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robmausser said:
So are you saying you oppose immigration?

Where do you propose the hundreds of thousands of people we allow into our country every year go and live?
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hmmm what about using these completely unheard of ideas like redevelopment and infill development, it‘s not like theres currently a condo construction boom in the city...
I wonder how the population of downtown keeps growing even though there is no greenfield to develop...

Needless to say I think that’s a pretty moot point.
 
Allandale25 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1300760850475737088
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Thats total bs. Halton is acting very selfish and it pisses me off. This highway will benefit the gta(northern peel) by reducing congestion on the 410 and a protion of the 401.

but people will say
"hey its going to be built on farmland in caledon" and ill tell you one thing, southern caledon is a dump, most farms are sitting there rotting away or the land up for sale.

And this is from someone who lives in caledon.

If halton blocks this highway, then it'll be another 50 years of trucks on caledon roads, another 50 years of 45 minutes trying to get to the 401.

Let me know what you think.
 
Received this email update.

Please be advised that today, Thursday, September 10, York Regions Committee of a Whole received several reports that may be of interest to members of the York Chapter. Please note, all items outlined below were endorsed by the COW and will be brought forward to Council later this month.
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1. Initiation of the Transportation Master Plan Update

For questions, please contact:
Brian Titherington
Director of Transportation, Infrastructure Planning
t. 1.877.464-9675 ext. 75901
e. brian.titherington@york.ca		This memorandum provided Council with an overview of the proposed approach, principles and timeline for updating the Region’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP).

The estimated completion for the TMP is Q4 2022.
2. Update to the GTA West Transportation Corridor
For questions, please contact:
Sandra Malcic
Director, Long Range Planning
t. 1.877.464.9675 ext. 75724
e. sandra.malcic@york.ca		This report updated Council on the GTA West Transportation Corridor, specifically in regards to the August 7th Ministry of Transportation announcement on the preferred route for this corridor.

3. 2020 Mid-Year Development Activity Summary
For questions, please contact:
Paul Freeman
Chief Planner
e. paul.freeman@york.ca
This 2020 Mid-Year Development Activity report summarizes delegated authority approvals and new development applications that have been received by York Region so far in 2020 with a 2019 comparison, using collected data from YorkTrax.
 
robmausser said:
So are you saying you oppose immigration?

Where do you propose the hundreds of thousands of people we allow into our country every year go and live?
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Michael Moore, is that you?

jamincan said:
Pretty much all the land it would run through is not in the Greenbelt, so say good bay to some beautiful countryside, and hello to more non-descript subdivisions. I'm sure all those land developers that fund the OPC and Ontario Proud are absolutely giddy.

(That said, as someone who works near Winston Churchill and the 401, and regularly visits family in Orillia on the weekend, this highway would be very convenient.)
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The route runs mostly south of the Greenbelt, on lands that will get developed at one point or another regardless. The Greenbelt and Growth Plan weren't meant to halt greenfield development altogether, but to slow it down and make it denser. There's a lot of rural "whitebelt" land on the inner side of the Greenbelt that's intended for development.

Having said that, the highway will no doubt accelerate that growth in the area.
 
MisterF said:
Michael Moore, is that you?


The route runs mostly south of the Greenbelt, on lands that will get developed at one point or another regardless. The Greenbelt and Growth Plan weren't meant to halt greenfield development altogether, but to slow it down and make it denser. There's a lot of rural "whitebelt" land on the inner side of the Greenbelt that's intended for development.

Having said that, the highway will no doubt accelerate that growth in the area.
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Also, while people always complain about highways running through the Greenbelt - they ignore the fact that the greenbelt has specific exemptions for highways and utility corridors. The Greenbelt *allows* highways. It's not like it would be breaking the planning rules by running through it. Which it isn't anyway.
 
The route runs mostly south of the Greenbelt, on lands that will get developed at one point or another regardless. The Greenbelt and Growth Plan weren't meant to halt greenfield development altogether, but to slow it down and make it denser. There's a lot of rural "whitebelt" land on the inner side of the Greenbelt that's intended for development.

Having said that, the highway will no doubt accelerate that growth in the area.
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What you often ignore is that many of us oppose that 'white belt' development and think the Greenbelt is too small and has too many exceptions.

innsertnamehere said:
Also, while people always complain about highways running through the Greenbelt - they ignore the fact that the greenbelt has specific exemptions for highways and utility corridors. The Greenbelt *allows* highways. It's not like it would be breaking the planning rules by running through it. Which it isn't anyway.
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The rules are inadequate and ought to have prohibited new highways.

The notion that because something is legal, it it is morally correct is bizarre.

That's how we get poverty, obscenely low minimum wages, homelessness and all sorts of environmental destruction.

We, as a society need to aim for a higher bar at law; but also a higher bar than 'its legal, so lets do it'.
 
CaskoChan said:
Thats total bs. Halton is acting very selfish and it pisses me off. This highway will benefit the gta(northern peel) by reducing congestion on the 410 and a protion of the 401.

but people will say
"hey its going to be built on farmland in caledon" and ill tell you one thing, southern caledon is a dump, most farms are sitting there rotting away or the land up for sale.

