Let’s think before we build

With each new development I can’t help but see that each new subdivision, the final result is a carbon copy of the last. Same houses, same plazas, same stores, same roads etc. The design of these new communities have no character. Because we live at the foot of such a beautiful landscape (the escapement) we could do a better job planning unique and thoughtfully planned neighborhoods. Our streetscapes are very cold and they are not maintained. Look at other cities such as Guelph, they do a great job of preserving the natural habitat of surrounding areas within their neighborhoods while incorporating beautiful plantings and hardscapes to make each subdivision unique. Let’s stop designing the same streets, plazas and parks and create some unique spaces that will attract businesses an offer some aesthetically pleasing areas to shop and dine.

As a lifelong Milton resident, My other takeaways would be to build retail within the town instead of having everyone have to commute to the edges of town such as Steele’s Walmart plaza to access shopping

Finally, let’s have a more insight on the types of people that are purchasing homes in this town. Are they small families with two adults working/commuting. If so, homes should have adequate parking as it seems as though The builders are not providing enough information to potential homebuyers, and homebuyers are not doing enough research before purchasing homes. It does not make sense for people to realize that they cannot park their vehicles on the road (or front lawns) if they do not have space in the driveway. Let’s build with some forethought and consideration for what these neighborhoods will look like moving forward.

Growing Together

As Milton continues to grow I want to make sure that plans are made so that:- greenspace is prote...

Transit systems

, I was in the public transit industry for 15 years I hate to say this as the community grows hav...

2 comments

Recently active Posted first

neinarson over 3 years ago

Jemharris1975, thank you for expressing the sentiments I have held and tried to express since moving to Milton 11 years ago. The Town of Milton cares more about fees from developers than they do about the quality of life for its citizens and taxpayers. What started out as a quaint town with a beautiful opportunity to create unique, aesthetically pleasing neighbourhoods has turned into a maze of cookie-cutter housing developments, gas stations/stores, and roads. And roundabouts - OMG - how many roundabouts does a town this size need?

I see Milton turning into a bedroom community because there is no retail within the town to keep buyers here. Except for grocery stores. The Milton Shopping Mall is an oxymoron. There is nowhere to shop within that Mall. With a few exceptions in the downtown area, the roads to retail lead out of Milton - to Trafalgar and the Outlet Mall, to Mississauga, to Oakville, to Toronto, to Burlington, to Hamilton. We need Costco, a Marshall's, a Value Village for used clothing, a bigger Winners with a Home Sense attached, some footwear stores. We've got plenty of hardware/ building stores. We need something to bring people into Milton, to live, work, and shop here. Not only do people leave to shop they leave to go to work elsewhere.

The issue of parking within the cookie-cutter housing developments is ridiculous. Parking for 2 cars per house - 1 in the driveway & one in the garage in townhome developments where garages are too small to fit a car larger than a VW Bug or a Mini - ours takes up the whole garage. No regular-size sedan or van would fit. Also, people in townhomes need the garages for storage space.

Driveways are barely long enough to hold large sedans - they hang out either onto the sidewalk or the street. Row upon row of houses with cars parked sideways at the end of the driveway to avoid parking on the street. No matter how nice the houses are, the picture of every development is that there are cars everywhere. Many young people are forced to live at home with their parents and units might have 3 or even 4 cars. The streets are always lined with parked cars. If developers are not going to make adequate parking spaces per unit, they should offer a parking lot area for visitors and owners' cars.

Not to mention the traffic patterns, living in these developments. They keep tearing out beautiful, mature trees to completely flatten the landscape and add another development. BTW, City Council should make developers apply to take out mature trees and make them work around nature instead of plowing through it.

As more developments are added into existing neighbourhoods, more and more cars are not only parking on the streets, they are using roadways that become clogged with traffic at some times of the day and speedways at other times.

On the street where we live, 3-way Stop signs have had to be added - one at one end of the street and the other half-way down the street, to calm the traffic. It might work beautifully on the drawing board and work exactly as it was planned to work, but planners and city workers don't have to live with the constant traffic on what we thought would be a nice, quiet street. I am constantly frustrated at the lack of foresight on the part of City Planners and City Council. The Developers are always right and quality of life for those living in these areas is consistently ignored.

