Tag: Connections

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Community Events

Are you ready for some summer fun?

The vivaNext team at last year's Aurora Street Festival
The vivaNext team at last year's Aurora Street Festival

The 15th Annual Aurora Chamber Street Festival is taking place this Sunday, June 6, from 11am to 5pm – and the vivaNext team will be there!

A great way to kick off the summer season, the festival features family-friendly fun and entertainment for kids of all ages – and admission is free! With unique street performances, including acrobatics, fire-eating, comedy, juggling and magic, as well as live music, a vintage car show, and delicious food, the Aurora Street Festival offers a great way to spend the day and enjoy the York Region community.

With over 500 vendors along Yonge Street, be sure to look out for the vivaNext booth. Better yet, stop by and grab a free bag of popcorn, ask your questions, and find out more about vivaNext projects.

We’ll be at the festival, rain or shine – so the only question is, are you ready for some summer fun?

15th Aurora Chamber Street Festival

Date & Time: June 6, 11am – 5pm

Location: Yonge Street, Aurora (between Wellington Street (North) and Murray Drive (South)

Admission: Free!

Categories
Announcements Community Events Rapidways

Exciting improvements en route for Richmond Hill and Vaughan!

collagepcc

As we said in the previous blog post – we’re on our way! Exciting improvements are en route for Richmond Hill and Vaughan, and we want you to get involved by coming out to our upcoming public meetings.

Over the next two weeks, four meetings will be taking place to discuss vivaNext rapidway projects, and you are invited! Two public meetings are being held for the Yonge Street rapidway, from Highway 7 to 19th Avenue, and two for the Highway 7 rapidway, from Yonge Street to Pine Valley Drive.

These rapidways – dedicated centre lanes in the road for Viva vehicles – will not only improve transit travel times, they are also a key part of Richmond Hill and Vaughan’s visions for the future, and York Region’s plans to manage future population growth.

If you’ve been to a vivaNext public meeting before, you know that our open houses provide a great opportunity to learn more about the vivaNext plan, ask questions, share your comments and meet the team that is making rapid transit a reality for York Region.

We are moving forward with our rapidway plans, in line with the recently revised funding schedule, and we look forward to speaking with you and answering any questions you may have!

Public Meeting for Yonge Street rapidway –
Highway 7 to 19th Avenue

Please note that the same material will be presented on June 2 and June 3.

Date: June 2
Time: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Location: Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, Plaza Suite
10268 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill

Date: June 3
Time: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Location: Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church, Wallace Hall
10066 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill

Public Meeting for Highway 7 rapidway –
Yonge Street to Pine Valley Drive

Please note that the same material will be presented on June 9 and June 10.

Date: June 9
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Location: Richmond Hill Country Club, Georgian Room
8905 Bathurst Street, Richmond Hill

Date: June 10
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Location: Hilton Garden Inn, Toscana Room
3201 Highway 7 West, Vaughan

Categories
Announcements Rapidways

We’re on our way!!

metrolinx-announcement_2010_05_20

Yesterday, we got positive news.  But first: rewind back to March 2010, when the Province announced in their budget that, due to their major financial pressures, they would need to rejig their transit spending schedule, to focus on getting the most urgent projects built first.  So we sat down with Metrolinx to work through our plans.  We needed to figure out the best schedule that would still benefit the region-wide transit system, but with some pieces coming sooner and others coming later.  It took a lot of hard work, and yesterday, Metrolinx announced the proposed new schedule.

Metrolinx’ board gave its unanimous endorsement to the proposed plan, which means the vivaNext projects can continue to move forward, one in each of Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill and Vaughan. This first phase of building will see York Region getting $790 million for rapid transit expansion over the next five years.

The plan also has a second series of rapidways, which will expand the rapid transit foundation established through the first set of routes. This second phase will get $965 million for projects to be constructed between 2016 and 2020.

