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Originally Posted by counterfactual
All of that has the ring of truth, but then there's the reality-- Toronto has a lot of ultra high density development and height, so it seems, NIMBY is not a more general force to stop development, beyond certain spaces and areas.
But the problem with Halifax, is that they leave their neighbourhood and come downtown and hurl their NIMBYisms at downtown highrise developments, their height, wind, traffic, blah, blah, blah.
Imagine a debate about at 23 storey height limit at Bay and King in Toronto? Yonge and Bloor? In Toronto, the debates happen when you propose 80+ floors, like the Gehry/Mirvish proposal at King's West.
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Honestly , it happens downtown too. Neighbourhood opposition killed a 20-some storey project recently at Church and Wellesley, and another at College and Spadina (basically downtown) looks likely to fall to neighbourhood opposition. (That Gehry/Mirvish project, as well, looks to be in a fair bit of trouble,and is sparking a sort of Skye-like debate.)
The NIMBYs will always be with us. My feelings are twofold:
A: We should start worrying when good projects get cancelled due to NIMBYism, That doesn't seem to be happening much.
B: There is value in listening to the general public—even if their opinions aren't very articulate and some of them are ridiculous, there's value in going to the general public. NIMBYs, after all, are what stopped the city's waterfront expressway that would've plowed through what has become one of Halifax's greatest civic assets, or the Spadina Expressway in Toronto that would've destroyed the Annex, among other things.
It's frustrating to hear idiotic complaints that basically amount to “I don't want anything to change,” but that's the job of planners and politicians—weed through all the BS. And it's the job of the rest of us to fight for good projects.
EDIT: I do understand how frustrating all the NIMBYism is, but the city really is coming along these days. I think it's already one of North America's better mid-sized cities and has a real shot at the top tier. So I tend not to get too worried about the malcontents...