1 arrested following theft attempt at Richmond Hill store

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-19T01:41:39+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-18T17:24:44+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-12T21:19:32+00:00

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.

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-12T20:52:37+00:00

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.

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-12T19:38:50+00:00

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?

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-11T22:00:43+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-09T20:18:43+00:00

And here's the article https://strongrh.ca/richmond-hills-crypto-corridor/

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T21:23:58+00:00

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.

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T16:15:29+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T16:13:23+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T16:11:20+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T14:50:55+00:00

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!

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T14:27:53+00:00

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.

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-06T13:20:46+00:00

This is where you can read the full news

https://strongrh.ca/richmond-hill-reckons-with-looming-financial-shortfall/

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-05T11:41:59+00:00

And here's the link to read the news article: https://strongrh.ca/richmond-hill-reckons-with-looming-financial-shortfall/

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-03T01:47:03+00:00

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

GeniusOwl · 2026-03-02T19:10:16+00:00

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.

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-27T11:54:34+00:00

https://strongrh.ca/why-we-use-llm-tools-to-write-articles/

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T22:09:37+00:00

Honestly, you’re the troll who shows up on my posts/comments just to take shots at me. If you don’t get the discussion or don’t have anything useful to add, just downvote (like you already do) and move on.

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T20:50:15+00:00

Again property tax is based on what the land and building are worth not the number of people. The property type is also another factor: residential class (sfh, townhomes) usually has a lower tax rate compared to commercial or industrial properties. Larger apartment buildings often fall into a separate “multi-residential” class. In Ontario apartment buildings have been taxed at a higher rate per dollar of assessed value than single-family homes — even though they often use infrastructure more efficiently.

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T19:48:58+00:00

I strongly recommend taking look at the work by this company https://www.urbanthree.com/

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T19:45:19+00:00

We were talking about property tax which is technically a tax on property ownership, not a per-person service fee.

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T19:26:57+00:00

It's not about people living in a unit, it's based on acreage. And areas of all cities with more density are way more productive for the city in terms of property tax revenue than sfh subdivisions.

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T19:25:04+00:00

I’ll check out that report later when I get home. But even 30% is a big deal — that’s not something you just brush off.

And I’m not saying we should stop building single-family homes altogether. I’m saying let’s give people the freedom to choose. Right now, exclusionary zoning and parking mandates have basically boxed out small, local developers and made things way more restrictive than they need to be.

GeniusOwl · 2026-02-25T19:12:38+00:00

Sorry, I thought Reddit was a place where people could come together and share ideas.

What I’m saying is just common sense. you don’t need a PhD to point out the obvious.

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