Jay McQueen
1/24/2013
The City of Burlington is in good shape.
That, according to Mayor Rick Goldring during his annual state-of-the-city address.
He says unemployment is at 6% compared to national rate of 7.8% and cites a MoneySense Magazine survey which ranks Burlington as the second best place in Canada to live.
However, Goldring tells CHML's Bill Kelly his concern is long-term because the city's dynamics have changed because there is virtually no greenfield development area left.
The Mayor says because Burlington is becoming built out, which means the city has to go out and attract new business, instead of relying on it to just come to Burlington.
On the subject of getting around, Goldring says communities are going to have to start having some adult conversations about how to come up with additional revenue to fund public transit.
Only 16 of Metrolinx's 50 billion dollar plan has been funded, and given provincial financial constraints, Goldring says alternatives such as road tolls, parking levies, a regional sales tax or increases in the gas tax should be explored.
He's also calling on the federal government to step up -- saying Canada is the one of the only countries in the world where the feds don't contribute to public transit.
The implementation of the Metrolinx plan would reduce GTA commute times by 32 minutes -- whereas Goldring believes widening existing highways is not a viable long-term solution to transportation challenges.
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