[getsmart-l] Mr. Luxemberger praised efforts in York,

[Gloria Boxen]

Yes, York Region has come a long ways.  We have much denser housing and the expensive Viva transit, but sometimes, one thinks they don't quite get it.  Residents are fighting against several street widening (e.g.Sixteenth Ave., Bayview Ave.).   Walkable communities are not top of mind for Regional Chair and Council.

 http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Regional%20News/article/67800
 http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Markham/article/68683

Gloria Boxen


John O'Gorman <jcogorman at sympatico.ca> wrote:        
 http://www.yrng.com/News/Regional%20News/article/68638
  
Regional  News:  Towns  need to be sustainable: group  

 Feb 06, 2008 06:42 PM  By: David  Fleischer Thornhill  Liberal
  Sustainability is becoming a catch-all word used by some without knowing what  it means.

Leslie Luxemberger and his colleagues at the Sustainable Urban  Development Association ( http://www.suda.ca/ )are hoping to change that  and show York Region how to make those principles part of our everyday  lives.

“York Region is already a leader in sustainability compared to  most other municipalities,” Mr. Luxemberger said.

Registered as a  charitable corporation in 2005, Sustainable’s goal is to increase awareness of  sustainability issues in growing cities.

Mr. Luxemberger praised efforts  in York, including recent moves in Vaughan and East Gwillimbury to ensure new  homes are built to more stringent Energy Star standards.

A subdivision of  34 of the greenest homes in the country is being built in  Newmarket.

Downtown Markham, now under construction at Warden and Hwy. 7,  is slated to be one of the most environmentally-friendly developments in the  country.

Also worthy of mention is the region’s natural heritage system  and programs such as the Smart Commute carpooling program.

York Region  has been ahead of the game in building more compact urban developments, said  John Waller, director of long range and strategic planning.

The region  released a best practices report outlining 42 initiatives by municipalities  across the country. It is now in a position to cherry-pick the “best of the  best” ideas, Mr. Waller said.

Nonetheless, the region continues to offset  its successes by promoting typical suburban low-density building, Mr.  Luxemberger warned.

For all the talk of transit-oriented,  pedestrian-friendly green developments, Mr. Luxemberger said we need to be  watchful.

People are aware of global warming and a possible energy  crisis, but we are making few day-to-day changes, he said.

The public  still has much to learn about land use and the need to advance beyond the  single-family homes we have become accustomed to, he said.

Driving  changes is Places to Grow, provincial legislation mandating 40 per cent of all  new development take place in built-up areas, rather than sprawling into rural  areas.

Instead of a 40/60 split, Sustainable calls for York Region to aim  for 65/35.

“We’re convinced. . . up to 50 per cent of (undeveloped) land  can be saved,” he said.

Sustainable’s answer is a theoretical development  called Newburg. The mixed-use neighbourhood could house 10,000 people and jobs  per square kilometre, the association stated.

More than half the  population would be housed in low-rise, multi-unit dwellings.

 By the numbers

• 72%: Percentage of our  housing stock that is single detached homes;
• 57%: Projected percentage of  single detached homes by 2031;
• 119: Area, in  square kilometres, of  rural regional lands slated to be lost to low density development;
•  4,239:    Residents per sq. km in Toronto;
•  2,814:    Residents per sq. km  in York Region projected for  2031;
  
_______________________________________________
getsmart-l mailing list
getsmart-l at list.web.net
http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/getsmart-l

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/archives/getsmart-l/attachments/20080211/8fad63aa/attachment.htm