I was told that this was the largest space they could get within the Danforth study area
I rather doubt this. (not you, them)
Certainly if you don't worry about putting tables out, the auditorium at nearby Danforth Tech is not small, it would hold at least several hundred.
From Karim Hachlaf's Twitter:
There's also Danforth Music Hall, albeit at the western extreme of the study area.
If you wanted tables out, several area High Schools have double-gyms.............
I am hoping for that too, and it's something that myself and a few other people brought up. But because of their "we don't know yet if bike lanes will be recommended" neutrality bias, staff don't feel the time is right to talk about a pilot until they get around to completing that part of the study (which is quite a while from now).
I get the nominal neutrality bias, as a theory.
In reality; if you were there, you heard angry cyclists asking when things will happen; and angry opponents thinking the fix was in for bike lanes.
Not giving straight answers about mandate and preferences leads to a negative impression from everyone.
I'm a policy wonk and can and do read 100-page plus policy thesis on a regular basis.
Even I found the presentation tedious; and moreso for those standing and crowded in, I'm sure.
But it was too jargon-filled for the average member of the public who would like you to cut the chase and say this is what we're thinking; its not final, details matter, we're listening; but we do hope to do something sorta like this.
That gives proponents and opponents and honest sense of the lay of the land.
When bureaucrats speak bureaucrastese in a public meeting, at length, it rarely goes over well.