The bottom line is that between these two phases, the entire vivaNext plan as originally announced in April 2009 will be built. We’ve always believed that the vivaNext plan is one of the keys to getting the GTA moving, and now, after working closely with our partners at Metrolinx, we believe that the revised plan will still help us address the building gridlock that’s such a risk for us all. That’s good news for York Region, and for everyone who lives or works here.

So with this revised schedule now approved, we can really get underway towards building the vivaNext vision of true rapid transit for York Region. We’ve got our design teams, our engineers and our construction crews all revved up to finalize their planning and, as the Metrolinx proposal is confirmed by the province next month, we can keep on going. So keep visiting us at vivaNext.com for updates and news as we, with real excitement, get on our way!

Categories
Live-work-play Urban Planning

Sand castles and city building

sandcastles-and-city-buildng_2010_04_29lRemember when you were a kid in a sandbox, and you could have endless fun with sticks and pebbles, building imaginary cities and towns, with houses, stores, roads and schools. You would make sure your city had everything people would want (including great rapid transit to zip people from the drawbridge to the castle), everything would be perfectly organized, and nothing would be too far away.

Believe it or not, there’s a grown-up version of that same activity, with the not-so-catchy title of Land Use Planning. Although you may never have heard this term, land use planning affects every aspect of life in your community today, and how you will be living your life in the future. And one of the most direct ways land use planning affects you, is through your municipality’s official plan.

Every municipality in Ontario must – by law – have an official plan, which has to correspond to plans already established by more senior levels of government. For example, York Region’s Official Plan has to fit within the overall Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and York Region’s municipalities’ plans need to fit within the overall Regional plan.

Official plans are updated every few years, based on much discussion and public consultation. Just like the sand-box version, official plans identify which parts of town will be where people will work, which ones will be for housing, and which might accommodate both. Working with provincial rules, such as those set out in the Greenbelt Act and Places to Grow, official plans identify which parts of town will grow and which ones will be protected from growth. They identify the main roads, how much traffic those roads can carry before gridlock brings them to a stop, and where transit services will be needed to move people around.

(Hint – York Region’s current Official Plan, which I want to talk about more in my next blog, calls for a heavy expansion of rapid transit across the Region to help us cope with growth – which is why implementing our vivaNext plan is such a high priority for York Region).

Official plans also reflect the values and priorities shared by the community, such as a concern for the environment, or the need for a range of housing choices. An official plan reflects and shapes its community, and provides a road-map for how the community is going to grow – and respond to growth – into the future.

Of course, planning a real-life community is a huge responsibility that can affect the day-to-day lives of thousands or even millions of people. So getting it right is important, and takes a long time and a great deal of care; after all, unlike the sand version, redoing an official plan takes more than a sweep of a shovel. Hearing from the public is a critical part of developing an official plan – York Region’s current plan has a whopping 1,500 page appendix of submissions from the public!

So next time, let’s look at York Region’s December 2009 Official Plan, which highlights the importance of increased rapid transit for the York Region of the future. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you: if you could go back to the sandbox, what would be in your perfect sand-city?

Links –
Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Citizens’ Guides to Land-use Planning
Ontario Professional Planners Institute

Categories
Community Events Going Green Rapidways

Who knew picking up trash could be fun?

earthday_2010_04_23

Did you know that Earth Day is the biggest and most celebrated environmental event in the world?

On Thursday, April 22, vivaNext staffers were among the one billion people in 170 countries who took part in this global event to tackle local environmental challenges. We donned our bright Viva blue shirts and raced the clock – and each other – to see who could pick up the most trash along one stretch of the future Highway 7 rapidway in York Region.

Who won? Well, everyone wins when we each do our part to clean up the planet!

You may be surprised to learn that organizers of the very first Earth Day celebrations were also supporters of live-work-play communities. Then again, perhaps you see the connection between sustainability and pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented spaces.

