Letter to the Editor, National Post, "As condos go up, quaint comes down" (July 22, 2006)

The Editor, National Post

Re: "As condos go up, quaint comes down" (July 22, 2006)

This article by Peter Kuitenbrouwer might more accurately been titled "Cheap Shot on the Charm Front".

Yes, the historic core of Woodbridge has changed, and not all for the better. But much has been preserved---the Wallace House at 137 Woodbridge Avenue, the Market Lane barn at 140, the Inkerman Block at 166, and the Poot house at 268, and no doubt more will be.

Yet not all that is old is charming or even cute. Some is just run down, and indeed derelict, like the former bowling alley at the bottom of Clarence Street---abandoned since before I came to Woodbridge some twenty-four years ago; the deserted factory at 53 Woodbridge Avenue (not a Distillery District factory, mind you, just a non-descript rectangle of red brick); and the rather seedy restaurant, opposite the library, that recently closed---universally unmourned.

The re-development of some of these sites in the form of mid-rise condominiums may not be to everyone’s liking, but the re-populating of the historic core of Woodbridge is the best insurance that it will remain not just a relic of former times, but a viable social and economic unit that functions all year round. If Mr. Kuitenbrower is looking for the former, he should try Black Creek Pioneer Village.

I invite Mr. Kuitenbrouwer to come back to Woodbridge Avenue next June---to a street party where we will be celebrating the quasquicentennial of the village’s incorporation in 1882. What he will see is not a museum, nor a Potemkin village, but a living, breathing community, proud of its past and hopeful about its future.

Tony Carella
Councillor - Ward 2
City of Vaughan

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