Simon O'Byrne Presentation: Ignite Your City's Brand: Mess up Your Neighbourhoods and...

City Age Waterloo

Mess up Your Neighbourhoods and Achieve Vibrancy, the Ultimate Civic Currency

@Simon_OByrne

Agenda

1 Get Them Young

2 Release the Entrepreneurs

3 Design Excellence

4 Opportunities

5

Get Them Young By the 2030s, ¼

Canadians will be a senior citizen

In 2010 the Gen surpassed the Baby Boomers to become the largest cohort

1

Target Tribe: Gen Y

Gen Y / Millennial

General Characteristics Age 17 to 35 Lower Car Ownership High Debt Most educated cohort ever!

Major Impacts to Real Estate Delaying marriage Interconnectivity Environmental stewardship

Women, the new white collar work force

Female Oriented Development

Release the Entrepreneurs Market Urbanism Form Based Code Messy Vibrancy

2

Problem: NIMBYs

The Solution: Market Urbanism

70%

The Result: Messy Vibrancy

"That creative tension, which is the result of an entrepreneurial spirit combined with restless talent wanting the city to be more remarkable or provide better outlets for ideas and energy is essential to unlocking

LLC

Unlock Local Entrepreneurs

Design Excellence Pedestrian Oriented

Development Reward innovation Create small spaces Never settle for good

enough

3

Functional, Utilitarian, Potholes

Safe

Comfortable

Interesting, Fun, Beauty, Delightful, Lovable

Welcoming, Social Interaction

Dogs: the new children Prioritize dog parks over playgrounds Dog walkers create safe streets Dogs are the vehicle for increasing interconnectivity, which is the corner stone of community building

Pedestrian Oriented Development

Happy kids = happy parents: play infrastructure Inclusionary design = complete streets Add public art that is worthy of a nickname

Parklets Patio streets (e.g. Argyle Street, Halifax) Hanging baskets = safe and cared for spaces Create outdoor living rooms

Pedestrian Oriented Development

Opportunities Multi-­Generational

Housing Rental market Winter City Design

4

Goal is 30-­50,000 people in the core Remove barriers to growth Subsidize and incentivize new housing Performance parking Georgian Taxation

Urban Vibrancy: It is all about people!!!

70%

population growth comes from immigrants

Most of the world lives in multi-­generational

housing

55% of housing in the GTA is rental

Increase the capacity of winter festivals

opportunities Develop a four-­seasons patio culture Celebrate the season and embrace daily living in a cold climate Improve winter transportation for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users

Improve Winter Life

Dependency ratio of 3:1

by 2030 Flatter World = Lower

Wages Shrinking Middle Class

5

Weaker GDP

Youngsters and retirees do not work, which harms growth directly. And because these

income without adding to it, they also depress savings, thereby slowing the accumulation of capital and the growth of productivity

Questions?

Vice President, Planning 780 917 7367

@Simon_OByrne