North America: Tract Housing

Suburban Municipalities Dept: What these municipalities are trying to do is unprecedented on this scale in North America. The idea placing mini-downtowns in far-flung locations, separated from inner-city Toronto by vast stretches of tract housing runs counter to the traditional model of urban growth. Not everyone is convinced it will work, according to Globe and Mail. But if downtowners raise their eyebrows at the prospect of finding urban vibrancy in the 905, suburban municipalities see these developments as a necessity. Mississauga, for instance, is quickly running out of land to grow outward. Provincial regulations oblige cities to put 40 per cent of new development inside their current borders and this plan is part of a broader trend among GTA suburbs that are seeking to build urbane, walkable cores in the midst of the sprawl outside the city. To me, it s mildly insane it s like building more subdivisions, says Robert MacDermid, an expert in municipal politics at York University. Instead, you should be intensifying from the core of Toronto outward. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.