(Ontario) Hume: Markham's bold proposal is suburbia's salvation

[phantom power]

In its own way, the development industry resembles the North American auto sector, which until recent economic troubles was trapped in a mindset that left it unable to keep up with the times. Just as the Big Three made billions from SUVs before demand evaporated, developers profited nicely from sprawl. That, too, is coming to an end. For any number of reasons – environment, economy, congestion – sprawl is no longer an option. Smart developers have figured that out and responded accordingly. Others have fought tooth and nail to carry on regardless.

"It's about a shift in thinking," explains Markham Councillor Erin Shapero, who with Councillor Valerie Burke wants a permanent 2,000-hectare agricultural zone in the heart of their city. "The only naysayers are the development industry and a small percentage of farmers who still hope to sell their land. We're hoping the development industry will see this as an opportunity."

Next to this "food belt" would be a dense, mixed-use, transit-based community organized around Markham's three major arterials: Yonge St. and Highways 407 and 7.

"Food security and the need to protect the land is more and more a municipal issue," says Shapero. "Two-thirds of the Class 1 farmland in Canada is in Ontario, and almost all of it is under threat. We're lucky to have this land in our city. It's time we start thinking differently."

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/752012--hume-markham-s-bold-proposal-is-suburbia-s-salvation

[niyad]

1. k and r--going to send this to my local idiots, who keep approving sprawl, and destroying transit,

and any attempts to create a truly viable community. they won't care, they won't read, but I will send just the same.

[phantom power]

2. Might make a good LTTE.

The current crop of politicians is still mostly stuck in the past. Human nature being what it is, it will take new blood to fix that. If there is still time.

[niyad]

3. . . . .