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URBAN GROWTH: This map shows the area Dr. Hutchinson and Mr. Said were concerned with during their study. While the Metro Toronto area is the worst affected, Dr. Hutchinson says the same principles of transit may apply in smaller centres like Waterloo and Kitchener. (Continued from page " good deal to shape the region and the lives of its peo- ple." Dr. Hutchlson said. The policies of the various levels of government today will have a lot to do with the eftieiertcy of the Greater Toronto area lo years from now, he added. One of the consequences of government policy in the Toronto area to date, a report from Dr. Hutchinson said, is an "imbalance" in the region between where people live and where they work. “In a time of energy shortages these policies could prdve crucial." u - _ Housing development, thereport claims. responds very quid 1y to changes in government policy. For ex- ample, the current widening of highway 401 west of Mississauga will have a considerable impact on the urbanization of land between Mississauga and Milton. Shopping plazas are also very responsive to changes in policy. the study said. For example, plazas quickly move to wherever housing developments spring up., On the other hand, industrial dévelopment is much less mobile. aeeprding to the two researchers. - “Sometimes industries just seem to like to cluster together. So you may find most of the garment in- dustry in one part of a city, meat packing in another. the printing industry in another...and so on." Whateve; its cadse. the imbalance means people This map shows the area around and in downtown Toronto. The arrows and numbers indicate the number of automobile trips taken by persons on an average afternoon around peak traffic times The higher numbers leaving the city centre attest to the fact that most people who work in downtown Toronto and drive cars to work. also outside the downtown core in one of the many boroughs such as North York. Brampton or Oakville. ArmttemfotyoutTttirtsqoaNtsrtttA1tmtoTtrttotmo have been tending to live farther from where they Work. Dr. Hutchinson said. in places like Hilton. Georgetown. Burlington. Guelph and Barrie. Many of the same people work in Bramalea, Rexdale and Mal- "As this. happens you get more and more traffic along the freeways," Dr. Hutchinson said, ”Our stu- dies show that while the flow into the centre of Toron- to hasn't increased much in recent years there has outskirts" Toronto's outskirts are continuing to ”enjoy boom times", though the rest of Canada isn't growing overall. Some areas just west of the Metro Toronto area are growing at rates of 12'per cent per year. ton. "For public transportation to work well you need masses of people living rather close together on the one hand. and working rather close together on the other," Dr. Hutchinson said. "You don't get this in suburban Toronto. There you have people coming to work from widely dispersed points and the industrial plants in which they work themselves spread out over This abnormal growth is producing freeway conges- tion at the outside of the city, and the situation is wor- sened by the inability of public transportation tn'func- tion effectively, according to the report. very large buildup "of freeway traffic at the Government will determihe future' considerable distances. So public transportation is in- effectual and even those who do live fairly close to their Jobs are forced to rely on the automobile." This same situation exists in the Waterloo area, he claims, to a lesser degree. People who live in com- munities like Elmira. but work in Waterloo or Kitchener. may find themselves with increasing ew. pense " fuel costs rise. Eventually those people mai. find it impossible to drive to work every day, and the problem will beme by the fact that public transit doesn't min to Elmira and similar rural areas. Even people who live on one end of the Conestoga Parkway or Westmount Road and drive to the other end to go to work may face similar problems, Dr. Hutchinson said. V . "What our governments - municipal, regional, pro- vincial and federal - do determines how satisfactory our cities will be 10 years from now. Government po- licy is the crucial element," he warns Dr. Hutchinson and Mr. Said base their conclusions on findings achieved through an "urban system model" foe the Greater Toronto area. Though the model was developed from data pertaining to that area, they feel it would be useful for any large urban area in North America. The model is based on data gathered during the years 1966-71. having to do with the location of resi- dential areas, the job supply. travel and types of land use. The solution to this growing problem, the re- searchers say. is to create a better "balance" be- tween where people live and the places they work. ,By bringing the jobs closer to homes and apartments. the working force would have less difficulty getting to work each day. The energy'crisis may force people into looking at this idea "a good deal harder" than ever before, they say. “One thing that would be required to achieve a bet- ter balance would be more co-operation among the various municipalities throughout the region (of Metro Toronto)," Dr. Hutchinson said. "Right now each ip trying to grab off whatever industrial assess- ment it can. One thing is sure though. . adding a couple of lanes to highway 401 isn't going to solve the prob- lem.". V Govemment'policy has essentially caused the prob- lem. and that same policy must be altered to solve it, he said. - The model shows accurately' what has happened since 1971, and the two researchers are confident its findings will be reliable for several years, "We can tell where the new homes and apartments are likely to go, what transportation problems are likely to arise. and so on." Mr. Said claimed. “We can predict the impact of various policy changes by go- vernment" V 1rimururcttrtmeupinrttr,r, July 18,1979)?! 5 In the final analysis, the problem shows no sign of lessening, and DR Hutchinson wants to let people know that they should be prepared to make some changes In their lifestyle Contrary to popular belief. there is no real financial savmg m buying a house outside of a metropolitan area, he says. Since nsmg transportation costs negate any possible savmg to the home-owner