(This story -- and is it a STORY! -- from Gurin to Sewell to the painfully obvious LACK of reporting from those that value property rights and have differing and studied opinions from these two, is pathetic. It seeks to send the reader on an emotional roller coaster, a guilt trip for daring to cherish a home and yard without being stacked like sardines in 'high density' housing. The idea, that suburban living is the reason for obesity -- rather than the abundance of plentiful and reasonably priced food -- is ludicrous. If " ... street system isn't designed for public transit ... " perhaps it is because people achieved enough independence not to have to rely on germ-infested 'public transit.' How many people -- in positions of wealth and power like Gurin and Sewell, Hillary and Bill Clinton, the Bushes, Hazel Henderson, Mikhail Gorbachev, etc. -- regularly use 'public transit,' or live in the 'smart growth' places that they seek to make us denizens of?)

October 14, 2003

CTV.ca News Staff

http://www.ctv.ca

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A new report is warning all three levels of government of the dangers of urban sprawl to air, water and land quality.

"There's a tremendous amount of building going on and it's happening without anyone really considering the ultimate environmental consequences," said David Gurin, author of the report from the David Suzuki Foundation.

The foundation released the report on urban sprawl at the provincial legislature on Tuesday, saying it hopes the incoming Liberal government will take notice.

"The main problem is that cities spread without any limitation, without any boundary, and they spread out into areas that are farmland, wetland ... forests," Gurin said.

"This means that the development has an extremely low density and is very spread out, and people have to drive everywhere they go."

"Urban growth of this sort will ultimately be one of the key factors in climate change."

Gurin likens the manner in which Ontario's cities deal with urban sprawl to "dealing with obesity by loosening" one's belt.

He points to Oregon as an example of where urban sprawl is kept in check by setting firm boundaries on growth. Municipalities must then find ways to expand within that boundary.

Gurin is also calling on politicians and city planners to create "finely meshed" communities that provide better accessibility to public transportation and more incentives for people to walk, measures he believes will cut pollution and target sedentary lifestyles that lead to obesity.

A new study in the American Journal of Public Health shows people living in the most sprawling communities are likely to weigh six pounds more than those living in the most compact communities.

Former Toronto mayor John Sewell was critical of the lack of planning going on in neighbourhoods.

"Today's suburbs are designed to reduce social contact and interaction between neighbours," he said

"For most suburban residents, the private car is the only reasonable transportation choice to daily destinations. That's why some suburbs don't even have sidewalks. The street system isn't designed for public transit, and densities are so low that transit requires very large subsidies."

The Suzuki Foundation report also called for reviving so-called brown fields, areas within cities that have been polluted.

With files from the Canadian Press

Copyright 2003 Bell Globemedia Inc.

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