![\"making-room_2010_04_19\"](\"http:\/\/vivanext.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/making-room_2010_04_19.jpg\" "\\"making-room_2010_04_19\\"")
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There might have been a time when, as it grew, a community could just continue to expand its boundaries farther out into the surrounding countryside, adding new neighbourhoods as more people moved in. <\/span>But in our increasingly crowded part of the province, we\u2019re long past the time when municipalities can just spread out endlessly \u2013 our boundaries are pretty much fixed. So finding room for new people has to happen within our existing space.<\/p>\n \n With provincial legislation<\/a> setting out formal growth targets for all Ontario communities, York Region<\/a> has had to do some careful planning to map out where all those new people are going to live. <\/span>And we\u2019re not talking small increases \u2013 our planners have projected that by 2031, York Region will need to find room for an additional <\/strong>577,000 residents and 234,000 households. <\/span>And those new people need places to work, so planners also need to factor in room for an additional 180 million square feet of employment floor space, to accommodate the 318,000 new jobs that will be needed<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n York Region is pretty big, so maybe those people can all spread out? No, it\u2019s not that easy. In the first place, although some people prefer to live in more rural settings, the majority of people in York Region want to live close to amenities \u2013 near schools, near stores, near entertainment \u2013 near all the great things that make city life interesting and convenient. <\/span>And those things tend to be clustered at the heart of our existing larger communities, like Markham<\/a>, Newmarket<\/a>, Richmond Hill<\/a> and Vaughan<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n Secondly, although York Region is quite large geographically, a lot of our lands are actually very fragile environments, and are protected against significant development. <\/span>In fact, nearly 70% of our total land is protected under either the Green Belt Act<\/a>, or the Oak Ridges Moraine Act<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \n To make this a win-win for everyone, the Region has adopted a planning strategy that directs almost half of the expected new growth to existing built-up areas, with the other half going to new development areas. This approach will result in more opportunities for people to live, work and play in the neighbourhoods that they already know and love, while reducing some of the growth pressure on the surrounding countryside.<\/p>\n \n