{"id":14655,"date":"2010-10-07T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2010-10-07T14:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=14655"},"modified":"2013-01-21T14:44:59","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T19:44:59","slug":"election-getting-passionate-about-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/10\/07\/election-getting-passionate-about-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"ELECTION: Getting passionate about planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

WHAT:<\/strong> Mayoral debate on planning, community and environmental sustainability
\nWHEN:<\/strong> Thursday, October 7, 7:00 \u2013 8:30 pm
\nWHERE:<\/strong> St. Lawrence Centre for the Perfo<\/a>rming Arts<\/a>, Jane Mallett Theatre, 27 Front Street East<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it: urban planning isn\u2019t a very sexy municipal issue.<\/p>\n

As Edward Keenan suggests in the most recent issue of Spacing, \u201cTry telling the guy at the next bar stool that one of the key achievements of David Miller\u2019s second term was passing the harmonized zoning bylaw, and see how long it takes before he suddenly gets really interested in whatever sport is playing on the TV above the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

His point: planning is one of those subjects that, when mentioned, often causes people\u2019s eyes to gloss over. And who can blame them? When conversations about proposed developments are reduced to conversations about GFAs, setbacks, commercial versus residential coverage, and angular planes, a baseball game \u2014 even if you\u2019re not really into baseball \u2014 seems a whole lot more exciting.<\/p>\n

But a city\u2019s approach to urban planning affects everything from transit to sustainability to affordable housing to the design of our public spaces. Break it down into its various components and you\u2019ll find that residents across the city are actually incredibly passionate about planning issues, whether they realize it or not. In short, people everywhere want a say in how their neighbourhoods grow. They want to play a role in building the city.<\/p>\n

So, the question to ask candidates in this month\u2019s municipal election is this: how are you going to engage residents in the planning process and ensure that they have a meaningful voice in the future of their neighbourhoods and the city as a whole?<\/p>\n

The leading mayoral candidates will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on this and other planning issues tonight (see details above) at a debate organized by People Plan Toronto<\/a> in partnership with Toronto Debates 2010<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sadly, the city planning hasn\u2019t exactly played a starring role in this year\u2019s excruciatingly long race for mayor. But as Mitch Kosny, the Director of Ryerson\u2019s School of Urban and Regional Planning, explained at a recent public forum organized by People Plan Toronto, there are a number of reasons why now is the time to push planning to the forefront of public debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are times when things collide, and I think that in the next 6 to 12 months in Toronto, we\u2019re going to see some good collisions,\u201d Kosny says.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re obviously going to have a new council and a new mayor within a month, and that\u2019s going to create opportunity or the need to perhaps \u2014 depending on what happens \u2014 salvage and protect some of the things we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

He points out that next year the City will be reviewing its Official Plan (a legally binding document that lays out a vision for how the city will grow). The City will also be hiring a new Chief Planner. (Gary Wright, the current Chief Planner, is retiring.)<\/p>\n

According to Kosny, there are also about 65 vacancies in the planning department right now\u201cand those are not brand new, they\u2019ve been there for a couple of years,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This confluence of factors figured in to a letter urging the City undertake a comprehensive review of how it handles planning, which Kosny along with other prominent planners, architects, designers and developers presented to Council back in May. As one of the signatories, People Plan Toronto put a PDF<\/a> of the letter on its website.<\/p>\n

Addressing the audience at the forum, Kosny admits, \u201cI might have given a slightly different talk six months ago, but things have changed. I think it\u2019s about leadership right now, but I think it\u2019s about leadership that\u2019s going to come from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHAT: Mayoral debate on planning, community and environmental sustainability WHEN: Thursday, October 7, 7:00 \u2013 8:30 pm WHERE: St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts, Jane Mallett Theatre, 27 Front Street East Let\u2019s face it: urban planning isn\u2019t a very sexy municipal issue. As Edward Keenan suggests in the most recent issue of Spacing, \u201cTryContinue reading “ELECTION: Getting passionate about planning”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4003,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,20],"tags":[94,1404,1657,425,353,3467,16185,16186,426,16187,404,416,12,16188,19,16189],"class_list":["post-14655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-urban-design","tag-2010-election","tag-chief-planner","tag-current-chief-planner","tag-david-miller","tag-director","tag-edward-keenan","tag-gary-wright","tag-jane-mallett","tag-mayor","tag-mitch-kosny","tag-official","tag-pdf","tag-planning","tag-ryersons-school-of-urban-and-regional-planning","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-debates-2010"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nELECTION: Getting passionate about planning - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/10\/07\/election-getting-passionate-about-planning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ELECTION: Getting passionate about planning - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WHAT: Mayoral debate on planning, community and environmental sustainability WHEN: Thursday, October 7, 7:00 \u2013 8:30 pm WHERE: St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts, Jane Mallett Theatre, 27 Front Street East Let\u2019s face it: urban planning isn\u2019t a very sexy municipal issue. 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