According to Money Sense, the city of Burlington ranked 9th in the country for best place to retire last year. While that’s a great honour, it isn’t exactly a selling point for young people looking to settle down. Mike Wallace is looking to change that, he announced his intent to run for mayor today.

With over 22-years of serving the Burlington community as a member of parliament and city councillor, Mike Wallace thinks he has the contact list to help push the city forward.

“I have two daughters both in their twenties, both have left town, I’d like to attract them back.” Mike Wallace.

According to a 2016 census, there are over 35 000 people aged 65 plus in Burlington and only 20 000 aged 25-34, that’s a lot of first-time homebuyers taking their roots elsewhere.

A large piece of land near the intersection of Appleby line and Upper Middle road, a short drive from downtown Burlington, is currently being zoned as a industrial area but Wallace says it would be best suited as a mixed-use area similarly to Liberty Village in Toronto.

“Why don’t we have Liberty Village west here in Burlington? Why don’t we have an opportunity where young people can get into their first home, have a career opportunity with companies that decide to settle here.”

It’s a possibility Wallace is hoping to address one day, but he’ll have to wait until the final results of the upcoming election in October.

Current Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring announced his intent for a third term this past October. He was unavailable for comment regarding Mike Wallace’s announcement to run against him. When he made the announcement he said he’ll continue the collaborating and connecting with the community to help direct the city going forward.