I really liked Montreal’s urban neighbourhoods.  You’ll have to use some imagination to see how it can fit in Milton.  Assume here are the goals :-

1. We have to achieve high population density in core urban areas, much higher than what we have today

2. We’d like to keep residents close to activities (central library, arts and culture complex, leisure centre etc), shopping and employment areas so they can walk to places without having to drive.

3. We would like to do it without resorting to sky rises as other cities have done.

 Here’s what I saw in Montreal that can work in Milton.  You’ll have to use your imagination a bit :-

1. Imagine that the buildings are further back from the street lined beautifully with trees, walkways, bikeways and sitting benches

2. Imagine far more greenery than you see in the pictures

3. Assume buildings to be a little taller, say 4 stories

4. Assume buildings maintain some common character with consistent height to create a unique and aesthetically pleasing charm

5. Picture community spaces (parks etc) behind the buildings, ensuring that residents do not miss out on (shared) open spaces

 Here’s what I grabbed at the Fairmount Neighbourhood in Montreal :-

 This can achieve good population density while maintaining a very dynamic environment.  This should really appeal to three types of people:

1. Younger singles and young couples without children.  A lot of them don’t have much to do in Milton today

2. Older residents and empty nesters who would rather move in a walk-able neighbourhood and make do with high maintenance costs associated with large single family homes with two yards. 

3. Families who like to expose their children to arts, culture and other activities in an urban environment.

 This achieves certain things well.  Most of all, this can create a dynamic and active downtown that doesn’t exist in any GTA city (to the best of my knowledge, although some areas in Burlington and Oakville are somewhat similar).  This can create a unique “Milton” identity, setting Milton apart from the trend where every other city is a copy of another city with no unique identity. 

Check out this sketch of Bellevue, WA’s plan.  They went with much taller buildings, I’d like to limit height in Milton though.

Here I have included a picture of inside of a dense complex in Bellevue, WA. It shows some community space where neighbours can enjoy shared open spaces.

I have stated this several times before.  Milton is at a verge of transformation.  In 2001 Milton’s population was close to 30,000.  In less than a decade it’s close to 80,000.  Very soon it will cross the 100,000 mark.  There are plenty of poorly laid out cities in GTA.  Do we want Milton to be one of them?

The thing we have to realize is that Milton is an edge city.  There are more jobs in Mississauga and other cities closer to Toronto.  In such environment if Milton is just mini-Mississauga then people would rather live in Mississauga where their jobs are. In order to maintain property values in Milton the town will have to offer something unique that appeals to residents.  Milton should be a town people pay a premium to move to, not a city people buy houses in because they can’t afford to live anywhere else.