How will suburban growth affect city hall?

When it came to this year’s municipal election campaign, much of the city-wide debate was focused squarely on downtown Hamilton — particularly on LRT.

But on the edges of the city, other issues — traffic, development, growth and density — will have just as much of an effect on city hall as whether the new council approves the controversial transit project.

The suburban landscape is changing at a boggling rate. Over the past decade, the amalgamated city’s population grew by more than 32,000 people. Roughly 96 per cent of that growth was located in Stoney Creek, Glanbrook, Dundas, Ancaster and Flamborough.

And the pace of suburban development is poised to speed up. The city has proposed a massive new community for Elfrida, once a dot on the map near the intersection of Rymal Road East and Upper Centennial Parkway.

The development would add up to 80,000 people and jobs — the population of Peterborough — to the area in the next quarter of a century.

While only a few kilometres away from downtown, these areas can feel like an entirely different city than the inner-city that has been the focus of debates.

“The new communities, given their geographic location, are not necessarily tied to the downtown,” said McMaster political science professor Peter Graefe. “If you live in Ancaster and you commute, for example, you never have a relationship with the centre of the city.”

So what effect will that influx of suburban homes and businesses have on city hall?

First, Hamilton’s current model of suburban development is frustrating for many, points out Sara Mayo, a social planner with a concentration in geographic information systems.

The suburbs offer much to residents — quiet streets, brand-new homes and perceived safety — but Mayo points out that since they’re mostly multistorey, singlefamily homes, they’re not accessible for people with mobility issues, or for elderly residents who can no longer climb stairs. There’s often a lack of transit, so most suburban residents must have a car. There is often little rental housing, so many lower-income residents — including young adults — are priced out.

The result is that only a fraction of residents can comfortably live in new suburban development. “That’s what council has to deal with — if we’re going to have suburban development, how do we avoid the problems about suburban developments that we hear about every day?”

Any future development in Hamilton should have a mix of single-family homes, apartments and condos, and rental units, Mayo says. The city should also instigate inclusionary zoning — requiring developers to create a certain amount of affordable housing units.

For many of the suburban wards, particularly Waterdown, population spikes caused by development have also caused traffic chaos as formerly rural roads become clogged with commuters.

Transit becomes expensive in suburban areas, Mayo says, because of the lack of population density. Not only do buses take longer to service street after street of single-family homes, but the ridership isn’t as high as it is in more densely populated areas.

The good news is, the city’s growth plans for Elfrida — which are still yet to be approved by council and the province — are already addressing some of these concerns.

Along with mixed-use and commercial developments, elementary and secondary schools, public parks, community centres and places of worship, the city’s plans for Elfrida include multiple housing forms.

Transit is also a key component of the city’s Elfrida growth plan. The Elfrida area is actually the “S” line within the city’s BLAST rapid transit network. The proposed line would run from Eastgate Square, south along Centennial Parkway, to Elfrida, and west along Rymal Road to the Ancaster Business Park at Duff’s Corners.