Affordable housing trumps talent, survey says

Municipal government decisions often have even more of an impact on residents of those communities than policies instituted at higher levels of government. Noted urbanist Jane Jacobs called this the "subsidiarity" principle - the closer government is to the people, the more likely it is to be both responsive to local needs and effective in terms of its delivery of solutions. Here in Ottawa, the city is in the process of developing a new official plan. The goal is to develop a municipal planning blueprint that suits 21st-century conditions. It's a lofty ambition and maybe the first of its kind, at least in North America. To assist in that process, the City of Ottawa worked with me to find out what is important to residents of this community when it comes to key issues such as economic development, public transit and affordable housing.