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THE OBSERVER | Saturday, August 22, 2009
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Funding helps basic research on the road to innovation...........................»14 Ball players called into action at nationals
»16 VOLUME 14, ISSUE 33
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2009
www.ObserverXtra.com
» HOW THINgS DEVElOP
No such thing as a no-grow zone
Municipal planners adhere to the idea that if you’re not growing, you’re going backwards; change is going to come STEVE KANNON As with many communities, Woolwich is expecting the pace of growth to slow next year. The 2.5 per cent increase in assessment forecasted is the lowest in the past five years. The slowdown has everything to do with the economy, with similar effects in Waterloo Region and beyond. When the economy turns around, we can expect development to pick up, as none of the municipalities has policies in place to halt growth and sprawl. In keeping with the province’s Places to Grow strategy, municipal governments are implementing ways to control and channel growth, but populations will continue to climb. This despite increasingly common complaints that new arrivals and new units cost the munici-
pality more to service than is returned through property taxes and assorted fees – that’s one of the rationales for large hikes in the region’s development charges, for instance. Projected growth is also the impetus for infrastructure projects such as the proposed rapid transit plan for Waterloo Region, which includes a $710-million light rail link between Conestoga Mall in Waterloo and Fairview Park in Kitchener. If there are so many downsides to growth even in this area, where the problems haven’t reached the levels seen in larger areas such as the GTA – overcrowding, crime, poor integration, congestion, pollution and the like – then why not put an end to it? Why do we need to keep growing? There is no definitive answer, it seems, but many explanations. “Is growth always a good thing? That’s
the question,” said Mark Seasons, a professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. “The need for growth is an article of faith – a firmly established part of our culture.” But why that is quickly becomes a little murky. At its root, growth helps cover the demographic changes, he posited. An aging population means new entrants are needed to replace retirees in the workforce, and to pay for services such as pensions and health care costs. Growth also keeps communities healthy by providing space for new employers and new business opportunities. That pragmatic approach extends to the financing side of expanded government services and new infrastructure projects: you need more users to pay for them. It can become a spiral that feeds on itself. Growth, then, is only a good thing if
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it has a positive impact on quality of life factors for the people who live in communities, Seasons suggested. “Growth can be detrimental if it doesn’t achieve those goals.” Therein lies the rub, as existing residents may not see more traffic, higher taxes and the like as making their lives better. But can we simply say ‘enough’ and put an end to growth? “I’ve never known a community to be static – you can’t just close the door,” said Rob Horne, Waterloo Region’s commissioner of planning, housing and community services. It’s unrealistic to stop growth and, to his mind, undesirable. For Horne, the real goal is to control development so that the pros outweigh the cons. To that end, the region’s growth management plan pushes for infilling
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