Road design, transportation and walkability

[WLU]

I have no way of knowing.  Dan stated that cities were created as a result of the construction of highway 401 and that simply isn't true.  All cities along the 401 existed prior to its construction.  Of course these cities have changed and grown and there are varying reasons, mainly population growth and its effects but no cities as far as I know were created as a result of the construction of the 401

The point is that Pickering, the modern city, wouldn’t be where it is without the 401. Specifically, those people would all live either near train stations or within Toronto. Either way, they wouldn’t be driving to work (on average). The 401 enabled and supported a particular suburban form; if instead train service had been expanded, a different urban form would have developed.

Yes, Pickering grew out of a small town, but there were villages everywhere in Southern Ontario immediately post-war. I doubt there is anywhere you could reasonably put a city of 100,000 and have it be truly new and not the growth of an existing settlement. That doesn’t mean that the location of the large city is determined by the location of the original settlement.

Of course, it’s not just roads. Zoning is also very important. Remember, it is illegal almost everywhere on this continent to build the sort of dense urban form that was common pre-war. That puts a different spin on the whole notion of choice, I would think.

  Stating that all those people would live near train stations is a fairly general statement but I get what you're trying to say.  I also agree that some wouldn't drive to work on average.  But there a lot of factors as to why one would decide to drive, take transit, cycle etc.  Personally, if I lived in Pickering and worked in downtown Toronto and was going straight to work and straight home everyday I would take the GO train.  I have a good friend who lives in Ajax on the other side of Pickering.  He works near the Scarborough town centre and he drives everyday because that works for him.

  Also, it's interesting that Pickering GO station was built in 1967 when it was still a small town and like you said the population has now grown to almost 100,000.  Did the city grow and people settle there because of the Go station?  Because of the 401?  It's possible that the existence of the Go station also played some part in Pickering's growth which would be great.  At the end of the day though, I tend to believe that housing affordability becomes the main factor determining where one lives.