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WHrIBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 1989, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN adBETTOS OF TE NOUVEAU RICHIE As Whitby's population grows, each successive influx is drawn by, variously, the small-town character, the charm, the open spaces, or the proximity of the countryside. And they expect it to stay that way. They want the fields at the end of their block or across the street to always be there. When a developer starts building on that vacant land, they object to the growth. They don't consider that somebody a few blocks away was equally upset when their home was built on once vacant land. Buying a house is the major expense of most people's lives, and I suppose its natural - even healthy - that people are very conscious of their investment and want to protect it. There is, however, a sense that preserving property values has something to do with the purity of the neighbour- hood. They want their neighbours to pass the same means test (the ability to afford a house like theirs) that they did. Towr Council recently heard some extreme comments from nearby residents about plans to build some townhouses in a development N of Rossland. Homes which will cost $180,000 were being called to low income and linked to high crime rates. Unfortunately, these attitudes are all too typical of many new home owners. But they miss the mark entirely - the only thing that will lower their property values is the very predjudice that they so aptly display. People who try to shut out diversity are creating class ghettoes. The suburban stereotype of rows and rows of houses all looking basically the same, each with its required sapling in the middle of the front lawn and a swing set in the back yard is only real if that's the way we plan them. Subdivision design is a balance between long and short term interests. The short term interest of the developer is to build what makes him the most money - usually big houses on -big lots. After that comes the initial buyers - people who are investing all their life savings and future earnings. They want a nice house in a nice neighbourhood and protection of their investment. The vast majority are young families. But as a develop- ment matures, it becomes more diverse - some families stay until the children grow up, while others move away allowing new families to come in. Some initial buyers do well finan- cially while others continue to struggle with their mortgage. Some houses may be expanded or even radically altered. Over time - twenty to thirty years - a development matures. Each house acquires an individuality which is a reflection of its owner's tastes and lifestyle. Since houses are built to last a long time, it is this maturity phase that planners should concentrate on. Mature development is precisely why a lot of people came to Whitby. The old core area of Whitby is a mature development. Its charm is its diversity. There's clapboard, brick, lots of variety in colour, big trees, little trees, modern houses and old ones all coexisting harmoniously with each ONARO COUNTY COURT BOUSE WIT[ CANNONS other. And - food for thought for the nouveau riche in the (NOW CENTENNIAL BUILDING), C. 1935 new subdivisions - there are three and four hundred The cannons in front of the Court Fouse on Centre Street were moved te the new Court thousand dollar homes cheek by jowl with "handyman Fouse on Rossland Road 25 years ago, and will be sbipped back to Halifax to be part of a specials". There are even apartment buildings built among resteration of the Oltadel, on July 8,1989. Whithy Archives photo the single family dwellings. Even group homes for the disadvantaged. Mature areas simply don't have the samie class consciousness that new subdivisions bave. Diversity has 1 ER G a far greater value than uniformity. foiteWdedy uy4 99eiino h So why would someone fall in love with the charmingWH BYFE PES variety of the old core area and then want a wall of sterile *Wlb 5sokdb h rtlmre f1-erodKtle es sameness around their own homes. *Arpr namncplbssriewl oabfr oni nJl 3 The design of new subdivisions in Whitby has tended to TeWhtyRtrClbcnpoieaH dirastvnfrhetnbycobrfte favour short term interests. Developers, by and large, have Tw oni prvs been allowed te build rich ghettos. Even when they do build *PrigmtrrtsaebigIcessfo 0cnst 0cnsa or town houses or "affordable housing" they are allowed to build at the high end of the spectrum. To avoid ghetto mentality, every large development should contain a full mix of housing fromi high density te high class, 2 ER G and all - apartments, row housing, semis and detached - fo h hrdy uy2 94eiino h should be built at the sanme timne. Developers now build the WIB EKYNW high class houses first and then rely on the new residents to ao arnJ oa a eneetd oteeeuiebado h aos n apply pressure on the town so the developer can build evenReesAsoitnofOaro more such houses at greater profit to himself. If singles, *TeOtroDprmn fMncplAfisi oigt eciaesaldtlso townhouseshandannantmentfrane aifbuhetCaurtheossmeonimetreamargmatiwgrWhmtbydTowntandnTownship He ors tosin eoa Hurcn5 z1 years ago, an ilb hipe onc J to 2aia6t.epato the issue never arises. Apartments are a special concern - they are a form of*Paving will be done on al thetown's gravelstreets this year. affordable housing that Whitby has far too few of. Instead of planning them into subdivisions, we tend to create separate apartment ghettos as well. Contrary to the conventional 75 YEARS AGO wisdom, the apartment shortage in Ontario has nothing to do from the Thursday, July 2, 1914 edition of the with rent controls - it has to do with the fact that developers WHIrmY GAZETTE AD CHRONICLE make far more money building detached homes. a Conservative Charles Calder of Brookiin has been elected te the Ontario Legislature by Developers are making a lot of money in Whitby - it is the voters of South Ontario riding. perfectly reasonable for the municipality to require them toa The Toronto and Eastern Railway is laying rails througb Whitby along Mary Street. build the kind of community that will be as pleasant in thirty e The first Canadian Paciflc Railway passenger train stepped at Whitby on June 29, years as it is now ...or was thirty years ago. We need a inaugurating regular passenger service on the new une. community which will mature well, one where diversity is * The Whitby Baptist Church bas installed a new pipe organ. bu•lt into every major development at the outset.Pavingwillbedoneo