On todays episode Mariah and Ryan talk to former Edmonton City Councillor Scott Mckeen about how his experiences while writing about City Hall and his tenure as Edmonton's downtown City Councillor has shaped his knowledge on building people-centered communities. They get into topics about homelessness, affordable housing, urban design, how to revitalize a downtown and the partnerships that are needed for all of it.
Show Notes
Scott Mckeen is Edmonton's former Ward 6 City Councillor. Scott is best known for his 24 years at The Edmonton Journal, including eight years as the hometown newspaper’s City Hall columnist.
Scott’s career at the paper ran the entire spectrum, from crime reporting to the environment beat. The majority of his years were spent at City Hall, reporting and commenting on city council.
Upon leaving the newspaper, Scott launched a last-minute bid in the 2010 civic election, finishing second. Since then he has started a successful communications business, serving local, provincial and federal clients.
He also became actively involved in the community, a few including volunteering as director of the Downtown Edmonton Community League, the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, the Downtown Vibrancy Task Force, the Alberta Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health and the Lieutenant Governor’s Circle on Mental Health and Addiction.
Scott was also the City of Edmonton’s first ever Blogger in Residence, a position he stepped down from to run in Ward 6 in 2013.
Since his election in 2013, Scott has advocated for our most vulnerable population with his Mental Health and Urban Isolation initiative and through affordable housing and harm reduction strategies.
He’s voted for and against infill developments in Ward 6 based on the location, design and density of the project.
He’s supported a walkable, bikeable, and livable downtown with the approval of the 102 Ave bike lanes, the Reimagine Jasper Avenue Revitalization, and by pushing EPS for more enforcement on noisy cars and motorcycles.
Scott has three grown children. He spends as much time with them as they allow. He lives in Ward 6 in the community of Oliver, where he can often be seen zipping around on his yellow Vespa scooter.
What is In Development Podcast?
This is the podcast for all you city-builders, city-shapers and city-dwellers out there that care about driving change towards people- centred communities. On In-Development we talk about how Canadian cities develop in and up. We are presented by IDEA, the infill Development in Edmonton Association, a non-profit education and advocacy group bringing together like-minded people working to shape our City.