Ontario family selling house over new Christmas lights bylaw

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I feel like this should be overridden by the guarantee to freedom of expression

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I feel like I need to see pics of the parking situation/attendance on the street. Like, yeah… Lights are fun and that sucks, but also… this must have been a pretty big fucking problem if it warranted this kind of response. Article says the show would end after 20 minutes and immediately an entirely new crowd would filter in to replace the previous one. Sounds like lot of vehicles waiting to get in to view it in a residential neighborhood not designed for that kind of volume. I’d probably bitch to the council too after several years of enduring that.

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Honestly, sounds like a traffic enforcement problem.

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So it’s a traffic problem, not a capacity problem.

Ban on street parking, direct people to the closest lots. Problem solved.

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Colton Williams - Category 8 Winner: Light-O-Rama Shining Bright Contest 2022

tiredofsametab

If it's like the places I grew up, people are driving through neighborhoods. They're not parking, but driving at basically a crawl (sometimes pausing to take pictures). If they enforced local traffic only (i.e. anyone who wanted to see it had to go on foot), that would solve the issue so long as the parking exists somewhere.

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I’m sure there’s some particular joy in doing this to your own house, but the city should hire this guy to do a big display in the city centre. Probably more adequate parking, people maybe make a night of it and go to local restaurants, you could pick your place to minimise upsetting neighbours.

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I have sympathy for the neighbours, I don’t have sympathy for the people with the lights who are ridiculous

aard

Over here in Europe we’d just arrive by public transport.

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And really the big problem here is the cars, 20 cars takes up a lot more space than even 60 people. People could even fit on the lawn if space allows. The cars make noise honking and running, they are the ones with bright lights. If everyone got off a bus, watched a show, and walked to the next stop it wouldn’t be nearly as problematic. Perhaps a designated area nearby where cars are expected to park and people and their family could walk to see the show could have been a solution.

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Yea but Canada refuses to build a functional country. Hell we can’t even keep bike lanes installed without drivers feeling attacked.

aard

I read about that, and my first thought was that bike lanes adjacent to streets indeed aren’t a great thing - but then again, you probably don’t have all the bike/pedestrian only paths offering way shorter connections we have here. In the area I live in I can reach pretty much any house by foot within 5-10 minutes - while most of them are only reachable by car with a lengthy detour, if at all.

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The lanes weren’t the best but they are way better than nothing. Everything must be car accessible here, no exceptions. Cars must always get prioirty. It really is so vastly different you really have to experience it to understand. Standing next to one stroad makes you really ask “how the hell is this the best way to build the majority of places in this country?”

Most of our transit is hourly bus service that is late from the poor roadway network. Most of our stops don’t even have shelters. Trams don’t have prioirty at lights. It’s all so backwards.

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It’s not. It’s a 17-minute show timed to music.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJIuS2NHH_k

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500 hours, 600 hours worth of set up time

I wish I had one tenth the freetime this person has in their life.

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The message isn’t the issue, the medium is. Through the operation of the lights and music, these homeowners are infringing on the rights of others.

The article brings up “enjoyment of property”, this is a legal phrase in Canada.

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Until your neighbour does it. Houses are for living in. Having a little Christmas display is great. Having an automated light show that last 17 minutes a cycle and took 500 hours to set up is something that should be done at a venue with the proper infrastructure.

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Contracts require an exchange of “considerations.” Payment is a consideration.

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How about freedom to live in a quiet neighbourhood and sleep without a ton of noise and excessive light glaring through your windows?

I love Christmas lights but there is a line of respect for your neighbours and no one has the right to just do whatever they want without regard for others. A truly free society means balancing your freedoms with respect.

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Once a hobby turns into a full time job it looses its meaning. Plus being hired means you are no longer your own boss.

Also, we seem to forget cities always cut budgets for things. It used to be the city may have decorated its streets with lights or setup decorations in public plazas. A city may have also had it’s own light show that diminised in quality year after year, now a distant memory due to skyrocketing costs.

There may have been public fireworks show or a puplic skate rink. All those things usually are the first to go in a effort to save cash when city funded.

This man was doing a economic service to his town in terms of tourism on his own dime. The city shot it self in the foot here, then they tried to have their cake and eat it too asking him to pay for pirmits