Is this what they mean by “Leadership”?
Can you imagine how happy the local scaledowners would be if this article was written about Windsor instead of Guelph?
Get used to ‘new urban design’
Single-detached homes could be a thing of the past
April 26, 2008
…”Notwithstanding the neighbour comments, just because we have one- and two-storey, single-family homes mostly, that’s not to say that’s going to continue,” Councillor Maggie Laidlaw said in an interview. “We cannot keep putting in low with low with low. . . .
“If we use that rule throughout the city, then we will never be able to infill anywhere. We have to start to get used to new urban design.”
Provincial legislation, the burgeoning environmental movement and steadily rising gas prices have many planners talking about denser, more walkable communities.
Read the rest of this article here.
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I think the truth of it is that people, when faced with the choice of living in a semi-detached or single-family home, will (mostly) choose the single-family home.
After years of living in shared accomodations through either the university years, or in apartment complexes once I graduated, I know that when I eventually seek out a home for purchase, I will tend to gravitate towards the single-family units rather than the semi-detached options for the simple reason of perceived freedom and privacy.
That’s not to say I only consider the fully detached units, it is just that it’s my initial preference. I can easily be persuaded to consider something in a denser design, if the right options are available.
I’m not sure how we can go about rectifying this perception issue, and it’s a stumbling block that needs to be addressed.
I wonder how Wndsor/Esse County rates in the provincial growth plan for Guelph
What the provincial growth plan means
By 2015, 40 per cent of new development has to occur within the city instead of on new land.
By 2031, downtown has to reach an average of 150 people and jobs per hectare. Right now Guelph’s downtown is at 95.
Development on new lands has to reach 50 people and jobs per hectare.
The city and county have to have a combined population of 321,000. The province will give Guelph its own number, likely soon.
Now we need a mathematician to translate these goals to Windsor/Essex to see what our theoretical goals would be.
And how bad we would sit in relation to those goals.
Anyone?
We will need more info from Windsor/Essex (downtown demographics, sq. hectares of land in essex/Widnsoe, sq. hectares of land downtown..).
Everyone I have talked to who have disposable incomes would rather single family homes as well. However, if the rate of electricity (barring the $5.00/mnth reduction from Enwin), gas rates etc keep rising then people will have little choice in living in row-type houses or semi detached homes.
That doesn’t mean that we have to continue to build garages with houses attached to them (the easy build-it-quick-way our local developers seem to prefer). We can still have architecturally pleasing houses we just have to demand them.
Mark, sadly we know the tail is wagging the dog here in Windsor. But we can change that!
Speaking of electricity — just realize that bountiful electricity (barring the blackout of 2003 repeating) means massive growth. PEI rates are 12.5 cents per kwh vs. the 5.8 cents in Ontario. Just my two cents.
Remember that “selling” sustainable development is not just about the environment, or the economy or the social aspects — it’s all the above and people will support that ’cause’ for a variety of different reasons, not always the same reason.
This is where Urbanrats regular signature comes back as relevant, only pertaining to another suburban blight…
“Free parking is a fertility drug for cars”