Re: BY By Tommy boy Ford kicked out!!
^^
Some reasonable ideas in there. Nothing I see that would cause a problem IF it were all implemented together like that. But of course a real, detailed, well-structured plan needs a disciplined, intelligent, and charismatic person to sell it and to shepherd it through council.
The problem hasn't been a lack of good plans. Those have come and go a couple times in the past twenty years. Things like the Drummond report or Transit city weren't perfect, but at least they were mostly sound, with a good plan, timetable and all the rest. The problem is a nearly-complete failure of leadership at all three levels of government. Too much small-time, petty, and extremely partisan thinking.
For instance, removing the bike lanes on Jarvis didn't bother me so much because I was pro-or-anti cyclist (disclaimer: I do bicycle a lot), but because we spent $400,000 between Miller and Ford and got absolutely nothing for it in the end. The same thing happened when Mike Harris cancelled the Eglinton subway. They didn't just cancel the project, they actually buried the half-built stations. We paid someone to build them, then we paid someone to fill them in. How much money did that mean-spirited bit of petty bull**** cost us? It feels like that's all we've been doing for the past twenty years.
Also a not-particularly-related question:
What do you think of current development fees? A lot of surrounding municipalities have recalculated their development costs based on more recent numbers and have raised developer fees as a result. Is that appropriate for Toronto, you think?
+1. Little piddly moves aren't going to do much for anyone right now. Though a big and dramatic move that's just big for the sake of being dramatic probably won't help either. We need sustained discipline over a long period of time, with sure leadership to shore it up.
Me, I'd hate to be out west. I was born in Winnipeg and if I never live through another prairie winter again, I'm good. BC's very nice, but good luck affording anything there - Vancouver would be the one place to move to make my income/housing/traffic problems WORSE.
The two places I think I'd be very happy to move to for a decent job are the Maritimes, or the K-W/Cambridge/Guelph area. Used to live in Guelph and it's a very nice town. Even with the way it's expanded recently (yes, people are commuting from Guelph too!), it's still a nice place to live. Ottawa or Quebec would be okay if it was a really good opportunity, I suppose (I can speak French, so even moving to Quebec City would be something I could be cool with).
Of course none of those places are really a hot job market. Plus both the wife and myself have some medical conditions which are being well-treated in Toronto, which puts a big question mark over any move (in my case, a permanent pre-cancerous condition that is mostly harmless, but needs to be carefully monitored for life).
^^
Some reasonable ideas in there. Nothing I see that would cause a problem IF it were all implemented together like that. But of course a real, detailed, well-structured plan needs a disciplined, intelligent, and charismatic person to sell it and to shepherd it through council.
The problem hasn't been a lack of good plans. Those have come and go a couple times in the past twenty years. Things like the Drummond report or Transit city weren't perfect, but at least they were mostly sound, with a good plan, timetable and all the rest. The problem is a nearly-complete failure of leadership at all three levels of government. Too much small-time, petty, and extremely partisan thinking.
For instance, removing the bike lanes on Jarvis didn't bother me so much because I was pro-or-anti cyclist (disclaimer: I do bicycle a lot), but because we spent $400,000 between Miller and Ford and got absolutely nothing for it in the end. The same thing happened when Mike Harris cancelled the Eglinton subway. They didn't just cancel the project, they actually buried the half-built stations. We paid someone to build them, then we paid someone to fill them in. How much money did that mean-spirited bit of petty bull**** cost us? It feels like that's all we've been doing for the past twenty years.
Also a not-particularly-related question:
What do you think of current development fees? A lot of surrounding municipalities have recalculated their development costs based on more recent numbers and have raised developer fees as a result. Is that appropriate for Toronto, you think?
+1. Little piddly moves aren't going to do much for anyone right now. Though a big and dramatic move that's just big for the sake of being dramatic probably won't help either. We need sustained discipline over a long period of time, with sure leadership to shore it up.
Me, I'd hate to be out west. I was born in Winnipeg and if I never live through another prairie winter again, I'm good. BC's very nice, but good luck affording anything there - Vancouver would be the one place to move to make my income/housing/traffic problems WORSE.
The two places I think I'd be very happy to move to for a decent job are the Maritimes, or the K-W/Cambridge/Guelph area. Used to live in Guelph and it's a very nice town. Even with the way it's expanded recently (yes, people are commuting from Guelph too!), it's still a nice place to live. Ottawa or Quebec would be okay if it was a really good opportunity, I suppose (I can speak French, so even moving to Quebec City would be something I could be cool with).
Of course none of those places are really a hot job market. Plus both the wife and myself have some medical conditions which are being well-treated in Toronto, which puts a big question mark over any move (in my case, a permanent pre-cancerous condition that is mostly harmless, but needs to be carefully monitored for life).
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