Downtown outdoor spaces

[tomh009]

I am people, too. But I prefer a quiet park, and both early mornings and evenings are good for me.

[Coke6pk]

For bonus points, the transit police literally just walked around the parked cars....UGH...so frustrating...

And what does Transit Security (We don't have Transit Police in this province) have to do with parked cars?  

And your comment on the tweet:

   

To accuse the officer and/or city staff of corruption because you don't like how they do their jobs is a real dickish move...

Coke

[danbrotherston]

For bonus points, the transit police literally just walked around the parked cars....UGH...so frustrating...

And what does Transit Security (We don't have Transit Police in this province) have to do with parked cars?  

It has to do with our broken priorities for enforcement. I see more transit police, than I see of any other form of enforcement. In the before times when I rode transit, I was fare inspected multiple times weekly. We are spending a fortune on fare inspection, when our bike lanes, pedestrian squares, are filled with illegally parked vehicles, where our roads are filled with distracted, aggressive, dangerous speeding drivers.

So yeah I certainly felt, the visual juxtiposition of excessive oppressive levels of transit enforcement (of mostly poorer people) walking past four illegally parked including one 130 thousand dollar SUV was quite poignant.

And your comment on the tweet:



To accuse the officer and/or city staff of corruption because you don't like how they do their jobs is a real dickish move...

Coke

I'm sorry, that square was filled with vehicles all day. I called and inquired and the officer wrote "no vehicles found"...so either, they found vehicles and chose not to enforce for some reason, or cannot find Charles and Queen. If they had had a valid reason, they should have written that, instead of "no vehicles found".

Honestly, I don't want to get in a fight with you on this, you can call me a dick if you want, it's not an entirely unfair accusation. I don't like feeling this way, but my feelings are a result of the situation, not a result of me being a suspicious or nasty person...to the contrary, I'm frankly, quite naive.

But it sufficies to say I'm sick of this bullshit.

For what it's worth, I called back later, and inquired about subsequent complaints, and officers returned and this time they quoted the reason for not issuing tickets as the vehicles having permits. So maybe the first officer just made a mistake in recording, I don't know. But I still don't think it's right to have vehicles parked in a pedestrian square.

[danbrotherston]

For the record, the public square continues to have cars parked in it.

But I see little point in calling bylaw, because I expect nothing to be done about it. It makes me very much less motivated for me to exhibit pro-social behaviour.

[Rainrider22]

If you want results, advise your counselor. They will address it. You can also call and ask for Gloria MacNeil, she is head of bylaw. I work with her on a committee and can say she is great.

[danbrotherston]

If you want results, advise your counselor.  They will address it. You can also call and ask for Gloria MacNeil, she is head of bylaw. I work with her on a committee and can say she is great.

Out of curiosity, which committee is she on?

In any case, I could contact my councillor, maybe it would make some difference, but it doesn't solve the root problem which is our utter deference to cars in all circumstances.  If we CHOOSE not to keep a pedestrian square free from cars, then what point is there in any of this.

It's incredibly demoralizing.

[Rainrider22]

I sit on the Property Standards Committee as an adjudicator. She is atball the meetings as she is in charge of bylaw enforcement. I find her to be very professional and a good listener.

[KevinL]

[Rainrider22]

Wow very nice

[taylortbb]

I also took a couple photos. Definitely looking very nice. For some reason the string lights on the Queen St S section aren't on yet, despite the streetlights having been on there for a week or two.

   
   

[Coke6pk]

So yeah I certainly felt, the visual juxtiposition of excessive oppressive levels of transit enforcement (of mostly poorer people) walking past four illegally parked including one 130 thousand dollar SUV was quite poignant.

Why don't you write a parking ticket then?  You have exactly the same amount of training and legal authority as the transit security guards have...

Honestly, I don't want to get in a fight with you on this, you can call me a dick if you want, it's not an entirely unfair accusation. I don't like feeling this way, but my feelings are a result of the situation, not a result of me being a suspicious or nasty person...to the contrary, I'm frankly, quite naive.

For what it's worth, I called back later, and inquired about subsequent complaints, and officers returned and this time they quoted the reason for not issuing tickets as the vehicles having permits. So maybe the first officer just made a mistake in recording, I don't know. But I still don't think it's right to have vehicles parked in a pedestrian square.

1) I'm not looking for a fight either.  We all have opinions, and that's fine.  For clarification, I don't think you are a dick... I thought your comments were dickish.  Big difference.

2) The fact the vehicles have "permits" shows that it is not a pedestrian square as much as you would like to think that it is.  Now to push your councillor to change it into a pedestrian square.

Coke

BTW - I second rainrider's comments about Gloria.  She is a great person, and if you have by-law issues, I'm sure she will do what she can to help.

[danbrotherston]

So yeah I certainly felt, the visual juxtiposition of excessive oppressive levels of transit enforcement (of mostly poorer people) walking past four illegally parked including one 130 thousand dollar SUV was quite poignant.

Why don't you write a parking ticket then?  You have exactly the same amount of training and legal authority as the transit security guards have...

Okay, I seriously don't understand what point you are trying to make here. Do you feel that transit riders being subjected to constant enforcement, while constant and pervasive dangerous lawbreaking by drivers is all but ignored, isn't a problematic prioritization of enforcement? Or something else? Because I've already explained the point here, yet you are ignoring my explanation. So what am I to take from your statement?

Honestly, I don't want to get in a fight with you on this, you can call me a dick if you want, it's not an entirely unfair accusation. I don't like feeling this way, but my feelings are a result of the situation, not a result of me being a suspicious or nasty person...to the contrary, I'm frankly, quite naive.

For what it's worth, I called back later, and inquired about subsequent complaints, and officers returned and this time they quoted the reason for not issuing tickets as the vehicles having permits. So maybe the first officer just made a mistake in recording, I don't know. But I still don't think it's right to have vehicles parked in a pedestrian square.

2) The fact the vehicles have "permits" shows that it is not a pedestrian square as much as you would like to think that it is.  Now to push your councillor to change it into a pedestrian square.

We've already fought and won the battle to make it a pedestrian square. The problem is that we live in a society that apparently permits parking in a pedestrian square. Changing society is much harder.

[panamaniac]

The posts in another thread about the proposed plaza in front of the new Transit Hub have me wondering - should the City be looking to create a new plaza/green space in the Eastend? If I held the magic development wand, I think I'd be looking at the block bounded by King, Cameron, Duke, and Madison.

[tomh009]

The posts in another thread about the proposed plaza in front of the new Transit Hub have me wondering - should the City be looking to create a new plaza/green space in the Eastend?  If I held the magic development wand, I think I'd be looking at the block bounded by King, Cameron, Duke, and Madison.

I would go further east ... and turn Rockway into a huge park. The city could sell some small parts of it (e.g. portions by Courtland Ave) to a developer and use the proceeds to create a fantastic park.

[danbrotherston]

The posts in another thread about the proposed plaza in front of the new Transit Hub have me wondering - should the City be looking to create a new plaza/green space in the Eastend?  If I held the magic development wand, I think I'd be looking at the block bounded by King, Cameron, Duke, and Madison.

I would go further east ... and turn Rockway into a huge park. The city could sell some small parts of it (e.g. portions by Courtland Ave) to a developer and use the proceeds to create a fantastic park.

Ugh...cardinal directions like "east" and "west" have no meaning in Kitchener.

As for rockway, it definitely could be made into a park, but rockway gardens are already quite nice.

I do think there is more need for smaller local parks. Large parks like that also induce driving, etc.