Hanlansboy
Active Member
I've been looking all over the web regarding community planning and what bylaws are in place to support it, to no avail. I'm referring to the influx of thousands upon thousands of residents now living in an area that was never designed for homes (ie-the railway lands near the roundhouse). There are now thousands of units, with more on the way, but not one extra grocery store, school, hospital or mall. I can tell you from first hand experience, our current resources are strained to the limit. The hospital I work in is literally bursting at the seams, as are all downtown hospitals. What use to be a 4 week wait to see a specialist ten years ago, is now a three year wait, at least. Same for schools (depending on the area of course) and for shopping malls. I can remember as little as 10 years ago, when shopping in the Eatons Center, you could shoot a cannon through the place on a week day or a Sunday, but now, it's packed 24/7 all year. It's great for existing businesses, but we're slowly reaching a crisis point.
Developers are given the go ahead to build these huge towers of glass and steel, practically on top of one another, yet there seems to be no bylaws that says in order to have a certain amount of towers in one area, new community facilities must be built as well. This is where it gets complicated, particularly when referring to new schools and health care facilities. Somehow, we have to coordinate between the city, the builders, and the provincial government to ensure we don't end up with hundreds of thousands of downtown residents with no resources to survive.
Yes, there are many things to consider. I would guess most living in the newer south core towers are young professionals with no children, but somewhere along the way, as our population ages, we will need schools. There are a few Loblaws and a Longos, but considering the growing population, it will soon be inadequate. As for health care, well, I know the public sees these new towers going up for Mars, Sick Kids, and my hospital, St Mikes, but these new expansions are designated strictly for research, so it's not, in any way, helping take pressure off the patient loads and wait times.
With all this said, the question remains, what do we do about it? Please, if anyone knows what the bylaws say about this, post away, I give up surfing and finding nothing concrete, thanks,
HB
Developers are given the go ahead to build these huge towers of glass and steel, practically on top of one another, yet there seems to be no bylaws that says in order to have a certain amount of towers in one area, new community facilities must be built as well. This is where it gets complicated, particularly when referring to new schools and health care facilities. Somehow, we have to coordinate between the city, the builders, and the provincial government to ensure we don't end up with hundreds of thousands of downtown residents with no resources to survive.
Yes, there are many things to consider. I would guess most living in the newer south core towers are young professionals with no children, but somewhere along the way, as our population ages, we will need schools. There are a few Loblaws and a Longos, but considering the growing population, it will soon be inadequate. As for health care, well, I know the public sees these new towers going up for Mars, Sick Kids, and my hospital, St Mikes, but these new expansions are designated strictly for research, so it's not, in any way, helping take pressure off the patient loads and wait times.
With all this said, the question remains, what do we do about it? Please, if anyone knows what the bylaws say about this, post away, I give up surfing and finding nothing concrete, thanks,
HB
