Your choice of responses is very slanted toward your views.

There are many streets in the older area of town where beautiful trees line the streets. It takes time. Although new residents vote in favour of the trees – they aren’ t willing to pay more for their homes to support the trees. Have you explained that a mature tree costs close to $5000 to replant and maintain?

Zeeshan, you are always comparing our town to other, more mature cities, but you never propose a reasonable solution. I’m afraid your approach may get you elected to town council, but will it actually change things???

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Thanks for the comment John. Yes, I do admit that my choice of response was a bit biased. I did not notice it when I first typed it, but now that I look at it I can see how I could neutralize it some more.

As for comparing the town to mature cities but never proposing a solution, perhaps I am not doing a good enough job articulating my points (I tend to do that). I thought I was proposing solutions instead of just complaining.

As far as trees are concerned, my solution is to let businesses, non-profits and residents sponsor them. I also do not suggest planting mature trees that cost a lot of money. The town or builders do not plant mature trees. They plant young trees and let them grow. The town does not spend $5000 / tree.

When people buy new homes they actually pay for trees as part of their closing costs. They pay for enough trees that meet the town standard. Builders actually plant them before the town takes over. The town does have operational cost for these trees. I am suggesting coming up with a system that allows the town to pass the cost of these (additional) trees to interested parties.

As far as beautiful streets in the old part of town is concerned, there are many streets in new part of town that have well-planned trees. Trudeau south of Derry has nice lined trees that will grow very well. Derry between James Snow and just East of Ontario has trees to either side and in the median. But Steeles and parts of Main Street (East of Ontario) are just ugly. It’s not about new part of town vs. old part of town. Some parts are nicely down while others are not. Some builders go above standards while others do not. Some streets end up well lined with trees while others do not. This is true in newer and older parts.

As far as other ‘mature’ cities go, there are well-planned mature cities and other not-so-good ones. Take Washington, DC for example. There are plenty of questionable parts in Virginia and DC that were not planned very well and plenty of other nicer parts that were. If DC and Maryland have mature trees in the median than it is because they planned and planted them. Oakville has them in many streets and Mississauga does not (mostly). Brampton’s downtown just never took off while Streesville (in Mississauga) is a fairly vibrant area. There are plenty of mature cities around Milton that were planned better than others. Where will Milton end up?

Finally, as far as “never propos(ing) a reasonable solution”, my overall theme has been to come up with an urban design and urban plan that defines what Milton will “grow into”. Milton is turning into a mid-size city. We cannot stop or even tame the growth. But we can handle the growth in a way that gives it Milton a distinct character. Solutions I have proposed (typing them off the top of my head) are:

1. Define a core urban area where taller buildings go. Keep buildings at a consistent height for an aesthetically pleasing look. Plan offices, retail spaces, recreation and residential areas in walking distance to create a highly urban, highly-walkable neighbourhood.

2. Restrict building height to 3-5 stories in rest of Milton. I have proposed achieving high population density using smaller single-family-homes instead of taller condos and apartments in rest of Milton. Many neighbourhoods have very high population density because they use more attached homes (townhomes) and semi-detached and 36′ lots.

3. Make sure each neighbourhood has enough employment and retail spaces so residents do not have to drive much, clogging town roads.

4. Implement a heavy use of trees so our town does not turn into a concrete park. Make Milton look like an ‘escarpment community’ that it is.

5. Spend a large portion of development charges locally since that’s why they exist in the first place.

6. Keep the Council honest by make sure they cannot pass themselves salary increases (salaries for council-members should only change when the next council takes over, and then it should stay frozen for four years).

7. Milton should use social networking sites (web 2.0) more to communicate with its residents. Milton.ca does a fair job allowing interested residents to ‘pull’ information, but it does not push information down, nor does it attract more residents.

8. Items 1-5 will go into an ‘urban plan’ that defines what “Milton” is. Something that makes Milton stand out instead of letting it turn into a mini-Mississauga.

I consider all of the above to be ‘reasonable’ and ‘concrete’ solutions. Doing these will help turn Milton into a desirable mid-size city that people pay a premium to move into, rather than a place people move to because it’s cheap (which is what brought most [not all] newer Miltonians here).

If there is something specific I said that was vague and did not sound like a solution then please let me know and I will clarify it.

Again, thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it.

Zeeshan.

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