Quote:
Originally Posted by Antigonish
I think we've come to the point where zoning needs to be mandated by the province. Japan does not have an affordability problem to the level we do, and it's partly due to their zoning laws (federal). If there is a provincial body set up to speed up the process of rezoning that circumvents a lot of municipal red tape and NIMBYism then it can only help.
The other issue is transit. Halifax simply cannot grow much further without metro LRT. Are there anyone in-the-know about the LRT situation? Is it still at best at feasibility stage of deadlock? The federal government has their whole sights set on infrastructure spending yet I have not seen much about provincial and municipal lobbying for upcoming funds to get it under full swing.  |
I agree, we’ve got our Ministry of Municipal Affairs here in Ontario and it delivers some much needed guidance to even the smallest townships. Most developed countries have a federal department which Canada lacks, perhaps that’s what comes with being a federation like Russia or the U.S. as opposed to a unitary state like Japan, France and the U.K. However, Japan has a declining population so their urban growth and housing affordability aren’t comparable to us.
I don’t see LRT becoming a thing back home, despite how nice it would be to have. Halifax mused the possibility of a commuter rail but that’s a totally different breed. The two proposed ferry routes to Bedford make me think the city has given up on rail for now. Waterloo’s LRT has been open for a year, and the effects on urban development have been phenomenal, but we have it much easier with flat topography. If Halifax tried something similar it would probably turn out like an Ottawa styled nightmare of over budget tunnels and overpasses. We would be lucky to even get a tram on the peninsula, let alone a metro-wide LRT.