Raise the Hammer

Mississuaga is desperately trying to become a real city with LRT and a high density core....like Hamilton used to be. Hamilton is desperately trying to become a bedroom community with a hollowed out core and sprawling across the countryside like Mississauga used to be before they realized it's a debt-inducing form of development with nothing but escalating maintenance costs and not enough tax base to support the infrastructure.

Oh ya, and they have a little airport you may have heard of in their city boundaries and still couldn't make sprawl work financially.

Yeah! What he said!

Not to be left behind...


"A provincial tribunal that rules on land-use disputes delivered a setback to the Region of Waterloo’s efforts to curb urban sprawl.

The Ontario Municipal Board handed down a complex decision on Jan. 21 that requires the region to significantly expand the amount of land that will be developed into new subdivisions between now and 2031.

The Region of Waterloo wanted to limit the new subdivisions to 80 hectares (197 acres) of land. But the municipal board ruled in favour of the developers who said they need more like 1,053 hectares (2,593 acres) of land."


http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/874617--provincial-tribunal-sets-back-region-s-efforts-to-curb-urban-sprawl

Amazing...we're going to the OMB to open up more land than we need. Waterloo, Halton and other regions go to the OMB to curb sprawl.

And looking at the decision they handed down it looks like they disagree with you and K-W and agree more with Hamilton. Imagine giving people what they want, single family homes. Outrageous isn't it?

The OMB is supposed to be an independent tribunal. They are not supposed to have their own established opinion on policy, beyond respecting provincial policy and laws. Like other court judgments, decisions are to be evidence-based.

From the Q&A on the OMB website, regarding "How does the Member(s) arrive at a decision?" http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/english/home.ht...

"Decisions are based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the relevant law, provincial polices and the principles of good planning."

Whether that always happens in practice is something that could probably be debated. Nevertheless, the OMB has a lot of power - their decisions can be appealed, but under certain conditions and as their own info sheet states "The OMB rarely grants reviews and/or changes a decision" http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/stellent/groups...

There are two big factors that affect these decisions, in my opinion:

• The depth of the case presented by each party during an appeal. And depth is often a function of how much money and resources are available to prepare the case.
• The opinions of what constitutes "good planning" are not always clear - the province has guidelines and requirements for planning, but they're often very broad or lack teeth to be enforced (and apt to change depending on the government of the day)

The Hamilton decision is pending, but in the KW decision the developers simply made a stronger case than the region did. I would argue it has more to do with what the developers wanted, than what the people want.

Comment edited by ScreamingViking on 2013-01-27 13:42:24

Yeah! What he said! Preach it brother!

Yes, the Waterloo and Hamilton governments have differing perspectives on future urban land requirements.

But in this case it was the developers who brought the issue to the OMB.

When the Region of Waterloo’s official plan was approved by the province in January 2011, a long list of developers challenged it before the municipal board.

There's a useful lesson here in the power of the OMB - I don't have figures to back it up, but it seems they often rule in a way that does not align with provincial growth management goals.

Thank goodness there aren't any developers behind the AEGD hearings!

Mississauga's 2011 population density was around 24.4 people per hectare. In 2006, the old City of Hamilton stood at 26.5 per hectare.

http://raisethehammer.org/blog/2244/hamilton_ward_demographics_2006_data

A contributing factor may be the fact that Mississauga's "downtown" blocks along Burnhamthorpe and Hurontario have population densities twice that of Hamilton at peak.

As it happens, these are the very neighbourhoods earmarked for LRT service. So who knows, maybe that intensification thing might work out for them.

this is her last term as mayor of Mississauga...... can we recruit her to run for mayor of Hamilton in 2014???

Hurricane Hazel vs Blowhard Bob.

If only Hamilton had a mayor that... you know... did stuff.

Like advocating high rise high density housing instead of 3 or 4 story old walk ups. Once that is in place then and only then does LRT make sense. And that is exactly what Hamilton needs.

Bring back Di Ianni!

And now even Burlington is getting it.

" Residential and commercial development in North Burlington will solve financial, transportation and commute issues."

"There is a huge problem with traffic within Burlington that needs to be addressed."

Sounds like Burlington's got some Hamilton thinkers going there.

...

"aerotropolis: All the more reason to expand Hamilton's urban area all around the airport. People have to have somewhere to live. And where are we going to put that extra 4 000 000 people who are expected to arrive in Ontario?"

Yeah. The Spec is such a wealth of progressive ideas.

Comment edited by MattM on 2013-01-26 09:43:48

While Hamilton's council chamber were going Pop-O-Matic, Waterloo's elected representatives were getting pragmatic.


WATERLOO REGION — Regional politicians approved the first large construction project related to rapid transit Wednesday, voting to spend $8.3 million on a Conestoga Parkway overpass to make way for light rail trains.

“This is very significant,” Coun. Jim Wideman said. “It’s sort of a signal that this is a go.”

The Region of Waterloo’s $818-million rapid transit plan includes light rail trains that will need to pass under Conestoga Parkway between Homer Watson Boulevard and Courtland Avenue.

An existing overpass carries expressway traffic over a Canadian National Railway track, but there isn’t enough room a second set of tracks for light rail trains. An additional overpass will be built as part of a Ministry of Transportation contract.

The ministry is now in the second year of a four-year project to fix up and widen Highway 7/8 between Fischer-Hallman Road and Courtland Avenue, offering the opportunity tie in the overpass work.

Officials said they can save money and reduce the risk of falling behind schedule on rapid transit by adding the work to the ministry’s construction contract.

A final design is expected by July for approval, with construction to be completed in 2014. Based on the design proposal from the province, councillors could change their minds and have another look at their options.

Light rail trains are planned to run from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener. From there, express buses will run to Ainslie Street terminal in Cambridge.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/882386--region-approves-8-3-million-overpass-as-part-of-light-rail-plan