More University Graduates Move to Oakville, Milton Grads on the Rise
March 6th, 2008 Categories: Oakville Real Estate News, Oakville Town Planning & Development, Why Move to Oakville?
A report from the 2006 census by Statistics Canada, released this week, showed that the two Ontario municipalities with the greatest proportion of university graduates were Richmond Hill and Oakville.
About 42% of residents in Richmond Hill, and 41.5% in Oakville, hold degrees at the bachelor’s level or above.
By comparison, the percentage for Toronto was 37% while the Canadian average is 23%. The city of Oshawa had the lowest percentage at 12.1%. Burlington was 30.3%
The booming Town of Milton showed the highest gain in university grads in Ontario between the censuses of 2001 and 2006, moving up from 23% to 28%.
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Oakville’s Edgemere Estate on Lakeshore Road to Become Two-Storey Flats? Say it Ain’t So!
February 13th, 2008 Categories: Historical Oakville, Oakville Real Estate News, Oakville Town Planning & Development, South East Oakville
Last year a landmark Oakville property “Edgemere Estate” located at 1502 Lakeshore Road in Oakville went on the market at a sticker price of $45 million, the priciest home ever to be listed in Canada on MLS.
It sold to Oakville resident and developer Mark Hewitt for a reported $35.9 million.
Now this developer plans to build 10 two and a half storey flats that will provide 30 housing units on the 12 acre property.
Luxury flats to be sold at $4+ million each
Lakeshore Road residents and other residents in South East Oakville were invited to a gathering recently to hear the developer speak about plans for redevelopment of the property and the “manor houses” that would be constructed.
To make way for these flats the 32,000 square foot main house, that formerly belonged to a prominent developer in town, will be torn down. Hewitt plans to leave the five historical structures on the property intact.
Pending approval of zoning and building applications, construction is expected to begin late this year or spring of 2009.
As locals, we have to question what this kind of higher-density housing would do to change the character of Lakeshore Road which is currently comprised of estate homes only. What kind of precedent would Edgemere’s fate set for the other estate homes on Lakeshore?
What are your thoughts?
LIKE THIS POST? READ ALSO:
Landmark Oakville Historical Home For Sale
A Little Oakville (Ontario) History Lesson: Understanding our Roots as a Community
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Moving to Oakville? Compelling Reason #4 - Live, Work, Play in the Community
February 6th, 2008 Categories: Downtown Oakville, Oakville Town Planning & Development, Why Move to Oakville?
My husband and I both are fortunate to live and work in Oakville. Oakville provides the opportunity for many residents to live, work and play in the community.
Did you know that more than 400 companies have located either their national or international headquarters here in Oakville?
Why are employers attracted to Oakville? The average household income, was recently estimated at $97,550, about $18,000 higher than the average Greater Toronto Area figures.
Further, Oakville’s workforce is highly educated, more than 40 per cent of residents have a university education.
The benefits of all this economic investment to our local community are seen in everything from employment to public works and services. Since businesses pay double the tax rate or residential property owners, and use fewer sevices, a healthy commercial landscape benefits the town’s economic wealth.
You may have read in earlier posts that 250 acres of land in North Oakville (North of Dundas) are slated to welcome 55,000 new residents and provide some 35,000 jobs, primarily knowledge-based, as new pedestrian-friendly communities are built over the next ten years.
Here are a few of the corporations that provide employment in Oakville:
Ford Motor Company Ltd. – More than 50 years in Oakville, world’s second largest automaker and largest producer of trucks.
General Electric Canada Inc. – One of Canada’s largest technical, service and manufacturing companies.
Mattamy Homes – Mattamy Homes is headquartered in Oakvlle. Mattamy has created more than 80 communities across the Greater Toronto Area and is premiere homebuilder in Canada.
Tim Horton’s (TDL Group Ltd.) – a large fast food chain in Canada, with head office in Oakville. Founded in Hamilton, Ontario, this purveyor of doughnuts and coffee is now the country’s largest quick service food chain, having surpassed MacDonald’s in number of outlets. TDL empkys over 700 people at its corporate head offcice and ha staff of over 55,000 people across the chain.MOEN – A quality provider of faucets and fixtures, a number one brand in the minds of consumers, Canadian head office in Oakville. in Oakville.
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A Little Oakville (Ontario) History Lesson: Understanding Our Roots as a Community
January 29th, 2008 Categories: Books I Read, Downtown Oakville, Historical Oakville, Oakville Town Planning & Development, Why Move to Oakville?
Respecting the Past, Celebrating the Present , Embracing the Future is the Town of Oakville’s motto.
