To find out more about New Westminster Mayoral and City Council candidates during the 2018 municipal elections, we asked them one question: what does your ideal city look like?

Patrick Johnstone is running for City Council, and this is his answer:

My Ideal City is a vibrant, inclusive one. It is one where people are safe to move around, and feel engaged in their community.

I am inspired by Gil Pendalosa’s 880 Cities initiative, and his model that a city safe for an 8 year old to cycle to school and an 80 year old to walk for groceries is a city that will work for all residents and businesses.

I am inspired by Janette Sadik-Khan and her bold actions to transform urban environments and free them from the gridlock of 20^th Century ideas about how we allocate public space.

I am inspired by Charles Montgomery’s “The Happy City”, and his application of psychology and sociology to understand how we can better connect our communities through better design.

I am inspired by Jane Jacobs and the generation of urban planners she mentored, and her ultimate vision that the core of any successful city is a web of well-functioning and empowered neighbourhoods.

My Ideal City is accessible and affordable, and one where the costs of short-term thinking are not externalized. It is a city on a south-facing hill and on a river, where there is a variety of housing, and a variety of cultures. My Ideal City is one where the residents are proud to be a resident or a business owner, and take that pride from how we care for each other, we support each other, and respect each other.