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Help Spacing locate new suburban developments

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Spacing is working hard on the summer-fall 2009 issue but we need a little help from our readers (again). Our editors are trying to locate semi-finished and/or recently finished suburban developments in the GTA region. In the comment section, please tell us where you’ve seen these kinds of development projects.

photo by Alex Soloviev

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38 comments

  1. “The Village at York University” in North York straddles Sentinel Road between Murray Ross Pkwy and Assiniboine Rd. The development is bounded by the hydro corridor, Keele Street, the Black Creek, and York University. The developers purchased land (including parking lots) from the university and for the past few years have built hundreds of homes now filled mostly with students. The Village has been in a perpetual state of construction but now appears to be in its final phase of development.

  2. In Mississauga, on the west side of Winston Churchill, starting just south of Eglinton, and going to just north of Thomas Street, they have been continuously building new town homes, condos, and single family homes for the past 2.5 years. The townhouse condos south of Eglinton, were among the first to go up. The blocks north of Eglinton are recently finished, and/or still being framed, bricked, etc. This area was almost completely fields when I moved here in Nov. 06. Now, it’s almost completely covered in new homes.

    http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=thomas+street,+and+winston+churchill,+mississauga&sll=43.570202,-79.722111&sspn=0.027145,0.066047&g=thomas+street,+mississauga&ie=UTF8&ll=43.560926,-79.733534&spn=0.054298,0.132093&z=14

  3. And if any of these suggested places have hills, or hills of dirt, we’d be very happy to learn of their location.

  4. In Scarborough there is a lot happening.

    If you are looking for mounds of dirt, I suggest you go to the corner of Eglinton Avenue East and Thermos Drive; just west of Birchmount Road,
    They have just built a huge new Zeller’s store on the former site of the Thermos factory.

    Then there’s the “Summerside” by Mattamy Homes at Warden and St. Clair.
    It’s almost finished, but there is still mounds of dirt near the Warden TTC Station parking lot on the north east corner.

  6. Go to the northern/eastern edges of Markham (south of Major Mackenzie, north of 16th) and you’ll find plenty of these semi-finished/newly-finished developments. A biggie is Cornell – east of 9th line anywhere between 16th and hwy 7.

  7. In Markham, close to where I live, there is on-going construction nearby Major Mac & Markham Road. The construction is mainly comprised of single-detached homes and it’s part of the continual development of surrounding houses. Not sure of the recent construction progress. Last time I drove by, back in May 2009, construction was very active. The work might have been finished at this point.

    In terms of dirt, there is a proposal (think it has been finialized) to build an elementary school in the neighborhood of Kennedy & 16th Ave. The site is currently a huge empty field occupied by an enormous hill of dirt. The residents have unfortunately used this as a dump site. Across from this site, there sits one of the most beloved and popular of the area.

    http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108069039603828805416.00046dfd4c32585906e79&ll=43.897892,-79.292622&spn=0.059992,0.153637&z=13

  8. Try Bradford, go up the 400 to 88 and go East. Turn right at the LCBO, I’m sure I recall dirt heaps. LOTS of building up that way anyhow.

  9. A little further north up in Stouffville there is plenty of this going on. Take Markham Road/48 up to Hoover Park Rd. (north of Elgin Mills) then go east until it ends. There is a big empty field/dirt hill at it’s eastern terminus @ Sunnyridge Ave.

  10. The Alton subdivision in north Burlington — north of Dundas, between Walkers Line and Appleby Line.

    Cathedraltown in Markham (404 somewhere around Elgin Mills, I think)… plus it has another crappy subdivision across from it on the east side of Woodbine.

    Subdivisions going up in Aurora on the east side of Bayview, north of Wellington, and in Newmarket on the east side of Leslie south of Mulock.

    There has got to be lots of examples up in Brampton, but I can’t exactly say… I try to stay away from Brampton as much as possible, I end up coming home grumpy and disillusioned the rest of the day.

    (Although the post doesn’t specifically say so, I am assuming that this refers to residential developments and not non-residential development… big box crap etc.? There is a Smart [sic] Centres development up on Wellington west of the 404 in Aurora.)

  12. oops! I meant north-WEST of that corner!

  13. Woodbine north of Major Mack. Cathedraltown is still being built.

    Also, Bathurst south of Jefferson Sideroad has a rather large development going on.

  14. Bayview Medows in Aurora. It is a half finished sub division with one half done and one half that is leveled waiting for development and parts with missing retail or school developments.

  15. it is at the corner of wellington street and bayview road in aurora

  16. The corner of Taunton Road and Lake Ridge Road on the north-east fringe of Ajax has sprouted a new big-box plaza, and there’s more development on Taunton going west towards Church. New subdivisions are all around.

  18. Northeast part of Scarborough, northeast of Morningside and Finch (Morningside Heights), and another chunk on the north side of Sheppard between Morningside and Meadowvale. Both are mostly finished now.

