phishtaper

wow, impressive. did you make that? a meager bagel with cream cheese (lite ) here i like this thread.

it's already happened. check out the north of end of guelph. walmart opened last week only a block from home depot which opened earlier this year and its just down from that new turtle jacks which is right beside the cutest little A&W which of course is in the parking lot of the cineplex. :crazy: we lost our big box virginity a couple of years ago, so walmart was more symbolic, i think. but walmart and home depot are only the symptoms of the real problem - forced, and unsupportable, population growth. the Province's Places to Grow plan was supposed to provide a province-wide approach to managed and sustainable growth. problem is, they called for too much growth and now these battles are seen in cities all over the province. cheers to Oakville and all the communities that are managing to hold on to their identities. and for those of you sick of politics in the cavern, come to guelph, see the slip, and see her naked.

she was just on howard stern. was pretty funny.

yes, as much as this is a progressive and insightful organization, they sure did lose credibility as far as being "impartial".

a fair question. what we have seen in Guelph over the past couple of years isnt your run of the mill "development", though. it has drastically increased taxes, overwhelmed and eventually destroyed the ground-breaking wet-dry waste program, virtually drained a local aquifer, obliterated farmland, caused traffic nightmares and brought local highways to a standstill, built thousands of new houses marketed at TO-bound commuters, and has explicitly paid for some city councillors' bids for office. yes, of course, some growth is necessary, otherwise a city would die. but, this growth has been rampant and out of control and has simply not paid for itself - at the expense of a much needed new city hall, new libraries and fire stations. voters simply called for responsible growth.

In what most expected to be a tight race between pro-development incumbent Mayor Kate Quarrie and former mayor Karen Farbridge, Farbridge was swept into power with more than 50% of the vote, compared to 35% for Quarrie. See full results here. Not reaching the lofty goal of 50% voter turn-out so hardly fought for by the Guelph Civic League 40% of voters did turn out (compared to 26% in nearby Cambridge, 29% in Waterloo and 23% in Kitchener) and they spoke loudly. In addition to Quarrie's crushing defeat, also turfed out were virtually all of the pro-development, program-slashing city councillors, making way for a new slate of progressive, environmentally-aware, and responsible-growth councillors. This is a great day for Guelph! Hopefully, the Royal City will once again become the beautiful city it can be.