2011 Census Data Released - City of London - 366,151

[go_leafs_go02]

Well, this morning StatsCan released the new population data from the 2011 census.

The City of London has grown 3.7% and now has over 366,000 residents living within the city.

Surprisingly, St. Thomas grew even more, with 5.0% growth up to 37,905.

http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recen...5&PR=0&CMA=555

[haljackey]

The bad part is London's CMA is no longer part of Canada's 10 biggest metros.

In my opinion, London doesn't have a metro anyway... There's a city and farms around it. Counting St. Thomas in it is borderline, as it is quite a ways away (most metros have different cities within the same urban area) and there are no good/important transportation/transit connections with it.

I think being out of the top 10 will be have a negative effect on the city. London is normally overlooked by many in this country, including politicians. Scrapping it from the top 10 will make it even less important.

London's CMA is now 474,786, a change of +3.7% over 2006. Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge now has just over 2,000 people more than London at 477,160 (a change of +5.7%).

I would have liked to see London grow some more, but we all know with the recession and stuff this city has kind of stagnated for a few years.

St. Thomas grew more than London because there was a huge building boom there between 2006 and 2009. The city has sprawled out considerably, and many people still live there despite the grim economic situation in St. Thomas.

[Highinthesky]

St Thomas and Strathroy are included in London's CMA simply because so many people in both communities work within London. All you have to do is drive between St Thomas and London or Wellington Rd or Highbury Ave during the mornings or evenings to see that. Nearly a steady stream of traffic.

[Wharn]

I do agree that St. Thomas should be included in the London numbers. One of my profs (who is from St. Thomas) was saying that the place has practically become a London commuter town, since there's almost absolutely nothing left. So a lot of people take jobs in London and commute. Amazing to think that we're actually considered affluent.

Overall I'm a little disappointed with the numbers, to be honest. I was sorta hoping London's city proper would add about 17,000 people, but that appears to be the net gain for the region as a whole. Instead the city itself only added about 13,000 people, and growth was exactly one percentage point weaker than it was from 2001 to 2006.

Oh well, better luck in 2016. Although I don't want to say it, I suspect the next census will show considerably weaker growth or perhaps even statistical stagnation.

[haljackey]

2016 is still very far off.

I hope to see the London CMA reach half a million by then, and I think K/W/C certainly will.

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The problem I have with St. Thomas is the fact that it isn't well integrated into the London 'Region'. There's just a bunch of 2-lane country roads connecting the two cities and no transit link whatsoever.

I'd like to see a better connecting link. Perhaps twinning Highbury Avenue to a freeway and to get it to meet the St. Thomas Expressway would be one way of doing this.

Making Wonderland Road 4 lanes all the way between the two would also work. (Yes Wonderland will connect to St. Thomas once the 401 interchange goes in... it will actually connect to the St. Thomas Expressway as well).
-Of course one can also 4-lane Wellington or Highway 4 as well.

Getting a bus route between the two would also be awesome. Restoring the Port Stanley-London railroad to usable condition would establish a commuter rail line by just simply repairing existing infrastructure.

Simply put, I want to see a more regional connection with London's nearby towns if this place is to be considered a metropolitan area. Maybe we should establish a regional government?

[MolsonExport]

I can think of many roads in London that require upgrading before I want to see my tax dollars going to unnecessary road widening between London and some semi-distant, somewhat fading town of 36K. I mean, do we really want to encourage people to settle so much farther out? How exactly is that good for London?

[go_leafs_go02]

If you want to be able to pass to get to St. Thomas, take Highway 4. Four lanes almost to Talbotville.

Any widening between London and St. Thomas should be done by the province, not the City.

[north 42]

St Thomas has an expressway? I find that odd, considering it's size.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by north 42

St Thomas has an expressway? I find that odd, considering it's size.

Highway 3, the St. Thomas Expressway. Only phase 1 was built, but perhaps one day it will be extended.

All the existing overpasses are designed so the route can be twinned at any time.

At least St. Thomas had some foresight to build some sort of freeway network, unlike London. However, Highway 3 is part of the Provincial highway network and no roads in London are Ontario Highways anymore since the downloading.

I want to see this city better integrated with London to call this place a metro.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Highway 3, the St. Thomas Expressway. Only phase 1 was built, but perhaps one day it will be extended.

All the existing overpasses are designed so the route can be twinned at any time.

At least St. Thomas had some foresight to build some sort of freeway network, unlike London. However, Highway 3 is part of the Provincial highway network and no roads in London are Ontario Highways anymore since the downloading.

I want to see this city better integrated with London to call this place a metro.

I'm surprised that St Thomas isn't very integrated with London considering they are so close. Windsor and Leamington are very integrated with eachother, and further apart than London-St Thomas are, but they are not included in our CMA. All of Windsor-Essex is very integrated, but that may be becaues we are a peninsula, and only bordered on the east side by Chatham.