Housing starts plummeted in December but overall, 2008 wasn`t a bad year.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said in a report yesterday that home starts in Hamilton, Burlington and Grimsby fell 38 per cent last month compared to December 2007.
But the 3,529 starts for all of 2008 were up 17 per cent over 2007.
Rapid transit is poised to move from proposal to approval, in lightning speed.
Within three months, planners will recommend a system to Waterloo regional council, linking Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge along the central urban spine.
Expect a pitch for light rail transit (electric trains) with a first phase linking Conestoga Mall in Waterloo with Fairview Park mall in Kitchener. I suspect construction costs for the first phase may exceed $457 million.
Local home builders saw some troubling developments in the market late last year, but year-end housing start totals still managed to nearly hit expectations.
A 25-per-cent drop in housing starts in the Kitchener census metropolitan area in December left the year-end total just four per cent short of the construction levels in 2007. Builders started 2,634 homes last year, compared to 2,740 in 2007.
0109KWCG City staff navigating drive-thru controversy
GUELPH
There`s a java battle brewing in cities across Canada.
City staff in Guelph are trying to figure out where drive-thrus are and are not acceptable.
That`s against a backdrop of municipal restrictions on drive-thrus.
Councillors in St. John`s, N.L., passed a motion this week requiring those who want to open a drive-thru to prove the lineup of cars won`t back up onto the street.
0109KWCG City below provincial unemployment figures
GUELPH
Despite a struggling manufacturing sector, the Royal City`s unemployment rate is still well below the province`s, Statistics Canada numbers released yesterday showed.
The percentage of the labour force out of work in Guelph was 5.6 in 2008, down from 5.7 in 2007. Ontario`s unemployment rate for 2008 was 6.5 per cent.
You can rest assured Aurora will take care of business this year. It`s expected to be a busy year from an economic development standpoint, with several large projects on the go.
Among them are the second phase of the Smart Centre at Leslie and Wellington streets across from the Wal-Mart and the Schmidt/Rice Commercial development, which will see the construction of a retail plaza at Bayview Avenue and Wellington offering shoppers several new stores including Longo`s.
East Gwillimbury is preparing for a battle between conserving natural heritage and development within the village of Sharon.
By 2016, regional and provincial town plans project the population of East Gwillimbury to increase from 22,340 to about 38,000. Sharon is expected to see a population increase from 3,600 to 9,200 residents in that time. Six different residential developers, with lands on the west side of Leslie Street, submitted applications and proposed amendments to the town`s official plan to change the land use west of the East Gwillimbury Civic Centre and the Sharon Temple from low density and park lands to medium density and mixed use.
0109YGEO New kiss `n ride gives Georgina commuters option
Road-weary Georgina commuters will finally have an option to driving their vehicles to and from work. A new "kiss and ride" depot has been built by developer Metrus on the south side of Woodbine Avenue at Glenwoods Avenue and should be ready to roll Feb. 15, Metrus Development Inc. project manager Stew Beatty told The Advocate Thursday.
Ward boundary changes in Vaughan could mean better service
The city is asking for your thoughts on how its future ward boundaries should look and while it seems boring and administrative, how wards are shaped is an important community issue. Ward boundaries dictate the coverage area of each of the elected councillors.
The Wychwood streetcar repair barns were once a major hub of the Toronto Civic Railway, the forerunner of the TTC. The site of the five attached brick structures — between Wychwood Avenue and Christie Street in what was then the city`s north end — also became a sort of mini Union Station in the decades after the buildings were completed in 1921.
0109BPTN Toll charges for Hwy. 407 will change next month
The company that operates Highway 407 has announced toll charges will change starting next month.
As of Feb. 1, 407 Express Toll Route (ETR) peak-hour tolls for light vehicles between Highway 403 and the QEW in Burlington and Highway 400 will be 19.85 cents per kilometre.
Peak-hour tolls for light vehicles between Highway 400 and Brock Road in Pickering will be 19.25 cents per kilometre.
0109HAMN (Burlington) Fairview Street Wal-Mart store opening doors on Jan. 21
Following a much-publicized battle at the Ontario Municipal Board, Burlington`s second Wal-Mart store is set to finally open on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 8 a. m. The retail giant is opening a 12,000-square metre (129,000 sq.-ft.), $20-million store near the northeast corner of Brant and Fairview streets. Store officials have said the new building could generate 300 full-and part-time jobs.
0109KWCG Townhouses the hot seller in Cambridge`s biggest subdivision
CAMBRIDGE -- Buyers are clamoring for lower-priced townhouses in a 1,000-home subdivision under construction in the former Forbes Estate in north Hespeler.
Monday night, Cambridge councillors approved allowing Mattamy homes to build 54 street-front townhouses on Michigan Avenue and Holland Circle, instead of 38 single homes as the current subdivision plan allows.
The first two phases of the project went on sale last summer and are nearly sold out, said Brent Clarkson, a planner hired by Mattamy.
A battered residential building industry, already suffering from a 25 per cent drop in new home sales through the first 11 months of 2008 and difficulty in getting financing for new projects, is warning Halton Region that its plan to jack up the costs to develop homes is going to hurt one of the area`s largest employers, the construction industry.
While a New Year`s Levee is a decidedly informal Canadian event that allows residents to meet and greet their local politicians, it also gives government representatives a chance to hear what`s on the mind of their constituents. And for Niagara West-Glanbrook Progressive Conservative MPP Tim Hudak, there were no surprises when a majority of the estimated 200 people who attended the two levees on Jan. 4 he hosted are worried about their financial future.
Amid an unprecedented global financial crisis that is hammering auto sales and with three domestic automakers on life support, organizers are counting on the North American International Auto Show to lift the spirits of an entire industry.
New product unveilings and a focus on alternative-fuel technology highlighted the press preview of the show in Cobo Center. Missing were the glitz, glamour and excitement of years gone by.
It will be a long day for members of the city`s transportation committee today as at least 40 people dead set against the Kettle Island bridge project speak their minds one at a time. The delegates will each get five minutes to plead the case against the proposal, which would see a new transportation corridor built between Gatineau and Ottawa, including a yet-to-be constructed bridge over Kettle Island and widening the Aviation Pkwy. to four lanes.
Stephanie Ross, who lives in the Kirkendall Neighbourhood west of downtown Hamilton, was wowed by plans unveiled Saturday for a dramatic makeover of the Hamilton Farmers` Market and ground floor of Central Library.
"I was really moved by the presentation. I cried," she said.
