Amalgamation could enhance character of Duncan
I support the amalgamation of the City of Duncan and the Municipality of North Cowichan.
I have had an office in downtown Duncan from 2004 until earlier this year. From the standpoint of a business owner, I have struggled with the growing myopia that has seemed to influence every decision made by the City of Duncan. We live in a wonderful valley but at times it seems to me that the artificial boundary created by the City of Duncan has placed limitations on the ability to deliver sensible solutions.
My experience is based largely around the downtown core and from an entrepreneur’s point of view.
I believe that one of the key planks of the “No” side of the amalgamation debate is that Duncan will lose its unique character. For me the City of Duncan has done more to diminish that character than any other factor. A vibrant downtown needs foot traffic to provide the energy people are looking for in a destination. After 5 p.m. there is no one on the street. People living, not just working in the downtown would help this significantly. From the outside looking in, it appears that many of the city’s development decisions revolve around maintaining a population of under 5,000 in order to continue to receive the policing grant. If decisions were focused on a healthy downtown as opposed to maintaining an arbitrary population level, outcomes would be different. For example, encourage more developments with ground floor retail and two or three stories of reasonable market housing. This would go a long way to bringing people to the streets of Duncan. At the same time this approach would provide much needed affordable housing options. Remove the requirement to make a decision based on the parochial views of the city and you can have solutions that benefit the valley and enhance the character of the downtown.
Another very visible irritant is the constant issues with parking in the downtown core. This has been a problem that appears to get worse every year. Any day of the week from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. there is a constant parade of cars circling the downtown looking for a parking spot. I do not believe there is a silver bullet to solving the parking issue but there does not appear to be any broader valley vision to transportation solutions. We have a transit system but I don’t know that I have ever seen more than six people on a bus. Allowing government officials to have a broader scope and creativity in looking for solutions would certainly alleviate some of the transportation pressures the valley experiences. It must be maddening to be a retailer watching cars with people wanting to visit your shop circling and circling but never stopping. How is the character of Duncan enhanced by having people in cars, driving, not walking? More people on their feet means more vibrancy, which means more commerce, which means more taxes, etc. The problem is not that Duncan does not have enough parking, the problem is the valley’s transportation infrastructure. The character of Duncan would be enhanced by broadening our field of vision from one square mile to the entire valley.
I don’t think that these problems relate to the staff at the city, but the limited vision that council applies to broader decision making processes. Based on my experiences one municipality working for the betterment of the entire region will only enhance the character of Duncan. If your toolkit for solving problems has a wider, more inclusive point of view, your solutions will be more creative, nuanced and better for all.
Dan Cvitanovich
Duncan