What if?

WR YIMBY, a group with which I am very involved, recently announced a gofundme in support of oneROOF. This was driven by a desire to assist oneROOF with legal fees resulting from some neighbours appealing a recent approval for additional affordable housing for youth. A resident from that neighbourhood, hearing of this fundraiser, reached out to me to provide additional context. That neighbour also encouraged me to watch the 3+ hour Committee of Adjustment meeting where over 20 residents spoke out against this proposed expansion. I have watched that meeting (and you can do so as well, here, starting around 1:10:00) and I have a few thoughts.

As someone who watches many neighbourhood and council meetings, I was not surprised by many of the concerns shared by these delegations. There were concerns about density, crime, and oversaturation of similar community services and supports. Many residents said that they no longer feel safe in their neighbourhoods.

As the meeting wrapped up, I couldn’t help but think that there has to be a better way of doing all of this. As someone in favour of building up and not out, I don't often share concerns around height, density, and the like. However, I think all of us want our community to feel safe. And I think most of us see value in organizations such as oneROOF to offer care and resources to our community. Yet, at times, it can feel like we are all fighting against each other on city building issues. It has me yearning for a better way.

With that in mind, I have listed a few potential ways of moving forward that could benefit our community as a whole.

What if:

• Media reports focused on success stories and not the conflicts? It seems we often hear stories about neighbourhood opposition and conflict. I'd love to hear more stories about neighbourhoods that successfully worked through community challenges.
• Neighbour groups created 'welcoming committees' instead of 'development committees'? I know many neighbourhoods who put a lot of effort into 'keeping an eye on' development. What if we changed our focus to how to best welcome new folks into our neighbourhoods?
• We create better ways to inform and connect residents? Many residents say they weren't provided the information they wanted, with enough time to respond to proposed changes. Might there be better approaches to informing residents, rather than relying on newspaper postings, signage, and mail outs? Perhaps our tech community could help create better ways to engage on these issues? Might neighbourhood groups also want to play a role?
• We relied on principles of restorative justice when conflicts did arise? Even if we did implement all of the above, I am certain conflicts would still arise. When that happens, restorative justice principles should guide conflict resolution.
• Instead of focusing on development proposals we oppose, we take a proactive approach and identify places we would love to see new housing? I am using #BuildHere on Twitter to have this conversation and there have already been several great suggestions on where we could build.

Those are a few of my ideas. I'd love to hear what you think of them, as well as any other ideas you would add to that list. Feel free to comment!