[flar]

This road will change Upper Stoney Cr. East Hamilton and the East Mountain. There will be tons of development, ablbeit not the kind most of us on this board like. The thing to do now is push for more enlightened development at the southern terminus of RHVP.

It will make some residential areas of East Hamilton more attractive. Ask the average person and they like living close to highway access. The only reason Lowes and the Centre Mall redevelopment are happening is really because of the highway. These places also locate near highway access because that's how they can increase their potential customer base.

This highway makes it easier to commute to Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga (TO is still too far). Many Hamiltonians work in these places, because industries and offices located along the QEW and 403, instead of Hamilton, because they like to be located along highways. Many companies moved from Hamilton to these locations.

Now Hamilton has more land with highway access and I see no reason why industries will not locate within Hamilton now. Manufacturing especially relies on just in time delivery, which means trucks, and shipping costs are reduced when the trucks can easily access the industries along highways.

This is the reality, it's like this everywhere. While I don't believe this is an excuse to pave over a big valley, that damage is now done. It is essential for the long term health of Hamilton that we attract more employment. The city will never realize its potential with so much poverty and underemployment. With anything, there is a hierarchy of needs, and the basic need of many Hamiltonians is a decent job.

The net effect of the highway is likely to be positive: fewer trucks on city streets, more jobs, increasing real estate values in east Hamilton (which increases the equity and spending power of those residents), increasing population, higher tax base for the city, more construction, more disposable income, etc. All these things make Hamilton's economic picture look better, and this is all that is important to banks and investors, who may one day even loan money to people for downtown projects.