The saying "all models are wrong, and only some are useful" is a useful place to start in assessing the methodological  and operational problems encountered in this project. The concept of sustainability  is as massive and complex as it is ambigious, with the term itself having no clear, set definition. From the beginning, this project necessarily involved making many decisions with regards to how I would define this 'thing' that I was trying to measure, as well as with the criteria chosen and how it was analysed. Needless  to say, there was a large subjective component to this project related to the factors chosen and the weights given them. Further, the criteria I used only covered some of the aspects related to the concept of sustainability. Therefore, a clear understanding of how I choose the criteria used in this modeland the weights given them is necessary for this analysis to be useful to other researchers. Clearly, the justification for the criteria chosen and the weights
given could have been far more in depth. As a result, other researchers should assess the
methodology of this project with intense scrutiny to assess the utility of it for thier own research.

         In regards to the residential dwelling density criteria I used, I would have liked to some how incorporate population density into the equation. When I refine this model, I will  likely
measure residential dwelling density by dividing total land area of residentially zoned land by
population living in that area.

         Other innacuries with this analysis could result from the data used. For one, the 1996 census data used in this analysis from the 1996 census is now six years old. Obviously, 2001 census data would provide a more accurate result of the current state of sustainabilty in the region. Also, as much of the census data I used was 20% sample data, there will be some degree of inacuracey inherent in the results.



Suggestions for Further Research

Further research that could be done using the model developped for this project might include:

• Developping a larger set of criteria with which to measure sustainability that might include qualitative factors as well as quantitative ones.

• Determining the casuality between each of the factors used to measure sustainability.

• Research how sustainability has changed over time to explore wheter communities are becoming either more or less sustainable.

• Come up with other factors not included in the analysis to analyse causality between overall sustainability and the factors chosen.

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