Laval is plotting a path towards the future, as the Montreal-adjacent city emerges from under the long shadow of longtime mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.
Mayor Marc Demers was on hand Monday at a meeting to unveil Urban Nature, an outline that required over 3,000 residents and experts to create, all in the aim of determining how best to develop the sprawling 246 square km island city.
The plan is to plot the ideal Laval of 2035, a time when suburban-industrial town is expected to have up to half a million residents. The vision includes more green space, better access to the riverbanks and developing land in a manner that respects the environment.
Officials believe that the city will be markedly different from its current state in which almost one third of the island remains agricultural and only half of those fields are being cultivated.
The report notes that highways are solid but getting more crowded while public transit is not its strong suit.
On the upside, the Laval population has above-average levels of income and education, with 37 percent possessing university degrees and a median household income of $72,130, topping the provincial average of $68,170.
Mayor Demers says that space is an advantage. “We have a lot of room. Part of Laval isn’t developed yet. One third of our territory is agricultural, so we have a lot of potential, it’s easy to make a new project in Laval than Quebec City or Montreal,” Demers told CTV Montreal Monday.
One opponent, however, did not hesitate to blast the mayor for lack of guidance. "When you are elected you are supposed to have ideas. He has no leadership, no ideas, no vision,” said Jean-Claude Gobe of Action Laval.