I'm so disappointed in Milton. When we moved here 11 years ago, we knew the Town was experiencing a lot of growth. We expected it to be managed in consideration of the residents and taxpayers' quality of life. There was so much about our then-new home and neighbourhood that we were not told by the builder. We have lived through 10 years of constant building around us. I don't think anything has changed, judging by current new developments.

Do you agree? 1 0

Share Jemharris1975, thank you for expressing the sentiments I have held and tried to express since moving to Milton 11 years ago. The Town of Milton cares more about fees from developers than they do about the quality of life for its citizens and taxpayers. What started out as a quaint town with a beautiful opportunity to create unique, aesthetically pleasing neighbourhoods has turned into a maze of cookie-cutter housing developments, gas stations/stores, and roads. And roundabouts - OMG - how many roundabouts does a town this size need? I see Milton turning into a bedroom community because there is no retail within the town to keep buyers here. Except for grocery stores. The Milton Shopping Mall is an oxymoron. There is nowhere to shop within that Mall. With a few exceptions in the downtown area, the roads to retail lead out of Milton - to Trafalgar and the Outlet Mall, to Mississauga, to Oakville, to Toronto, to Burlington, to Hamilton. We need Costco, a Marshall's, a Value Village for used clothing, a bigger Winners with a Home Sense attached, some footwear stores. We've got plenty of hardware/ building stores. We need something to bring people into Milton, to live, work, and shop here. Not only do people leave to shop they leave to go to work elsewhere.The issue of parking within the cookie-cutter housing developments is ridiculous. Parking for 2 cars per house - 1 in the driveway & one in the garage in townhome developments where garages are too small to fit a car larger than a VW Bug or a Mini - ours takes up the whole garage. No regular-size sedan or van would fit. Also, people in townhomes need the garages for storage space. Driveways are barely long enough to hold large sedans - they hang out either onto the sidewalk or the street. Row upon row of houses with cars parked sideways at the end of the driveway to avoid parking on the street. No matter how nice the houses are, the picture of every development is that there are cars everywhere. Many young people are forced to live at home with their parents and units might have 3 or even 4 cars. The streets are always lined with parked cars. If developers are not going to make adequate parking spaces per unit, they should offer a parking lot area for visitors and owners' cars.Not to mention the traffic patterns, living in these developments. They keep tearing out beautiful, mature trees to completely flatten the landscape and add another development. BTW, City Council should make developers apply to take out mature trees and make them work around nature instead of plowing through it. As more developments are added into existing neighbourhoods, more and more cars are not only parking on the streets, they are using roadways that become clogged with traffic at some times of the day and speedways at other times.On the street where we live, 3-way Stop signs have had to be added - one at one end of the street and the other half-way down the street, to calm the traffic. It might work beautifully on the drawing board and work exactly as it was planned to work, but planners and city workers don't have to live with the constant traffic on what we thought would be a nice, quiet street. I am constantly frustrated at the lack of foresight on the part of City Planners and City Council. The Developers are always right and quality of life for those living in these areas is consistently ignored. I'm so disappointed in Milton. When we moved here 11 years ago, we knew the Town was experiencing a lot of growth. We expected it to be managed in consideration of the residents and taxpayers' quality of life. There was so much about our then-new home and neighbourhood that we were not told by the builder. We have lived through 10 years of constant building around us. I don't think anything has changed, judging by current new developments. on Facebook Share Jemharris1975, thank you for expressing the sentiments I have held and tried to express since moving to Milton 11 years ago. The Town of Milton cares more about fees from developers than they do about the quality of life for its citizens and taxpayers. What started out as a quaint town with a beautiful opportunity to create unique, aesthetically pleasing neighbourhoods has turned into a maze of cookie-cutter housing developments, gas stations/stores, and roads. And roundabouts - OMG - how many roundabouts does a town this size need? I see Milton turning into a bedroom community because there is no retail within the town to keep buyers here. Except for grocery stores. The Milton Shopping Mall is an oxymoron. There is nowhere to shop within that Mall. With a few exceptions in the downtown area, the roads to retail lead out of Milton - to Trafalgar and the Outlet Mall, to Mississauga, to Oakville, to Toronto, to Burlington, to Hamilton. We need Costco, a Marshall's, a Value Village for used