As 2022 comes to a close, I have become more reflective on City Duo’s future. It has been almost five years since Darren and I started sharing our experiences at various public consultation meetings, and it is hard to see how much longer we can continue this passion project. The switch to primarily online events, a series of questions on a Shape Your City webpage not only discourages community interaction, it is a lot harder to write about too.
That has also become true for our Urban Design Panel summaries. While city staff now bring them fewer items, these volunteers seem to spend far more time ensuring they make their mark on them. With reviews now frequently going over their scheduled time, and ending with multiple recommendations, it is no wonder Darren has struggled to compress them into shorter briefs. Which is a shame, as they have revealed several important proposals that are in deep trouble.
That includes the very first proposal under the newly approved Broadway Plan. This “Prototype” mass timber rental building may have provincial backing, but the actions of the prior city council have likely doomed it to failure. In this it is not alone, as theses sessions have brought to light problems with a new Downtown hotel, that may threaten its ability to move forward, and a strata building that is testing how many renters can be squeezed into one suite.
Naturally, we feel bad that we have yet to bring more attention to these issues, and we do have some plans for the year ahead. The popularity of our city council public hearing vote tracker surprised us, and it is something we intend to maintain for this new term, even if a majority government should make things more straightforward. Similarly our calendar of events and public primers will remain a staple of our volunteer efforts.
We even aim to expand that work, as we have been tracking all of the new proposals under the Secured Rental Policy, and hope to release them soon. Of course, other expansion plans of ours might prove a bigger challenge to our long term efforts of covering our city’s urban growth, but that is a story for another day. Until then, we would like to wish you and your loved ones all the best in the year ahead.
As always, if you have enjoyed our efforts, and if you are able, we ask that you consider donating to one of these charities that are close to our hearts.
City Duo 
Thanks for all the work putting these posts together.
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