My husband Wayne (history major) is currently reading a book entitled John A., the Man who Made Us. It is a new book about Canada’s first prime minister, by Richard Gwyn, author of The Northern Magus.
Wayne has been feeding me tidbits of Ontario history such as:
Did you know that in 1820 the population of the entire province of Ontario was 200,000 people? In a few years the Town of Oakville will surpass that in number!
All this talk of Ontario history this week inspired me to write something on how the Town of Oakville evolved.
Mississauga Indians
Oakville was originally the home territory of the Mississauga Indian tribe who were hunters and fishers. The Mississauga sold their land to the Crown in 1805 but retained lands at the mouth of the three major rivers emptying into the lake – the Credit River, Sixteen Mile Creek, and Twelve Mile Creek (now called Bronte Creek).
Early Settlers Had Hard Life
As in other parts of Ontario, the New Territory was surveyed into lots. Lines and Concessions created blocks of 1000 acres each, which divided into five settler lots each of 200 acres. To acquire title to a piece of land the settler was required to clear and fence at least five acres, build a house about 16 by 20 feet, and also clear the road adjacent to his land; it was hard and laborious work as the area was densely wooded!
Willliam Chisholm Purchased Land
Land with waterways was always in demand, for drinking, fish, and for water power to drive grist mills and sawmills. By 1820, the Mississauga Indians decided to sell their reserved land at the mouth of the Twelve and Sixteen Mile Creeks. The thousand acres at the mouth of the Sixteen were bought by William Chisholm, a successful businessman and politician, for the sum of $4,116! It was Chisholm’s vision that a town and harbour at the Sixteen would be a center through which goods could flow and grain be exported from farm lands to the north.
Oakville Harbour
The mouth of the Sixteen was protected by piers and the harbour dredged; a shipbuilding yard was set up (at the north end of Navy Street); further up, the Sixteen was damned for water power and a grist mill/sawmill was built; and the village was surveyed into streets and building lots for tradesmen, mariners and workmen.
What we now know as Oakville Harbor was built with private funds, and for this William Chisholm was authorized to levy duties and tolls on goods arriving and leaving.
Timber, Wheat, and Barrels
The first “crop” produced from the forests was timber, particularly for making barrels. Staves were produced from the White Oaks of the forest. Heavier timbers were used for home building and ship building, and exported.
As settlement developed, wheat became the important export, and wheat rolled down the new ‘plank road”,the Seventh Line, (now Trafalgar Road), for shipping from the harbour.
First Mayor and Strawberries
The village prospered, and in 1857 it was designated a Town (municipality). Its first Mayor was George King Chisholm, eldest son of Oakville’s founder William Chisholm, who had died in 1842.
When a number of economic factors resulted in a glut of grain and a depletion of oak trees, farmers in the town also turned to fruit production, with strawberries a principal crop. Strawberries were introduced by John Cross at his farm located where Cross Avenue now stands. Oakville became known as the strawberry capital of the Canadas. (For more on how Oakville’s founding fathers provided names for Oakville streets click here.) Besides strawberries, other fruit orchards produced apples, pears, and plums.
Summer Visitors from Toronto, Large Estates Built Along the Lakeshore
Because of its attractive location, style, and pleasant summer weather, Oakville became the destination of summer visitors, for the most part from Toronto, many arriving by steamship. One of these, the “White Star,” would bring up to 3000 visitors on a single day, giving the Townsfolk opportunities to sell teas, and to provide overnight accommodation. It became fashionable to “summer in beautiful Oakville”. Soon the lakefront bristled with a few large estates on the lake and more modest cottages, walking distance to the lake.
Early in the 20th century, wealthy city gentlemen, who could commute to their city employment by train, developed the Lakeshore through the construction of more permanent homes, often with large grounds or estates.
Cars, Paved Highways and Ford Motor Company
The automobile reached Oakville for the first time in 1909 but could not be used for commuting until 1916 when Lakeshore Road between Toronto and Hamilton was paved – with cement – for the first time. But it was not until the Queen Elizabeth Way was opened in 1939 that “easy” commuting became possible; both ways; into Oakville from the cities of Hamilton and Toronto, and to the cities from Oakville.
An early consequence of this was the settling in Oakville of car manufacturer, The Ford Motor Company, which contributed a great deal to the economic prosperity of the Town.
Incorporating Neighboring Villages
Oakville continued to grow from a sleepy Town to the large municipality it now encompasses, incorporating neighbouring villages, Bronte, Postville, Palermo, Proudfoot’s Hollow, Merton and Sheridan.
