Comment 78029

By Stout (anonymous) | Posted June 06, 2012 at 09:21:23 in reply to Comment 78027

I'm not disputing the sprawl dynamic. Many if not most councillors understand this. But if Canada Bread wants to build a plant on the periphery, or Tim Hortons wants to put a roastery in an Ancaster business park, no official at City Hall is going to issue a brownfield ultimatum. Residential development is another way of expanding the tax base and generating jobs that is, in the short-term, relatively painless, and certainly easier than persuading those same developers to develop high-density projects downtown, or put a moratorium on exurban builds. Municipal politics is almost always a matter of the easiest route from A to B. If we want to see the above happen in our lifetime, we need to position the issue as an economic boon. Nail that case shut. The walkability is the wrapping paper, the soft-touch stuff that politicians say to make themselves seem more tuned-in to the needs of humans. Council and staff need to see this as a fast-track to increased revenue, or at the very least a quick break-even. It's an argument that will be won or lost in terms of economic development.

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