article in the Star. Imitation is the greatest form of fla… you know the rest
I’m just really happy that these issues are getting a decent amount of face time in the mainstream media.