I said to my wife on the way to the polling station last night, “I must be getting old. I’ve voting in a municipal election”. But it was not age. It was issue that brought me out.
The issue, of course, the LRT.
Seems like a lot of residents of Waterloo felt the same way. We had a higher voter turnout in Waterloo than both Kitchener and Cambridge. Dave Jaworsky, a tireless campaigner and a really nice guy (even his victory speech seemed so warm and natural), will be a good mayor. And, a lot of people wanted to vote against Dave Macdonald, the anti-LRT crusader. Many of us, too, wanted to vote against Jay Aissa, who really came on strong with his flaming anti-LRT rhetoric. (I wonder how much he spent?)
If the election was a referendum on the LRT, we have spoken. And none too soon. Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge too – Waterloo Region is quickly transforming itself from a collection of towns and small cities to an urban centre. The LRT is the backbone of the future of the region.
Everybody wants to live downtown
Emerging Trends in Real Estate, an annual PwC report says that urbanization is the new normal. A common trend among all industry players will be the search for opportunities in and around the city cores. With more people moving into city centres for work and lifestyle purposes, companies and retailers are following them and driving new office and commercial developments.
In the report:
- Single-family homes – Industry experts worry about the impact of rising interest rates on the market for single family homes. With a lack of supply of building lots, and many baby boomers opting to stay in their homes rather than sell them, the market for detached single family homes will continue to tighten.
- Condo craze – The continuing urbanization trend and the high cost of single-family homes have fuelled the condo boom in Toronto and other cities like Calgary’s west end. However, the next phase involves young urban condo dwellers starting families and seeking affordable housing. Purpose-built multi-residential rental developments are starting to address this market need.
The trend to move to the core and good transit go hand in hand
The market shift toward urban cores and transit supportive communities is a unique opportunity to maximize the value of new public infrastructure investment in major cities across the country.
Homeowners are choosing the convenience of city life over larger homes in the suburbs. The move to the city is due to awareness of environmental costs associated with urban sprawl, as well as the time and money of lengthy commutes.
According to Statistics Canada, the population of urban centres grew 7. 1% between 2006 and 2011.
Tying these two ideas together
The voters of Waterloo and of Waterloo Region are pretty smart bunch. The anti-LRT candidates who were overwhelmingly defeated were too late to reverse the progress. They were bucking the trend and they were yesterday’s candidates hoping to appeal to yesterday’s residents – those who say, “my taxes are going to go up”, and “I’m never going to ride it”.
We are leaving them behind now. The train has finally left the station, and it looks like all the smart people are on board.
Next stop, –> the future.
