By Katelyn Goodwin
October 19th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Yesterday I concentrated my Man on the Street interviewing outside two of the Advance polls: Tansley Wood and the Appleby Ice Centre
I then covered the plaza a short block away from Tansley Woods Centre.
There was a short line up at Tansley, at Appleby people were able to just walk in.
My count at both locations was something more than 200 people.
I noted the ward the person lived in, an approximation of their age and what there issues were.
Except for one young couple the people I interviewed were all 60 and over.
Their comments went like this:
Ward #6
Female
80s
This lady’s main ward concern is the Millcroft and golf course development. She and other residents in the area are against it, but it continues to be built.
Her main city concern is housing and the price of it
Ward #6
Male, Female
70s-80s
This couple’s main ward concern is the Milcroft development. The man says they have neighbours that will be affected by the golf course being developed. He also noted there were elderly people in the neighbourhood that will be affected by the golf course development in general.
Their city concern is overdevelopment of buildings
Ward #5
Male, Female
70s
Their main concern in their ward is the safety of residents, and the number of wild animals such as foxes or coyotes they have seen around
Ward #5
Male
20s
This young man didn’t have too many city or ward concerns other than transportation and getting around in general
Ward #5
Male, Female
60s
This couple’s main ward concern was the condo development; they feel the amount of them being built is getting to be a bit much
Their main city concern is overdevelopment of buildings and how they are taking away from the environment. The man noted he liked how the city used to have a good amount of space between houses with a lot of grass/fields before high rises and condos began going up in those spaces.
Ward #6
Male, Female
70s
This couple’s ward concern is the development of the golf course
Their main city concern is overdevelopment. Especially the overdevelopment that doesn’t ‘jive’ with the green or environmental spaces in the city. The woman noted the less amount of green in the city compared to what it once was.
Ward #5
Female
70s
This lady’s ward concern is the high-rise they are trying to put up on the corner of Appleby where seniors who are already paying a lot for housing are. It will cause a gas station there to be taken down and it is a station a lot of seniors in the area use, including a couple of her neighbours.
Her city concern is the overdevelopment of buildings and the condos going up everywhere.
Ward #6
Female, Male
70s
This couple’s ward concern is the Milcroft development. They are against it as are other residents in the area as it will affect many people living there.
Their city concern is the slowness of delivery at city hall when applying for city related services as well as the money being paid for said services
Ward #5
Male
60s
This man’s city concern was the number of tall buildings going up everywhere and overdevelopment in general
Ward #5
Female, Male
60s
This couple shared a one-time event that happened in their neighbourhood. Someone was illegally owning a breed of Pit bull dog while possibly being involved in other illegal activity involving the breeding of dogs which caused a commotion involving assault weapons when word got out though thankfully nobody was killed or injured. They wished people in the neighbourhood had been notified sooner rather than later by authorities for safety reasons. Especially when taking in the children who live in the neighbourhood.
Other than that incident they have issues with coyote sightings and people letting their dogs off leashes in places where they shouldn’t such as sidewalks or streets. Anywhere besides parks.
For their city concern, while they were pleased with what happened with the waterfront, they don’t want too much overdevelopment not unlike many other city residents.
Ward #6
Female
70s
Her main ward concern is healthcare and affordable housing for the elderly
Her city concern is that she believes more roads need to be paved, especially with the development of buildings with the lack of streets to support them
Ward #6
Male, Female
70s/80s
This couple’s ward concern was the reliability of the services in the ward such as stores, gas stations, etc. and that the area is getting busier.
Their city concern is density, construction, and traffic
Ward #6
Male
80s
This man’s ward concern was the housing for seniors-he says there isn’t enough, and it isn’t affordable for everyone
His city concern is density and the number of high-rises going up
Ward #2
Female, Male
70s/80s
This couple just moved into the city and doesn’t have any immediate concerns thus far, though they did do enough research to vote in the municipal election
Ward #6
Male, Female
80s
This couple’s ward concern was the amount of busy traffic
Their city concern was how busy it is on both Appleby and Guelph line. The lady believed they weren’t the best streets for pedestrians in terms of crosswalks either because of that business.
What was clear was that people were getting out to vote. Seniors have always been voters in Burlington. Where those votes go will be evident Monday night.
Katelyn Goodwin is a graduating student at Sheridan College.
