HOPEFUL NEWS

At least for Crystal Beach, there is a mini building boom going on. Schooley Road houses going up; Marz Homes getting ready to begin building on Ridgeway Road and numerous in-fill new builds and rehabs in the village.

The Third Quarter issuance of building permits in Fort Erie has risen since the second quarter. Nationwide, the unemployment rate has gone down although it still way too high in Niagara. 

"Fort Erie has a population of 29,960, with a seasonal influx of approximately 10,000 seasonal residents during the months of June through September.

Fort Erie experienced the third greatest population growth in Niagara (from 2001 to 2006) with an influx of some 1,782 new residents." (Source: EDTC statistics)

I have not found the latest stats on new residents, but I'd bet that there is still a sizable influx of new residents coming into the area. The recent article in the Globe and Mail featuring Crystal Beach as the first in a seven part series on desirable locations for senior citizens has verified a favourable trend in Crystal Beach: reasonable housing and great location are drawing people from the GTA to relocate.  All this was accomplished without the addition of a high rise condo on public beachfront lands.  This is what many of us want for Crystal Beach despite being told by carpetbagger planners and greedy politicians that a high rise would spur the local economy.  Thanks but no thanks. We'll keep our beachfront public property and fix it up as a park to be enjoyed by generations to come. 

Important meeting today: 

Region Waterfront Enhancement Strategy 

6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.  Niagara Region headquarters, Campbell East building, 2201 St. David's Rd., Thorold.

"Niagara Region is working together with Niagara’s area municipalities and other key stakeholders to develop a Waterfront Enhancement Strategy. In the first phase of the project the focus was on lakefronts. This second phase, which launches with this open house, will focus on other regionally significant watercourses throughout the region."

Hope that Regional Councillor-elect Sandy Annunziata attends. He can relate how he was able to stop any high rises near the Coal Docks on the Niagara River when he was a town councillor, meanwhile supporting a twelve story high rise condo on public lakefront property in Crystal Beach.  Pretty nifty maneuver from Annunziata's Playbook.