We certainly feel a strong connection with the values of Earth Day here at vivaNext HQ; our rapid transit service is a key part of achieving smart growth goals and creating better connected, more livable communities in York Region. On Earth Day, and every day, we are working hard to design and build a rapid transit service that offers a green travel alternative, makes it easier for you to get around, and helps to shape growth in an environmentally sound way.

Check out our video and see how we did. Tell us if you participated in any Earth Day activities or submit your video!

Categories
Live-work-play Urban Planning

Making room for everyone

making-room_2010_04_19

There might have been a time when, as it grew, a community could just continue to expand its boundaries farther out into the surrounding countryside, adding new neighbourhoods as more people moved in. But in our increasingly crowded part of the province, we’re long past the time when municipalities can just spread out endlessly – our boundaries are pretty much fixed. So finding room for new people has to happen within our existing space.

With provincial legislation setting out formal growth targets for all Ontario communities, York Region has had to do some careful planning to map out where all those new people are going to live. And we’re not talking small increases – our planners have projected that by 2031, York Region will need to find room for an additional 577,000 residents and 234,000 households. And those new people need places to work, so planners also need to factor in room for an additional 180 million square feet of employment floor space, to accommodate the 318,000 new jobs that will be needed.

York Region is pretty big, so maybe those people can all spread out? No, it’s not that easy. In the first place, although some people prefer to live in more rural settings, the majority of people in York Region want to live close to amenities – near schools, near stores, near entertainment – near all the great things that make city life interesting and convenient. And those things tend to be clustered at the heart of our existing larger communities, like Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill and Vaughan.

Secondly, although York Region is quite large geographically, a lot of our lands are actually very fragile environments, and are protected against significant development. In fact, nearly 70% of our total land is protected under either the Green Belt Act, or the Oak Ridges Moraine Act.

To make this a win-win for everyone, the Region has adopted a planning strategy that directs almost half of the expected new growth to existing built-up areas, with the other half going to new development areas. This approach will result in more opportunities for people to live, work and play in the neighbourhoods that they already know and love, while reducing some of the growth pressure on the surrounding countryside.

The Region’s Centres and Corridors – which include the cores of Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill and Vaughan – will play an important role in this growth strategy. Most of the growth that will occur within the Region’s existing urban area will take place in the Centres and Corridors. With this concentration of growth, people will find it easier to get around using existing and planned rapid transit services, and to enjoy the exciting mix of living, employment, shopping and entertainment options that are already there, and that will continue to evolve.

Those of us working on vivaNext are excited about this plan, because it will put transit at the centre of the action as York Region grows into the future. I’d love to hear what you think of this vision, and what it will mean for how you live your life in York Region?

Categories
Announcements Live-work-play Urban Planning

Places to Grow: setting the stage for growth

For those of us living in York Region and in the Greater Toronto Area, growth is one of those things that we cannot escape. In fact, the entire Province of Ontario is set to expand its population by nearly 30% over the next 30 years. Obviously, no one community is an island; growth in one area affects all of us.

To make sure all this growth has a positive impact on our communities, in 2005 the provincial government passed the Places to Grow Act. This Act set out specific growth targets and densities for the province. It also produced individual growth plans for key regions, including the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region. This plan is the basic rule book that is guiding planning for all the regions and municipalities in the region, including York Region and all its towns and cities. It calls for municipalities to look for ways to:

  • Revitalize downtowns to become vibrant and convenient centres;
  • Create complete communities that offer more options for living, working, learning, shopping and playing;
  • Provide housing options to meet the needs of people at any age;
  • Curb sprawl and protect farmland and green spaces; and
  • Reduce traffic gridlock by improving access to a greater range of transportation options.

This plan was welcomed as great news by people who understand the need for sustainable, smart management of growth. In fact, although the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe may sound like a bit of a mouthful, it has many admirers. It has won numerous awards – including from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, the Canadian Institute of Planners, and the American Planning Association (APA) as the first recipient from outside the United States of the APA’s Daniel Burnham Award. Watch a video that showcases why they received the award. This is the most prestigious planning award in the United States, given to a comprehensive plan that, among other things, best represents the APA’s slogan of “Making Great Communities Happen”.