And this is from someone who lives in caledon.

If halton blocks this highway, then it'll be another 50 years of trucks on caledon roads, another 50 years of 45 minutes trying to get to the 401.

Let me know what you think.
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It will surprise no one.

But I see the proponents of this highway as selfish.

Destroying thousands of hectares of top-tier farmland and natural areas, to save a few minutes on absurd commutes no one should be making in the first place, temporarily.

Every highway fills to capacity, so any time savings will be short lived, be it 3 years, 5 or 10.

As the sprawl catches up to the highway wiping out tens of thousands of acres of more natural land, surging the local population and radically increasing traffic and pollution, the push will be either jump the greenbelt or shift it to make room for yet another new highway.

The inescapable conclusion being bad public policy like history repeats itself endlessly.

Good for this community in opposing the highway. Its a terrible idea.

Now, in the name of not being hypocrites, they need to push for Halton Regional Transit to be formed and strong services within the Halton Hills area added.

They also need to renew the push to grow the Greenbelt, downzone existing whitebelt lands; add density to existing built-up areas along major arterials, and properly fund Conservation Halton to buy at least another 10,000 acres to protect headwaters, and the escarpment region properly.
 
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Northern Light said:
It will surprise no one.

But I see the proponents of this highway as selfish.

Destroying thousands of hectares of top-tier farmland and natural areas, to save a few minutes on absurd commutes no one should be making in the first place, temporarily.

Every highway fills to capacity, so any time savings will be short lived, be it 3 years, 5 or 10.

As the sprawl catches up to the highway wiping out tens of thousands of acres of more natural land, surging the local population and radically increasing traffic and pollution, the push will be either jump the greenbelt or shift it to make room for yet another new highway.

The inescapable conclusion being bad public policy like history repeats itself endlessly.

Good for this community in opposing the highway. Its a terrible idea.

Now, in the name of not being hypocrites, they need to push for Halton Regional Transit to be formed and strong services within the Halton Hills area added.

They also need to renew the push to grow the Greenbelt, downzone existing whitebelt lands; add density to existing built-up areas along major arterials, and properly fund Conservation Halton to buy at least another 10,000 acres to protect headwaters, and the escarpment region properly.
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Understood on your points regarding the Greenbelt and its overall importance to the GTA and Golden Horseshoe.

Saying that, I'm not sure I fully agree with your full opposition of this highway.

1. If we think the residential housing market is tough at the moment, there is a massive shortage of prime industrial space available in the GTHA. Vacancy rates are somewhere around or below 1%. You've got the massive population increases within the GTHA over the last 15 years or so that is anticipated to continue into 2031 - 2041, pushing the region's total population into the 9 - 10MM range. With this population increase and the rise of e-commerce comes an increased requirement for large and medium sized warehouse, logistics and industrial facilities. These are buildings starting at 50,000 sq. ft. and up which are sorely lacking in the GTHA. IMO based on the industry I work in, the lack of (industrial) commercial availability is hindering the region's R&D and innovation capabilities as many SME companies are hamstrung by a lack of space and modern amenities to scale up operations and improve productivity.
2. In order to meet the surging demand of industrial commercial RE spaces, these new facilities must go somewhere. Existing employment lands are an option and some land parcels are being redeveloped to modern requirements; however, whitebelt lands, particularly those on the western edge of MIssissauga/Brampton/Milton border and the eastern segment of Georgetown/Halton Hills are best suited to accommodate this industrial RE expansion. Ditto the Brampton/Caledon border and the areas south and north of Bolton along Highway 50, both of which are along the proposed highway's planned route. Reasons for this include proximity to Pearson, other 400 series routes and railway yards. Development already exists at the northern tip of Mississauga along the 401-407 and eastern side of Georgetown. Adding more employment-based development will require a proper, controlled access route to facilitate the movement of goods into and out of these regions. That does not preclude the inclusion of transit expansion into these areas either and this should absolutely be planned accordingly to facilitate the movement of workers to and from these sites as well. Expand bus services, LRT, 407 transitways, whatever is required to provide support for commute patterns.
3. EU examples of larger, urban clusters support the notion that greenspace preservation, rapid transit and controlled access freeways can co-exist in a way that benefits commerce, citizens and the environment. Take Randstadt (8.5 MM people), Rhine-Rhur (11 MM people), Paris (13 MM people), Madrid (6.5 MM) and Milan (8.3 MM people) as examples. All have expansive transit networks that are much more thorough than what exists here. There is ample green space and less "sprawly" development but the regions are all interconnected via grade-separated freeways to facilitate the movement of goods both regionally and beyond. The Greenbelt is expansive enough that other metropilitan areas within the Golden Horseshoe will remain distant enough from the inner region, namely K-W, Guelph, Barrie and Peterborough. I would not say the expansion of commercially-driven 400 series freeways will lead to rampant suburban sprawl into those far-flung cities. If it does, then yes, we are in trouble; but I believe the Greenbelt as it currently exists, especially the escarpment, is preventative enough.
 
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