Smart Growth in Ontario

[4jeg]

This is some information that I hope the community will find useful in the continuing discussions about Kingston's future development.


The Ontario Smart Growth Network (http://www.smartgrowth.on.ca/index.htm)

[4jeg]

These are some presentations given by the OSGN giving a brief overview of their purpose and goals.

What is Smart Growth? (http://www.smartgrowth.on.ca/whatis.htm)

[4jeg]

Also, be sure to look at the other thread that has a link to a University of Virginia lecture on Smart Growth:

http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=2261

Enjoy!

[4jeg]

I found this to be a very interesting concept.

Enjoy!

http://www.worldchanging.com/local/seattle/archives/008250.html

An excerpt:

"As malls across the country start to fade into obsolescence, what is to become of these massive structures? After spending some time searching out the most creative alternatives to abandonment and massive landfilling of these former monuments to chain-store consumerism, I've found that the future of shopping malls is hopeful and creative."

[Lydia]

KINGSTON COMMUNITY PROFILE
RELEASED BY SOCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL


The Social Planning Council Kingston and Area (SPCKA) has officially released its 2009 Kingston Community Profile: A Socio-Demographic Analysis of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

The report defines the social and demographic characteristics of the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). It is a community-led and community-based study.

The Profile is a collaborative effort with the support of the Corporation of the City of Kingston; Kingston Economic Development Corporation; Kingston Community Health Centres; United Way serving Kingston, Frontenac Lennox and Addington; and Empire Life.

The purpose of the study is to identify, analyze, map and discuss the major demographic and social trends and their potential implications on the community.

The Profile is to be used by nongovernmental agencies, the general public, business and government agencies to better understand the people they serve, as well as identify potential areas of emerging needs and opportunities.

To conduct the analysis a research design was developed using a mixed quantitative/qualitative methodology that emphasized community participation in the development of the profile to supplement statistical analysis with anecdotal and real-life experiences of community members.


The Profile describes social factors within the CMA, as well as recent demographic and community changes. Analysis was carried using primary research data from the Statistics Canada's census results for 2001 and 2006 along with supporting community documents.

"It is an essential resource for all community planners and we are thrilled with how comprehensive and accessible the report is. It's been a tremendous team effort for this report to come to fruition and we must thank the Queen's University School of Urban and Regional Planning, their students and our community partners who have helped the Social Planning Council pull together and analyze the data," states John Osborne, Executive Director of SPCKA.

"We tried to present the data in both an accessible and informative style which makes it easy to read," says Dave Jackson, Profile Research Co-ordinator and Editor and the SPCKA Research Lead. "The inclusion of maps really helps to highlight some of the important trends across the community and provides a great snapshot of where Kingston is today."


The 2009 Community Profile is available by a free download from the Social Planning Council's website at

http://www.spckingston.ca/resources or it is available for purchase in spiral bound book format from the Social Planning Council offices at 260 Brock Street.


Community reaction to the Profile:

"Social Issues Networking Group (SING), a coalition committed to taking action and finding solutions to issues that affect people living in poverty, is looking forward to using the 2009 Community Profile Report release in our advocacy work."

-- Marijana Matovic, SING


"Reducing and finally eradicating poverty means changing numbers and changing hearts. This new profile will help the Roundtable monitor progress as we work with all sectors to decrease poverty in Kingston."

-- Tom Greening, member of the Kingston Roundtable on Poverty Reduction
Kingston Rents Climbing
Provincial Rent Guideline for 2010

Ontario's rent increase guideline for 2010 , as set by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, will be 2.1 per cent.

The 2010 guideline applies to rent increases that occur between January 1 and December 31, 2010.

Kingston currently has one of the lowest vacancy rates in Ontario. Average two bedroom apartment rents are expected to exceed $900 per month in the near future.

Community-Government Collaborations on Policy: A How-To Manual

There has been growing interest in recent years in place-based interventions and their unique contribution to tackling complex issues. Place-based strategies seek to achieve a desired objective through interventions in the neighbourhoods and communities where people live. Increasingly, however, place-based interventions are also trying to influence relevant public policies.

To better understand how communities and government could collaborate on policy, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy hosted a year-long community of practice focused on this issue with the support of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

The purpose of the Community of Practice was twofold: to develop an effective policy monitoring process that could be undertaken regularly by communities, and to create an information-rich guide to successful collaboration on policy. Because the members' collective experience was most closely associated with the issue of poverty reduction, it was the lens through which they viewed collaboration on policy. The lessons presented in the manual, however, are equally applicable to any complex or 'wicked' problem.

The learning, tools and experiences mined from this Community of Practice have been synthesized in Collaboration on Policy Manual, a newly-released manual developed to help guide community practitioners and government officials in working to design policy solutions to complex problems.

-- Caledon Institute of Social Policy