Quote:
Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02
And looking at Surrey specifically, I would honestly think it would do better to divide that up in 3 ways but amalgamate in three separate directions.
North Delta should be combined with Whalley, Newton, Guildford, Fleetwood, and Fraser Heights into one. They are one large urban area and share alot in common (North Delta & Newton especially)
White Rock & South Surrey/Crescent Beach should be amalgamated to form the 2nd type of North Vancouver.
Langley City should merge with Cloverdale to become it's own municipality.
The geographic boundaries of the current districts and municipalities simply do not make much sense anymore.
Quick Map Idea.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...279715dcd0ef7c |
I wouldn't be opposed to this. Although Surrey immediately becomes the least desirable suburb of Metro Van by a long shot. It's saving grace now is that South Surrey and Cloverdale are considered by many to be it's nicest suburban areas. On the bright side, it could accelerate the development of the city centre. With little land for more SFH, you could see Surrey take a development pattern more similar to Burnaby.
That said, I'm not in favour of regional wide amalgamation. The thing about Toronto (I've never been to Montreal) that makes amalgamation preferred is that it's suburban areas are not distinct. The suburbs are a sea of grid roads, Tim Hortons and red brick houses whether you're in Brampton, Mississauga, Scarborough etc. This is true for the areas that were amalgamated with Toronto like North York, Willowdale etc.
What's great about Metro Vancouver is for the most part every suburb is very distinct in demographics, design, culture and especially political issues. As a resident of a place like Port Moody, I've chosen an area to live that is unique in it's own way, where the lifestyle fits and most importantly, with a population of less than 30,000 I have a
voice within the community that already fits my life. Should we become part of Vancouver, or even part of Coquitlam, that voice is lost, and communities will lose their distinctions over time. The last thing I want is Gregor Robertson and his bicycle loving politics to trickle out here the burbs. I live her to avoid that ridiculousness.
It's easy to look at a map and be like "Oh, this should work", but the differences between a place like Port Moody or Port Coquitlam, or even North Vancouver and West Vancouver are very striking, and I think most people in these regions would prefer their communities left the way they are.
With that said, Surrey for the most part is already an amalgamation of regional town centres like Whalley, Cloverdale, South Surrey, Fleetwood, Newton etc. It's very similar to Mississauga in this sense (Streetsville, Port Credit etc. each have their own uniqueness and history)
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but right now a little devolution would probably be more palatable) So many things just don't make sense to do municipally anymore (policing, garbage/recycling come to mind)
j/k
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