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If the lions are allowed to remain on the BMX course we might have an exciting revolution in Olympic sport on our hands.
 
Let's get real here, in the case of the Sea-to-Sky highway we're talking about public works around an existing route - which btw, seem to have seen safety improvements post-construction:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...es-drop-in-deadly-collisions/article22304930/

It's something the government would have undertaken on its' own, so let's not be facetious as if we're talking about wholesale destruction of habitat just for the sake of the games.

http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=a8c659b4-a054-4ece-a231-fe18d8518918

It's another example of successive governments humming and haaaing over a project for decades until they finally had to commit to a firm deadline because of the games.

AoD
I was kidding - lighten up.

Clearly Rouge Park needs to be paved over as a bus parking lot to make up for the fact that there isn't enough time to build any new subway lines by 2024.
 
I was kidding - lighten up.

Clearly Rouge Park needs to be paved over as a bus parking lot to make up for the fact that there isn't enough time to build any new subway lines by 2024.

Personally I'd be more worried about them messing with the existing WT plans instead (and that's something I am watching very, very closely).

AoD
 
Personally I'd be more worried about them messing with the existing WT plans instead (and that's something I am watching very, very closely).

AoD
Messing in what way? Instead of acres and acres of condos, some of it would be an Olympic park. Of course assuming the Portlands are still the site.

I'd rather have anything but more condos. Condos are a good piece of the puzzle, but it seems WT puts too much weight on them.
 
Messing in what way? Instead of acres and acres of condos, some of it would be an Olympic park. Of course assuming the Portlands are still the site.

I'd rather have anything but more condos. Condos are a good piece of the puzzle, but it seems WT puts too much weight on them.

The new mouth of the Don, etc. The details of the plans (where the condos/housing are, what not) may vary, but I want these broad strokes to stay, and I will be quite annoyed if those got ditched. Olympics is not a carte blanche - it should work within the existing frameworks - especially if you are going to argue that the games are a catalyst to move things forward on the various files.

AoD
 
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The new mouth of the Don, etc. The details of the plans (where the condos/housing are, what not) may vary, but I want these broad strokes to stay, and I will be quite annoyed if those got ditched. Olympics is not a carte blanche - it should work within the existing frameworks - especially if you are going to argue that the games are a catalyst to move things forward on the various files.

AoD
Those things would be untouchable, but I would put the Olympic Park on Villiers and have it swap names with Olympic Island (who the hell named that??)
 
Most of the Port Lands project is flood protection so I doubt the mouth of the Don/flood plains etc. would change. Especially since millions have already been spent on planning.
 
Those things would be untouchable, but I would put the Olympic Park on Villiers and have it swap names with Olympic Island (who the hell named that??)

Most of the Port Lands project is flood protection so I doubt the mouth of the Don/flood plains etc. would change. Especially since millions have already been spent on planning.

There is way more than just the Portlands at play - given the concurrent RER/DRL, Unilever, Villers and Studio District plans. I think they need to work it out and present a convincing case as part of the broader scheme for the games (and no less importantly, post-games).

Now having said that, it would be really, really neat to see a station right above the Don River serving neighbourhoods on both sides.

AoD
 
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Most people who are against the games in a city like Toronto have only a token understanding of the costs and factors involved. As someone who is quite fiscally conservative and has also researched this topic to death (spent years on the various Olympic forums among other things) I can state categorically they would be a surefire gamechanger for this city's longterm tourism, culture, sense of identity, swagger, infrastructure, public realm (short-term tourism may have only moderate effects) and would really put us on the map for a cost that can be managed comfortably if we play it smart. Even without Agenda 2020 we could still keep the Games staging costs including infrastructure costs to significantly less than $10 billion (including federal/provincial contributions). The cost to bid can be completely covered by sponsors so that in itself should not even be an issue.

Bwahahaha... you want to pay multi-billions for swagger??? OK, that was a fun post. We're already on the 'world map'. Why would an Olympics change that? We're growing at a huge rate, no Olympics necessary.

I do take offense at the 'token understanding' comment, though. That's just trying to say anti-Olympics dissenters are 'not sophisticated enough to understand' the politics/economics/influence/etc. And that's both condescending and completely wrong.
 
Those things would be untouchable, but I would put the Olympic Park on Villiers and have it swap names with Olympic Island (who the hell named that??)

Villiers is the name of a street in the area which the island is named after.
 
Has it been forgotten that the CSA plans to bid for the 2026 world cup as well?

The Olympic Stadium would be used for matches and definitely for the final. Would that make it more financially viable assuming we're awarded the World Cup? The costs would be split and factored in both events no?

Imagine 2024 Olympics, 2025 World Fair, 2026 World Cup!! I'd be excited!
 
Has it been forgotten that the CSA plans to bid for the 2026 world cup as well?

The Olympic Stadium would be used for matches and definitely for the final. Would that make it more financially viable assuming we're awarded the World Cup? The costs would be split and factored in both events no?

Imagine 2024 Olympics, 2025 World Fair, 2026 World Cup!! I'd be excited!
Given that the 2024 Olympics and the 2026 World Cup are both being awarded in the same year (2017), it doesn't make any sense to me to somehow financially justify building a new Olympic stadium based on also using it for the World Cup. There is absolutely no guarantee that will happen.

It would be different if we were already awarded one event or the other and were looking at bidding for another and calculated reusing the stadium as part of it.

The financials of a 2024 Olympic Bid and a 2026 Canada World Cup bid should be considered separately on their own merits.
 
It's OK to displace slums when you are building a futuristic city hall, no?

Gotta agree that I'm losing the plot on this whole levelled neighbourhoods thread - the Pan Am games didn't and there is still a lot of industrial brownfield space available. Which specific Toronto neighbourhoods did you have in mind?

I never said it was OK to displace slums either way.

Again, the recent history of the Summer Olympics involves displacing neighbourhoods. Not just in horribly corrupt countries but also in the UK. There are people in London who can tell you all about it and I have linked to their info. This happens because what is in the bid is not what actually happens during the 7-year preparation period. That is possible because of the extra-legal situation created by the host city contract. I've linked to that info too. Anyone who thinks I'm making this up can look at the links (I think it's very telling that they won't). The recent Olympics have never just made do with whatever vacant land happens to be available at the time, and there is no reason to expect that to happen in Toronto. Olympic bids - and most mega-event bids - nearly always originate with the development and construction industries, and it's so they can get their hands on land cheaper and easier than usual. Sign the books out of the library and read up on it - the info is all there.

I think the above paragraph should be pretty easy to follow for anyone with normally functioning cognitive ability.
 

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