I was somewhat surprised to read the mayor of Surrey’s comment on the likelihood of the Lower Mainland becoming the Los Angeles of the north (The Leader, July 26.)
She states that an additional 800,000 residents will make Metro Vancouver their home in the next two decades.
The not-so-surprising fact is that people come here because of the amenities, the climate and the beauty of the Lower Mainland.
The reality of this brings problems, the high cost of living especially housing, and therein lies one of several problems.
Residents, especially homeowners, are forced to take in mortgage helpers to meet their financial obligations.
This problem creates multiple family dwellings whose residents obviously need transportation to get around thus the need for provisions for parking and roads to drive on.
Her concern could be comparable to the old placing the horse behind the cart, or closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out saying.
Ever since the beginning of her tenure as mayor, there has been an enormous increase in favouring development.
Developers are having a so-called heyday building to their heart’s content, never mind the lack of infrastructure (ie. roads, transit, schools, etc.)
Schools in Surrey are bursting at the seams, having to resort to more and more portables.
Then there are more subdivisions with high-density lots crowding more and more buildings in these areas.
I say get your priorities in order and provide the infrastructures that will accommodate the influx of residents to this area.
I for one could never understand the need for an expensive elevated transit system like the SkyTrain. What is wrong with a ground level system?
It seems to me that it would be a lot faster to construct and much cheaper to build.
Peter Walters
Surrey