I work for Mayor Nenshi, ask me anything!

[EYE_Overstand]

seems like so many Calgary public tennis courts are in horrible condition. Any plans in the future to add more courts or at least fix the existing ones? thanks

[Slava]

Originally Posted by EYE_Overstand

seems like so many Calgary public tennis courts are in horrible condition. Any plans in the future to add more courts or at least fix the existing ones? thanks

I don't work for the mayor, but basically there is a list and they're ranked by order of need. For two courts to be resurfaced it costs roughly $15,000 and this money comes from the parks budget. There are a lot of strains on these budgets as the demands of tennis players have to balanced with parks and playgrounds in general (many of which are also in desperate need of replacement and cost an enormous amount of money to replace).

[Madman]

Originally Posted by EYE_Overstand

seems like so many Calgary public tennis courts are in horrible condition. Any plans in the future to add more courts or at least fix the existing ones? thanks

Maybe you should take up futsal instead.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by EYE_Overstand

seems like so many Calgary public tennis courts are in horrible condition. Any plans in the future to add more courts or at least fix the existing ones? thanks

After having to pay $15 (per person, that you had to pre-purchase at a totally different location) per 30 minutes of play on a crappy public court in NY, I'm just grateful to be in a city that still offers free public courts.

Yeah, they aren't perfect, but most of them seem to be pretty decent I've found. Definitely up to the level of most of the players.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by morgin

Is Nenshi a fan of the proposed design for the Brookfield development (225 - 6th Ave)? Can he use his Nenshi powers to require an additional 100ft?

(you don't have to answer my joke Q, but I did want to ressurect as I like this thread a lot).

Ha! I'm a skyscraper nerd, so I wouldn't mind seeing that.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by EYE_Overstand

seems like so many Calgary public tennis courts are in horrible condition. Any plans in the future to add more courts or at least fix the existing ones? thanks

Any in particular? All the ones I usually play - Haultain Park, Rosedale or Ramsay are all in good shape.

I remember playing weekly in Toronto's public courts. Unpainted asphalt and chain-link fences for nets. Calgary's are like playing Wimbledon by comparison.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The hope is that it will be a system that functions much better for everyone - particularly the planning staff at the City, who currently work in a pretty stifling and adversarial system. Just look at the term you used - "standing up to developers". That's not what it should be about -an us vs. them mentality. It needs to become far more collaborative and productive.

This has also been a problem in England and the common belief is that when it comes to getting planning approval the default setting from Development Control in English Planning Authorities is to deny planning permission; the applicant has to go to great lengths to prove the worthiness and merits of their plan no matter its quality. The Tories have embarked upon a new planning framework where they intend to shift "the presumption in favour of sustainable development". I think this is probably pertinent for the City in its attempt sort the 'how'.

It would be appropriate if the default setting for handling applications for developments supported in Calgary's MDP was to give planning approval. However, I see a disconnect between the types of development sought in our MDP and the types of development that are able to easily flow through the City's planning and development system. In particular, I'm unsure if the current Land-Use Bylaws address, or are even able to address, the types of development called for in the MDP. So, might Transforming Planning necessitate an overhaul of the LUB or even a move to a post-LUB planning system?

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Addick

This has also been a problem in England and the common belief is that when it comes to getting planning approval the default setting from Development Control in English Planning Authorities is to deny planning permission; the applicant has to go to great lengths to prove the worthiness and merits of their plan no matter its quality. The Tories have embarked upon a new planning framework where they intend to shift "the presumption in favour of sustainable development". I think this is probably pertinent for the City in its attempt sort the 'how'.

It would be appropriate if the default setting for handling applications for developments supported in Calgary's MDP was to give planning approval. However, I see a disconnect between the types of development sought in our MDP and the types of development that are able to easily flow through the City's planning and development system. In particular, I'm unsure if the current Land-Use Bylaws address, or are even able to address, the types of development called for in the MDP. So, might Transforming Planning necessitate an overhaul of the LUB or even a move to a post-LUB planning system?

Quite possibly, yes.

