Rural GTA turning into a suburb.

[miketoronto]

Yesterday I had to go out to Newcastle(east of Oshawa) to my brothers house for my nephews confirmation. Anyway before going to my brothers house, we had to go to Church in downtown Newcastle. I had not been in downtown Newcastle in years, however coming into the town, one now notices suburban subdivisions, that look just like ones you would see in Markham, or Ajax, etc.

The houses are even closer together then ones in inner city Toronto.

However I have to say I am not to happy that this kind of development is going on in our rural GTA areas.

Why are municipalities like Clarington so quick to want to turn their nice little rural villages into suburbs with the suburban housing and strip malls?

Newcastle has a nice little downtown, but all these subdivisions I don't think are going to add to much to the character, and are just going to turn it into a commuter burb.

Your views on the suburbanization of the rural GTA? All our nice little rural towns like Stouffville, Newcastle, etc are under sprawl attack.

And whats weird is my brother kinda likes the development, because it means people are choosing rural Newcastle lifestyle over the horror of Toronto's city lifestyle.

 

[Antiloop33rpm]

Why are municipalities like Clarington so quick to want to turn their nice little rural villages into suburbs with the suburban housing and strip malls?

Because everyone wants to live in a suburban home just like yours Mike. Everyone wants a backyard and front lawn, just like you Mike. Everyone wants 1500 sq feet or more, just like you. So long as everyone wants to be like you, the GTA will continue to spread further and further into the rural landscape.

 

[afransen TO]

Ouch...

 

[miketoronto]

Well there is tons of land closer in for them to do that. They don't have to go to Newcastle.

 

[samsonyuen]

Well, Clarington's only an inner suburb of Oshawa, just like Scarborough is within Metro Toronto

 

[mpolo2]

The city grows. Thing change. Get used to it.

 

[wyliepoon]

Why are municipalities like Clarington so quick to want to turn their nice little rural villages into suburbs with the suburban housing and strip malls?

Money must be one of the big reasons, if not THE reason. Small town are greedy for cash (among other things, such as publicity) that a bigger residential tax base and new businesses bring. Developers like to buy up cheap land, build cheap homes, and then make a fortune selling them to city dwellers with families that want to get out of the congestion and chaos in the city. Cheap land and a growing population appeal to big box retailers wanting to turn newly-settled suburbanites into loyal customers.

 

[SD2]

I'd have to agree with mike that it's not good to see this type of development in small towns...or anywhere for that matter.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"The city grows. Thing change. Get used to it."

There's a difference between growth and sprawl...Clarington is sprawl.

 

[Mike in TO]

Well there is tons of land closer in for them to do that. They don't have to go to Newcastle.

House prices Mike, land closer to Toronto is more expensive - drive untill you qualify....

 

[wonderboy905]

I'd have to agree with mike that it's not good to see this type of development in small towns...or anywhere for that matter.

On a Tuesday night here in Milton some friends came over for beer and wings. We went downtown, a lot of the local business was booming, and there was loads of pedestrian traffic (more than you'd see in the MCC in a lifetime). As long as the town doesn't get wal-mart fever everything will be a-ok and the existing downtown should thrive like it hasn't done in 50 years...

 

[Copper1212]

Newcastle is in a prime location for sprawl. Fairly close to Toronto and even closer to Oshawa. You can see the sprawl from the 401, just a bunch of homes plopped into a farm field. Doesn't look like much planning went into it.

 

[doady]

Where else could suburban development occur if not in rural areas? Out on the lake? In the clouds?

 

[adma]

Well, they could have built it on the railway lands downtown, instead of all that family-unfriendly highrise Cityplace stuff;-)

 

[tudararms]

People are discovering "small town" Ontario again in droves. It's probably a bit of a reaction against (sub)urban sprawl. Main Streets are luring them back, restaurants are opening, and in-fill projects combining retail and residential are also being built, albeit on a smaller scale than what you see in the big city, obviously. Traveling from T.O. west to Hamilton you see this trend being repeated all the way, from Port Credit to Oakville to Burlington and on to Hamilton, although if you travel the same way north of the QE you will see a different storey altogether.