We Make Milton - Official Plan project

As a resident who deeply cares about the community, it is disheartening to see the current state of planning and development. The following points outline key areas where significant improvements are needed to ensure Milton becomes a more livable and vibrant town.

Lack of Identity and Cohesive Design:
Milton suffers from a lack of a unified identity and cohesive urban design. The town's landscape is a disjointed mix of random plazas, predominantly featuring chains like Tim Horton's and McDonald's. There is no consistent architectural style or thematic unity that ties the town together, which is crucial for creating a sense of place and community pride. Successful urban planning involves creating a unique character for the town, one that reflects its history, culture, and aspirations. Without this, Milton feels like an aggregation of generic commercial spaces rather than a distinct community.

Abysmal Infrastructure:
The town's infrastructure is inadequate and unable to meet the needs of its growing population. Roads are congested, public transportation options are limited, and there is a lack of essential amenities within reasonable distance for many residents. Infrastructure development needs to be proactive, anticipating future growth and demands rather than constantly playing catch-up. Efficient public transport, well-maintained roads, and robust utility services are the backbone of a livable city. Currently, Milton's infrastructure falls short on all these fronts.

Inadequate Library Facilities:
The Sherwood Library, while new, is shockingly small for a community that is rapidly expanding. A knowledgeable and forward-thinking planner would understand the need for ample space in such a critical community resource. Libraries today are not just about books; they serve as community hubs with meeting rooms, study areas, and spaces for various community activities. The Sherwood Library lacks these essential features, limiting its ability to serve the community effectively. Investing in a larger, more versatile library would greatly benefit residents.

Delayed and Insufficient Infrastructure Projects:
Infrastructure projects in Milton take an inordinately long time to complete, and by the time they are finished, they no longer meet the current needs of the population. This reactive approach is inefficient and frustrating for residents. Urban planning should involve long-term vision and strategic execution to ensure that developments are not just timely but also scalable and adaptable to future demands.

Lack of Parks and Trails Within Communities:
Milton's neighbourhoods are missing the green spaces and trails that are essential for a high quality of life. Parks and trails offer recreational opportunities, promote physical and mental well-being, and foster a sense of community. In comparison, neighbouring towns like Oakville have successfully integrated trails and parks within their communities, making them more attractive and livable. Milton needs to prioritize the development of parks and trails within residential areas to enhance the overall living experience.

Questionable Allocation of Funds:
There is a growing concern among residents about the allocation of town funds. Despite the visible shortcomings in infrastructure, parks, community centres, and libraries, it is unclear where the budget is being spent. Transparency in financial planning and spending is crucial. The town must prioritize investments that directly enhance the quality of life for its residents, such as parks, public spaces, and efficient infrastructure.

Need for Enhanced Bylaw Enforcement:
The lack of bylaw enforcement is another significant issue. Residents are increasingly altering their properties, often detracting from the town’s aesthetic and functional value. Examples include ripping up lawns to accommodate multiple cars and installing artificial turf. Effective bylaw enforcement is necessary to maintain community standards, ensure safety, and preserve the town's environment. Hiring more bylaw officers and enforcing regulations consistently would help address these issues.

It is difficult to have faith in the current administration and staff when the results of their planning and development efforts are consistently poor. Milton has immense potential, but realizing it requires a comprehensive and forward-thinking approach to urban planning and development. I urge the town to consider these points seriously and take meaningful action to create a more cohesive, livable, and vibrant community.

What do we have to do to get the current fairground owners out? As someone who has lived in Milton for the last 20 years, nothing has changed. Other locals avoid it because it's the same thing every year and there's no reason for people to come from out of town when there are better options elsewhere. We also have almost 0 events planned in the fairgrounds for the entire year. What a waste of great space. What can be done about this?

What do we have to do to get the current fairground owners out? It's run by out of touch people that have no idea how to plan good events. We have the absolute worst Canada Day event for a town of this size and almost 0 events planned in the fairgrounds for the entire year. What a waste of great space. Their website is abysmal as well. Calendar is buried somewhere on the site and functions like a website from the 90s. What can be done about this?

