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By Cityjoe (anonymous) | Posted November 30, 2009 at 14:01:17
Quote: "James, picture a young couple who lives downtown in a narrow row house - or maybe even on one level of a 3-unit narrow row house, and who does not own a car.
Why do they have to chip in for the overpasses on highway six which allow for the perpetual expansion of waterdown housing developments? Why do they have to pay into the snowplough and road maintenance funds that service a waterdown resident's 50 foot wide lot when their street frontage is equivalent to 14 feet (divided by the number of units in their building)?
It's because we live in a community where we recognize the need to collectively pay for services that benefit the city as a whole. This includes transit."
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I was 1/2 of this couple once. Never had a car for 25+ years, lived in a 100 year old semi-detached row house in west Toronto for many years. (& co-incidentally was Young at the time.)
I'll bet you a bunch that your hypothetical couple will not live in that same house in 20 years time, & will probably be glad to leave it. Until later when they start to slow down & don't want a bigger property. Then they may move into a seniors' building with no frontage for the next 20 years. It all balances out. IMHO, high rise apartment life is no life for young children & seniors, no matter how great it looks on paper 'frontage & stats-wise' to somebody who is healthy, & single in their mid 20-30s.
Why do they have to pay for an overpass in Waterdown? 2 reasons:
1) The same reason I have to pay for inner city rec. centres & programs, schools both separate & public when I don't have school age kids any longer, & senior's centres when I'm too young to attend them. :P Because: "We recognize the need to pay collectively for services that benefit the entire City" That reads "ENTIRE CITY" in case you missed that.
2) If James & the folks around him had decent public transit that might get them & their families around town, to work etc., maybe there would be no need to build that overpass? Does James o.k. all that urban sprawl? Do his neighbours? No, The City does! Please assign blame appropriately if you must assign it at all!
My house is over 60 years old & it was once considered 'sprawl'. I expect many people @ the time saw King & Cannon Street development as 'sprawl' when the cows had to leave. So anything New is 'sprawl', & anything old is 'sustainable development', even when it's so bad that it gets knocked down & re-developed??
Maybe that comment: "It's because we live in a community where we recognize the need to collectively pay for services that benefit the city as a whole. This includes transit." Sooo, should this also be applied to James & Waterdown? Yes, it should! If the City won't do decent HSR service then, I guess it has to do the overpass & the roads.
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