Land sale brings Mississauga closer to a waterfront that avoids Toronto’s mistakes – Dec. 22, 2016 Globe and Mail
A Dec. 22, 2016 Globe and Mail article is entitled: “Land sale brings Mississauga closer to a waterfront that avoids Toronto’s mistakes.”
Click here for previous posts about Inspiration Lakeview >
Click here for previous posts about Mississauga >
A previous post is entitled:
Lakeview in Mississauga looks like a good place to move to, if you’re looking
A subsequent post is entitled:
Mississauga’s approach to civic engagement stands in stark contrast to the track record for Toronto
Updates
A Jan. 1, 2017 Toronto Star article is entitled: “19 years ago, Toronto’s six boroughs amalgamated: 19 years ago today, Toronto’s surrounding communities amalgamated in one of the most controversial moves in Toronto’s municipal government history.”
A Jan. 3, 2017 Toronto Star article is entitled: In 2017, Mississauga will have to decide how it grows up: Mississauga’s recent booming growth will continue, but will growth be sustainable and will it be what residents want?”
A March 29, 2017 City of Mississauga news release is entitled: “City of Mississauga Wins Municipality of the Year Award.”
A May 20, 2017 CBC article entitled: “Google plans to ‘fix’ Toronto by building smart city: Underdeveloped waterfront ideal location to start building smart city/”
I’ve shared the following comment at the Long Branch Development Facebook Page, and am pleased to share it at the Preserved Stories website, as well:
I draw inspiration from the fact that, because I live close to the Mississauga-Toronto border, I have the opportunity to compare how development patterns are evolving in the two communities (Mississauga and Toronto).
As a blogger, I have been writing about development patterns in both cities for several years, reporting on urban planning and public consultation events in each of them. The positive trends that I see in Mississauga make the city a source of inspiration for places around the world, with the exception perhaps of Toronto, which tends to be blinded by arrogance about where to look for inspiration.
I sometimes ponder what historical trends, dating back many years, have given rise to such divergent paths, of the two cities.
To my previous comment (above) I can add that the divergence, that I describe, is particularly evident with regard to public consultations and the concept of civic engagement. Both communities do a great job, with regard to the rhetoric and communications connected with civic engagement. The difference arises, however, when we look at the match between the rhetoric and the reality.
In Mississauga, from what I have closely observed, as a blogger focusing on accuracy and balance in my reporting, the match between the rhetoric and the reality tends to be very close, with the exception, perhaps, of its Police Services. My sense is that Police Services in Toronto and Mississauga are very similar, and demonstrate the same problems, in particular with regard to the distinction between rhetoric and reality, with regard to providing fair and equitable service to all members of the community.
In Toronto, with regard to the public consultation process, the contrast between rhetoric and reality is stark; in practice, the views of residents tend to be disregarded and the residents who speak out, for example at Committee of Adjustment meetings, are routinely denigrated and insulted. I look forward to seeing whether any of the problems, that are evident as long-term trends in Toronto, can be addressed at the Provincial level. A recent post outlining the trends in this area is entitled:
Culture of COA and OMB decision-making has changed dramatically in 25 years: MPP Peter Milczyn
A previous post regarding Police Services is entitled:
Peel Regional Police Service has problems similar to what is evident at Toronto Police Service
I can add the following comment, from a previous post regarding differences between Mississauga and Toronto:
The City of Mississauga has a clearly defined Strategic Plan that is – amazing as this may sound – actually developed with broad input from Mississauga residents, and from what I can see (as a blogger, I make a point of observing such things as closely as I can), the Strategic Plan is actually in the process of being implemented.
As well, the governance and communications structures at the City of Mississauga appear to me to be of the highest quality. In fact, it has been the quality of the communications related to the Lakeview Waterfront Connection Project, the Small Arms re-purposing project, and similar Lakeview projects that originally alerted me to the great projects, with a great deal of citizen input, going on right now at the City of Mississauga.
In response to “Land Sale brings Mississauga…avoids Toronto’s mistakes” – the Lakeshore Planning Council Corp. has been trying to obtain a similar mid-rise plan at the OMB for the Mimico Waterfront Secondary Plan, while the Councillor, City Planning and City Legal are fighting tooth-and-nail for their high-rises. The City Plan for high-rises for the Mimico Waterfront is over-intensification based on “profits” for developers, eliminating green space and increasing traffic congestion. The desires of community residents, for reasonable intensification to revitalize the main street and reserve the waterfront greenspace as parkland for the future use of the Toronto population (expected to double within 50 years), has been ignored since the Councillor formed his “Mimico Working Group” in 2012 that excluded residents. Resident taxpayers pay the salaries and all expenses for Councillors and City Staff and everything else that runs this City, but we don’t have any say about plans for our neighbourhoods. This runs counter to our supposed democracy, where Councillors and Staff are “public servants” and their role is to represent our interests. What we have instead is despotic incompetence. This will continue for as long as the public allows it. If we want good planning for our neighbourhoods, we are going to have to seriously fight for it. This means changing our governmental processes to protect the democratic rights of resident taxpayers to have a voice and be heard at City Hall and to hold City Staff and Councillors accountable. Simply changing Councillors won’t fix the problem, since it is the 100+ year-old “out-of-date” process that is failing us all.
Good to read your comment, Peggy. Some years ago, I attended a meeting of a ratepayers’ group in Mississauga. It was a really well-attended meeting. A local councillor was providing an update on local planning issues in Mississauga. One comment in particular stayed in mind, for me. The Mississauga councillor spoke of a counterpart, another councillor next door in Etobicoke. By way of paraphrase, he said something along these lines: “Nice guy, but oh my gosh, he sure loves those tall condos.”