The population in Milton has been growing steadily.
We need more grocery stores and another Wal-Mart, maybe even a Costco.
There are so many more vehicles on the road which do not adhere to the speed limit, so radar or photo radar would be a good idea.
We also need more affordable programs at the community centres for the seniors and people with disabilities, that are on a fixed income, for example to go swimming for a senior over 65 years of age it costs $3.55 and and adult between the ages of 18-64 regardless if you have a disability or not it costs $4.99.
The city keeps promoting staying active but for these people it means making a choice between eating (because we all know the price of food is very expensive) or staying active.
Since they are on a fixed income, they would buy food instead of paying to go swimming. The fees for the recreational activities are excessive which excludes many low income Milton residents and the subsidy that some residents may qualify for is inadequate since the fees keep increasing but the subsidy does not and creates inequality for many Milton residents (another case of the haves vs the have nots).
Why can't Milton follow Torontos lead and make swimming and skating free.
As we all know since the population has been growing, that means more tax dollars for the city.

Definitely less sprawl. Milton is difficult to get around not only, for adults but especially, for teenagers, busing takes way long to get to you destination and more difficult for them when they have part time jobs, which in itself are difficult for them to find here in Milton. More places for teens to hang out such as an indoor mall. We don’t have a descent indoor mall or to shop at. We need to go shop outside of our town. Widen roads pre-congestion and pre construction of dwellings or businesses include this in the building plan and implement it knowing what our growth expectations are. Perhaps it’s time to put a plaza near our public high school Craig Kielburger one within walking distance from the school same as you do for catholic high schools. More fast food choices in the James snow Derry road area. Finally, teach people how to use the roundabouts being installed throughout the town.

I believe the current sprawl for housing is not sustainable. The city is expanding on all sides with limited public transport and biking/walking options. There are tons of new houses being spread out with limited infrastructure for community and sports activities. There are more houses and planned houses vs the infra to support them including new schools, daycares and even hospital expansion. At this rate within few years the population of Milton will double but the facilities available will become worse. Please keep everything in mind while developing, not just houses in order to get the federal funding. Also downtown Milton doesn't look like anything a downtown of a large growing city should be. There is a need to attract more offices/companies to setup their branches away from Mississauga into Milton.

PLEASE PLEASE - STOP WITH THE TRAFFIC LIGHTs and speed bumps thoughtless ideas. Traffic lights are expensive to install and maintain and are too widely used. Instead use ROUNDABOUTS. Lots of studies from traffic engineers and researchers have proven that they are cheaper, calm traffic, safer and ensure better traffic flow than traffic lights. Roundabouts should be the DEFAULT with proponents of traffic lights needing to demonstrate with a proper study that TL would be better for a specific intersection. Don’t become Mississauga or Brampton !

PLEASE PLEASE - STOP WITH THE TRAFFIC LIGHTs and speed bumps thoughtless ideas. Traffic lights are expensive to install and maintain and are too widely used. Instead use ROUNDABOUTS. Lots of studies from traffic engineers and researchers have proven that they are cheaper, calm traffic, safer and ensure better traffic flow than traffic lights. Roundabouts should be the DEFAULT with proponents of traffic lights needing to demonstrate with a proper study that TL would be better for a specific intersection. Don’t become Mississauga or Brampton !

Hi! I do like the food options in Milton but was hoping we could get a Burger King in Milton I feel like that is something that is missing!

I d like to see dog poop bag stands installed in every park (entrances/exits/halfpoints).
They have these throughout the states and they are a wonderful idea for cleaner parks (people can take them for garbage and poop). And MORE signage to cleanup after pets.

I think the Town is doing a great job at involving citizens in conversations and getting them involved in the community. I for one would like to congratulate them on major improvements from 24 years ago when I first moved here. Many failures but with that major improvements in the last 15 years. I am a big believer in « Failures are feedback » and without them progress would not happen. It is virtually impossible to please everyone 100% of the time. But listening, taking the pulse of the people and checking egos at the door is probably the most important and difficult. Bravo on the town staff, elected officials and citizens who are being open to different points of view, having mutual respect and in some cases agreeing to disagree when needed.

