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As municipalities prepare to accept more and more of the world’s ever-expanding population, the decision to allow multiplex zoning on single-family lots without making any provisions for the inevitable requirement to provide parking facilities is madness. If the mayors would just take a count of the number of vehicles that their councillors and their families have, they would realize that they are creating residential districts where chaos rules supreme. If they feel that future generations will not have cars, then build the public transit super system before increasing the demand.
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Re: Metro Vancouver’s immigrants more likely to prefer walkable urban neighbourhoods: new report
The report done by the national polling firm Leger for the Metro Vancouver Regional Planning Committee is very timely. It is no surprise that a vast majority of immigrants prefer to live in the urban centres. This is natural as the urban areas have easy access to crucial services like health care, daycare, social services, places of worship, and members of their own communities, etc. In view of the multiple problems Canada and its urban centres are experiencing, our federal government needs to take a closer look at its immigration policy. This includes the number of new immigrants, temporary foreign workers, refugees and international students it plans to bring in.
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Certainly, in view of our aging population, Canada needs more immigrants. However, the targets set by Ottawa are way out. Before the government brings in more people, including international students, it must have the proper infrastructure in place. The current housing crisis is just one aspect of this growing problem. Furthermore, in order to reduce pressure of adding more people to the urban centre, the government needs to encourage people, especially potential new immigrants, to settle in smaller communities and areas outside the urban centres.
Balwant Sanghera, Richmond
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