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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 19, 2008 - 7 Is Oakville a town or city? Pro City I believe Oakville should be called a city. Oakville has the following to be designated a city: population size; people with a diversity of national origins; industries and businesses; cultural and educational organizations and institutions; tourism areas; shopping areas; post-secondary institutions; library system; choices of kinds of housing; a great hospital and other medical facilities; (and a shortage of doctors, surely a "city" concern). There may also be financial incentives, which would benefit the people of Oakville by calling Oakville a city. Let's bring Oakville and its municipal designation into the 21st century, and call Oakville a city at last. What a good reason for a municipal celebration this year! MARGARET PERSCHY Editor's note: In The Oakville Beaver, March 12 edition, we ran a letter from Steve Edgar suggesting it was time the Town of Oakville became the City of Oakville. We asked for your thoughts on this subject and you responded. If you still want to comment, send your opinion to editor@oakvillebeaver.com Pro Town No matter what the rules say I will always call Oakville a town, even though it may be a big one. PETER MCCONNELL A 34 YEARS PROUD 'TOWNIE' Don't Pay Retail! Factory Outlet Sale We Install Columns Wainscoting Pro Town It becomes a matter of semantics and unless there are real benefits from becoming a city, let's leave it as the Town of Oakville. Living here reflects a lifestyle choice because Oakville has an ambiance, charm and sense of community that are more in line with that of a town versus the indifference of a city. Before we moved to Ontario, we lived in the hamlet of Sherwood Park, Alberta, which offered a tremendous quality of life and possessed a strong community pride. According to Wikipedia, "a hamlet (Germanic for an enclosed piece of land or pasture) is usually a rural community, that is a small settlement, it is too small to be considered a village. There are some exceptions, such as Sherwood Park, Alberta, which has a population of more than 50,000 -- well above that needed for city status--but which has retained hamlet status." Oakville has that strong sense of community so if the designation "town" suits us, then we should retain it. E. BOUNDS Pro City After reading the pros and cons of town or city, it seems as if the residents who have been here for many years prefer to keep it as a town. The newer residents would rather call it a city. We've been here since 1999. Before we moved here, we did much research about the place and it seemed like it would be this quaint little place. When we arrived here, we drove around the older parts and indeed found it a different old English town, as my husband is British, he loved the atmosphere. However, we couldn't find a house in that area and went into Glen Abbey, where we now live. With all the new development, which has occurred in just the past few years, and with a major highway like the QEW running right through the middle of Oakville, it hardly feels like a town any longer. I say, it should now be a city, as it has grown up, has the population and sounds more sophisticated. For me, it does not have a town feeling to it. Burlington is a city, and so is Oakville. It is all part of the GTA and the dynamics have changed entirely. ROSEMARIE GREEN Over 70 Smooth or Patterned Profiles Think Green. Breathe Easy. HUGE CENTRAL AIR & FURNACE $ Up to 4700 MANUFACTURERS CASH BACK SALE Visit our website or showrooms for prices, design ideas. In home design consultation available. 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Pro Town Oakville may well be a city, but we prefer the Town of Oakville. As far as I'm concerned, town sounds more intimate, smaller, as in a place where you still know each other (though we may not actually). City sounds more like a big place where you can get lost and no one might care. So it might all have to do with emotions. Do we need to boast about being a city as a status symbol? Let's keep it a town. A. JOHANSEN and custom earmolds for pilots Burnt Rustic Oak "MASONRY & FIREPLACE DESIGN SPECIALISTS" w w w. c o b b l e s t o n e m b e r s . c a 406 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE ACROSS FROM RONA LANSING 905-337-2066 The Oakville Hearing Centre Inc. 1235 Trafalgar Road, Suite 207 Oakville, ON L6H 3P1 T: 905.849.5894 F: 905.847.2250 www.oakvillehearing.com