Great idea on commuting thanks to View Royal
I’m very excited to see a local government (View Royal and council) trying to sort out this mess we all call the Colwood Crawl.
As a regular commuter, I have hoped beyond hope that someone would take the reins and move some form of transportation initiative forward.
We have all seen the devastation caused by nature in the form of rains and fires and the resulting chaos this causes.
Any alternative to moving people and or goods needs to be examined for its potential to alleviate future road closures in emergency situations.
It takes a solid foundation to build a house! Can this be our traffic solution?
The Blink rapid bus service has been a help but relies on existing road infrastructure. We need alternatives!
Can this be our future? I would like to think so.
Thank you to View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias et al.
Rod Bredin
Colwood
We need E&N action, not just more dithering
Instead of getting on with the much-needed work on the existing E&N railway line, the View Royal mayor’s plan for his own little railway goes off in a different direction to try and get light rail here.
We have already seen a part of the current track given back to one of the First Nations. This was mainly because politicians could not get their collective acts together and thus the railway has not been used for many years.
Now it seems this project seeks to use other lands while the current tracks continue to rust as the people involved dither about its future use.
At the end of the testing of these trains, one of the proponents indicated that the rails can be removed and the region would be left with a “very durable sidewalk.”
Why would we want to spend a whole lot of money on this adventure and at the conclusion of the process end up with nothing but a sidewalk!?
The recent closure of Highway 4 into Port Alberni should be the wake up call to kick off the revitalization of rail on Vancouver Island.
I did not see a whole lot of bike couriers delivering the needed goods into the region over that dusty old logging road detour that was established.
I am a cyclist too, but until we start seeing level-headed action on this issue, this is the only transportation mode people doing their Colwood Crawl every morning are going to see on the E&N line.
Vince Kreiser
North Saanich
Plenty of housing, but not ‘missing middle’
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto is disappointed that there have not yet been more “missing middle” projects. She needn’t be.
Victoria still has a large (the largest in the Capital Regional District) amount of housing and rental units being built.
The large apartment complexes, such as Harris Green, will be a success in terms of creating many units of affordable housing. So called “missing middle” misses the mark.
By Alto’s own admission (albeit rather dishonestly, after the bylaw was approved) and the clear evidence in other cities, missing middle does nothing for affordability and only serves to make properties (land value) even more expensive.
Nor can they compete in terms of numbers of units against larger apartment buildings. In the face of these realities, why persist in “missing middle” which will only serve to enrich developers, increase land value, and alter neighborhoods for the worse?
Unfortunately, Alto’s response is to find a way to make it easier for the developers.
Richard Volet
Victoria
If council learns to listen, surprises can be avoided
Re: “Housing drives Victoria council agenda, but takeup on ‘missing middle’ projects slow,” June 25.
It seems odd that Victoria’s mayor and council are surprised that so few Missing Middle Housing Initiative projects have come forward, given their own staff reports, as well as some info from local developers, stated clearly that it simply wasn’t economical for four- and sixplexes to be constructed on all but a very few lots in the city. And in only some cases would townhouses be feasible.
And that was when interest rates were at all-time lows.
When Mayor Marianne Alto concedes that council “tried to roll a lot into one policy, and that it might have been too much in a single policy” it is true.
More’s the pity then, that council refused to listen to the many suggesting that the policy would have been better aligned with the already-in-place village and corridor concept, rather than forcing folks to accept more density on any lot, anywhere!
Certainly the discussion would have been less controversial and divisive.
A council that didn’t listen to their own staff, local experts and community voices is surprised that things haven’t turned out as they had hoped? Really?
Tom Braybrook
Victoria
If we are enlightened, think of other species
The prevailing philosophy among conservation officers, which in turn mirrors that of a significant portion of the public who elect our politicians, is that large animals such as bears, wolves and cougars, are basically evil.
They are, in fact, no more so than are humans motivated by fear and/or greed. They are simply seeking to live out their lives.
As part of this process, given the depletion of their natural foods owing to human activity, they may be drawn to negligently disposed of human food.
When we give them no reason to be afraid or deprive them of the necessities of life they will not harm us.
They may even seek us out as protection from their natural enemies as was the case of a mother bear I recently spent some time with in company with other wildlife enthusiasts.
When threatened by a male bear approaching at a distance with the intention of possibly harming her cubs, she moved closer to where we could watch her at a discreet distance.
In our non-threatening presence she nursed her cubs and with them ate the grass abundant at this time of the year. And the cubs greatly amused us with their frolicking.
All this carried out in an unspoiled setting gave us a beautiful experience we will never forget.
Despite Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and the loud protests of the far right in the U.S. and even in sa国际传媒, humans are becoming increasingly conscious of the need for tolerance and kindness to be extended toward those who are racially and culturally different from us, and who have been historically wronged.
For humans to be truly enlightened however, this must extend to non-human species beyond the dogs, cats and other pets beyond our direct control.
We will not only be spiritually enriched but we may well save the planet which, until humans began to overstep themselves, became the only livable place in the known universe.
Mary Andrews
Victoria
We need more exciting building designs
I am disappointed with the lack of vision and ability to think “outside the box” when it comes to the design of apartment and condo buildings in Victoria.
Why are no architects willing to design exciting buildings rather than the standard “boxes” we see throughout the city?
In Vancouver for example, when you drive Granville-Seymour Streets, there are multiple buildings of wild design that dot the cityscape. The same when driving Thurlow Street.
Why not here in Victoria? Let’s not create an architecturally dull and prosaic city going forward, eh?
Jim Parker
Victoria
Paying taxes in sa国际传媒, but no health service
I used to be a resident of Victoria. While I was, my GP gave up her practice, and I have been without access to primary care from a general practitioner, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant for five years.
About one million British Columbians are in the same boat as myself.
As a result of my situation, and because I have a chronic endocrine condition, I have had to cobble together health care where I can get it, and pay privately for it.
To add insult to injury, I have now been told that I must cover all of the cost of my lab tests from Lifelabs.
The Ministry of Health, led by Adrian Dix, seems powerless to provide the essential service of primary medical care to its residents, and is punishing patients who must seek care from private providers.
I am a taxpayer in sa国际传媒, and am not receiving an essential service that I am paying for; this is a breach of the social contract, it is not acceptable, and it needs to change.
Teresa Cederberg
Tobiano
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