Sometimes it's the little things, the pilot projects & experiments that have the biggest city-building impact. In no particular order, here's a thread of #coollittlethings the City of #HamOnt did in 2017 ... and a shoutout to my staff who made them happen
1/ Special loading zones for musicians outside concert venues as part of our #MusicCity strategy #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to staff in Culture and Parking)
5/ New policy to allow temporary things like planters and seating on the #sidewalk without need for legal encroachment agreements #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to Planning and Ec Dev staff)
6/ New #zoning and noise bylaw to allow #livemusic on patios (got appealed to the OMB, but a good initiative anyway) #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to staff in Planning and Bylaw)
8/ A recognition program for the 900+ pre-Confederation buildings across the City #coollittlethings#hamont#builtheritage (thx to staff in Culture and Tourism)
9/ Converting on-street #parking spaces into seasonal #popup patios for restaurants and cafes across the city #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to staff in Parking, Bylaw and Ec Dev)
10/ Allowing "conditional" building permits so #brownfield projects can proceed while waiting for provincial record of site condition (that one's for the planning nerds, but trust me, it's important) #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to Building, Growth Mgmt and Planning staff)
12/ Innovative new approach to #builtheritage protection that added 736 properties in Durand n'hood to our Heritage Register, incl. 52 candidates for heritage designation #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to staff in Planning and Culture)
13/ Our first #publicspace project to be awarded through an open design competition in nearly 100 years - the Pier 8 Promenade Park #coollittlethings#hamont (thx to staff in Waterfront and Culture)
14/ Introduced first-ever MAXIMUM standard for #parking#coollittlethings#hamont (thx to staff in Planning, Parking and LRT Office)
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1/ In case we needed more reasons for building better cities, the evidence is growing that #mentalhealth is significantly affected by #urbanplanning and #urbandesign ... whether for the better or the worse is up to us ...
2/ Exposure to natural light is linked to better sleep, reduced stress, and better work/school performance bit.ly/2ORgMiw. A well-designed city ensures access to natural light on sidewalks, in public spaces, and inside homes and offices.
3/ Boring streetscapes, with monotonous, feature-less facades and lack of sensory stimulation, can increase sadness, addiction and disease-related stress bit.ly/2OWX5WD