{"id":1408,"date":"2010-04-08T13:19:22","date_gmt":"2010-04-08T18:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vivanext.com\/blog\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2011-01-14T14:25:08","modified_gmt":"2011-01-14T19:25:08","slug":"york-region-the-need-for-a-fine-balance-on-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/2010\/04\/08\/york-region-the-need-for-a-fine-balance-on-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"York Region: the need for a fine balance on growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We have been talking about smart growth, and what is needed to ensure growth doesn\u2019t change our communities in a negative way. One of the most critical needs is to have great transit<\/a> in place, before the growth really happens.<\/p>\n

At a recent community event, someone asked me: instead of worrying about smart growth, why don\u2019t we just say \u201cno\u201d, and cap the size of our towns and cities the way they are, so they won\u2019t change? Wouldn\u2019t that solve our problems?<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s no such easy answer. To explain, here\u2019s a mini-lesson on Ontario<\/a> and York Region planning<\/a> \u2013 for those of you who would like to read more, I\u2019ll attach some interesting links at the bottom.<\/p>\n

Planning for growth is a fairly complicated study of demographics, economic and employment patterns, development, and other trends and data. When it\u2019s all put together, based on past patterns, planners are able to predict future populations and where people are likely going to be living and working. In this way, Ontario and York Region planners have forecast that in 2031 over 1.5 million people will be living in York Region and its communities; that\u2019s up from just over 930,000 in 2006<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With those predictions and similar ones from other regions, the Province \u2013 in its Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe<\/a> \u2013 instructed regions and municipalities to be ready to have much bigger populations. That means those municipalities need to plan for enough housing, schools, hospitals, roads, and transit \u2013 and everything else people expect from their community. And because the Growth Plan stems from a piece of legislation, it\u2019s not as if municipalities can just ignore it – it\u2019s the law.<\/p>\n

The challenge for the Region and its municipalities is to find ways of accommodating all these new residents, in ways that don\u2019t change the existing character of our communities; to leave intact the things that made us want to move here in the first place.<\/p>\n

Obviously, finding a solution to this is complex, with many variables to consider, and the final picture will take multiple decades to come to life. But York Region\u2019s planners believe they have found a balance, with rapid transit<\/a> seen as one of the keys to make it happen.<\/p>\n

Some interesting links –<\/p>\n