Comment 27387

By arienc (registered) | Posted November 21, 2008 at 20:04:45

A Smith...you make a good point. It shouldn't be about 'forcing' business to care about the communities in which they do business.

What incentive does the management of a corporation headquartered in Illinois or Arkansas have to care about the community surrounding Barton and Ottawa streets in Hamilton?

Whether you like it or not, that community includes people who travel on foot, by bicycle and by public transit. Building in a form that is actively hostile to these customers is not only wrong aesthetically, it's bad business.

The lack of a streetwall and blank facade encourages graffiti (on a major artery in the city!) which is evidence of economic and social decline in local communities that also discourages business and encourages criminal activity.

Facing blank walls to the community also discourages any kind of connection between the business and the community, which is generally a requirement for successful enterprise.

Having standards about what goes into your community has nothing to do with "treating others like crap". It's about treating your own residents with respect.

"First they built the road, then they built the town. That's why we're still driving around and around, and all we see. Are kids in buses. Longing to be free." - Wasted Hours, The Arcade Fire

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