More Damage to Niagara Cities

Proposed Outlet Mall in NOTL.  Note the guard towers at entrances to keep out pedestrians.

On the June 8th Standard front page we saw three hospital sites are leaked and an “XL retail outlet” for NOTL proposed, all of them outside urban areas. Why are we again going to hurt ourselves?

Regional policy promotes Smart Growth which includes encouraging diverse walkable neighbourhoods with healthy and vibrant downtowns.  Yet we, through our politicians, continue to permit non-urban development that ensures further damage and sprawl.  This must stop.

Are we are really set on repeating the mistake of placing the St. Catharines Hospital outside of the urban fabric? Hospitals are a major urban asset that should be in neighbourhoods to be easily associated with residential and related commercial development.  

As for the Nike and Dockers outlet, tourists want an authentic regional destination. Locals, who will keep this QEW strip mall afloat for a while, will see it eventually die, but not before this economic leech damages the really interesting places, including our downtowns (see www.deadmalls.com).  

For years we have known we must be smarter about development to reduce our infrastructure costs, ensure a resilient sustainable environment, and make for more livable cities; and then we get this.