clothing, a bigger Winners with a Home Sense attached, some footwear stores. We've got plenty of hardware/ building stores. We need something to bring people into Milton, to live, work, and shop here. Not only do people leave to shop they leave to go to work elsewhere.The issue of parking within the cookie-cutter housing developments is ridiculous. Parking for 2 cars per house - 1 in the driveway & one in the garage in townhome developments where garages are too small to fit a car larger than a VW Bug or a Mini - ours takes up the whole garage. No regular-size sedan or van would fit. Also, people in townhomes need the garages for storage space. Driveways are barely long enough to hold large sedans - they hang out either onto the sidewalk or the street. Row upon row of houses with cars parked sideways at the end of the driveway to avoid parking on the street. No matter how nice the houses are, the picture of every development is that there are cars everywhere. Many young people are forced to live at home with their parents and units might have 3 or even 4 cars. The streets are always lined with parked cars. If developers are not going to make adequate parking spaces per unit, they should offer a parking lot area for visitors and owners' cars.Not to mention the traffic patterns, living in these developments. They keep tearing out beautiful, mature trees to completely flatten the landscape and add another development. BTW, City Council should make developers apply to take out mature trees and make them work around nature instead of plowing through it. As more developments are added into existing neighbourhoods, more and more cars are not only parking on the streets, they are using roadways that become clogged with traffic at some times of the day and speedways at other times.On the street where we live, 3-way Stop signs have had to be added - one at one end of the street and the other half-way down the street, to calm the traffic. It might work beautifully on the drawing board and work exactly as it was planned to work, but planners and city workers don't have to live with the constant traffic on what we thought would be a nice, quiet street. I am constantly frustrated at the lack of foresight on the part of City Planners and City Council. The Developers are always right and quality of life for those living in these areas is consistently ignored. I'm so disappointed in Milton. When we moved here 11 years ago, we knew the Town was experiencing a lot of growth. We expected it to be managed in consideration of the residents and taxpayers' quality of life. There was so much about our then-new home and neighbourhood that we were not told by the builder. We have lived through 10 years of constant building around us. I don't think anything has changed, judging by current new developments. on Twitter Share Jemharris1975, thank you for expressing the sentiments I have held and tried to express since moving to Milton 11 years ago. The Town of Milton cares more about fees from developers than they do about the quality of life for its citizens and taxpayers. What started out as a quaint town with a beautiful opportunity to create unique, aesthetically pleasing neighbourhoods has turned into a maze of cookie-cutter housing developments, gas stations/stores, and roads. And roundabouts - OMG - how many roundabouts does a town this size need? I see Milton turning into a bedroom community because there is no retail within the town to keep buyers here. Except for grocery stores. The Milton Shopping Mall is an oxymoron. There is nowhere to shop within that Mall. With a few exceptions in the downtown area, the roads to retail lead out of Milton - to Trafalgar and the Outlet Mall, to Mississauga, to Oakville, to Toronto, to Burlington, to Hamilton. We need Costco, a Marshall's, a Value Village for used clothing, a bigger Winners with a Home Sense attached, some footwear stores. We've got plenty of hardware/ building stores. We need something to bring people into Milton, to live, work, and shop here. Not only do people leave to shop they leave to go to work elsewhere.The issue of parking within the cookie-cutter housing developments is ridiculous. Parking for 2 cars per house - 1 in the driveway & one in the garage in townhome developments where garages are too small to fit a car larger than a VW Bug or a Mini - ours takes up the whole garage. No regular-size sedan or van would fit. Also, people in townhomes need the garages for storage space. Driveways are barely long enough to hold large sedans - they hang out either onto the sidewalk or the street. Row upon row of houses with cars parked sideways at the end of the driveway to avoid parking on the street. No matter how nice the houses are, the picture of every development is that there are cars everywhere. Many young people are forced to live at home with their parents and units might have 3 or even 4 cars. The streets are always lined with parked cars. If developers are not going to make adequate parking spaces per unit, they should offer a parking lot area for visitors and owners' cars.Not to mention the traffic patterns, living in these developments. They keep tearing out beautiful, mature trees to completely flatten the landscape and add another development. BTW, City Council should make developers apply