From Pro Fun City
The city has several initiatives underway. We have a better chance of getting Pro Fun policies in place if we can show how they help achieve goals that the city has already committed to.
[edit] Project Civil City
This is an initiative to end homelessness, aggressive panhandling, end the open drug market and improve the city's handling of nuisance and annoyance complaints.
A big part of this is building a greater respect for the laws, but if the laws are going to be more strictly enforced they need to be reviewed for sensibility. Because of restrictive zoning and licensing laws there are a number of illegal live music venues, galleries, and speakeasies operating in the city (please don't list them here!). The activities that these establishments undertake are legitimate and victimless. By making the activities illegal, or hard to achieve in a legal fashion, the city helps to foster a culture that disrespects law and authority.
A civil city should be careful to create situations where common activities become more criminalized.
[edit] EcoDensity
Vancouver has made a strong commitment to its EcoDensity Initiative. This is largely seen as an attempt to strategically densify housing in multiple areas throughout the city, reducing the city's footprint. Creating several livable and walkable communities within the city is the goal.
A key part of this initiative is to ensure that each community has the amenities that are required by the people who live there so they have less of a reason to go elsewhere and can reduce the city's carbon footprint.
This initiative should include consideration for businesses that provide entertainment and space to socialize. Most community development just happens as people get to know their neighbours and build bonds with them. People shouldn't be prevented from socializing with their neighbours in private establishments located in their own neighbourhoods.
It's important to realize that not everyone has the same schedule and those who choose to socialize after 10pm or 12pm shouldn't be discriminated against. Some of this very real community development doesn't happen when people are required to drive across town or to Burnaby to find a restaurant that is still open.
Density is too often looked at with only a consideration for space or geography. But service and business density can also be increased across time. If a restaurant does most of it's business from 7pm to 10pm, it provides 3 hours of restaurant service to the community. Under a looser regulatory regime a restaurant might choose to stay open from 7pm to 12pm or 2am. This can help it to provide more services to a growing population and help to overcome some of the scarcity and affordability issues with respect to real estate.
[edit] Creative City Initiative
In January 2008, Vancouver City Council approved the New Culture Plan, a strategy aimed at sustaining and further supporting our burgeoning creative sector, the arts, and a vibrant cultural scene.
This policy is very compatible with a Pro Fun view. The goals of seeing more culture created in the city can only be served by making it easier for live music venues and galleries to enter the market and survive.
Beyond allowing for more businesses directly engaged in cultural production, it is also important to allow more places for artists and musicians to socialize and have fun when they aren't producing work. It's a rare gallery opening that doesn't end with the artists discussing their work with collectors and critics in a nearby restaurant. The cultural development that happens in these sorts of interactions is very real and should not be artificially interrupted by closing times.
Artists usually do very mobile work, and allowing a diverse and interesting urban culture to develop is an important step in attracting more artists to our city.
The Fun Vancouver Pledge These are the policy positions that we are asking candidates to pledge on. A candidate does not have to agree to every policy suggestion here, but we are asking them to check the ones that they feel they can honestly support.
No Fun City History How did we get where we are? What policies have been discarded, and what progress has been made?
Pro Fun Leaders If you're running or have run a business or an event and it was harder than it should have been tell your story here.
Citizens' Stories Lose your good times to city shutdowns? Move away because you were too bored? Tell us your story here.
