We started as a coalition made up of a handful of groups who use our parks and greenways for exercise, transportation, relaxation and connecting with nature.
It quickly grew from there.
We are not “The Tribe of No!“
Contrary to what our critics say, we are not anti-development, anti-cars, anti-growth, anti-business, anti-housing, anti-change, anti-everything. We accept that modern cities need effective transportation systems and that we are still, for the most part, a car-centric culture. Nearly all of us own and use cars regularly. Oh, and, as has been suggested in the local media, the original PnP committee are NOT part of the No Casino Ptbo group (although we do like their “evaluate ALL the impacts not just the ones that support the City proposals” approach). Sadly, many of our critics prefer to attack us and spread falsehoods rather than debate the evidence.
We just don’t think the Parkway option is the right choice
The reasons are many. We believe the proposals made under the Parkway Corridor Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) are not the best way to keep our city running. We don’t believe they will do what is suggested. We believe they are based on thinking that is outdated and has been proven time and time again not to work. We believe the process has been driven by theories from those who profit by building roads and not on real empirical evidence. We believe the costs are much too high (in oh so many ways). We don’t think the EA process has been objective, fair and open minded. We also note that the EA findings contradict those of the previous study done by the City.
What We Want
We believe Plan B, the Road 3-Fairbairn option represents a better choice for Peterborough. Even the city-paid consultants agree, it gives us 94% of the benefits of the Parkway option with no loss of greenspace and no bridge through Jackson Park. We think the consultants have it only half right and that North-South traffic flow is our biggest problem and that Plan B does a BETTER job at connecting growth residential areas to the Downtown and the main destinations in the southwest part of the City. Here is more on why we think Plan B is the better option.
We are:
- A mixed bag: retirees and students; workers; managers; business people, academics, consultants and public servants; work at home moms; stay at home dads; function in cyberspace knowledge workers
- Walkers, cyclists and others: who use the trails for recreation and relaxation
- Commuters: who use the Parkway trails to get to work
- Drivers: who realise we need to focus on other road improvements the City desperately needs
- Fiscal Conservatives: who think this is a massive waste of tax dollars and worry about increases in our tax bills
- Thinkers: who want to see all the impacts of the Parkway fairly evaluated and not cherry picked to support the City
- Parents: who enjoy taking their kids along the greenways and to Jackson Park and want a rich future for their children
- Taxpayers: who see that this project will take at least $4 million out of capital budget every year for twenty years
- Citizens: who feel we need to address other capital cost needs in the City, like arenas, seniors community centres and other infrastructure
- Young People: who increasingly want alternatives to car-centric transportation—something they can afford less and less
- Nature lovers: who…well, love nature and want to see it integrated into our city
- People on fixed incomes: who are worried about tax increases forcing them out of their homes or retiring later in life
- Recent arrivals: who moved to Peterborough because of its natural beauty and are now worried they made the wrong choice
Our group includes a range of other people, all with unique perspectives on why this is all wrong and feel we are being mislead on the Parkway Proposals.
We love this City and we genuinely want what is best for it
We want smart, progressive progress based on evidence, not the self-serving theories promoted by the heavy construction industry. We are united in our love for this City and a desire to not see it go down the same tired, expensive and destructive paths that have proven time and time again not to work for cities across North America. We believe Peterborough, with its natural settings, educated workforce and caring citizens is uniquely positioned to find its place in the new economy. An economy that places high value on priceless city assets like greenways and parks.
We want modern progress, not out-of-date thinking that evidence has shown, time and time again, does not work and profits a few.
