[supafamous]

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/col...m_medium=email

Snippet:

Should it be easier to open daycares?

If you ask Sophie Ngo, a Vancouver mother of two, the answer is easy.

Ngo and her husband, both finance professionals, work from home but still have a long daily commute. Every morning, her husband drives their two-year-old son to a daycare in Richmond — the only place they could find a spot — then brings their four-year-old son to another in Vancouver’s Cambie Village, then returns to their home in Marpole. At the end of each work day, Ngo traces the same path to retrieve both kids. It’s about 90 minutes each way.

“It’s three hours per day, just driving,” Ngo said. “I don’t know why it’s so hard.”

...

On Wednesday, William Azaroff, who is seeking OneCity’s nomination to run for mayor of Vancouver this year, is to release his first policy commitment: a proposal to change bylaws so child care facilities are allowed “as-of-right” in all residential and commercial areas, as long as they comply with health and safety regulations.

In much of the city, child care is a “conditional” use, meaning permits are issued at the discretion of city staff. In practice, Azaroff says, this means daycare spaces can be rejected for several reasons — including neighbourhood opposition — and that uncertainty likely discourages an unknown number of prospective operators from ever applying.

It's crazy to me (and sad) how much we restrict what can be built in the city - that even necessities like daycares are considered a "conditional" use. That'd be like saying schools are conditional use and that residents can oppose a school being in their area because it'd create traffic (YOU are the traffic mate!). The same goes for basic retail in residential areas - why make people get into their cars to drive somewhere for coffee or milk? Allow basic retail in residential areas so people can walk and we all get less traffic.