A resident responds to the leaked report.
Another private-sector report from another city — Oakville instead of Markham this time — has just revealed that city hall has again outsourced its intelligence. And again it pits Guelph’s national reputation as the best place to live in the country against big developers who always want more of Guelph to turn into more money for themselves.
But people who care about Guelph should be proud, including those in city hall. Guelph is perceived by the developer party as more than a continuing pork-barrel for bedroom rowhouses at taxpayers’ expense and 15- storey high-rises. Guelph stands for life space to grow, not to grow developers.
But the outside report is again critical of what Guelph stands for. It is “much tougher to do business” with than Mississauga, Cambridge, and Milton. They are “business friendly.” They are the “leaders of development” we should emulate. The “Guelph factor” is precisely what opposes these developer nightmares. We should not be paying big bucks from Guelph taxpayers to outside consultants in the developer business to tell us to join
them.
The developer lobby has one truly narrow interest — to churn the built and natural land and streetscape for maximally more revenues for their stockholders. That is their bottom line, but not ours. Only magic thinking can equate this to Guelph’s wellbeing. It is the very magic thinking that has given us ever more crass urban
sprawl and grey-garish growth with no life coherence. It is time to learn from all the mistakes following the provincial developer party of the day — the decoded meaning of Places to Grow. Guelph stands for places to grow life, not to grow developers.
They say Guelph is “particularly problematic with a highly educated, sophisticated population that understands
best how to influence process.” This is good to hear. It is why Guelph will win if it is not hollowed out by the
developer party. JM