I hope you enjoy a restful and fulfilling holiday season, even if our festivities continue
to be tempered by COVID. Surely 2022 will be better than 2021!
Speaking of 2022, SCRO has some ambitious activities coming up. Let me give you
a preview.
A Special “Our Scarborough” Event
An Online Scarborough Consultation regarding the
City of Toronto Official Plan
January 27 at 6:30
Register at: https://scro.ca/our-scarborough
The City is conducting a review of its Official Plan. The Province of Ontario has instructed all municipalities to plan for additional growth. For the City of Toronto, this means we have to plan for
700,000 more residents by the year 2051 and 450,000 more jobs. Other parts of the Official Plan, dealing with transportation, parks, neighbourhoods and the physical character of the City will also be updated.
Some of this growth will come to Scarborough. How can we achieve this while also preserving the character of our neighbourhoods? How can we best support social policy goals, such as public transit, affordable housing, and inclusiveness? And how can we attract more jobs to create a more prosperous Scarborough?
The City has embarked on a community consultation process. Thus far, feedback from Scarborough residents and businesses has been much less than our population warrants.
Let’s change this.
Please join us for an online SCRO-led community consultation process on January 27. Many of our councillors and staff from the City Planning Department will be attending.
Register now at https://scro.ca/our-scarborough
Coronation Drive Employment Area
Planning and Transportation Review
Employment lands are integral to Scarborough’s economic prosperity. We want our business parks to thrive, so they can provide a wide range of jobs for our residents. We also want to ensure that business development is compatible with adjacent uses.
That is particularly true in the Coronation Drive employment area, which abuts a residential community and environmentally sensitive areas.
SCRO and other community stakeholders will be working with the City to explore how to we can best achieve these sometimes conflicting objectives.
Other Scarborough employment areas may face similar development challenges in the coming years, so the lessons learned here may be beneficial to other areas.
“Institute for New Suburbanism” Speaker Series Continues
Next event will be in February 2022
What is the “Institute for New Suburbanism” anyway!
All too often, academics and practitioners in the planning profession have a downtown-centric frame of reference, which overlooks the needs, aspirations, and preferences of those of us who have chosen to live in suburbs.
We’ve decided to something about this.
The Institute for New Suburbanism is a suburban planning policy think tank, founded right here in Scarborough. SCRO has been involved from the beginning.
In 2021, INS hosted three events, featuring academics and practitioners, both local and from afar. You can watch the presentations on the INS website: https://www.newsuburbanism.ca/
More events are being planned in 2022, beginning in February, featuring leading suburban-oriented planners and thinkers from around the world.
Please check the INS website regularly and join us if you can.
Have you become a member of SCRO yet?
Please consider becoming a member of SCRO. You can register online at https://scro.ca/membership.
Add your voice to those of other Scarborough leaders. Let’s all work together to create a stronger and more cohesive Scarborough!
Happy holidays to all. We are all looking forward to being able to come together in person in 2022.
Larry Whatmore
President
Scarborough Community Renewal Organization
(416) 562-2101
