Collingwood, ON

the market the market the market

people seem to really be "in the know" right now as to where the market is ... if they say that real estate is always a good investment is a safe place for your money or anything like that ... they're right!!

Things change that is the only constant and right now there are more listings than ever for a number of reasons.

- rates

- oil

- stock market

- american crash

The bottom line for me - keep on moving forward - our appraisers are not over valueing nor are our banks and lending institutions over lending. Confidence in the future of real estate is what I promote in my business - how about you are you buying or selling? Even if you are not my best advise is that you too adopt a positive future outlook for OUR real estate market!!!

jjk

It may not be a subjective or thorough study however, Relocate- Canada has named Collingwood, Ontario as one of Canada's Top 20 places to live. It's the second time of late that we've been recognized in this fashion so certainly someone is out there spreading our little secret!

Here's what they had to say about our fair town:

"Located on the Nottawasaga Bay, at the southern shore of the beautiful Georgian Bay, and at the base of the Blue Mountain, Collingwood, Ontario is known as an all year destination. Collingwood is easily reached by Highways 24 and 26 and is only a ninety minute drive from Toronto. There are many events throughout the year. Many festivals, including one of the world's largest Elvis festivals, bring visitors to Collingwood in search of a good time. Hiking, golfing, horseback riding, fishing, rock climbing, and dog sledding are just a few of the many outdoor activities that residents and visitors enjoy in Collingwood. The downtown has been nationally recognized as a historic place, and is the first downtown in Ontario to be given this honour.
High tech and auto industries flock to Collingwood contributing greater than 20% to Collingwood's tax base, ensuring jobs and growth for the area. Collingwood has a competitive edge in bringing companies to their area. Because of its close proximity to both Toronto and the US, companies can lower production costs, labour costs, and greater numbers of customers with access to duty free shops."

Congratulations to all the other wonderful communities named in the report. Amid all the doom and gloom in the global economy, it sure is nice to read good news, isn't it?

Recently, our family has had a very direct experience with our local medical system and I know that many people considering a move into the area often ask about the local conditions for health care.

The area has a wide range of services that includes expanding and new medical centres, labs, a new family health network, walk-in clinics, specialists and a full range of natural health practioners such as chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths and more.

The South Georgian Bay area is serviced by a small 30 bed hospital in Meaford and by the larger 72 bed, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital; the latter spot where we've sort of camped out of late.

A few weeks ago, without any warning signs whatsoever, my mother went into congestive heart failure. My mom suffered a serious stroke almost five years ago and resides with us.

The ambulance arrived within less than 5 minutes after our 911 call and within 15 minutes, she was being treated by two ER doctors who admitted her in critical condition. A team of nurses and respiratory technicians were assembled and for the next 24 hours, she was monitored and worked on literally by the minute with her every need addressed. The next day, she moved to a medical floor and since then, a co-ordinated and caring team performed what seemed like miracles bringing my Mom back to us. Everyone worked together and most of the time, they made us feel as though my mother was the most important person in the place. Interestingly, I heard other families express similar views.

Now I'm not saying out hospital is perfect and in fact, they are not. None are. I do think there is an element of luck involved whenever you set foot into the over-burdened hospital system. We happen to have a doctor who is part of an excellent team and we had incredible and experienced nurses. I know some people, in fact lots of people, who have not had positive outcomes and in my heart, I can only hope that things have gotten better over the years. Regardless, our experience has been great.

The Collingwood hospital was established in 1887 as an 8 bed facility. Today, it is a modern institution with a full range of services including a dialysis unit, mental health centre, diabetes clinic, surgical unit and a full-time emergency unit. We have a mammography department, a CT scanner and all the equipment you might not expect to find in a smaller community like ours. The hospital foundation has had great success attracting significant donors over time and, there is a troupe of over 200 amazing volunteers on board. (My favourite has to be the huggable front desk greeter who sounds EXACTLY like Mrs. Doubtfire!)

For those who really want to analyze the good and bad, the Fraser Institute issues Hospital Report Cards. I would note that the last results are already about 4 or 5 years old and I think the scores would be even better today.

The Collingwood area has been noted for it's community spirit on more than one occasion.

I recall when we hosted the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 1997, Eunice Kennedy Shriver said that she had never before witnessed a small community such as ours bring forth so many volunteers; so many that some had to be turned away. Whether it is volunteering for an organization, raising funds for the hospital, hosting special events such as Titz n Glitz or working with service clubs in town, the citizens of Collingwood have got spirit!

Evidence of that remarkable quality is very evident at the moment while the townsfolk band together to support local musician, Drew Wright, in his bid to become the next Canadian Idol. It is impossible to go anywhere in town today and not see this community spirit and outpouring of support at every twist and turn. The radio, the newspapers, signs on most businesses, banners, car magnets, cookies, flyers, posters in windows, T-shirts... Drew is everywhere!

A local businessperson named John Gabriele is behind much of the co-ordination of events. Those of us that know John, know that he is not doing this for personal gain. John embodies community spirit whether it be Elvis or Drew. He understands that when the community succeeds, he succeeds. We all do. He also knows that Drew is a gentle, humble and deserving young man with a talent that sends shivers up my spine.

Last week-end, an impromptu concert was put together in a mere 37 hours. Drew came home to thank the locals for their support and against all projections, it is estimated that some 5,000 people showed up! If you missed the event, you have to hear Drew sing Hallelujah in this You Tube video.

Drew will sing in the Top 10 on Monday night. When it's over, dial. Dial. Dial again. Let's show the world that one little town can give wings to dreams.

Currently, the County of Simcoe is looking for public input on its proposed growth strategy. The idea behind it is to have a "Made In Simcoe" plan to comply with the Province's Places To Grow legislation. Basically, it looks at how much growth we should have, where it should be located and what we need to do to accommodate that growth in a sustainable way. As you can imagine, that is a mammoth undertaking.

What this process does is make us focus on growth issues in our own unique area here in South Georgian Bay. Did you know that there are over 6200 residential units proposed or approved for development in Collingwood alone? In addition, there are several other industrial, commercial and other types of development planned.

According to the last census, Collingwood had about 8100 households. If all of the new units materialize, that would represent a 77% increase in the number of households. Of further interest is that 60% of the proposed new units are to be condominium units and 40% single family homes.

In Wasaga Beach, there are over 80 development applications in some stage of process plus, proposed expansions to industrial and commercial lands. In the Town of the Blue Mountains, there are over 5500 units on the books yet none of these come close to the over 8000 units under consideration in Clearview.

If all of these come to fruition, we will more than double our populations in the next 10-20 years. That means getting very serious about managing growth. You probably hear things like "Integrated Community Sustainability Planning" that makes your eyes cross and your ears tune out but really, it is essential that we look hard and fast at this issue. Anti-idling and pesticide free by-laws are a nice start but they are token steps compared to what we need to do. Intensification, LEED building, preservation of heritage buildings, new grids, pedestrian orientations, source water protection, regional transit, alternative energies and shared resources are but a very few of the key areas we need to zero in on.

Most municipal websites have some information on proposed developments but you may have to wade through numerous committee minutes to find them. Collingwood has a development map that shows all proposed developments. If you are interested in viewing the one from December, 2007 you can find it here.