People should care that Kingston wants to be the most sustainable city in Canada. That is a heck of a goal. If more cities cared about this and tried to become sustainable we would be better of than we are on our current trajectory of 'environmental problems? screw it, some scientist will create a monster that eats CO2 and all will be solved'

Technically you did vote someone in to establish that goal. Council was elected by the city to do what they feel is best for us and they decided this was the route to go. You may not have checked sustainable on the ballot, but this is the way democracy works.

Balance is needed, but the axing the Poker Run won't hurt the economy. The economic impact of this event is marginal (unless you are fueling the boats), it wouldn't be hard to replace this event on the calendar with another event that brings just as much money to downtown businesses.

Just because people live downtown doesn't mean they are going to watch the Poker Run. I know many many people downtown who avoid the area on this weekend because of all the noise and the crowds. This isn't 'downtown Kingston' pollution created for people who live downtown. In reality this is pollution created so a bunch of rich people can parade their toys around for the common folk to gawk at.

It doesn't make sense to allow people who don't drive to pollute more in other ways. Many people who live close to work are happy they don't create pollution, its not like they are trying to 'bank' the pollution so they can create it elsewhere. With that logic we should all do whatever we want because there are poor people in Africa who only create a minuscule amount of pollution.

yet another side note to go with the original article this time... carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are a joke. Sure we can plant trees to offset the emissions of this event, but they don't address the problem that is the emissions. Offsets do nothing but let the polluters sleep better at night knowing they have covered their tracks.

Side note... so far on the pole 27% of respondents have said to get rid of the poker run... I wouldn't really call this a fringe effort to rid the city of the event. Sure, SPLASH is a small group with very specific ideas, but it doesn't mean that there aren't thousands of other people in this city who feel the event should be chopped.

I will have to post on here to defend those against the poker run.

The City has made it a goal to become Canada's Most Sustainable City. This is a fantastic goal, one that every city should aim for. There is NO way an event like this could be sanctioned by the city if we truly feel we have a chance (or even care) to be Canada's most sustainable city.

This event promotes mass consumption, creates pollution, creates safety hazards to boaters unaware of the event, and is built upon an aging technology (combustion engine) which runs on fuel that comes from locations like Iraq, Iran, Alberta, or the Gulf of Mexico.

None of these things are even remotely sustainable, yet the city goes out of its way to host this event. It is completely illogical and that is the reason we should axe this event. If it goes to another city so be it, but you can't complain about people driving SUVs and flying around the world and then turn around and say its fine to allow this event to happen.

Someone needs to start the ball rolling to get other cities on board. Why not us and why not now? This isn't a major event on our calendar (the economic impact and attendance numbers are FAR lower than the organizers first claimed them to be). Why not make a moral choice and say no to this event? Is it really going to hurt the city?

Hosting this event not only impacts the image of our city (hard to be seen as sustainable with these boats roaring around our harbour), it also impacts our youth. For the first time we have a generation who are expected to live shorter lives and to see less success than their parents yet we have an event like this which promotes unquestioning consumption to youth.

To go along with rectifier's comments... look into the lifestyle of these boaters. Every aspect of their life is unsustainable. During a meeting at city hall earlier this year a few participants tried to argue they care about the earth because they have the greenest lawn in their neighbourhood. Many of these people simply don't understand the problem so they refuse to accept it as a problem.

Totally hopping down there Blake, I have to agree. I was working downtown today so I hopped out onto Princess St. on my lunch break and after work and it was crazy! All the people I know who work downtown said they were having super busy days, the road was packed, there was tonnes of great activities going on. I would have to guess that we will be seeing more Princess St. Promenade's occurring.

That is exactly what I fear as well. A lack of an established, reliable candidate may slide us into the big blue ocean that surrounds us. I may have lost faith in the liberals over the past few years, but the last thing we need is to become a conservative riding.... then again if Harper has taught me anything it could mean MILLIONS of dollars flowing into our city :P

Power degrades as it travels across transmission lines. If power were produced in the far reaches of the country it would degrade before it reached major cities. Power production needs to occur fairly close to the consumer in order to ensure the maximum electricity reaches the customer. If wind turbines and solar panels blanketed uninhabited parts of our country the electricity would go to waste.

This idea was best laid out for me with the case of California. Right over the mountains there is a vast desert which could easily house solar panels that could power a large percentage of the state. Unfortunately the desert is far enough away from the consumer that the electricity would degrade enough as it was transmitted that it would not be practical.

Somewhat misguided statement about Queen's students riding the bus system for free. Students pay a subsidized fee with their tuition and ancillary fees which buys them a bus pass for the year. Although they don't pay each time they get on the bus, the student population as a whole spends an awful lot of money to pay for student ridership.

"Any new residential development in the middle of the city is going to be outrageously expensive, both in purchase price, and property taxes."

I live 5 blocks from Princess st and only a block and a half from the water yet my cost of living is less than that of my parents who live in the west end suburbs. Go figure. The going rate for houses in my area is actually lower than the going rate in my parents neighbourhood. Go figure. That certainly puts a dent in your theory. If I was going to pay cash for my row house or a house in the west or east end of town I would be saving a lot of money by picking the place I am already residing in.

"What average person is going to pay almost half a million dollars for a tiny condo like we see on Kingston's waterfront, when they can buy a house for half the price? What is your solution to that?"

My solution? Not everything needs to be a condo. There are many row houses in Kingston that use up far less land than suburban homes and they share walls which reduces heat loss. I live in a 3 unit row house that takes up less land than most houses in the suburbs. Ta-da! Solution! Higher density doesn't mean everything needs to be a skyscraper. (PS Most houses downtown don't cost half a million dollars.)

Bagot St.
It is so bad my bicycle rattles apart when I'm riding on it. I need to tighten screws WAY too often when I ride on Bagot. Thankfully they patched up a tiny chunk of it near Queen St....