Mason5280
New Member
Now I can make the declaration of ‘in my back yard!’ as my partner and I have been 10+ year residents at 540 Sherbourne St. I knew something was coming last summer when the roar of a massive core sample boring truck backed into the rear of the house at 141 Isabella to do its thing. This now presents yet another tower within a three-block radius of my residence bringing the total to nearly a dozen.
During my tenure as member of the Denver, Colorado ((US) Planning Board prior to immigrating here, I was constantly aware of how a development affects neighbours and to an extent the area in which it resides/is proposed. But, it wasn’t until living in Toronto, that I can say, I comprehended the deeply emotional impact it has on a resident and the fabric of a city.
Discussions in meetings and on websites like this rise and fall in intensity, include the standard check-list topics like impact on infrastructure, traffic, environment, size and scope of the neighbourhood, viability, economics, the list is extensive. Opponents and proponents establish death-grip grasps on physical elements of projects as these documents become a foundation for an armour of evidence supporting their side or ammunition capable piercing that armour by those on the other side. The process of urbanization is inherently multi-sided and in many cases to the extent of a Libeskindesque creation. Yet despite centuries of human involvement in attempting to manage how and where we live, we have yet to conveigh the deeply emotional and personal impact it has on everyone. Because of this inability and void, everyone settles with the notion of ‘sticking to the facts,’ establishing ‘base principles,’ ‘statistical conclusions’ and historical patterns. This is clearly evidenced in the commonly rebuked ‘NIMBY’ attitude…especially as we wrestle with the double standard when that back yard becomes OUR yard.
As humans, we envision the ideal way in which we want in to live. What that constitutes is as numerous and diverse as each and everyone of us. I believe we become an ideal society when we genuinely acknowledge and embrace this diversity. When we willingly and honestly make time to listen to both the factual and emotionally-based elements of issues rather than use that time to shore—up our side preparing to fight. We can’t just put ourselves in the shoes of another as is often requested because while we may stand in the same spot, we do so maintaining our core being that comes with us.
I didn’t intend for this post to be heavy on idealism and deep thinking, as this is the start of what I’m certain will be a lengthy topic, my intent is to encourage us all to use this opportunity to genuinely consider all elements and the affect they have on others that we typically haven’t considered when sharing an opinion or comment on other topics.
During my tenure as member of the Denver, Colorado ((US) Planning Board prior to immigrating here, I was constantly aware of how a development affects neighbours and to an extent the area in which it resides/is proposed. But, it wasn’t until living in Toronto, that I can say, I comprehended the deeply emotional impact it has on a resident and the fabric of a city.
Discussions in meetings and on websites like this rise and fall in intensity, include the standard check-list topics like impact on infrastructure, traffic, environment, size and scope of the neighbourhood, viability, economics, the list is extensive. Opponents and proponents establish death-grip grasps on physical elements of projects as these documents become a foundation for an armour of evidence supporting their side or ammunition capable piercing that armour by those on the other side. The process of urbanization is inherently multi-sided and in many cases to the extent of a Libeskindesque creation. Yet despite centuries of human involvement in attempting to manage how and where we live, we have yet to conveigh the deeply emotional and personal impact it has on everyone. Because of this inability and void, everyone settles with the notion of ‘sticking to the facts,’ establishing ‘base principles,’ ‘statistical conclusions’ and historical patterns. This is clearly evidenced in the commonly rebuked ‘NIMBY’ attitude…especially as we wrestle with the double standard when that back yard becomes OUR yard.
As humans, we envision the ideal way in which we want in to live. What that constitutes is as numerous and diverse as each and everyone of us. I believe we become an ideal society when we genuinely acknowledge and embrace this diversity. When we willingly and honestly make time to listen to both the factual and emotionally-based elements of issues rather than use that time to shore—up our side preparing to fight. We can’t just put ourselves in the shoes of another as is often requested because while we may stand in the same spot, we do so maintaining our core being that comes with us.
I didn’t intend for this post to be heavy on idealism and deep thinking, as this is the start of what I’m certain will be a lengthy topic, my intent is to encourage us all to use this opportunity to genuinely consider all elements and the affect they have on others that we typically haven’t considered when sharing an opinion or comment on other topics.
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