Raise the Hammer

Moving from a culture of fear to a culture of retribution?

I get what you are saying, but realistically the 'culture of retribution' is propagated by bad neighbours, not by complaints to the city. A 'culture of retribution' would be when neighbours vindictively abuse our bylaw system to spite each other - the problem is not the complaint system, its just a matter of neighbours treating each other poorly.

If we really believe that our bylaws are legitimate and should be enforced, then having them reported on a complaint basis is actually a great implementation - you don't have to pay someone to patrol and look for them, and only violations which are actually bothering/affecting other people get reported, which emphasizes the spirit of the bylaw over the letter of the bylaw. Some bylaws need to be enforced universally (e.g. parking on major streets), whereas others don't need to be enforced unless there are problems (e.g. if someone is making construction noise but no-one is bothered by it, what is the point of enforcing the bylaw in that instance?).

I get what you are saying, but realistically the 'culture of retribution' is propagated by bad neighbours

It can also be propagated by bad laws, but if that's the problem then lets go after that instead of shooting the messenger.

If we really believe that our bylaws are legitimate and should be enforced, then having them reported on a complaint basis is actually a great implementation

Exactly. As a Westdaler, it always kills me when I hear the argument that reporting noise/property standards/parking bylaw infractions is somehow victimizing the students. If the complaint has no merit, it will be dismissed by the bylaw officers. If it does, why criticize the person who reported it?

I'll never understand the disconcertingly widespread belief that attending a post-secondary institution somehow grants you dispensation from obeying the same laws as the rest of us. I haven't noticed a similar dispensation being granted to our less privileged youth.

Comment edited by highwater on 2013-02-28 10:54:55

Yes, I suppose bad laws could be just as big a problem - but like you said, if that is the case its a different discussion. If we have bad laws, we should replace them with good ones rather than putting up barriers to enforcing them.

If we are talking keeping the sidewalks clear of ice and snow for strollers, elderly, and those who use mobility equipment or need a clear sidewalk in order to use a white cane to "shoreline" effectively, then I say bring on the bylaw-infraction reporting!

If there is a silver lining to unshoveled sidewalks in Westdale, it's that all the sidewalk cyclists have suddenly mastered the ability to ride on the road. It's amazing really.

Yes, that's one upside, for sure- sidewalk cyclists are their own special category of accessibility impediments.

You got that wright Michelle , how many time this winter i saw some blocks of sidewalks not cleared

Very true but i don`t bike durring winter , the roads are to narrow and dangerous

Awesome. An App for Blackberry please. :)I would if I knew how.

Theoretically Blackberry is able to run Android apps, although I don't know that older (pre BB10) phones are capable of it. If this document is any indication it should be straightforward. I will look into it...

Comment edited by AnjoMan on 2013-02-28 14:23:04

Great app, Anton - I'm thrilled that you built this for all the Android users out there!