to take out mature trees and make them work around nature instead of plowing through it. As more developments are added into existing neighbourhoods, more and more cars are not only parking on the streets, they are using roadways that become clogged with traffic at some times of the day and speedways at other times.On the street where we live, 3-way Stop signs have had to be added - one at one end of the street and the other half-way down the street, to calm the traffic. It might work beautifully on the drawing board and work exactly as it was planned to work, but planners and city workers don't have to live with the constant traffic on what we thought would be a nice, quiet street. I am constantly frustrated at the lack of foresight on the part of City Planners and City Council. The Developers are always right and quality of life for those living in these areas is consistently ignored. I'm so disappointed in Milton. When we moved here 11 years ago, we knew the Town was experiencing a lot of growth. We expected it to be managed in consideration of the residents and taxpayers' quality of life. There was so much about our then-new home and neighbourhood that we were not told by the builder. We have lived through 10 years of constant building around us. I don't think anything has changed, judging by current new developments. on Linkedin Email Jemharris1975, thank you for expressing the sentiments I have held and tried to express since moving to Milton 11 years ago. The Town of Milton cares more about fees from developers than they do about the quality of life for its citizens and taxpayers. What started out as a quaint town with a beautiful opportunity to create unique, aesthetically pleasing neighbourhoods has turned into a maze of cookie-cutter housing developments, gas stations/stores, and roads. And roundabouts - OMG - how many roundabouts does a town this size need? I see Milton turning into a bedroom community because there is no retail within the town to keep buyers here. Except for grocery stores. The Milton Shopping Mall is an oxymoron. There is nowhere to shop within that Mall. With a few exceptions in the downtown area, the roads to retail lead out of Milton - to Trafalgar and the Outlet Mall, to Mississauga, to Oakville, to Toronto, to Burlington, to Hamilton. We need Costco, a Marshall's, a Value Village for used clothing, a bigger Winners with a Home Sense attached, some footwear stores. We've got plenty of hardware/ building stores. We need something to bring people into Milton, to live, work, and shop here. Not only do people leave to shop they leave to go to work elsewhere.The issue of parking within the cookie-cutter housing developments is ridiculous. Parking for 2 cars per house - 1 in the driveway & one in the garage in townhome developments where garages are too small to fit a car larger than a VW Bug or a Mini - ours takes up the whole garage. No regular-size sedan or van would fit. Also, people in townhomes need the garages for storage space. Driveways are barely long enough to hold large sedans - they hang out either onto the sidewalk or the street. Row upon row of houses with cars parked sideways at the end of the driveway to avoid parking on the street. No matter how nice the houses are, the picture of every development is that there are cars everywhere. Many young people are forced to live at home with their parents and units might have 3 or even 4 cars. The streets are always lined with parked cars. If developers are not going to make adequate parking spaces per unit, they should offer a parking lot area for visitors and owners' cars.Not to mention the traffic patterns, living in these developments. They keep tearing out beautiful, mature trees to completely flatten the landscape and add another development. BTW, City Council should make developers apply to take out mature trees and make them work around nature instead of plowing through it. As more developments are added into existing neighbourhoods, more and more cars are not only parking on the streets, they are using roadways that become clogged with traffic at some times of the day and speedways at other times.On the street where we live, 3-way Stop signs have had to be added - one at one end of the street and the other half-way down the street, to calm the traffic. It might work beautifully on the drawing board and work exactly as it was planned to work, but planners and city workers don't have to live with the constant traffic on what we thought would be a nice, quiet street. I am constantly frustrated at the lack of foresight on the part of City Planners and City Council. The Developers are always right and quality of life for those living in these areas is consistently ignored. I'm so disappointed in Milton. When we moved here 11 years ago, we knew the Town was experiencing a lot of growth. We expected it to be managed in consideration of the residents and taxpayers' quality of life. There was so much about our then-new home and neighbourhood that we were not told by the builder. We have lived through 10 years of constant building around us. I don't think anything has changed, judging by current new developments. link

Nancy over 3 years ago

Thank you for these suggestions! Please stay involved to continue the conversation!

Do you agree? 0 0