Oakville 2264 Trafalgar | ?m | 28s | Town of Oakville

[ben.thebean1]

The Town of Oakville is looking to develop this large site currently owned by the town into 2662-unit mixed-use community, with 9 towers ranging from 10 to 28 storeys across eight 6-storey podiums.

No renderings are available at the moment, just massing

https://www.oakville.ca/business-de...oad-opa-1413-35-z-1413-35-and-24t-25003-1413/

 

[matrix]

Yeah, that plot of land has been bare for quite some time. They're already well through constructing condos at the corner of Glenashton and Trafalgar (orange building in the diagram). I can definitely appreciate them splitting up the block and including green space, hopefully no NIMBY pushback.

 

[ben.thebean1]

Yeah, that plot of land has been bare for quite some time. They're already well through constructing condos at the corner of Glenashton and Trafalgar (orange building in the diagram). I can definitely appreciate them splitting up the block and including green space, hopefully no NIMBY pushback.

Yeah the eastern half of the site is zoned for highrise development, while the west side along Taunton is zoned for midrise, so I doubt the NIMBYs will have much power here

 

[matrix]

Yeah the eastern half of the site is zoned for highrise development, while the west side along Taunton is zoned for midrise, so I doubt the NIMBYs will have much power here

That's good news. I know there are some genuine concerns about developing on Trafalgar that people have but it's nice to see some more development on that road west of Dundas. The way some people get upset about the idea of Midtown has me frazzled about how other developments may be received.

 

[KAR246]

There has already been significant NIMBY pushback to this one... I expect that the Oakville Municipal Development Corporation (MDC) will be making some changes in height here due to that. Also its important to note that the town won't be the developer of whatever is built here, they are simply creating the Official Plan and Master Plan for the area before they sell it off to a developer.
Here is the Oakville MDC page for this development: https://www.oakvillemdc.ca/development-opportunities/2274-2320-trafalgar-road/
And here is a link to an article about the development: https://www.oakvillenews.org/local-...le-municipal-development-corporation-11138135

 

[matrix]

There has already been significant NIMBY pushback to this one...

I'm not entirely surprised. There are some valid concerns people have in the comments section of the article you linked, like affordability. These probably won't be affordable. The problem I do have though are the people who are lucky enough to own property around here, complaining that Oakville is "scaling up" and turning into a "city vibe". To me, that's a little bit entitled and unrealistic. The way I see it, as a city in the GTA we need to build a few condo towers. You can't keep building houses... Every city and town in the GTA used to have that "small town" vibe, but it's not the 80s anymore. As a town we need to accommodate and get with the times. People act like they're demolishing Downtown to build these towers- no, they're developing on a plot of land that's been bare for decades. I just don't see the problem with that specifically, but maybe I'm too young. I get that Oakville has a unique vibe, but I don't understand how developing on a significant arterial road that people use to get to the GO station is going to harm much of anything other than traffic, possibly.

 

[just east of the creek]

I'm not entirely surprised. There are some valid concerns people have in the comments section of the article you linked, like affordability. These probably won't be affordable. The problem I do have though are the people who are lucky enough to own property around here, complaining that Oakville is "scaling up" and turning into a "city vibe". To me, that's a little bit entitled and unrealistic. The way I see it, as a city in the GTA we need to build a few condo towers. You can't keep building houses... Every city and town in the GTA used to have that "small town" vibe, but it's not the 80s anymore. As a town we need to accommodate and get with the times. People act like they're demolishing Downtown to build these towers- no, they're developing on a plot of land that's been bare for decades. I just don't see the problem with that specifically, but maybe I'm too young. I get that Oakville has a unique vibe, but I don't understand how developing on a significant arterial road that people use to get to the GO station is going to harm much of anything other than traffic, possibly.

I think there are valid concerns with density in some Oakville development proposals, stemming from the Provinces handling of Midtown around the existing GO/VIA station on Trafalgar. And I think that spills over to other proposals, especially where towers are being added next to existing 2 or 3 story housing developments, and in this case, pretty new development's. Did the Town have a valid plan to add density in these Midtown areas and other areas as well? I think so, but the province has ridden over some of those plans, especially Midtown, in the usual Doug Ford style.

And I think there are concerns about traffic as well. Traffic funneling down Trafalgar to the GO station and beyond into the downtown areas, and the lack of a busway (or similar) on Trafalgar to speed up transit. And the lack of a busway on Dundas as well. And I think those are pretty valid concerns for now as well as the future.

