Getting To Know Us: Protecting the Environment
![Sidewalk Cafe Bike](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/sidewalk-cafe-bike-1024x576.jpg)
The environmental benefits of smarter planning are considerable, and can form a key plank in addressing climate change and ensuring healthy communities for all.
Barrie’s Housing Community Improvement Plan
![Screenshot of artistic rendering of a streetscape, taken from Barrie's Intensification Area Urban Design Guidelines. Credit City of Barrie.](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/walkable-street-2-1024x527.jpg)
Our policy brief on Barrie’s Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP), which is meant to support its goal of ensuring 15 – 20% of all new housing is affordable.
Getting To Know Us: The Benefits of Smarter Planning
![Photo of a woman and child walking on a sidewalk, with a bush on one side and trees in the background on the other. The woman and child are holding hands. Photo by Sue Zeng on Unsplash](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/woman-child-walking-2-e1694612442260-925x1024.jpg)
Discover the benefits of smarter planning in Simcoe County. Learn how strategic planning can lead to a more sustainable and vibrant community. Explore our initiatives and join us in shaping a greener future.”
The Ford government has made a mess of planning. Now, municipal governments have a chance to correct some of that.
![Photo of a park path disappearing in the distance, with grass and trees on either side. Credit Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/park-path-mark-olsen-1024x576.jpg)
Official Plans are among the most important components of planning and building our communities, the places where we live, play, and work. They deserve to be given the highest level of consideration, which includes the best possible process of deliberation.
Research: Air Quality Impacts of the Bradford Bypass
![Photo of a highway with vehicles barely visible through heavy smog. Credit Ivan Bogdanov, Unsplash.](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/smog-Ivan-Bogdanov-1024x576.jpg)
It is increasingly clear that policies that promote increased vehicle traffic should be seen as a last resort, and implemented only where no other options are possible.
Analysis: More Homes Built Faster Act
![A photo of scaffolding on a construction site. Photo by Tolu Olubode on Unsplash.](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/scaffolding-Tolu-Olubode-1-1024x576.jpg)
Recent moves by Ontario’s government seem likely to create conditions for a number of crises in the next few decades that, when combined, are greater than the sum of their parts. This is what’s known as a “polycrisis”, a term popularized by economic historian Adam Tooze.
Simcoe County 2022 – 2051 Land Needs Assessment
![Photo of an urban park, with benches on which people are sitting in the foreground and lawn and trees in the background. Photo by I Do Nothing But Love on Unsplash .](https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/park-bench-people-1024x576.jpg)
…value in the context of a community is achieved through livability, which in turn drives economic and social dynamism. Propinquity, or the accessibility of the areas we inhabit, whether that’s for people we socialise with or for consumer good or employment, is the key metric to achieve in this regard. Build communities for people and good things happen.