03-01-2025, 06:06 PM
(02-15-2025, 01:47 PM)creative Wrote: Thanks for posting Rainrider22. This is so true and one particular reply to your post just further amplifies this completely. I took a mental break from this site for almost a year after having also been here from the beginning. I have talked with people who used to be on this site and they indicated that they all left because of things that you listed. They also left primarily due to one particular individual and their supposed expert knowledge on just about every topic discussed on here.
A reason why I continue to post is because, well, I have time to kill...but also because I think it's worth sharing opinions that differ from the generic middle class white liberal opinion which is often most prominent in urbanist/transportation/architecture communities. I know a lot of people here disagree with me a lot of the time, but whatever. There have been times where I've been accused of being conservative (despite being anarchist, hah), misogynistic, homophobic, racist, a denier of science etc and have had posts censored at times and got I think two temporary bans, though thankfully the moderation here is generally hands off and I'd say that has even improved over the last year.
It's a shame many original users have since left for whatever reason it may be. There has been a lot of silly drama and disagreements over the years with people outright leaving as a result, which is of course their choice, though I think it is better for everyone when people choose to stick around and talk even if they disagree with one another. But I think it should be in a "healthy" way, if that makes sense. There are two specific individuals that have long been known to be shit stirrers in a lot of Waterloo Region related online communities that have both basically been driven out of most of them because people just get so sick of hearing them always play the role of Google Expert PhD and therefore got shot down even when they had a point to make, but blah...99% of the time I just ignore what they have to say. It's really all you can do. I have no interest in trying to prove these people wrong because they have already decided they're right all the time.
Overall it's a decent forum, though, if a bit small these days. Promoting community growth can be tricky, sadly, because in 2025 most people only want to hear things they agree with. Having spaces where you can hear from all people is becoming increasingly rare.
Back on topic though...yeah Canada should be a hell of a lot richer than it is. I'd love if we had a government that is willing to expand our wealth and power before the global power balance flips and have to start letting the Chinese develop our mines and infrastructure. The US is a good trading partner but we have ports and stuff...let's start using them more again.