528, 533, 550 Lancaster St W | 10, 12, 18, 30, 30 fl | U/C

[bravado]

I think we need to go to the extremes… public input on sewer capacity! Power lines! If we’re going to use “democracy” to paralyze the future, let’s really commit to it!

[panamaniac]

If this were Toronto or Montreal, these people wouldn't be listened to yet we publish entire articles about their ignorance and derail the development of thousands of homes because of it. It's ridiculous.

https://twitter.com/KamilKaramali/status...2033863680

Global News ran a story about how a neighbourhood in Toronto wants to save a parking lot from becoming affordable housing, with one local resident even describing the parking lot as "the heart of our community". This NIMBY shit exists everywhere.

It does, and imho people need to chill about it.   Change is disruptive for some people, but as long as they feel they've been heard, the project will likely go ahead much as proposed (or maybe improved).  The month delay gives time to sort out the details of the heritage element.  It also gives time for the woman who's mental health is being damaged to get some counselling ...

I'm not sure I'd want to live in a city where major developments didn't give rise to public discussion, pro and con.

[Kelly Zuk]

Rumour is there there are plans for at least 2-3 other towers here down to General Dr. Hopefully the two heritage cottages aren't destroyed in the process. Corley is part of the Auburn crew so maybe they'll be done by 2050

They are being destroyed along with the delicate eco system that is currently there. 211 old growth trees will be removed and many people are being displaced with a pitiful bone thrown their way.

I have just come home from the council meeting and I was disgusted. Only 3 actually like the project, but the others that thought (rightly so) that this project is a terrible idea, are too afraid to challenge the Ontario Land Tribunal. 

I am disgusted and the people that live there currently are heartbroken.

[the_conestoga_guy]

It appears that this development has been approved by council.
https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...eport.html

If you describe yourself as a YIMBY, this article will be pure, distilled schadenfreude to you.

[cherrypark]

On one hand, it is a big addition for the location. On the other hand, purpose built rentals and more supply to address a shortage. I support people being housed. Bridgeport and Lancaster area businesses will benefit from the added walkable customers. Not sure if the eulogy is selective listening by the writer or council (who just used this proposal to kill the ramps change) being that down about housing people.

If you don't like this, up zone the city, folks.

[panamaniac]

The project is approved - good news. The verbiage is politics.

[KevinL]

“Unfortunately, the province has made it apparent that they want homes built no matter what — doesn’t matter where, doesn’t matter how, they want them built … and I wish they didn’t have that much strength in municipal decisions.”

It does matter where and how, and Council does still have some control over that. They need to get used to exercising it so the city looks the way we want it to.

[ac3r]

Uggggggh. Council can fall off a dock. I am so sick of their NIMBY pandering. What kind of statement is "with a heavy heart" anyway? This country is in a dire, dire, dire shortage of houses and we have hundreds of homeless people sleeping rough in Waterloo Region and these dumbasses constantly complain about solutions to this housing crisis.

The high-density development, far from a major transit station area, doesn’t suit the site and will result in the loss of cultural heritage and what’s been described as a “sustainable community,” she said.

Where is the cultural heritage here, exactly?

When it comes to planning, “our actual authority has been decreasing significantly over the years,” he said.

Good. Let people who know what they're doing make the decisions.

[panamaniac]

Uggggggh. Council can fall off a dock. I am so sick of their NIMBY pandering. What kind of statement is "with a heavy heart" anyway? This country is in a dire, dire, dire shortage of houses and we have hundreds of homeless people sleeping rough in Waterloo Region and these dumbasses constantly complain about solutions to this housing crisis.

The high-density development, far from a major transit station area, doesn’t suit the site and will result in the loss of cultural heritage and what’s been described as a “sustainable community,” she said.

Where is the cultural heritage here, exactly?

When it comes to planning, “our actual authority has been decreasing significantly over the years,” he said.

Good. Let people who know what they're doing make the decisions.

Again, the project has been approved.

[ac3r]

So? The politicians making these decisions are still terrible and keep repeating the same nonsense over and over.

[bravado]

Like I said on reddit, somehow building apartments causes their hearts to be heavy - but not homelessness, misery, and increasing food bank usage?

Sociopaths. Suburbs and cars melt your brain, killing whatever part empathy comes from.

[panamaniac]

It's like people can't accept a win.

[tomh009]

I thought this was an interesting article about why we don't have a lot of larger family units being built in multi-residential buildings. https://www.centerforbuilding.org/blog/w...th-america

Relating to this, I observed a new apartment building in Finland first-hand. Construction just completed, probably upper-mid-market.

Six floors, seven or eight units per floor. One elevator (maybe 1m x 1.5m, big enough for a wheelchair but not a stretcher) per tower, One central staircase next to the elevator, not enclosed. No garbage chutes (garbage and recycling bins are outside). Can't build that here ...

Inside the unit, the construction quality is, I think, better than here. More electrical outlets, triple-pane windows, solid doors, good fixtures. And a nice, big glassed-in balcony.

On the other hand, that 65 m2 apartment would be considered pretty big for a 2BR.