Paul Dechene

News and Coffee @newsandcoffee.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 11, 2024 at 01:55 UTC

Do government so badly on purpose that when a corporation steps in to fill the gap, it looks like capitalism is smart.

futurism.com/the-byte/tex...

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 18:53 UTC

Agreed. If it lives up to the concept drawing, I think it'll be fine.

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:56 UTC

PS… Facebook is worthless for sharing information.

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:42 UTC

So… anyway… I've contacted the developer to see if they'll send me a pdf of the flier they sent to neigbours but based on the little information available, I am cautiously content with this development and fuck the haters. #yqrcc /end

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:41 UTC

And, we've ditched our parking minimums so that's good and wouldn't hold it up anyway. /8 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:40 UTC

And when I say it's a conforming development, I mean under the pre-HAF zoning. Doesn't look too tall, that street is already zoned for multi-family, has a strip of greenspace so probably set back the right amount. Can't see the parking but it's a big lot, lots of room for 4 stalls. /7 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:39 UTC

And, actually, I haven't seen anything about this come to council — if it did, it was a blink-&-miss-it blip — so that pretty much confirms it's conforming, so the community really just has to deal with it. /6 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:38 UTC

Also, again, I haven't seen anything more than that grainy phone pic of a flier above — that seems to be all 95% of the commenters are working off of — but that looks like it 100% conforms to the zoning so there's nothing the community can do to stop or change it. #yqrcc /5

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:36 UTC

So this building would just be following a trend of gently densifying this part of Cathedral in the style of whatever is trendy at the time. /4 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:36 UTC

Big complaint, no surprise, is the design doesn't "fit" w/ the community character which is absurd b/c if you look across the street from this, there are a bunch of what would've been egregiously modern-for-the-time 3-storey walk-up apartments built in the… 60s & 70s I'm guessing? /3 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:34 UTC

So, no mention of how many units — I'm guessing 4?? — nothing about the height or the setback from the sidewalk, parking allowance. Just, a picture and everyone is sharpening their pitchforks. /2

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 17:33 UTC

Oh man… so there is an infill development coming to Cathedral & commenters in their FB group are setting their fucking hair on fire over it. So far though, as far as i can tell, this pic of a pic is all anyone outside of immediate neighbours to the property have seen. /1 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 10, 2024 at 02:58 UTC

Stop that!

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 17:05 UTC

Central branch can go to hell. I'm going for a bike ride. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 17:04 UTC

I've been live tweeting city council meetings since 2013. I find it to be a useful & informative exercise. But this debate about what to do with central branch is pointless. It has been going on since I started covering council in 2008. There is no reason to cover it today. Nothing will be decided.

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 16:42 UTC

Who am I kidding. The actual admin recommendation is to DEFER A DECISION! We've been deferring a decision for a decade and a half. Why should today be any different? #Yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 16:41 UTC

It is so gorgeous outside right now. The least council could do is decide SOMETHING so that the time stuck indoors seems not entirely wasted. But they are going in the same fucking central library circles. I wouldn't be surprised if the end result is a referral back to admin. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 16:40 UTC

Council has been going on for over ninety minutes now and NOTHING new has happened. We're having an identical central library debate to dozens council's had over the last 15 years. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 16:16 UTC

If you're interested, Regina City Council's special make-up council meeting is streaming live www.youtube.com/live/4UKP0Ag... #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 16:02 UTC

So yeah… I have very little patience for the boomers who want to see that legacy preserved as "modern heritage." #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 16:01 UTC

The fucking arrogance that was on display w/ mid-century public architecture & city design is impressive to behold. From the shit public buildings they barfed up to the way they bulldozed everything to make way for freeways & car parks. Just fucking awful. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 15:58 UTC

And I find it doubly despicable b/c the city demolished a lovely stone & brick carnegie library to put up this piece of ill-conceived crap. If the old library was so easily thrown in the trash, this one is also disposable. Toss it. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 15:57 UTC

I have to be honest with you Bsky (b/c you can't say this on twitter or you'll get run out of town) the current central library is not a "fine looking" heritage building. It's a garbage box. It represents the worst of mid-20th century perfunctory design. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 15:53 UTC

I was going to write that about this central library debate that I am in hell but this isn't hell, it's purgatory. I am in purgatory. Grey, dusty, immutable, tedious, repetitive, dreary purgatory. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 15:33 UTC

The same people keep coming out and saying the same things. Council keeps asking the same questions. The library board gives the same answers. Year after year after year. It's embarrassing. A plague on all their houses. #yqrcc /3

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 15:32 UTC

First item is the central library. I am so fucking done with the central library debate. It has been going on since I started covering city council SIXTEEN YEARS AGO and there has been literally zero progress on this in all that time. #yqrcc /2

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 15:31 UTC

Regina is having a special city council meeting today b/c they are so far behind on their work. /1 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 16:19 UTC

Safeway said “we don’t do housing” and also “people want surface parking lots” and “if you don’t accept our design we’ll sell this property and make it so there’s never another grocery store in your neighbourhood.”

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 16:17 UTC

That grocery store pic (top R)… Cathedral has a reputation for NIMBYism but when the 13th Ave Safeway renovation was being debated, residents were saying they’d prefer a design that included several storeys of housing on top over the boring store design we ended up getting.

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