Ontario should seek to…

Ontario should seek to emulate successful urban planning strategies in other cities to create livable, dynamic and environmentally resilient communities. Part of the strategy is to encourage local decision makings, including the construction of bike lanes. Instead of centralizing decision-making and double-guess municipalities, the province should respect the plannings and hearings local communities have put in.

There is a fantastic article on Bloomberg on how Arlington city in Virginia, next to Washington DC, has the lowest urban traffic mortality and crime rate by creating a walkable, transit and bike-friendly city. It is in Ontario's interest to heed evidence and scientific analysis, instead of being guided on impulses by a few rich friends of the governing party hated out in a bar in Etobicoke. You can't have a dynamic, economically successful, and environmentally resilient city when you treat the dense downtown mainly as a highway thoroughfare and a massive parking lot.