Be Aware Costs of Sprawl! Quick growth ultimately makes cities poorer. (Charles Marohn, Strong Towns) "The after-effects of sprawl are well-known and a huge challenge...For municipalities, the costs to run and maintain sewer and water services, roads and transit increase dramatically with sprawl...The demand for more pavement is relentless. New wider roads, more drive-throughs! Traffic and speeding...A majority of Durham councillors have let us down and need to be replaced by people focused on the public interest and not vested private interests." (Steve Parish former longtime Mayor of Ajax)
Also as an Oshawa friend and community advocate very aptly said to me recently "without a clear and broad vision of what is important for Oshawa planning, well, consider the expression 'if you don't know where you are going any direction will do."
Also as an Oshawa friend and community advocate very aptly said to me recently "without a clear and broad vision of what is important for Oshawa planning, well, consider the expression 'if you don't know where you are going any direction will do."
Thank you to those who have taken the time to watch the drone video.
I commissioned the video for two reasons. First, to make Oshawans more aware of the degree and downside of urban sprawl. Second, because more public engagement is needed to shape our city in the public interest, not the developers’ interest. That message needs to get out, so please send the drone video link to friends and acquaintances.
Those of you who have tuned in to City meetings, read the minutes and local news articles, watched webcasts, or read my blog and social media posts know that I have been active on the urban sprawl issue for over a decade — long before having the great privilege to serve Ward 1 as its City Councillor, starting in 2018.
The public record will show that at every opportunity I have spoken up and worked to encourage council members, developers, builders, and the public to give stronger commitment to slowing urban sprawl and improving accessibility in new construction.
To those who are just getting to know me or may have been misinformed about my efforts, please be aware how I, along with many Ward 1 residents, were successful opposing Minto and Sorbara attempting to relocate the Kedron Part II Community park to the agricultural area north of the Oshawa urban boundary on Harmony Rd N. The issue was in the local newspaper more than once.
Here is a post that explains where I stand. Oshawa Senior Officials bow to Developers? Consider https://www.oshawarosemary.com/.../oshawa-senior...
Below is a copy of my motion in support of larger parks and against stacked back-to-back townhouse blocks, which I submitted in 2020. It was referred to staff and, to my dismay, trounced in June 2021. Nevertheless, I continue to press for more balanced and sustainable growth and greater accessibility in new development construction. This latter issue recently became acutely personal when my mother sustained a fall that has made me more determined than ever to see the Ontario Building Code changed to require all new residential units include wider bathroom doors.
In closing, I hope, with your help, more Oshawans will see the drone video, on which Raymond Bond and I collaborated Thanksgiving weekend. Aside: Ray wanted me to add a ‘re-elect’ Rosemary McConkey frame, but I said no because this issue is bigger and more transcending than vote-getting.
I commissioned the video for two reasons. First, to make Oshawans more aware of the degree and downside of urban sprawl. Second, because more public engagement is needed to shape our city in the public interest, not the developers’ interest. That message needs to get out, so please send the drone video link to friends and acquaintances.
Those of you who have tuned in to City meetings, read the minutes and local news articles, watched webcasts, or read my blog and social media posts know that I have been active on the urban sprawl issue for over a decade — long before having the great privilege to serve Ward 1 as its City Councillor, starting in 2018.
The public record will show that at every opportunity I have spoken up and worked to encourage council members, developers, builders, and the public to give stronger commitment to slowing urban sprawl and improving accessibility in new construction.
To those who are just getting to know me or may have been misinformed about my efforts, please be aware how I, along with many Ward 1 residents, were successful opposing Minto and Sorbara attempting to relocate the Kedron Part II Community park to the agricultural area north of the Oshawa urban boundary on Harmony Rd N. The issue was in the local newspaper more than once.
Here is a post that explains where I stand. Oshawa Senior Officials bow to Developers? Consider https://www.oshawarosemary.com/.../oshawa-senior...
Below is a copy of my motion in support of larger parks and against stacked back-to-back townhouse blocks, which I submitted in 2020. It was referred to staff and, to my dismay, trounced in June 2021. Nevertheless, I continue to press for more balanced and sustainable growth and greater accessibility in new development construction. This latter issue recently became acutely personal when my mother sustained a fall that has made me more determined than ever to see the Ontario Building Code changed to require all new residential units include wider bathroom doors.
In closing, I hope, with your help, more Oshawans will see the drone video, on which Raymond Bond and I collaborated Thanksgiving weekend. Aside: Ray wanted me to add a ‘re-elect’ Rosemary McConkey frame, but I said no because this issue is bigger and more transcending than vote-getting.