[morgin]

Hey Bunk - when a snow event is declared and the parking ban is implemented on snow routes, would it be normal that the ban is lifted prior to all streets being cleared?

I live in Capitol Hill and there are snow route signs on 17th ave and 18th ave between 14th st and 15th st. All the people living there moved their cars around the neighborhood last weekend when the ban went into play (and did a ####ty job of doing so reducing available street parking for everyone else, but that's a story for another day) but the streets were never actually cleared.

Do you know why those particular streets would be snow routes? It seems strange given they arent major routes or access roads or anything, just typical residential streets. They aren't connected to any other roads either (that is, all access to the roads would be through roads that aren't being cleared). At any rate, they weren't cleared anyway, but the cars had to move and it screwed up street parking for the weekend which would have been fine I guess if the plows had come, but they never did!

[Bunk]

Very good question. That is odd. I'll look into it for you.

Originally Posted by morgin

Hey Bunk - when a snow event is declared and the parking ban is implemented on snow routes, would it be normal that the ban is lifted prior to all streets being cleared?

I live in Capitol Hill and there are snow route signs on 17th ave and 18th ave between 14th st and 15th st. All the people living there moved their cars around the neighborhood last weekend when the ban went into play (and did a ####ty job of doing so reducing available street parking for everyone else, but that's a story for another day) but the streets were never actually cleared.

Do you know why those particular streets would be snow routes? It seems strange given they arent major routes or access roads or anything, just typical residential streets. They aren't connected to any other roads either (that is, all access to the roads would be through roads that aren't being cleared). At any rate, they weren't cleared anyway, but the cars had to move and it screwed up street parking for the weekend which would have been fine I guess if the plows had come, but they never did!

[Bill Bumface]

Is anyone actually glad that they are plowing side streets? My street sees very, very limited traffic. Only about 3 blocks of houses and people parking on it for near by businesses ever use it. And they plowed it Saturday night. What a crazy waste of money. Winter tires people. The snow clearing demands are getting ridiculous. I wonder how long until we see a ton of rust-buckets on the streets from all the pre-salting everywhere.

[morgin]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Very good question. That is odd. I'll look into it for you.

Sorry it's actually 17th ave and 18th ave between 15th st and 16th st. (I was off by a block).

[morgin]

Personally I'm pretty anti residential street plowing myself, but that's a selfish viewpoint that factors in my all wheel drive snow tire equipped car and my general disdain for going out and shovelling the sidewalk only to have a plow ruin all my hard work.

[Wormius]

When it comes to parking, I don't normally draw inspiration from Chinatown, but I think in the case of the snow route parking bans, this guy might have had the right idea to avoid getting in the way of the plows, while getting a choice parking spot to boot.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by morgin

Sorry it's actually 17th ave and 18th ave between 15th st and 16th st. (I was off by a block).

Thanks - saw that on the snow route map.

[Rudee]

I don't care if he's gay, I like Nenshi as Mayor.

[Bill Bumface]

My street was plowed at 10:30pm last night again.

Wednesday: 5 °C
Thursday: 7 °C
Friday: 5 °C

Seriously Bunk!?

[redflamesfan08]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

My street was plowed at 10:30pm last night again.

Wednesday: 5 °C
Thursday: 7 °C
Friday: 5 °C

Seriously Bunk!?

I'm waiting for this on my street tonight. Happened once in December when the street was wet with no snow on the driving surface.

I recommend you report the incident to 311 - official channels and all that jazz.

[Bill Bumface]

I could see inside the cab of the truck, it was clearly Bunk!

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

My street was plowed at 10:30pm last night again.

Wednesday: 5
Thursday: 7
Friday: 5

Seriously Bunk!?

Calgary has an unusually large amount of above freezing temperatures in the winter due to our Chinooks, and so I am against spending money to plow our side streets, for the most part.

However, the city needs to be agile, and the amount of snow we had dumped on us lately is much more than we are used to, and has made it unusually hard to navigate some of these streets. Despite the warm temperatures, I am all for plowing when we get this much snow - I don’t think it will all melt away, and when it does freeze, we could have skating rinks out there till it warms up again.