Why Care
About Midtown?

I Don't Live in the Area.
Why Should I Care About Midtown?

The already heavily congested areas along Trafalgar Rd, Cornwall and Speers, will turn into gridlock - and not just during rush hour times. Exiting the QEW at Trafalgar will be a challenge.

Commuting to and from the Midtown GO Station will take even longer. The same applies to the time it will take to access downtown, the lake or other destinations when travelling from the North.

Even though minimum parking standards have been removed by the Province, if just 1/4 of the proposed population of Midtown uses cars, Midtown access to and from the GO Station will be gridlock.

The level of traffic congestion in and around Midtown will force drivers to seek their own alternate routes. That means nearby streets and roads like Queen Mary Drive, Kerr Street and Chartwell as three examples, will see big increases in traffic.

The needs of a Midtown with hyper density for services and Infrastructure will not be entirely covered by development charges. The shortfall will be significant to support a community of this size and it will fall on ALL Oakville taxpayers.

Construction of proposed hyper density, 60 storey buildings face challenges. Failed construction sites would leave vacant buildings in and around the GO Station for unknown periods of time with no recourse.

Lack of sufficient financial resources to cover Midtown’s badly needed services like fire/police stations, parks and community centres will put pressure on long term community projects.

Tall towers don’t contribute to affordability. Rents at market value are rarely sufficient to cover the development and construction costs of projects. That’s why developers don’t undertake them. There is NO affordable housing program underway in Midtown Oakville. Most affordable housing is the result of purpose-built housing created by governments of all levels or through legislated requirements for a percentage of affordable units.

If you think Midtown’s uber-high towers are the answer to your child’s entry onto the real estate ladder, think again. Developers don’t build with them in mind. They design the size and number of units specifically for investors. The lion’s share of units are 1-bedroom, sized at less than 550 sq.ft/51 sq.m. They are the least expensive for investors to buy, who then levy high rents on them for a faster return.

Schools are always the last to be built and a limited number and size of schools will be created within the condos of Midtown. That means children will be bussed to other neighbourhoods impacting those schools.

As a result of new Provincial rules on how much parkland dedication municipalities can take from developers, local greenspace in Midtown will be significantly reduced. That means increased pressure on trails, parks and other open greenspace in other areas of Oakville.

Midtown won’t have a park or facilities like Coronation Park, Sixteen Mile, Isaac Park, Memorial or Buttonbush for example. Residents of Midtown will have to travel to find their recreation areas and the local Trafalgar Community Centre is currently at capacity.

North Oakville has experienced the impact of limited parking, reduced visitor parking and the delivery of community spaces coming much later than planned. All of these aspects affect community connections, opportunities for families and children. Don’t let history repeat itself!

A significant percentage of Midtown’s housing units will be too small for families or couples. The result is that Midtown becomes a ‘way station’ - an area where there is a high turnover of occupants who move to more appropriate housing as soon as they possibly can. That means less sense of accountability and care for surroundings, a loss of the feeling of community and less ability to create a sense of neighbourhoods.

Development applications on-hand for Midtown reveal a pronounced lack of on-site green space. Most areas are paved and serve multiple uses includes areas for access to ground level commercial areas. There are no outdoor, soft play spaces for children or pets, no immediate access to nature. That’s not liveability.

Housing units aren’t the only places lacking space for liveability. Midtown developments are mixed use, meaning there are additional spaces for retail, office or commercial uses. However, like the tiny housing units above, the spaces below limit the ability to attract the kinds of business offerings needed for everyday life. Typical retail spaces range in size from under 800 to 2,500 sq. feet. Even today’s small-format grocery stores need 10,000 square feet and appropriate access for deliveries and storage.

Communities that are overcrowded experience higher levels of health issues/needs.