Having said that, there is all the reason in the world to redevelop the midtown area, plus the existing GO parking lots overlooking Sixteen Mile Creek, and the lands to the east of Trafalgar and butting up to the site of the old GE plant. That would make sense, but you still have to address a viable local transit option, beyond the car, that can be useful in traffic. The bicycle question is an open question. Little or no use on the bike lanes on Speers, my observations is that the use of a bicycle in Oakville is mainly a recreational use at this time. (Although no points to the city for really encouraging cycling, although they did add pathways along the Trafalgar rebuild)

And as has been discussed in so many threads, there is really no viable excuse for NOT adding density alongside any arterial route or in x number of meters of one. The question is just how much density.

The town released a study in 2021 that is worth a look if you have not seen it previously. www.oakville.ca/getmedia/4fc97c8e-6e53-4aed-ae46-62757c71fa69/planning-growth-analysis-study.pdf

 

[matrix]

I think there are valid concerns with density in some Oakville development proposals, stemming from the Provinces handling of Midtown around the existing GO/VIA station on Trafalgar. And I think that spills over to other proposals, especially where towers are being added next to existing 2 or 3 story housing developments, and in this case, pretty new development's. Did the Town have a valid plan to add density in these Midtown areas and other areas as well? I think so, but the province has ridden over some of those plans, especially Midtown, in the usual Doug Ford style.

And I think there are concerns about traffic as well. Traffic funneling down Trafalgar to the GO station and beyond into the downtown areas, and the lack of a busway (or similar) on Trafalgar to speed up transit. And the lack of a busway on Dundas as well. And I think those are pretty valid concerns for now as well as the future.

Having said that, there is all the reason in the world to redevelop the midtown area, plus the existing GO parking lots overlooking Sixteen Mile Creek, and the lands to the east of Trafalgar and butting up to the site of the old GE plant. That would make sense, but you still have to address a viable local transit option, beyond the car, that can be useful in traffic. The bicycle question is an open question. Little or no use on the bike lanes on Speers, my observations is that the use of a bicycle in Oakville is mainly a recreational use at this time. (Although no points to the city for really encouraging cycling, although they did add pathways along the Trafalgar rebuild)

And as has been discussed in so many threads, there is really no viable excuse for NOT adding density alongside any arterial route or in x number of meters of one. The question is just how much density.

The town released a study in 2021 that is worth a look if you have not seen it previously. www.oakville.ca/getmedia/4fc97c8e-6e53-4aed-ae46-62757c71fa69/planning-growth-analysis-study.pdf

Your arguments are sound, and I agree with you. Transit is a big thing for me as well, along with biking. And I can totally see how traffic can be effected by these developments. Not only that but Doug Ford meddling with the Midtown plan is a big concern. Definitely, absolutely nothing wrong with being concerned about that, especially in this day and age.

I was more or less talking about the more entitled side of NIMBY-ism. The things that don't make any sense. Things like too many shadows, Oakville losing its "small town" vibe, property values... People complaining about that don't care about the transit implications, or the provincial government meddling. They'll mention the traffic though, but because they own a car- they don't care about cyclists. It's the selfishness of not wanting the town to grow. We have so many students at Sheridan, and let me tell you, I don't think any of them want to stay in Oakville when they're finished. I think that's pretty unfortunate but who can blame them? The town is always sending a hostile message to us younger people with things like transit, rents being high, and car dependence.

When you mention density, transit, biking and traffic out of concern for everyone, that's when it gets understandable. I don't consider that NIMBY-ism because it shows empathy- NIMBY stuff is, usually, just selfish!

It's funny that you bring up cycling because at the business parks around Bristol Circle have the clearest bike lanes ever- they painted them green and have chevrons in the intersections and everything. My question is, who the hell is riding their bike in such an unwalkable part of the town with so much traffic at the same time every day? In a damn business park no less? Other than normal white biking lanes that split up over and over, that's the best it gets for biking in Oakville. They do need to up their game on that.

Transit, I will hand it to them, they did a good thing upping the 1 frequency to every 15-20 minutes, and getting rid of the absolute redudnancies that were 24/5/5A/1 going up and down Trafalgar, and 5 only going down half of Dundas, but it's not enough either. Where I live in town, it's proven handy to me, but they need to pay attention to the other non-arterial routes.