Dear Editor:
Every month there seems to be another announcement of a new tower proposal at Metrotown. When people wonder about the negative impacts a new development might have on its neighbours, they are either ignored by the city and the developer, or chastised for their questioning of the “official community plan.”
That said, it is heartening to read in a recent article in TheGlobe and Mailthat there are other residents in other municipalities raising concerns about over-densification in their neighbourhoods. A citizen-led group in North Vancouver managed to convince their council “this week to scale back the size of a whole centre, lowering building heights and reducing the maximum number of units.” Interestingly, the successful group of like-minded citizens put up a website, “showing a menacing picture of the Burnaby skyline around Metrotown with its Etch-a-Sketch line of towers.”
When local media start referring to Metrotown as a “concrete jungle,” it might be time for city council to start taking the concerns of neighbours a lot more seriously.
Rick McGowan, Burnaby Municipal Green Party
