Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitchissippi
I doubt that significant portions of the Greenbelt will be sold off, nor should it be. Assembling a similar thing would be near impossible in this day and age and the NCC would not give up on this concept just because of the sentiments of the day.
A good chunk of the Experimental farm was sold not too far back and Ashcroft squandered it on that atrocious development called Central Park.
The NCC gets bashed a lot but I think they have been relatively good stewards of the Greenbelt I doubt the city nor the provincial government could ever do a better job.
I'm a big fan of the Greenbelt. I believe that for intensification to be sustainable, it has to be balanced with dilution elsewhere, where the landscape and environment have a chance to breathe. A good analogy for this would be storm water ponds -- it used to be that storm water concentrated with pollutants was flushed out into the rivers as soon as possible, but now the wisdom is to hold it and let nature deal with it one small bite at a time. I hope the Greenbelt continues to play an ecological role in the far future.
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Do you feel the same way about the farm portions of the Greenbelt as you do about the natural areas?
I would like to see development of the farm portions. I'd establish buffers and connections for the natural areas to ensure they continue to thrive. I'd also convert some of the existing farmland back to forest. When I was growing up in Bayshore, we had farmland nearby that contributed nothing to our neighbourhood. But we also had an urban forest, bounded by streets and paths, with an abandoned house among the trees. It was a very enriching childhood environment. I'd love to see a deliberate attempt to create something like that.
Regarding Central Park, I agree that it was terrible. Who had the not so brilliant idea to just sell the land to a develop and let them do whatever they wanted. If they develop more of the farm they should not just sell it off to a developer. Use the Canada Lands approach. Create a development plan and then let builders build to those plans.
I guess it comes down to land use. I don't think farming in the middle of the city is a good use. It provides a pleasant view, perhaps a little monotonous though. But to me it makes no sense to have wide open spaces and not be able to use them for any public activity.
Farming is the lowest intensity industrial use ever. Farms in the city should be intensified and farms outside the urban area should be protected from encroachment.
EDIT: For example,
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=...10378&t=h&z=13
There is a transit line running down Woodroffe. There might be a large public institution at the SW corner of Woodroffe and Hunt Club if the Civic Hospital does end up moving there. But the whole square bounded by Fallowfield, Cedarview, Hunt Club and Woodroffe would be a much better place to develop than the equivalent amount of farmland west of Stittsville. Put in high density development along Woodroffe, with density varying in proximity to the major roads . Follow the path of the stream through the area with a ribbon park and landscaped SWM features. Keep the forested sections as urban forests.