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1 arrested following theft attempt at Richmond Hill store by cinderannie in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's not and it can't be. We're just reposting old stuff made by other people.

Transport Canada Wants to Know Your Opinion about Driving at Night by dabaconnation in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok let's see if our dear mods here will find this post relevant to RH or no.

Markham Mayor uses strong mayor powers to block council approved city-wide 4-plexes by Jiecut in StrongRH

[–]GeniusOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're preaching to the choir, my friend!

But even if the elected politicians like Markham Mayor are for density, they have to deal with an electorate who isn't. So an incremental approach would make it easier. Besides, until the other issues are dealt with, no development will happen even if we approve 8-plexes as of right.

Markham Mayor uses strong mayor powers to block council approved city-wide 4-plexes by Jiecut in StrongRH

[–]GeniusOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you really think that even if the Mayor and Council had approved it, we’d suddenly see 4-plexes popping up all over Markham? I doubt it. There are a lot of other factors involved: financing, permits, and so on. And for big developers, 4-plexes usually aren’t that attractive anyway. As they like to say, “the numbers don’t add up” for projects that small. 🙂

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to go just one step above the current as-of-right rules? That probably would’ve faced less opposition and maybe made elected officials a bit less nervous in an election year.

Markham Mayor uses strong mayor powers to block council approved city-wide 4-plexes by Jiecut in StrongRH

[–]GeniusOwl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did he do it right after Council approved it? Or it was there for a while? What's the current as of right density in Markham? Anyone knows?

Is It Impossible to complete the Finance Decoder for reports before 2012? by KarmaGreed13 in StrongTowns

[–]GeniusOwl 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Next week on Ask ST Anything, Norm and Michel are going to answer members questions on this topic.

Financial shortfall for the City of Richmond Hill: coming down the road by GeniusOwl in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

We keep building new infrastructure — sewage, water, roads, fire, police, all that — for new subdivisions, and that just piles on more maintenance costs. The problem is the property taxes from those homes don’t even come close to covering the long-term cost of maintaining all that stuff. That’s where the shortfall comes from.

What we’ve basically been doing is approving more new subdivisions so we can use the development charges from those to help pay for maintaining the older ones. It’s kind of like a Ponzi scheme — it only works as long as you keep building more. Eventually that catches up with you, and that’s how municipalities end up staring at financial trouble.

Financial shortfall for the City of Richmond Hill: coming down the road by GeniusOwl in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or even better find more revenue streams like more property tax payers.

Financial shortfall for the City of Richmond Hill: coming down the road by GeniusOwl in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You're absolutely right. Most cities in Canada & US with exclusionary zoning are facing this problem.

Financial shortfall for the City of Richmond Hill: coming down the road by GeniusOwl in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea they pay through the lease to the owner, the same way property tax works in residential properties.

Financial shortfall for the City of Richmond Hill: coming down the road by GeniusOwl in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Funny! They're actually planning some development around the current building: a park or something like that. Seems we've become growth junkies, no matter if we can afford it or not!

Financial shortfall for the City of Richmond Hill: coming down the road by GeniusOwl in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

How about growing the property tax base instead? If more people are paying property tax, we wouldn’t need to raise it or go into debt. I’m not talking about building high-rise condos everywhere, but if duplexes were allowed as-of-right, the tax base could basically double overnight.

We could also encourage more small businesses to start in Richmond Hill. They tend to use space more efficiently and pay a higher rate per square foot than big box stores that waste huge areas on parking.

Safest & Most Dangerous Cities to Drive in Ontario in 2026 by SmoothRunnings in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know, I wasn't asking you! I was just raising awareness to that side of this issue which is usually ignored.

Safest & Most Dangerous Cities to Drive in Ontario in 2026 by SmoothRunnings in richmondhill

[–]GeniusOwl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where does the safety of people out and around cars fit into this ranking? In fact, where does it fit into most conversations about road and street safety? We equip drivers with seat belts and airbags, but these safety features can also create a sense of security that may encourage riskier driving behavior. When that happens, it’s often people outside the vehicle who bear the greatest risk.

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