I think the Town is doing a great job at involving citizens in conversations and getting them involved in the community. I for one would like to congratulate them on major improvements from 24 years ago when I first moved here. Many failures but with that major improvements in the last 15 years. I am a big believer in « Failures are feedback » and without them progress would not happen. It is virtually impossible to please everyone 100% of the time. But listening, taking the pulse of the people and checking egos at the door is probably the most important and difficult. Bravo on the town staff, elected officials and citizens who are being open to different points of view, having mutual respect and in some cases agreeing to disagree when needed.

With traffic increasing, I am not adverse to speed cushions on crescents or non major side streets. But not on avenues, blvds or major streets or roads. This also needs to be balanced with increased speed limits on four lane blvds, Derry Road, Britannia once construction is complete and others. I have children and understand the concern around speed but at some point education of our children and some adults around road safety is what needs to happen, proper enforcement and NOT just lowering speed limits.

With traffic increasing, I am not adverse to speed cushions on crescents or non major side streets. But not on avenues, blvds or major streets or roads. This also needs to be balanced with increased speed limits on four lane blvds, Derry Road, Britannia once construction is complete and others. I have children and understand the concern around speed but at some point education of our children and some adults around road safety is what needs to happen, proper enforcement and NOT just lowering speed limits.

Traffic calming needed on McLaughlin Avenue
The reduced speed of 40 is not enforced
Cars often not stopping at the pedestrian crosswalk that was just installed
I don’t know if here to put this comment in your site.

Recognizing the fact that our population is growing and that density is the way to go, we need to build density properly. That means our official plan should ensure that development supports growth of families. For instance, I'm hopeful to see policy that ensures adequate amenity space, a minimum percentage of units that are 3+ Bedrooms, and the planning of complete communities where amenities can be easily accessed by all road users (pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, etc...). Additionally, we should prioritize infill development; areas around existing and planned transit such as the Milton GO area should have special policies that incentivize developers to develop there (i.e. relaxed conditions such as reduced parking minimums). These are very feasible planning tools that can be incorporated in Milton's next Official Plan and which largely conform to higher-order planning legislation.

Milton needs to be denser. Milton needs to be walkable. Having six lane roads and tens of square kilometres of sprawling residential areas is simply not compatible with having a city that is bikeable, accessible, and livable. Part of making Milton better for people is having ammenities within walking distance--have stores, community centres, libraries, and doctor's offices next to high-rise buildings so that people can eat and shop and survive without a car. High-rise buildings do not cause traffic when you eliminate the need for cars. Milton is built in a way that is unsustainable and not conducive to living well. People are happier when they have everything they need within walking distance, and if we stop reserving more space for cars than we do for people, we would be able to form actual communities the way they do in cities.

I want to believe that we are not terminally stuck in the past, and that we can think of more than just roads. What if children didn't have to cross four lanes of busy traffic to get to school? What if our communities were totally quiet because there were no cars to make excessive noise? What if it were faster to walk to work than to drive?

Need to have business establishments instead of houses. People need to go Mississauga for Costco and shopping.

Increase fines for parking and traffic violations. Speed cameras for school roads.

Dear Town of Milton:
1. Please stop selling land to Mattamy. They are an atrocious builder who does not follow code correctly. I don't care how much money Mattamy "donates" to the Town of Milton - you need to stop allowing them to build here. Residents are fed up with Mattamy and their horrible building standards!
2. Build more single detached homes. I know this is counterintuitive but people come to Milton to start families and grow their families. The one bedroom plus den is not going to cut it for a family. We need family friendly residences, not shoeboxes. Also, the density is causing extreme issues in relation to traffic, schools are now reliant on portables. Enough is enough.
3. More bike lines - self explanatory
4. More community centres and libraries to keep up with the demand.

to allow growth, we should weaken zoning requirements, allowing all existing parts of the city to densify organically - allow triplexes/4plexes on any residential lot, increase maximum height restrictions, etc.

To allow better transit, we should encourage anything that isn't a personal vehicle - remove parking minimum requirements, require (high quality / separated) bike lanes whenever there are road renovations, require bicycle parking in front of all businesses, close downtown main street to car traffic (have cars park in the lots on either side off of mill/mary)