David Suzuki Foundation that is.
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Suzuki
- Thread starter Wingboy
- Start date
POWERMAN
Well-known member
I lump David Suzuki in with MADD. Potentially founded with good intentions but decades ago went off the rails and now their scope has expanded to vehemently oppose and development (or drinking) without bothering to conduct a reasonable analysis of the impact.
Farmers complaining about loss of farmland is rich. Protected farmland is low five figures per acre. Unprotected farmland is in the mid six figures per acre. The land is worth more financially than all future farming that would ever occur on the land. If they really want to protect it, add the conservation authority to their title as a co-owner. Done. Protected. Lots of budget to fight for your land. How many farmers have actually done this?
I'm not saying 413 should happen (although I am leaning that way) but I dislike most of the crap opinions by both sides. Do we want affordable housing (which I still think means constructing many many more dwellings) or do we want to protect the situation as it exists now? As for 413 encouraging the destruction of adjacent lands, the adjacent lands are already under contract and will be built on regardless. The thing that changes is how long people on those lands sit in traffic to reach their destination.
The Suzuki Foundation is being used to get the word out there. I don't hold him in very high regard either. I'm just passing on info for a close family member (Dr Ryan Norris).
TK4
Well-known member
After WW2 there was a huge push on to build AFFORDABLE housing for returning veterans and their families. They were small, 2 and 3 bedroom basic - detached, semidetached and row houses with one bathroom on small lots. See: Scarborough, East York, Richmond Hill, etc. Now everyone thinks they need mega monsters or life is not fulfilled. All it takes is someone with vision to do it again - good luck with that one.
While I respect Ryan's opinion, that video had a lot of crap in it too (possibly added by DSF).
- Vehicles emitting 17.4 million extra tonnes of pollution. That assumes that no highway equals no vehicles. That is a blatantly false statement.
- Save 30 to 60 seconds per trip. Like hell. Going from north to west (or vice versa) will be tens of minutes saved by avoiding the congestion at 400/401 to 427.
- 407 sits underused. True but a crap argument. How do you utilize the full potential of the 407 at this point? It would cost more than a new highway to buy it back.
- Mississauga, Vaughan and Toronto have voted against it. Surprise, surprise, the three municipalities that get bypassed vote against it. The municipalities it serves (and destroys) have not had similar resolutions.
413 is a moot point without expanding the 400. All those cars from the west are going to pour south every day into Toronto for work.
Most congestion is due to the heavy use of the DVP, Gardener, Allen Road and Black Creek, everyone wanting to live cheap in the 905/519 but make 416 dollars. These bottle neck the highways across the GTA.
Which should have a $5 per entry toll for every non-Toronto vehicle using them to help fund their repairs and expansions. As they primarily serve people who pay nothing for them.
Add a few new TTC subway extensions towards Mississauga, Pickering and Markham and parking lots paid for by the 905. To help encourage commuting.
And maybe one day we won't have all this congestion with proper highways and public infrastructure.
Most congestion is due to the heavy use of the DVP, Gardener, Allen Road and Black Creek, everyone wanting to live cheap in the 905/519 but make 416 dollars. These bottle neck the highways across the GTA.
Which should have a $5 per entry toll for every non-Toronto vehicle using them to help fund their repairs and expansions. As they primarily serve people who pay nothing for them.
Add a few new TTC subway extensions towards Mississauga, Pickering and Markham and parking lots paid for by the 905. To help encourage commuting.
And maybe one day we won't have all this congestion with proper highways and public infrastructure.
They have been expanding the 400 for years. They just never finish it. 413 takes a lot of traffic out of the 400/401 intersection that is barely functional day or night. It takes a lot of traffic out of 401 from 400 to 410 which is normally a cluster as well. I don't understand why you think the 413 makes no difference. Only drop into the mess if your final destination is the mess.
Entry toll isn't a bad plan. Chicken and egg problem though. Transit can't cope with existing volumes. Pushing many more people onto transit that used to drive actually cripples transit for toronto residents. I haven't ridden it but apparently as the vaughan stops came on line, the subways going south were full before they got to toronto with the majority of riders going all the way down. Without twin tracks and express trains, you can't flow too many more people on the existing lines. Slippery slope though. You could make the same argument for Toronto people leaving the city to pay tolls to 905 municipalities. They can take transit out as easily as people in the burbs can take public transit in. Pretty soon everybody is paying and it is general tax revenue the same as it was before anyone was paying.
