Posts Tagged ‘About Oakville’

Glenorchy (Scottish for valley of tumbling waters) is a brand new conservation area in North Oakville. The area is just under 1000 acres and will be bounded by Highway 407 to the north, Dundas Street to the South, Bronte Road to the West and Sixteen Mile Creek to the east. The jury is still out on how the recreational area will be used but the focus will be on keeping it a natural heritage area with some potential for recreational areas within.

Glenorchy’s master plan was recently presented to the Conservation Halton Board and Ontario Realty Corporation and is expected to be approved in 6 months to a year’s time. Once complete, the immediate focus will be on restoring the area’s natural environment. There are plans to eventually develop 7.9 km’s of walking trails although this development is likely still 5-10 years away. With time, the area should be open to walker’s, joggers, hikers, bird watchers, photographers and artists who can all enjoy the beauty of Oakville’s natural surroundings. The area itself is made up of gently rolling hills, forest, creeks and wetlands, and includes a portion of the Sixteen Mile Creek valley with its beautiful gorge.

In addition to the new massive park currently under development in North Oakville (North Park), the Town of Oakville has set aside an additional 82 acre parcel of land immediately adjacent to Glenorchy which will be used as another recreational park. The new park will include several soccer fields and recreational facilities. Part of the proposal is to create a parking lot, washroom, shelter and potentially an education centre to accommodate Glenorchy and serve as an entranceway to the conservation area.

Unlike so many cookie-cutter developments, North Oakville is promising to be a great new area where development is built around our natural heritage systems. If I take a step back and look at neighbouring communities, it is easy to see that preservation is not always a priority which makes me appreciate North Oakville’s careful development that much more. I am excited by the proposed Glenorchy conservation area plan and look forward to seeing the area restored to its natural state. It is just one more reason to love North Oakville.

Regards,
Lindsay

It’s hard to believe but Thanksgiving and Halloween are just around the corner. Where has the year gone? The real estate market certainly out-performed the weather, sweeping aside the dark economic clouds despite a forecast of doom and gloom in the media at the beginning of the year.

Throughout this year, buyers and sellers obviously focused on neighbourhood and chose to ignore negative national and provincial headlines on market conditions. The simple fact is that the only meaningful real estate marketplace is the one you are in, so it is important to look closely at your own community’s real estate activity. The road to good real estate buying and selling decisions is via a market analysis provided by a local Realtor who knows the ins and outs of the neighbourhoods you are most interested in. Just like our weather, there will always be some hot real estate markets and others that will be cold as we have seen across the GTA this year. Pricing trends that have emerged in 2009 are likely to continue for the balance of this year if, as predicated, interest rates remain low. While interest rates do remain low the simple facts are that buyers who want to buy will buy and sellers who want to sell will sell.

According to the sales data for September the average time for homes that sold, to be on the market in Oakville was 26 days and in Milton 18 days. The current resale housing stock in Milton tends to be mainly in the newer sub-divisions and is attracting first-time buyers looking for a newer home with almost immediate occupancy.

Oakville continues to offer a wide range of properties and prices. Most activity (nearly 50%) in recent months has occurred in the $300,000 to $600,000 price range. If you are looking to buy or sell, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at 905.338.9000 or lindsay@remaxaboutowne.com.

Regards,

Lindsay

Yes it’s true. Today, the Oakville Power Authority (OPA) announced plans to build a gas fired power plant in Oakville. The power plant will specifically be located along Royal Windsor Drive, next to the Ford Motor Company’s Oakville manufacturing plant just southwest of Ford Drive and QEW. OPA awarded the power plant contract to TransCanada Corporation; the only company of the 4 bidder’s who plans to build on Oakville lands. The other 3 companies all proposed to build in the neighbouring Clarkson area of Mississauga.

Tens of thousands of Oakville and Mississauga residents have signed petitions to stop the 900 megawatt gas fired plant from being built in Oakville or Clarkson. In a recent press release by OPA, Colin Andersen, chief executive officer of the Ontario Power Authority had this to say, “This new plant will meet local needs for a reliable supply of electricity, strengthen Ontario’s overall system, while performing far above Ontario’s stringent air emission standards.”

Construction of the plant is expected mid 2010 with an operational date of January 2014. While Premier Dalton McGuinty says the plant is needed to supply the growing power needs of the GTA, local residents have been outraged for months over the prospect of it being in their backyard citing that the area is already environmentally overtaxed.

The contract for the plant may have been awarded but this battle is far from over. One thing is for certain - Oakville residents will not give in to the Provincial Government’s plan for a new plant so easily. I suspect the Ontario government is about to see a fight like they have never seen before….

A couple of months ago, Oakville town council reviewed the results of a report measuring the satisfaction and priorities of Oakville residents.  Craig Worden, the Vice-President of Public Affairs at Pollara (the market research firm conducting the poll) had this to say about the 2009 Oakville Citizen survey results - “Based on experience this is among the most positive results I’ve every seen.  It’s really quite uncanny that we had to point to areas of improvement but those areas you actually had positive scores on”.

This is an excellent survey to flip through, especially if you’re curious about what people have to say about Oakville.  To view a copy of the report, please click on this link 2009 Oakville Citizen Survey.

To learn more about issues affecting Oakville, please contact me at 905.338.9000, lindsay@remaxaboutowne.com or visit my website at www.lindsaywalls.com.

Regards,