    Rouge Hill, Scarborough – southwest of the GO station and some more on Port Union just southwest of the 401 (both finished)

    Near the Scarborough GO station (northeast corner Midland/St Clair), under construction (“Evergreen by Monarch”).

    Everywhere in Stouffville (the sprawl is massive here, the population of this town is exploding)

  20. Try taking the 403 to Dundas and heading west into the development in North Oakville. This includes development just finishing up between 9th line and Trafalgar and ongoing development around Bronte Rd. This is close to the aforementioned construction at Dundas and Appelby in Burlington and provides access to South Milton via Bronte Rd/Hwy 25. The land north of Dundas in Oakville is in the very preliminary stages of being developed with old properties being boarded up and the designation of ‘natural heritage areas’ so its also kind of interesting to see the calm before the storm.

  21. Tons is happening around Milton. I have a hunch it won’t be long before the narrowing gap of farmland currently separating Milton and Mississauga is finally swallowed up by the new developments (a sliver of countryside protected by the greenbelt might remain, if I remember its placement correctly).

  22. Ajax, Taunton Road between Westney and Audley, has many new developments going up. Google Maps shows the streets but the satellite images are still of farmland. Many of them probably still have dirt hills, too.

  24. You can look around near the border of Brampton and Caledon. There are nearly finished residential subdivisions on Airport Rd. and Mayfield Rd. There are also some east of Airport Rd. on Bovaird Dr.

  25. Where haven’t I seen them? Just rent a car and pick any road out of town.

  26. Around Ancaster there is a lot of suburban development. If you are on Garner Road (of the 403) and you turn left. You will find a new fire station by the old fair grounds surrounded by recently completed as well as just started development. If you drive down Kitty Murray Lane you will see a hilly area with the two model homes completed and the rest empty. Or if you go down springbrook road, you get a road that is really on the urban/rural fringe. Where people still have gardens in their backyard, but where there were deer two years ago, there are now large house, piles of dirt, and lots that will soon by developed.

  27. I suggest Kipiling Ave. north of #7. Lots going on. Mid rise condos just completed, some now digging the foundation. Mixed used development units for under presale. Town-homes under construction. Within a couple of KMs you should be able to find samples of what you are looking for.

  28. There is a large development south and west of the intersection of Major MacKenzie and Weston Road.

    The area bordered by Hwy 50, Hwy27, Nashville Road and Langstaff road is presently being rezoned for low/med density residential and commercial replacing what remaining agricultural land is there. I also understand that this development will close the Kleinburg Golf Club.

    There are several developments that are newly completed north of Kleinburg on Hwy 27.

  29. Mounds of dirt? Don’t need to go to go suburbs. Witness the Cityplace Colossus at Bathurst and Front.

  30. I can’t really contribute to this posting as i’ve not recieved my first copy of Spacing yet(*I subcribed in Oct. last year)

    WHen will it come? 🙁

  32. There’s a huge new shopping mall/big box store complex being built in the area S/W of Markham Rd. and Steeles Ave. E.
    Not long ago there was a productive apple orchard at that intersection.

  33. The most interesting one, in my opinion, is the newest “last enclave of Rosedale” at the top of the Bayview extension.

    Large McMansions, no sense of community or neighbourhood, spatially isolated-and strangely undersold….mosre Leasides than Rosedale.

    Best

    J

  35. In Newmarket, along highway 9 (davis drive), West of yonge and behind the mall and all the big box store. it goes to bathurst in the west and green lane in the north. the newer stuff with the piles of dirt and not yet habited houses is closer to bathurst and green lane, while the part further east has been habited for a handful of years already. the housing is rather dense, as compared to older suburbs in the area, but street connectivity is still very low and inefficient for pedestrians and cyclists. This is one of the last unbuilt areas within the town limits, which recently changed its official plan in 2006 as a result of the Ontario Places to Grow Act, after the development was started.
    the new plan calls for dense, mixed use buildings with no parking in front, and a new rapid transit system thats separated in the centre lanes of davis drive and yonge. (check out the vivanext website for pictures and stuff like that)

  36. Check out the new development on the Bell Estate; former industrial land between Warden and Birchmount south of St Clair.

    There are many similar industrial lands that may be converted to residential. It would be good if we could learn how to design these communities in the most effective way.

  37. There is a big development being built in Markham at Hwy 7 and Warden. It is just south of Warden, but that entire area is being built up because it is pretty much designated as “downtown” Markham now, in relation to the Places to Grow Act.

    There is a recent development in Thornhill as well called Thornhill Town Centre, and it’s located at Bathurst and Centre, right by Prominade Mall. This is also seen as the “downtown” or central area of Thornhill now.

  38. Keswick, ON and East Gwillimbury, as well as Holland Landing.

    The development in Keswick is ‘Simcoe Landing’ and it’s expected they’ll build 5000 more houses in the near future.