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Dan Fumano: How a Vancouver neighbourhood fought, and defeated, a daycare
(vancouversun.com)
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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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No, it means someone with a clue about how to plan a city - someone who's studied it AS THEIR JOB - says it's a bad idea.
When the experts say it's a dumb idea, Karen doesn't get her "8 now, 20 by 2024" cash cow.
I CAN CONFIRM that cities love daycares. They're trying to open proper daycares as quickly as space allows. Weirdly, though, there may be regulations around the proper ones that slow it down.
No you cannot just defer to these city planners as "experts" when city planners themselves don't always follow urban planning experts. Actual experts hate the suburbs of Phoenix, but that city also employs professional city planners.
Actual experts in urban planning are strongly in favour of middle density and mixed zoning. No other country in the world has as many limits on where things can be built as in Canada and the US. For example, a daycare can be built in almost any residential neighbourhood in Germany or France. In Canada, we follow a failed antique policy from the early to mid 1900s called Euclidean zoning that many academics are now opposed to. You will not find experts at UBC or SFU who agree with you, or with this city planner.
Funny, because I am giving you a concrete example of Vancouver strongly not loving daycares. Most of our city is a cultural deadzone with zero commercial or cultural activity, and low density sprawl, all to defend the irrational whims of pearl clutching homeowners.