by Shawn Lackie
A number of years ago, I had a guest on my Real Estate show who talked about all the growth plans for Scugog. Pretty exciting news and interesting stuff. Some of that growth came about. Some didn’t.
This was on the heels of the second sewage processing facility being built in the north end of town. For years growth was pretty much stagnant because of the lack of sewer allocations. To some that was a good thing, yet it seems, to many it wasn’t. It also seems, debate rages on today, almost 10 years later.
Like many before me, I have seen Port Perry and area grow over the last 50 years. When we arrived, it was this funny little quaint town, on a man-made lake, which featured some of the best butter tarts ever. Let me think about that for a minute. The Flamingo Butter Tart was the gold standard. But I digress. It had a nice downtown, with cool little stores and friendly merchants. The town had some different standards, like closing up shop on a Wednesday afternoon and there was no Sunday shopping. Some will find that hard to believe. Somewhere along the way Port Perry was found out.
Hey we did it. Why can’t anyone else? The town had its fair share of ups and downs, most notably, when there was no running water, in the early 1970s, and you had to get your water from the lake. Eek. CBC News in Toronto even sent a crew out to cover that one.
Back to the main theme here. The point I am making is, there were quirks and quarks along the way in the growth. A few new houses here and there. Then, the new “developments” hit, Apple Valley and then Victoria Village, but that was a slow form of growth. Those homes and the people who bought them were taken in by the community as part of a natural growth. A little at a time, with nothing over the top and not too much too soon.
In the last two decades it would seem communities in the Durham Region have been faced with unprecedented growth. We spent time in Whitby, and finally left, because it was becoming a smaller version of the Toronto Rat Race. There were crazy drivers, aggressive behaviour and more crime. No thanks to that.
In the last few years Scugog has been morphing the same way. Once the aforementioned processing plant was finished it was hands off and let the party begin. This is where it becomes disturbing. I remember a few years ago, driving through Brooklin, looking over and seeing what was once a small opening, on the south side of Winchester Road, was now filled with townhouses. Really? Open space? They'd jammed in homes. That’s when it became clear, planning and development people need to be held accountable for the long term fall-out.
There is a development in Port Perry which has been sitting there for years. It took five or six years to build the sales centre. Then, everything just came to a full stop. There has been lots of debate about this topic.
There is always room for progress, that’s what keeps a community alive; it just can’t be blind. Take time and measure the long-term ramifications. After all, what’s the rush?
As always, if you have any Real Estate questions or suggestions for future stories, feel free to drop me a line, at slackie14@hotmail.com
The growth dilemma captures the conflict between sustainability and ambition. Companies have to balance short-term profits against long-term implications, and strategic decisions become imperative. I found Free Tax Dissertation Topics Service extremely useful for investigating fiscal policies concerning economic growth.