City roads are one thing. Toronto is the only city burdened to maintain freeways in the province which is another.
As the city continues this path of being vehicle free, due to most new housing units without parking spots (we are already past 30% of households not owning a vehicle). It might be 20 years, but Toronto will cease to service them as it will become a political issue spending $200 million a year on two roads.
So we either tax the actual users of the road, or we take it down. But either way, one of these two options will happen sooner then people think.
I think we should go the route of London and other cities. Toll anyone entering the core from anywhere.
Unfortunately we do not have the transit capacity in our system to take that load on. However….there are 4 major transit projects firing up. GO transit can ramp up the number of trains. Work is happening, but the problem is our transit is so intertwined with political whims that it’s hard to get anything built.
IIRC the original Shepard line was started, stopped, and filled back in because of political change. It’s a risk for each project so they’re all pumping to get things going as the further in the process they are…the harder it is to justify cancelling it.
Unfortunately we do not have the transit capacity in our system to take that load on. However….there are 4 major transit projects firing up. GO transit can ramp up the number of trains. Work is happening, but the problem is our transit is so intertwined with political whims that it’s hard to get anything built.
IIRC the original Shepard line was started, stopped, and filled back in because of political change. It’s a risk for each project so they’re all pumping to get things going as the further in the process they are…the harder it is to justify cancelling it.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I live 1km north of the 407, heard all the same opposition when they built it. Since the build, red face, deer and coyotes have flourished in the margins of the highway. I know because they frequent the ravine I live on. Never saw them in my back yard till about 10 years ago, they all live behind my house now. So much so that the city installed “Wild in the City” signs along the ravine this year to keep the curious away from the newborns.
I haven’t heard an eco saviour discuss this. I invite Dr Norris to visit my yard. He will see deer, coyotes, red sided dace, monarchs, browns, and a barn owl - the wildlife that was rare to non existent pre 407, but now resident and visible He’ll also see too many rabbits, skunks, squirrels and raccoons.
I’m not saying the 407 brought them back, just saying it didn’t have the doomsday impact the Suzuki types predicted 30 years back.
Highways connect things, the help us grow and prosper. Move goods and people more efficiently and cleanly than congested surface streets.
I say build her.
I haven’t heard an eco saviour discuss this. I invite Dr Norris to visit my yard. He will see deer, coyotes, red sided dace, monarchs, browns, and a barn owl - the wildlife that was rare to non existent pre 407, but now resident and visible He’ll also see too many rabbits, skunks, squirrels and raccoons.
I’m not saying the 407 brought them back, just saying it didn’t have the doomsday impact the Suzuki types predicted 30 years back.
Highways connect things, the help us grow and prosper. Move goods and people more efficiently and cleanly than congested surface streets.
I say build her.
Isn’t David Suzuki a massive hypocrite?
big houses bad as he’s got many big houses?
Smaller families as he has many children?
Carbon footprint as he flies everywhere non stop?
Ive not heard much good about him.
big houses bad as he’s got many big houses?
Smaller families as he has many children?
Carbon footprint as he flies everywhere non stop?
Ive not heard much good about him.
He's good at converting the image of conservation to money.
Interesting post. Just today I was wondering what happened to the proposed plans from 20 years ago to put a highway through the Bradford area to connect 400 and 404. It was proposed to run across just north of Bradford (Hwy 88) and cut across the Holland River. Guess that never went anywhere. For this one, the idea of putting a new highway in that's 10 or 15 km north of the 407 is just ludicrous. But highways are better for the environment than millions of cars sitting in traffic because they have no highway to use.
Most of the 413 is 10 to 15 km from 407. That's about double the gap between 401 and 407.
Since they don't make it easy to find the route overlaid against landmarks, here's one I made up. 413 is orange line south of King Rd/King St. West terminus is at 401/407 interchange.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I invested in land at the foot of Ravenshoe back then, swampy stuff that was cheap, unless a highway was coming thru. Never happened.
I know exactly where you are talking about, I lived very very close to Ravenshoe and Leslie for 4 years, up till 2013
Also, why does he build all those motorcycles?
Better for the environment compared to cars….you know…fuel efficiency!
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