Last week over 100 Edmontonians came out to City Council public hearing to express their concerns and fears over the impact of infill in their communities.  What was City Hall’s response? They blocked a motion to have a moratorium on mid-block infill, blocked a motion on moving the infill discussion to the top of the agenda so folks could be heard and then after four days of discussion they deferred the decision to 2027.

This just passes the buck and completely ignores the concerns of constituents.  Developer pace is accelerating.  People’s communities and lives are being destroyed and ignored.

I care about the concerns of people in my ward and as your next city councillor I’m going to do everything I can to listen to them and help them.  The needs of the constituents outweigh the needs of the developers.  If you destroy communities, you destroy the City.

Why must this argument be binary? Development in a city is a given, it’s just a matter of how we let it happen.  It seems like no one from either side wants to reflect on what’s working and what’s not and implement better solutions for more respectful densification.  Destroying the beauty of our mature neighbourhoods and the lives of people who live in them is not the way - there are lots of inner city industrial and light industrial lands that can be utilized.  Duplexes, skinnies, and basement suites are great for mid-block.  When infill flips lots into multimillion dollar homes or Airbnbs it doesn’t provide density or affordability. When an 8-plex is crammed into a single mid-block residential lot it does nothing to encourage community or neighbourly interaction.

The City should have a productive conversation on what is working and what needs to change.  High density infill can be optimized further, but both sides need to be willing to accommodate a little.

I will address this issue and I will protect your communities.  Join me in this fight either through volunteering your time with the campaign or donating to support me.  I understand that with the affordability crisis every dollar is precious so I am not asking for much, a 50 or 100 dollar donation would mean that I can keep fighting for you.  For us.

- Josh Doyle