That’s enough history for today! More History of Oakville in further posts.
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LIKE THIS POST? READ ALSO:
Landmark Oakville Historic Home for Sale
Do You Remember When we Ate the Fish In Lake Ontario? New Memorial in Bronte
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Update on New Oakville Hospital: Construction to Commence in 2010
January 24th, 2008 Categories: North Oakville Development, Oakville Events, Oakville Town Planning & Development
A question I get frequently when I ask Oakville residents what they would like to find out more about on The Oakville Buzz is “Give us news on the new hospital”.
1. The new hospital will be located at the corner of Dundas Street West and 3rd Line in Oakville
2. In March 2007 the province donated 50 acres of provincially owned lands for the new hospital to be built.
3. The new state of the art facility will have more beds than Oakville’s existing hospital and will provide a full range of health services, including acute care, pediatrics, surgical care, mental health programs and complex continuing care.
4. Local fundraising for the new hospital has begun and construction work on the facility is expected to start in 2010.
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News on North Oakville Development: OMB Gives Approval for Greenbelt
January 20th, 2008 Categories: Green Trends, Halton Real Estate, North Oakville Development, Oakville Town Planning & Development, Why Move to Oakville?
As an interested resident and local REALTOR, I attended some of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearings for the North Oakville Secondary Plan in October at Town Hall.
This week the OMB gave approval for the preservation of an extensive network of linked natural heritage corridors as the “first priority. This ruling means that 900 hectares, or more than one-third of the 3,400 hectares of developable land, will be preserved as green space.
The planned system of linked open spaces, woods and wildlife corridors, along water systems such as Bronte Creek and Sixteen Mile Creek and their tributaries, preserves an area 20 per cent bigger than New York’s Central Park, bigger also than Vancouver’s Stanley Park and almost double the size of Toronto’s High Park.
The OMB ruling marks the end of a decade-long battle by town planners and environmentalists who fought to ensure the proposed development would adhere to the planning principles of “new urbanism,” particularly in being more transit- and pedestrian-friendly.
The town has won a series of successive, hard-fought victories over developers who initially tried to fight the Natural Heritage System idea of planning at the OMB a few years ago and then abandoned the battle.
Most of the developers settled with the town in August, but a handful continued to fight, asserting their right to develop lands the plan had designated for green space.
Until now, the notion of “linked natural heritage” corridors has typically been an afterthought in planning GTA developments - or at least secondary to the goal of putting in as many housing units as possible.
The OMB ruling is expected to have ramifications across the GTA, especially in other high-profile developments in the works such as the provincially planned community for about 70,000 people on the Seaton Lands in north Pickering.
Some believe it may also play a significant role in how the province’s internationally lauded Places to Grow Act is implemented. The act is an attempt to contain urban sprawl by promoting intensification and growth in already built-up urban areas in the Golden Horseshoe.
Much of the information in this post came from a longer article in The Toronto Star entitled Hard Won Green Victory for Oakville, January 17, 2008.
Should you be interested, the Town of Oakville website contains full details of the proposed North Oakville Secondary Plan including maps.
Stay posted for upcoming article: The Oakville Buzz Interviews Planning Director, North Oakville, Town of Oakville
Related Posts:
Oakville Development North of Dundas: Whats Happening?
Do You Remember When We Ate The Fish in Lake Ontario: New Memorial in Bronte
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What’s the Buzz in Oakville? Hilary Launches New Blogsite!
November 4th, 2007 Categories: Lighten Up, Oakville Events, Oakville Real Estate News, Oakville Town Planning & Development
When I opened the paper this morning, on the front page of the Life section was the word buzz in huge letters, with a picture of bees on a honeycomb! The article is about urban apiarists.
“What’s the sound behind the hedge?” says the subtitle.
“Renegade beekeepers are quietly tending their colonies in backyards, on porches and rooftops”, all across the GTA! Who would have thunk it?
Backyard beehives are illegal, but our good friends at the Globe and Mail have blown their cover.
I don’t have time to do honey-making, but this leads me to my vision for the blog.
People, not just bees, are talking together and interacting! They are socializing and working and playing. There most definitely is a “sound behind the hedge” in this community. Wherever people are, folks are jabbering! This creates a buzz.
So what’s The Oakville Buzz about?
Whatever Oakvillians are interested in talking about, especially as it relates to Oakville housing and living in Oakville.
I will be ‘buzzing” around town interviewing locals, taking photos of cool things and reporting on community goings-on, local people and real estate.
I’ d like to introduce Boris, my side-kick and muse. Don’t you love his toothy grin and bulging eyes, one bigger than the other?
