Toronto Real Estate Report

Turn off the lights!

It's almost here, Earth Hour 2009 - this Saturday March 28th beginning at 8:30 p.m.  An initiative by the Worl Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a symbolic event which represent how we can work together to affect climate change.

Climate change is a global problem and requires global co-operation to solve.  Therefore  Earth Hour is a global initiative by WWF to organize all the players involved, homes, businesses and government. There are 83 countries participating, involving 2700 cities and 1 Billion people world wide!

According to the WWF website:

"Earth Hour is a symbolic event. Turning off our lights for an hour won’t stop climate change but it does demonstrate that our individual action is important and adds up to make a big difference. More importantly, it sends a very powerful message to government and world leaders that people want policies and regulations put in place that can achieve meaningful emission reduction to help fight climate change."

So turn off the lights at 8:30 p.m on Saturday night.  Take part in this global initiative and be part of the bigger picture.  Get your candles out, gather a few friends or have a party.  Celebrate the fact that we live in a world that can work together and affect change in a real and meaningful way.

Don't be afraid of the dark......

Police come knocking

There was something happening in my neighbourhood.  There was a news crew filming outside a house down the street.  A strange van was set up with a huge camera on the roof.  And then the Police knocked on the door.............

The Police were going door to door to notify everyone in the area that we are the potential target of an "extremist" group targeting Liberal supporters.  They are spray painting houses and cutting brake lines on cars if you have a Liberal support sign on your lawn.  We don't have any signs, but apparently the political riding of St. Pauls is considered a Liberal stronghold and we could be at risk.

We have been asked to leave our outdoor lights on all night, the street was a glow deep into the night.  So much for energy conservation, we have vandals in our midst!

I don't understand how vandalizing cars and homes helps any political position? 

To read a recent article in the Toronto Star about this situation, click on the link:Toronto Star

No More Telemarketers!

Today is the day.  The official "Do Not Call Registry" is here.  Problem is I can't register.  I guess it's getting so many request the website is down and I just get a busy signal when I call.

The website message is: The service is not available.  Please try again later.

So if you want to try again later, the website link is Do Not Call Registry

The telephone number is 1-866-580-3625

Since Bell controls 70% of all telephone numbers, they have been given the contract to administer the list.  There is no fee to the consumer to register, however they must re-register after 3 years.  The list will be updated every 30 days, and therefore can take a month to take affect.

The fines for crossing the "do not call" lines are steep.  Individuals can face up to $1500 for each telephone number breached, and a company can be fined up to $15,000.

The statistics indicate that in the United States there are 110 million telephone numbers registered and there were 6 million in the first minute the registry came into affect.  I guess the web and phone lines in Canada are facing a similar mass registration today.  Given the amount of press we've seen over the last few days, it's not surprising.  They are expecting a 63% registration rate among all Canadians.

There is of course some exempt organizations, such as charities and political groups.  To eliminate some of these you can sign up for a free service at iOptout.ca.  A free service that sends an email to 150 exempt organizations telling them not to call you anymore.

Now during the dinner hour we can go back to sharing a family meal together, discussing the days events without the interruption of yet another telemarketing call.

The Town Meeting

I am fortunate to share a family cottage in Muskoka.  The Brown family compound encompasses 3 cottages, side by side, which is made up of 35 people, a combination of aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters.

This morning I attended my first Town Meeting.  There is a new sub-division proposal to build 250 homes on a lake front property that use to be the site of a trailer camp.  In addition to the homes, they are proposing 70 boat slips, a restaurant and recreation centre.

Needless to say the residents and cottagers strongly oppose this development, and they were out in large numbers to voice their opinions.   The arguments had a great deal of merit, and I was intrigued by the process that pits the BIG developer against the seasonal cottager and relatively small year round town population.

Is it all about money?  The town needs it, the developer has it?  It's what we see in the City of Toronto continually.  The huge Minto condominium project at Yonge/Eglinton was vigorously opposed by area residents and ratepayers associations, to no avail.  The examples could go on and on.

Here are a few key points the opposition raised:

1. The Province of Ontario has established policy that opposes "Urban Sprawl" and encourages the compact and efficient use of land.  This development would require a change to the Official Plan to extend the town border and thereby allow the development to access town water and sewage systems to support the housing project.   
2. There is currently available land within the town borders, essentially infill property, that would be most appropriate for a housing development, if the demand existed, and therefore no need to extend the town boundaries.
3. There would be significant impact on the lake water quality, the boat traffic & recreational use of the lake & increased demand on the existing 2 lane road through the town.

Is the proposed change to the Official Plan and boundaries driven by sound planning principals in order to grow appropriately or is the policy being driven by a development proposal?  I believe the Town is responsible to encourage appropriate development and managing that growth takes a great deal of care and consideration.

If you ever get a chance, attend a Town Meeting, it's fascinating!