Places to sprawl

Toronto Star editorial January 19 2011
Evidence that certain bulldozer-friendly municipalities are far less dedicated to limiting urban sprawl than others in the GTA should prompt the province to take a serious look at how well its long-term goals are being addressed. While some cities, like Markham, are taking novel steps to avoid paving green fields, others, such as Brampton, remain stuck in old patterns of suburban development.

That’s a problem because the more a community sprawls out, the more its residents depend on cars — making public transit impractical and intensifying highway gridlock. No wonder Queen’s Park set out to limit such spread though its Places to Grow strategy, requiring at least 40 per cent of population growth in each region to be accommodated through intensification, not new outward expansion.
But a groundbreaking analysis by Phinjo Gombu of the Star has found that this 2006 strategy isn’t playing out as hoped, at least in some communities. Gombu found that cities like Brampton, Oshawa and Mississauga plan much less intensification than others in the Greater Toronto Area, relative to their size.
In the wake of that finding, Brampton Councillor Grant Gibson is pressing city staff for a full report on the situation. Gibson says his goal is to spur discussion: “A lot of education needs to happen. A good debate will help that.”
To a large degree, the numbers speak for themselves. They tell a story of lost opportunities for urban intensification. Mississauga, for example, plans to absorb barely more than 100,000 people by 2031, a 15-per-cent increase. In contrast, Toronto is adding 23 per cent and Markham, 55 per cent. Yet Mississauga, and sprawling cities in Peel Region, appear to be following the province’s rules.
It may well be that Places to Grow gives municipalities too many options, and too much flexibility, in choosing their way forward. That’s fine for responsible places like Markham, dedicated to limiting sprawl. But it could prose a crippling problem in communities where leaders lack such vision.
Ontario Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli, responsible for Places to Grow, has said he is aware this situation needs close watching. That much is obvious. Chiarelli should also consider tightening the rules and making it tougher for municipalities to give free rein to sprawl-friendly impulses.