Please do stop in regularly for a visit and leave me a comment.
By the way, oakvillebuzz.com is the site for our Oakville lacrosse team. My site is TheOakvilleBuzz.com.
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Do You Remember When We Ate the Fish in Lake Ontario? New Memorial in Bronte
September 8th, 2007 Categories: Beautiful Bronte Village, Historical Oakville, Oakville Events, Oakville Real Estate News, Oakville Town Planning & Development, Real Estate News
Respecting the Past, Celebrating the Present , Embracing the Future is the Town of Oakville’s motto.
Oakville is a forward-thinking modern town that also cherishes its history and heritage.
This past weekend Wayne and I were strolling along Bronte waterfront with our friends Ashley and Min-Na and enjoying a cappucino gelato. We stopped to admire the new Fishermen’s Memorial Monument.
Unveiled just a few weeks ago, this beautiful granite memorial measures 12′ x 6′ x 2′. The simple dedication reads:
“In memory of the Bronte Commercial Fishermen who ventured onto the lake in good weather and bad to set and lift their nets to earn a living catching fish. Ciscoes, Herring Whitefish Lake Trout. Cleaned at the dockside shanties. Packed in ice and shipped to markets in Toronto, Hamilton and New York City. Twenty-two boats travelled from the harbour at the peak fishing season. As the fish dwindled, so did the boats fishing from Bronte. The last boat left the lake circa early 1950s.”
Not too long ago we, and people as far as New York City, would pay to eat fish from Lake Ontario!
A local Bronte community group took on this project as a labor of love and raised funds from the community in the amount of $54,500 to finance this memorial.
The Village of Bronte became part of the Town of Oakville in 1954. Today Bronte is experiencing renewal and is becoming a growing centre for commerce, tourism and residential development.
It’s nice to know that along with progress, residents see value in preserving the past.
I like the royal blue benches in Bronte Harbourfront Park. They remind me of Portugal and Greece. My friend Ashley took this photo and the one at the top.
More on Bronte waterfront development in upcoming posts…
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Oakville Development North of Dundas: What’s Happening?
September 8th, 2007 Categories: Client Stories and Testimonials, Fifty-five plus, Lighten Up, North Oakville Development, Oakville Real Estate News, Oakville Town Planning & Development, Real Estate News, South East Oakville
What is the Town planning for development north of Dundas?
Last week I was manning the Royal LePage Kiosk in Oakville Place. The mother of a girl on my daughter’s soccer team stopped by. She is an urban design planner so I ask “What’s new at Town Hall?”
“Council approved the North Oakville East Secondary Plan Minutes of Settlement last week”, she said.
I investigated further and found out a few things:
- How big? It will encompass 2,300 hectares of land
- Where will it be? The area to be developed is bordered by Dundas Street in the south, Sixteen Mile Creek in the west, Ninth Line in the east and Highway 407 in the north.
- How many people? When all is complete, it is expected to include about 50,000 new Oakville residents.
- What about the environment? Developers say the plan is innovative and breaks new ground in creating environmentally sustainable communities: walkable, compact and diverse (from a land use perspective) community. ”It will be one of the most environmentally sensitive community plans in North America” says David Stewart, President of Mattamy Development Corporation. “
- What about new jobs? About 25,000 new jobs are being created right in the area, which will reduce the need for commuting.
- What is the Mayor’s vision? “We have created a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable plan that will help create one of Canada’s most green and livable communities, says Oakville Mayor Rob Burton in a recent press release. (Mr. Burton believes North Oakville development will contribute greatly to our town’s stated vision of becoming the most livable in Canada.)
- What will it look like? Plans are for a public open space system that is twice the size of Central Park in New York City. Some 600 hectares of land will be set aside for open space linkages and wildlife corridors.
- When does development start? Word on the street is that ground will be broken before the end of the year.
The picture I am getting sounds appealing. Wayne and I could sell our house in South East Oakville and downsize into a bungaloft in this new community when our kids leave home in a few years.
We could trade down to one car. I will have to ask my clients to drive me around. (I will be the first realtor in Oakville without a car, let alone a BMW.)
I see Wayne jogging in the park, me walking to coffee shops, and to my office in Oak Park. The air will be fresh and clean (goodbye Ford Motor Company, Petro-Canada refinery and that other cement factory down by the lake). I envision neighbours walking their dogs in our very own Central Park…
I plan to check out the Ontario Municipal Board hearings, scheduled to start September 10, 2007. More on this subject in future posts. Please comment if you have any other questions, news or concerns.
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