5 Possible Locations for Brampton’s Future University To Go

It’s official (and has been for a number of days now)–Brampton is getting a university and Ryerson is well on its way to becoming the city’ partner.

It’s official (and has been for a number of days now)–Brampton is getting a university and Ryerson is well on its way to becoming the city’ partner. While we know which university plans to set up shop in the city and we generally know what kind of programming it hopes to offer, we don’t know where it will be located.

For that reason, we came up with five possible locations for the upcoming institution.

5) Steeles & Bramalea

A good potential site for the school is the Canadian Tire warehouse. This location could work because it boasts available land in an area next to transit connections (it is next to Bramalea GO train station, after all), making it great for commuting staff and students.Also, the Bramalea station is adjacent to Highway 407 and is a major transfer point for GO bus routes. It’s also the site of future high-density residential and commercial development, so the school could only add to the growing area.

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4) Heritage Heights

This area could work, as it’s the Mount Pleasant secondary plan area and it’s slated to change a lot over the coming years. Most importantly, it’s near the future mega mall (the proposed Osmington regional retail/mixed-use centre) that we discussed in detail here). The area also boasts proximity the Mount Pleasant GO.

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3) Next to Bramalea City Centre

This area could work because the institution could adapt and reuse the Chinguacousy Library Branch, the Lester B. Pearson Theatre in the Civic Centre building and the vacant Peel Regional Police headquarters on 185 Central Park Drive. It’s near a major shopping mall with many restaurants and cafes (so staff and students don’t have to travel far for an off-campus lunch). It’s close to Chinguacousy Park, a destination park with tremendous sport facilities and leisure opportunities. It’s also adjacent to a major transit hub–the Bramalea City Centre Bus Terminal.

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2) Steeles/Hurontario

This area would be a good choice because the RioCan Shopper’s redevelopment plan is underway and the area could see massive changes over the coming years. The location has commercial spaces and is close to residential areas, so there’s a good mix of developments in the area. Also, Transit Gateway is slated to be home to the future LRT connection to and from Mississauga ‘s Port Credit Go Station. There’s also the proximity to Sheridan College, which is important considering the fact that the schools will be forming a partnership.

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1) Downtown Brampton

The city of Brampton is working with the province and the federal government to obtain funding for its Riverwalk project, which will be the solution for the floodplain zone that will allow development in the downtown area.  For that reason (and a few others), downtown could likely be the best location for the university.  It would not only beneficial for local businesses and economic development, but also for students.

Downtown Brampton offers an urban environment within the city and the core is ideal for a campus because of the different local amenities available, such as restaurants, coffee shops, the YMCA, cultural venues, the Brampton library, Peel Art Gallery Museum + Archives (PAMA), Gage Park, Garden Square and the Rose Theatre. Most importantly, the downtown core can accommodate places to live that are walkable and supported by an extensive transit network.  Current transit options available are the GO bus, Downtown GO Train Station, Brampton transit and the Zum bus services.