The Metz (Schneiders site redevelopment)

[ijmorlan]

A private property owner selling land to another private property owner, there really aren't any restrictions that a government can apply.

I know this, but I don't like it, I don't like the way we plan subdivision either. I think the city should have more control over planning property, similar to what it was like in the early 1900's. Cities should be the ones that already have a planned the right of ways, parcels and zoning of all any property prior to it being sold to developers. If the private property owner still wants to sell it to one company so be it, but at least the city is the one that controls the layout of the development. 

Look at the street systems of neighbourhoods prior to 1960 vs our currently system. Now, every subdivision is separated by company, with little to no connection other than major arterial roads, mostly because they want to squeeze in an extra lot every place they can so rarely do they leave right of ways to be accessed by the neighbouring subdivision.  Cities used to have master plans that would layout roads, parks, schools, medical facilities, Etc. Now we just use zoning and have private companies decide how our cities should be built (Cul-de-Sac's and plaza's).

So ironically we now micro-manage the actual zoning, deciding which properties can be detached, semi-detached, townhouses, triplexes, small apartment buildings, medium apartment buildings, large apartment buildings, and on and on; but developers can make all sorts of horrible planning decisions as to the street layouts.

Except that I think part of it is the way developers work too — they used to lay out their property in a grid, and maybe it joined up smoothly with the adjacent property or maybe all the roads changed name and/or jogged over at the boundary.

A good example of planners dropping the ball in this manner is Hickory St., which absolutely should connect through to Phillip St. (and thence into UW campus, continuing as William Tutte Way all the way to the SLC) as a multi-use trail. The only reason it doesn’t is because the City didn’t make sure the WCRI re-development and the apartments around approximately 289 Lester St. linked it through.