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economistsuritribune vision 2026 thursday may 3 2001 no chaos looming officials insist get underneath the rhetoric- says york regions director oflongrangeplarining by patrick casey staff writer despite the opinion of a political science professor officials insist chaos is not lurking around the cor ner as york region prepares its growthplans for the next 25 years its veryeasy to make blanket statements but you have to urider- stand the system and know how we are growing stressed john waller york regions director of longrange planning- get underneath the rhetoric r and understand the elements we tare working with what wehave and cwhat we can improve origin york region we have a very strong growth managementlsystem in placethat has worked well for a ijmfyears pcanalso make the proper policy changes if we need to he said waller was reacting to stinging comments made last week by edmund fowler an associate pro fessor of political science at york universitys glendon college with more than 80000 new resi dents in the region the past two years and an expected population of nearly 13 million citizens by 2026 fowler charged york region is headed for chaos a state of turmoil as urban sprawl unearths a litany of problems ranging from health and sqcial issues combinedwith trans portation woes and an uncertain economy but waller and bryan tuckey the regiohsplahning commissioner j both contend urban sprawl ismore significant in the united states than in canadaj t j in the uspurban area densities average 1225 persons per square km comparedto 2625 canada during the 1970s york regionsfirst giant shopping malls upper canada mall in newmarket above and richmond hills hillcrest mall were biiilt markhams markville shopping centre followed in thejearly 1980s designed to meet the regions fastgrowing population vk 5094 in europe and 16700 in asia and as an example chicagos population grew 1 per cent between 1970 and 1990 while the developed land area increased by 24 per cent and between 1950 and 1990 the san franciscooakland population grew 80 per cent but urban lands soared by 205 per cent in york region net densities have increased from 15 unitsper hectare to nearly 30 units in the past 10 years growth is not like a water tap and you just cant turn it off you have to plan for a longer period waller said this is a free enterprise econo my and there will always be a cer tain amount of growth that can arrive if you turn off that tap youll just begin to drive prices up bythe end of last year the regions population had jumped to more than 745000 citizens a 6-pef- cent growth rate when a clip of 2 to 3 per cent is deemed acceptable the region is now updating its official plan first adoptedin 1994 asking residents for input as they prepare vision 2026 a key planning document for the next quarter cen tury 25 wjaii rswbgsug jbymikfrxdi staffwriter j 7 opened two years ago and thethird- 1 its the first weekof may j976 shopping centre in the montreal canadians are battling theinew york islaribersih wg p direats from stanley cup semifinal all the i fresidents-menandthebadnewsf- the merchants argue mkviues bears are- playing invtheafes i jfta mdntiaimotnductsfiipcfeesst haveenough residents to i r i rtirirstiukrtsttv suddort a hie mall dlus its old main s- stmhasthriebraharclubsofjunior u noo potoethsififartenal roads would nun her for- smalltown ratmos- mean moretraf- ktfic she told a town meeting i see upper the spectre of scarborough arising the whole area will be chopped upjfthese plans proceed probably very few ofyork region residents 207788 in 1976 guessed how much growth awaited memmtiienext25yearsv5- the population tripled to 772000 this yea five times as rnahyj people nqw wbrk here poplyatiqntimatjtireiplanners gavetumed put wrong va irj markhamitesfor instance were tolditiieirtbwn of 57866w6uld reaci136800 in 2tdr toife latest guessfor yearns 218000 pari of the pfoblerhforrner but patrick ohanlon president of the greater toronto home builders association said forward thinking is one tiling but stretching those plans deep down the road is a difficult task i find it almost impossible to plan for the next 25 years claimed ohanlon who also operates angus glen development ltd in markham twentyfive years ago no one would have known about the technological advances now in society its changing every year not every 25 years just five years ago youd say every home has to have a fax machine but now you dont even need one in the future the advances will be in technology not in housing architecture region richmond hill mayor al duffy said recently was too few people in the average home planners expected about 42 but the regionstypical household had declined from 365 persons in 1971 to 339 in 1976rand stayed roughly the same still york regions growth boom which started immediately and kicked into high gear in the 1980s also went against provincial policy on may 6 1970 the day before it announced the birth of the future region the province released design for development the torontocentred region plan- ttcr newjurbanism is a popular building approach today taking elements of yesteryear to create new communities in markham the cornell com munity is a vision of the future a 600hectare site eventually home to 30000 people featuring a town square with shops and services garages in the back with houses close to sidewalks creating a pedes trianfriendly community mixuse buildings include victorian homes apartments over shops and three-storey- town- homes- this is smart growth develop ment ohanlon says everyone in the icbmmunity isla fiveminute walkaway from open areas walking parksjievenfloyearsgo as theyare nqwvrrv v v builders arid developers are striyihg tq create a differenceand everyyearwec6meup7withnew innovations downthe roadcom munities will have swimming pools and homeowner associations as baby boomers ask for more of a lifestyle wkerethey live were just riot 100 per cent there yet 7 t o f v 7 however- problemsjalways arise with- growthvpvintsv6utpeter homenuck who founded planriihg consultant tfirm fj institutelpf environmental researchiiid97lv but the problems shpuldnotbe msurmountable-headdsv- y buildings go upsb quicklytthat there is often little attention paid jo quality detail i can drive by an ppen field arid twqeels later houses are up witfi homenuckf a schofebergireident see use page 10- zw grow ithetgr soughttq keep growth near the lake ontario shoreline where it would be easier to service ivnthsmersahdmassrapsitjjid away from york v v v by v 1976 the plan was already failing the province as if trymg tq contradict ritself was to be built along ydhge street yorks population was expected to reach approximately 350000 by the ehdof this ceriturylahdthe regional municipality was expected k see former page 10