I was the fortunate beneficiary of alley paving over a year ago. The neighbours got together under the strong organizational skills of one heroic local champion and passed the petition. We may be paying for it for the next 15 years but at least it is done properly and permanently. Critical mass was reached when there were more recently built or rebuilt homes than original homes backing onto both sides of the lane. A tight community helped to exert a little ‘peer pressure’ on those that perhaps weren’t too keen to fund the improvement. I don’t think anyone wanted to be known as the local curmudgeon that cast a deciding ballot. I consider it another ‘miracle on 34 st event that we had it done. Landlords in particular (a small minority) were noted as the least willing to contribute to the paving as they largely voted against it. They also had the crappiest houses. The city compels ‘no’ voters to pay anyway so there is some satisfaction in having those that don’t want to improve the area forced to pay despite their reluctance, and that they earn income from their properties to fund their portion, rather than the owner occupants whom should view their primary residence as as much a lifestyle liability as an asset. The problem with having paving work done in infill areas is that new buyers have higher expectations than longer term residents. They want the paving complete because taxes are already set high on new builds so tend to expect that paving should be already included. The city also does a poor job of grading or plowing lanes and this leads to awful conditions and ponding and ruts. When budgeting for these types of improvements the city does not take into account the uplift of taxes once semi detached homes are built. Generally the taxes triple on a 50 ft lot once the new homes are reassessed. Yet the city doesn’t have money to do the paving?