[All] KW Record for Nov. 20 2010: Excellent articles

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Three good articles in the Record today. Normally I would provide the link to them but oddly two of them were NOT published online so I'll give you the breakdown here. I highly recommend you purchase a copy of this one.
The cover story is a huge and excellent article titled Smart or Sprawl by Terry Pender. It speaks of how Waterloo Region has successfully created policy to curb growth via the country side line and how this concept has been taken by the province to help create the Greater Golden Horseshoe policy. The paper features a map of the delineated growth areas throughout the Region and it speaks of smart growth vs. sprawl.
Meanwhile Doug Stewart, the president of the Home Builders Association questions the allegations of "sprawl" and warns of potential OMB challenges to the latest ROPP once the province fully approves it.
In another article by Terry Pender titled Older Adults are Moving Away From Suburbs shows that empty nesters and baby boomers are choosing to move into apartments in the core as they age and the trend is significant to offset the need for new housing.
In a third article by Terry Pender called Any Growth Option Means Costs Will Rise states with our without the LRT, we'll have to spend huge amounts to deal with our growing population. According
 to Region of Waterloo planning estimates, without rapid transit, the 
region must build 500 kilometres of traffic lanes during the next 20 
years at a cost of $1.1 billion. Urban sprawl means more costs for water mains, hydro distribution,
 sewer lines, sidewalks and other expensive infrastructure. If we invest in good transit and smart growth, we offset needs by using existing infrastructure more efficiently. This article can be viewed online here:
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/816595
Have a good weekend everyone.
Lulu :0)
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