"The Best Thing Since...

...Sliced bread." #$%!?!?!

That's what Mattamy is calling the new town of Seaton (or maybe themselves?) in what is part of the fresh, new ad campaign for 2008. I found this full page ad in the current New Homes free magazine on the last page of the Mattamy pull-out.

I don't know what has got into their water (maybe its the 2 J.D. Power & Associates awards, etc.) at the Mattamy HQ but claiming to be the best thing to happen to new home building is like HONDA saying their cars are redifining automobiles...they're not. Or maybe they just hired Kanye West to head the marketing department. Anyways, I feel the ad is on the arrogant side and there is always much more to be desired in mass new-home building before anyone claims to have changed the game.

So the ad goes on to explain that,

"50 years ago,
Kids knew exactly,
what to do
when told to "Go Fly
a Kite."

Seaton Coming Soon.
A Brand New Town.

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread.*

*Based on our shiny trophies


So thats my editorial on the new ad...I really just picking on little things but it just took me by surprise this morning.

Look What I Found!

Found this on the Sustainable Pickering: Seaton site, unnamed, unlabeled and just sitting there, probably never viewed by anyone unless you clicked every link on that site (this is what I do on night shifts). So another one of these colour-coded maps. This one is a bit more useful than the last one I posted.

Guess which colour belongs to Mattamy Homes?

Blue you say? Nah that belongs to Lebovic Homes.

Well ...

Click on the image above to find out where Creekside really is...and how close to the creek we're gonna be!

Ok...now that you've seen where the Seaton Creekside site will be the entire map is located HERE and shows the developments all the way to the 407 colour-coded to who owns the land (including more Mattamy and Lebovic sites north of Taunton). It surely looks like Lebovic will be the larger new home builder in the area with more sites but what do I know I'm just counting coloured blocks.

Leave your comments and tell me what you think of the sites!

Planning Seaton One Slow Step at a Time

So the news has been slow lately so I dug up some boring stuff to read.

I'm sure it's a tough task to plan a new town and the City of Pickering holds meetings every so often attended by the Seaton advisory committee.

The last meeting was held on February 20th, 2008 and the minutes of the meeting reveal some of the plans up for discussion.

Highlights (or low-lights) include:

• Discussion of whether to plan Seaton with a population of 70,000 or a more realistic 54,000 with intensification occurring over time
• Metrus and Lebovic Developments submitted their subdivision plans, no mention of Mattamy although they have reps present
• Interest from retailers to expand to Seaton
• Seaton has the opportunity to be innovative and be a community with integrated shopping
• UOIT/Durham College may build a site in Seaton
• 2 High Schools planned by the School Board -- questioned if it would be enough, they are awaiting the final population goal
• Alternative sources of energy (i.e. hot water heaters/district hot water heating) would be a draw and is being studied
• The Mayor suggested that planned big box retailers at Brock Rd. and Taunton Rd. were not preferred over prestige employment
• a GO station has been planned for the area but no precise location has been announced
• they would like to attract enterprises involved in research, development, production, sales and service of new, modern, efficient, "alternative energy" technologies and related services to the area. Strongly suggested was a "Green" theme
• shopping services that would blend into the area's cultural heritage vs. big box retail
• Green, Green and more Green!

If you want to read all 6 glorious pages contained in the minutes of the February 20th meeting visit

Sustainable Pickering: Seaton (Requires Abode Acrobat Reader)

mattamyhomes.com Reveals Some Minor Changes for Seaton

Few minor updates I noticed on Mattamy's Homepage:

COMING SOON THIS SPRING. Seaton Creekside, where homes and nature live together. Soon, the sun won't be the only thing to rise in the east. Seaton Creekside is a special new Mattamy neighbourhood adjacent to natural greenspace and a winding creek. Seaton, on the eastern edge of the city will feature Urban Townhomes and Urban Singles as well as 34', 36' and 43' detached WideLot homes. Biking/walking paths and park spaces will further enhance the natural feel of Seaton and provide gathering places for friends and neighbours. Seaton Creekside offers easy access to major shopping and recreation facilities and is close to major highways such as 401 and 407.

Gone is the suggestion that the site sales would open this Spring, confirming what I posted last week.

Also they corrected the link on the main page that Listed New Condos in Pickering to say New Homes in Pickering

Summer 2008

That's the new tentative opening for the Seaton Creekside site as per a Mattamy representative. The projected timeframe has been moved from a Spring opening to a Summer opening.

If that is the case then it'll be easier to camp out in 20 degree weather than this Arctic weather we're having now.

www.seatoncreekside.com

I have this URL forwarding to this blogger site. Easier to remember. Bookmark it. In the future, if/when we have a forum it will directly linked to this URL.

Opening Date Delay?

Got an email reply yesterday from Mattamy and the latest sounds like a Summer 2008 opening vs. Spring. I've emailed for them to confirm the delay. We'll see what they say.

Fitting in...15 Residential Areas

These are the residential sites that have been planned out for the area. This image is courtesy of the City of Pickering's Central Pickering Development Plan. Thanks again to shawn122 for the link.

They weren't kidding about the sustained green space that will highlight Seaton. If you click on the map above or this link, you can hover over greenspace on the map and see that pretty much what isn't residential will be greenspace. Quite impressive.

A Community of Epic Proportions?

Dropped by the Summerside sales office just to see what the sales office has to offer (asides from $500,000 semis :s) and asked a sales person about Seaton. He doesn't have much information to offer but he did say that compared to Summerside (500 units), Seaton will be much much much bigger. 10x to be exact. He has heard around the number of 5000 units, with model homes and the whole 9 yards. Sounds like Seaton may be the second coming of Hawthorne Village in Milton -- Large, multi-phase development.

Hopefully we can get enough of those 5000 buyers into a forum like Hawthornevillager.com and support each other through the many decisions that will come with new home buying. It seems to me that their forum is a great resource for tips, questions, group buys, advice, etc. I would like to eventually start a forum like theirs for our community once the Seaton site opens (with the help of shawn122)

Assembly Line Homes by Mattamy

The Toronto Star has featured Mattamy's (aka the #1 advertiser in the New in Homes section)indoor home manufacturing plant in Milton. Hopefully, for Seaton they will outsource the manufacturing to a plant in China to save the buyers even more money on their mortgages and they can dominate the home builiding sector for years to come like Wal-mart (I hope the sarcasm was noted). But a very interesting article nonetheless.

"And we all have to deal with shovelling our driveways, but just imagine having to shovel out a construction site."

Read More...

Mattamy Homes released in Cambridge Mill Pond

Again, for your interest. I really like these prices and hopefully we get prices similar to these. Good place to look at floorplans and get an idea of what you want your house to look and feel like.
Take a tour of the 34' and 43' Widelots in the Virtual model home tours.

Townhomes
From $188,990
Click for Details

34' WideLot™ Detached
From $242,990
Click for Details

43' WideLot™ Detached
From $294,990
Click for Details

50' WideLot™ Detached
From $334,990
Click for Details

Seaton? What is Seaton?

A new community is in the planning and proposal stages that could capture the spirit of what a forward thinking community should be. “Planning with a clean slate gives a wonderful scope to do things right for a sustainable future.” Planners have great hopes that the new residents of Seaton will be extremely proud to live and work in this new community balanced between nature, the environment, and sustainability for the future, gracious living, activities and employment opportunities.

Interesting article about the community of Seaton. What's planned for Seaton...the Seaton Airport? Home to 15 residential communities...Nature, Preservation land and more...

http://www.astoriamagazine.com/seaton.html