Learn, Ottawa City Hall, Learn: CRERAR
City councilors and senior staffers are experts at rules but struggle when it comes to solving problems.
Sooner or later this group will have to try something new because their current approach isn’t working. One Bulldog commenter recently noted Ottawa City Hall should explore what other cities are doing to address problems similar to Ottawa’s. The example given was finding a new mix of materials to use when fixing potholes that last longer.
Like most large North American cities, Ottawa continues to flounder with the issue of homelessness. Flip to San Antonio, Texas (population 1.5 million) where an interesting approach to this problem is being developed through a partnership between IKEA U.S. and a local architectural firm which plan to build a community of tiny dwelling for homeless people and seniors.
Each unit measures 365 square feet, and contains a double bed, a bathroom with a bathtub, and a living room with an extendable dinner table that can sit six people. As we all know, an acre consists of 40,000 square feet so 100 of these units can fit snugly onto one acre. Because of potential fire hazards, a minimum two- or three-acre plot of land is probably a better fit for such a community.
The beauty of looking to other cities for potential solutions is success can be measured from afar and potential problems can be avoided. If San Antonio can make this work, certainly Ottawa can.
Howard Crerar is a project manager and has worked in the software industry for three decades.
For You:
City Hall: It’s Not About You, But Them: BENN
City Hall Operates For City Hall: BENN
Refugees In Tents Is Just Wrong: PATTON
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It seems to me that when Ottawa looks for working examples outside the realm of their expertise (LRT Waste disposal ) the next instinct is to “improve on it” which for staff is a self serving recipe for disaster! The old adage of if it works leave it alone has been lost to staff! They continue on the path of make work so as to enhance their position? Yes, examine the San Antonio program and see if it can be workable in Ottawa’s climate in particular efficient heating in the winter, and exterior durability for years but do not add on to create a 2 or 3 bed size temporary unit.
They don’t even need to look that far. Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia has already built its first tiny community and homeless people should have just started moving in last week.
It has been my experience that when an idea is presented by someone from the public, city staff’s immediate reaction is to dismiss it. The only ‘good’ ideas are those that they dream up themselves. With the emphasis on dream, since many of their ideas are based on wishful assumptions.
\We don’t have to look to the USA. In Fredericton a UNB graduate who owned his own firm in the high tech world, started a small home community about 3 years ago. It has been successful, I has a community center, is close to a large mall and bus hub. A gate guards the community. The business man has started to manufacture small homes and the denizens of the community are offered work in the construction of more homes.