Then And Now

Okay, I probably shouldn’t do this because i will be accused of being an old fart and “One of those”, but I can’t help myself, so please indulge me. If for nothing else but to take a trip down memory lane. I received a notice of building that was going to happen at Charles And Athol Street in Oshawa. 3 towers have been planned to occupy the space that was once (and for now, still is) a parking lot across from the TCC. Who, in their wildest dreams would have thought that downtown Oshawa would become a high-rise center? Not me. But here we are. So think about what has happened to this core of the Durham Region. Back track here for a minute. Oshawa once depended on General Motors for pretty much all that would “drive” the economy (sorry) Then the folks at GM decided they didn’t want to do that any more. So they checked out. But a funny thing was transpiring around the same time. Thanks to Jim Flaherty and a few others the decision was made that Oshawa was going to become more of a University Town. Along with Durham College, the ‘Shwa was going to change colours. Already had Trent, Laurier and York Universities in town (in remote capacities) they were now poised to make the next step forward. And boy did they ever. Totally changed the landscape. Property values changed in the direct vicinity of the schools. More apartments and residences were being built. But then a funny thing happened. The powers that be decided, why stop there? Let’s change a whole lot more. And that they did. Again I will date myself, but back in the day there were 3 main movie theatres on King Street between Simcoe and Division. THAT was where things happened on weekends. The place to be. These days one is a restaurant (Rileys), One is a multi-purpose theatre (The Regent) and the other is also an entertainment centre (The Biltmore) So they have pretty much re-fashioned the core. And that change has also spread out to the ‘Burbs. Drive up Simcoe between Conlin and Winchester. If you are older in years you will shake your head when you do that. The days of seeing E.P.Taylor’s world class race horses grazing have been replaced with High Rises and plazas (don’t forget Costco). And townhouses. Hundreds of townhouses. So the new way is what they call “Intensification”. Planners want to jam as many living places into given areas as they possibly can. So we now have way more people in areas that were once occupied by horses. Go figure. If we were to come up with actual numbers of people-per-square foot it would probably amaze you. But those are the plans being put forward. So if you come up to the Port Perry area and see certain projects that haven’t been completed (or started) consider yourself lucky. Because it will show up one day and you will be wondering where all the open space has disappeared to. And all you can do is remember the good old days.