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Northern Light said:
A couple more

In the name of greater freedom, allow back yard chickens, (no roosters and other reasonable rules) just like Vancouver has done (costs the city nothing)

AND

Push 'last call' back to 3am (do-able under the City of Toronto Act)
Click to expand...
I like that. Late drinking without the cocks.
 
  1. Don't ban restaurant backyard patios
  2. Don't ban restaurants with more than one floor
  3. Don't restrict nightlife to a tiny number of areas and then harass what remains
  4. Allow people to open new restaurants on all established commercial strips, including Ossington and College
  5. Eliminate deliberate desynchronization of traffic lights, which would speed travel for drivers, cyclists, and transit riders alike
 
One idea that wouldn't cost anything but would result in a big improvement would be to do away with secret deliberations at city hall. The previous council held many "in camera" sessions usually when discussing controversial subjects (e.g. Boardwalk cafe contract). I believe the only reason they did this was to avoid public scrutiny and it worked for the most part because the public was kept in the dark about important matters until long after the fact when it was too late to do anything about it. Ford himself spoke out against this practice (and hinted at the corrupt nature of these meetings) so hopefully he will make city hall more transparent.
 
unimaginative2 said:
  1. Don't ban restaurant backyard patios
  2. Don't ban restaurants with more than one floor
  3. Don't restrict nightlife to a tiny number of areas and then harass what remains
  4. Allow people to open new restaurants on all established commercial strips, including Ossington and College
  5. Eliminate deliberate desynchronization of traffic lights, which would speed travel for drivers, cyclists, and transit riders alike
Click to expand...

Are all those things official policies right now, or are they instances of regulation that happened on an ad-hoc basis in different neighbourhoods?

I want to see deregulation in street food. Have permits and some inspection system and let people vend what they want. Don't give a monopoly to one company to run the restaurants and cafes in parks.
 
"Eliminate deliberate desynchronization of traffic lights, which would speed travel for drivers, cyclists, and transit riders alike"

This x20. The sheer absurdity of driving along a street like Mount Pleasant or Bayview, only to be stopped at some nothing side street that has a streetlight that activates a red on the arterial for what seems like completely random and arbitrary reasons - even when there are no cars waiting for a green - is infuriating, same goes for Jarvis. Jarvis, Mount Pleasant, Bayview, Bay, etc. should have lights synchronized in the manner of New York's Avenues, where you can go from, say, the low 20s to the 60s-70s and even further uptown in 20 minutes or so, even in rush hour. Mind you, I think Bayview and Avenue should be altered to opposite one-way streets, but that's another debate....
 
I'd like to see last call pushed back until at least 4 a.m.

The old argument for leaving it at one was the subways stop running at 1ish but now that last call is 2, it's a pretty moot argument. And if last call was pushed back until 4 or later, you'd have staggered exits from bars not the mass crowds that leave at 2. The other reason is just, it feels very nanny state to have last call so early.
 
junctionist said:
Are all those things official policies right now, or are they instances of regulation that happened on an ad-hoc basis in different neighbourhoods?

I want to see deregulation in street food. Have permits and some inspection system and let people vend what they want. Don't give a monopoly to one company to run the restaurants and cafes in parks.
Click to expand...

Those are all official policies. The first two were pushed through by Pantalone before his career ended.

Completely agree about the street food as well.
 
Sort of...? The patio bylaws (and other things related to restaurants) came when city council passed unified city-wide zoning bylaws. It was the last major bit of amalgamation - now everyone across the city has the same rules.

Of course there's a lot of ridiculous stuff in there now. The idea, I think, isn't to ban things as much as it is to make businesses apply for amendments before they can do anything.
 
Tomorrow's Gas Prices Today says that gasoline is going up to 111.3¢ this weekend (2010/11/13). This despite 321energy.com showing a 3.38% drop in the price of a barrel of oil today, to $84.84.

We should therefore look to alternatives of transport, such as the bicycle. And once one buys a bicycle, using it is generally free.

Wait a minute, Rob Ford doesn't like bicycles! Even though using the bicycle will save the bicyclist money. Using a car that uses gasoline or diesel is expensive compared to a bicycle. I'm confused? Doesn't Rob Ford want us to save money? :confused:
 
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I don't understand the panic about gas prices. I drive 60 km round trip to work every week. That's about 350 km a week. I go through 45 litres of gas every 530 km or every week and a half, equalling about 12 km per litre. Today I paid $1.19 for gas. Two weeks ago I paid $1.05. So a tank of gas this week cost me $53.55, when last week it cost me $49.05. I need to fill up about 35 times a year. So my total cost for gas at $1.09 a litre is $1,716 whereas at $1.19 a litre it's $1,874, for a difference of $158, or $0.43 a day. No panic here folks.
 
unimaginative2 said:
  1. Don't ban restaurant backyard patios
  2. Don't ban restaurants with more than one floor
  3. Don't restrict nightlife to a tiny number of areas and then harass what remains
  4. Allow people to open new restaurants on all established commercial strips, including Ossington and College
  5. Eliminate deliberate desynchronization of traffic lights, which would speed travel for drivers, cyclists, and transit riders alike
Click to expand...





No Patios! we don't want businesses making money and people having fun at their neighborhood watering hole during those 2 and half months of summer patio season! ;)

Those who live in condo's should be allowed to enjoy beer and deep fried mozzarella sticks at their local pub's backyard patio like Mr Ford does on his backyard patio.
 
About allowing livestock such as chickens in your backyard. My friend made a good point about the risk a type of avian outbreak if you start letting masses of people having livestock on their property. Food for thought.
 
tkip said:
About allowing livestock such as chickens in your backyard. My friend made a good point about the risk a type of avian outbreak if you start letting masses of people having livestock on their property. Food for thought.
Click to expand...
I know at least six neighbours who have pet birds. A parrot is no better than a chicken, though likely chewier.
 
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