Ruxandra Bucataru, Grimsby Resident
July 20, 2018
Dear Editor,
No more than 12 years ago when travelling to Beamsville from Toronto, we took an early turn to Ontario St. and ended up in Grimsby. It was late November and the downtown looked just like a Christmas card, with all the old-style small stores lovely decorated inside and out. Two years later, we came to be a part of this lovely community, that was filled with orchards, open spaces and quiet neighbourhoods - far from the hustle and bustle of the big cities.
Unfortunately, today, that small town feel that we all love and cherish, is slowly disappearing. One by one, well-established areas are being targeted for “intensification”. The town decided that we need tall buildings to replace the charm of our downtown, condos whenever a lot becomes available, and more 24 / 7 fast food stores right behind our backyards.
Next to be plagued by “intensification” is the “Hospital Corridor Area”, which involves all the properties on Main St., from Nelles Rd. to just before Lynwood Avenue. The town has hired some big companies and will spent $100.000 of our tax money to study this area, under the pretext of benefitting the hospital redevelopment. We don’t yet know the results of that study, but we can predict that it will include condos and busy commercial plazas. This will lead to even more traffic congestion on Main St. East, noise and air pollution, and will irreversibly destroy the character of the neighbourhood.
On Wednesday June 6th the town will host the “Grimsby Hospital Corridor Secondary Plan & Urban Design Guidelines Visioning Workshop”, 7pm to 9pm at the Town Hall seeking public input. Let’s make sure that new development in East Grimsby is done mindfully by attending and making our thoughts and wishes known. At the end of this, we want to be proud to live in a great community, with safe streets, green and open spaces, sprinkled with heritage gems.
Send us your thoughts and we’ll publish them right here for everyone to see: