In the old days, everyone lived where they worked. Farmers lived on farms, shopkeepers usually lived above their stores or at least within a short walk. Yet, our planners haven't even caught on to the fact that people in Nepean might want to take the bus to a job in Kanata without having to go downtown first. Most people think Kanata is a bedroom community supplying housing for downtown workers. I suspect the planners may not realize the implications of that trend.
Life is outside More and more jobs are being created outside the downtown core.
Just the other day, a well-known real estate broker was explaining that there was a shortage of office space in the downtown area and that one organization that needed about 20,000 square feet just couldn't find it anywhere downtown. Until more buildings are built downtown, there won't be much more demand for transit there yet, just about every focus of the road and bus systems is downtown. The bottom line is that more employees will be able to work from home, and there will be a slowing in the growth of demand for roads and transit services. The City of Nepean has already issued a brochure on telework, recognizing that it will be an explosive concept once there is a convergence of energy costs and bandwidth savings. The irony is that, in many of the new neighbourhoods with their new roads, the phone company didn't put in enough cable and equipment to deliver high speed Internet access.