St Patricks Day Celebrations on Neeve Street!

This was the warm up garbage from the week before. Looks like the raccoons found something tasty!

So nice to see the "family" all getting along...

Rumour has it that leprechaun urine is an excellent fertilizer. Should be a healthy lawn this year!

  That's a lot of cups! I hope they recycle. At least there was no bonfire in the middle of the road. Yet.

Hume on Towers

http://www.thestar.com/videozone/1097882

At about 13 seconds in the video you will see a good example of a "narrower at the top" condo, built with increasingly smaller sized floors. This is generally used when a builder wants to go higher - it has nothing to do with letting sunlight in for the neighbours. In this part of Toronto though, all of the neighbours are in condos. Once the 70 story one is built in TO, there will be no market for condos here in Guelph. There probably never will be a market for TO style condos here. We'll see...

Nailed it!

http://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion/columns/article/661719--rebranding-guelph-as-toronto-s-dormitory

This guy knows what's going on.

So Long Mariannes

So another developer is cleaning up a brownfield and presents it as if they are doing everyone a BIG FAVOUR. All the while you can guarantee that there is more to the picture than meets the eye. When the shovels hit the ground and there is a space nearby that is undeveloped or underdeveloped you can bet it is on the radar. Prime example, the now withdrawn proposal for the old Dairy Queen/ DC Autos on Wyndham that would have involved knocking down the house next door to fit in the desired footprint, which always equals maximum gain. The old store at the corner of Neeve and Richardson is the same deal, where one larger dwelling magically has the potential to become four. Buy one, get four eventually. I marvel at the ability of developers to see the future – the investors who bought up almost every scrap of farmland in Mississauga in the 60’s and 70’s, the McLaughlin Group if I remember it correctly, saw what was coming and made a killing.

It’s no secret that I have an issue with “very high end developments”. The Marianne’s Park proposal is to accommodate “young professionals who want to live close to the downtown core”. Incorrect. It’s so they can live near the new downtown GO station and commute to a job that will actually pay for their high end condo. Show me the stats on jobs for young professionals in downtown Guelph. How many new ones have been created in the past few years? Any come to mind? I can think of not a one.

I can hear the arguments already. There is a huge park right across the street. There’s another one across the covered bridge beside the river. What’s one little park? Well it could be the most significant park in terms of honouring a Guelph resident. From an At Guelph article, 2006: “The park is dedicated to the memory of Marianne Goulden, a resident, volunteer and eventual staff member at Women in Crisis who was killed by her common-law husband in 1992. Because of its central location and high visibility, the monument is used for “Take Back the Night” marches.” There will be all sorts of overtures. They will pay to move the rock. They will remain respectful. And so on. They will once again prove that capital always wins if you are in the way, unless enough people are willing to create resistance. A couple of years ago when the hoarding went up around the site and they were digging it up, I asked the flagman for the trucks what the plan was for the spot. He paused for a second and said “um, I don’t really know”. But I knew. Prediction? Marianne’s memorial is moved with the blessings of the city.

The Election Promise

Ward One has elected two candidates that have promised to hold firm on the six story height restriction on the Woods plant. I have a $100 bet witnessed by a neighbour with Bob Bell that if we are all still around when they are built that the final height will be higher than that. I hope Bell and Furfaro will hold firm but we'll see. The folks on Arthur Street are having views revealed that have been concealed for years. Savour it, it won't last.

Get Ready!

So after a two and a half hour meeting, it ends with the crowd applauding the developer. To me, that speaks volumes. Enjoy living in the shadows! Hosting a Nuit Blanche event in the factory is all part of the snow job people. I think maybe in the year 2020 if we're all still here you might say to yourself that the slouchy mad guy at the back of the room had a point. The "neighbourhood" has spoken. Lots o' luck.

Developer doubts high density market

Here is an interesting comment that was in the Guelph Mercury from Jason Fabbian of Fabbian Fine Homes:

"...medium and high density construction “is great in theory,” but homebuyers in Guelph are reluctant to buy into that type of housing. There is space available in the city for mid-rise condominiums, he said, but there is not a strong market for them."

Not a strong market. And this is from a homebuilder.