So we’re pretty fortunate in York Region to have this strong policy framework, and we’ve continued to build on it to shape the York Region of the future. It’s a long-term plan, and as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. But bit by bit, this future vision is taking shape, and vivaNext is a key component.

Categories
Community Events Going Green Rapidways

Can you guess what Earth Hour, vivaNext and your laundry all have in common?

earth-hour_2010_03_232This coming Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 p.m., hundreds of millions of people around the world will turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour in support of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is an annual global event that is held on the last Saturday of each March to raise awareness of climate change, and to encourage each of us to make choices that will lessen our impact on the environment.

This remarkable initiative first began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 with 2.2 million participants taking part. The following year, it had grown to more than 50 million participants in 35 countries and by 2009, hundreds of millions of participants in 88 countries showed their support. Based on this phenomenal growth, there is every reason to believe that Earth Hour 2010 will be the biggest and best yet. Those of us who work in the vivaNext office plan to participate, and hope you will too.

So have you guessed what Earth Hour, vivaNext and your laundry all have in common yet? Just like hanging your clothes to dry, taking rapid transit is one of the little things you can do on a regular basis to lessen your impact on the environment.

Categories
Announcements Stations Subways

Come see three Spadina Subway station designs at once!

A map of the Spadina subway extension.

Extending from Downsview Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7 in Vaughan, the Spadina subway extension will cover a total of 8.6 kilometres and include six new stations.

To date, three separate public open houses have been held to share the preliminary station design concepts with the community: Sheppard West Station on November 17, 2009, York University Station on December 3, 2009, and the Steeles West Station on February 3, 2010.

If you happened to miss the February public open house, you now have another opportunity to check out the preliminary design concept for the Steeles West Station, and be among the first to review the preliminary design concepts for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and the Highway 407 Stations. All three will be on display together at a public open house on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

The preliminary design concept for the remaining new station – Finch West Station – will be presented to the public later this spring. Also, more open houses will be held later this year to share more detailed architectural concepts for all six stations so stay tuned.

Public Open House for Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, Highway 407 and Steeles West Subway Stations

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Location: The Hilton Garden Inn, Toscana Centre
3201 Highway 7, Vaughan, ON
Categories
Announcements Community Events Rapidways Urban Planning

VivaNext comes to Yonge Street

vivaNext Public Information Meeting
Attendees listen intently at a past public information meeting.

VivaNext rapidways are going to make a huge difference to people travelling around Newmarket.  With their own dedicated rapid transit lanes, special transit-priority traffic signals at intersections and welcoming vivastations with many special features, Viva will soon get people around Newmarket faster and more comfortably than ever before.

We’re excited to be moving forward on the vivaNext rapidway that’s planned for Davis Drive, with some pre-construction activities already in motion. And now we’re moving forward with our second Newmarket rapidway, which will run north-south along the busy stretch of Yonge Street from Mulock to Davis Drive.

On February 22, we’re hosting a special public information meeting to introduce this rapidway segment.  We’re going to have our whole team on hand, ready to answer all your questions about where Viva will stop along the rapidways, the design for stations and platforms, and how the special traffic features will make it easier and safer for drivers along Yonge Street. We’ll also be joined by our friends from the Town of Newmarket, who will talk about the long-term vision for this community as it continues to grow and expand, and how our leading-edge rapidways are part of that future plan.

We’re hoping that everyone who is interested in vivaNext rapidways and the Newmarket of the future will join us for an informative, inspiring evening.

When

Monday, February 22
Open House 6 to 8 p.m.
Presentation 7 p.m.

Where

Ray Twinney Complex
Lounge 1
100 Eagle Street West
Newmarket

We look forward to seeing you there!