[jje1000]

Any debate about the quality or cost-effectiveness of Waterfront Development projects just serve to distract from the Ford Nation's real intent, which is to sell city-owned land on the open market and use revenues to plug budget holes.

If the Fords were concerned about the specifics of Waterfront Toronto's work, they would surely have met with the WT CEO, attended board meetings (Ford is on the board), and just generally attempted to work within the established process. Instead, they sent out the attack dogs.

I do wonder how much of the land developers would be willing to buy- some areas are good, but other areas have contaminated soils that may need costly remediation.

 

[TrickyRicky]

What's important here is not that waterfront toronto should or shouldn't be scrutinized, it's that anyone cares what Doug Ford says. The fact that the media is interested in what Doug Ford says and more importantly that they are right to because he has such a frankly scary amount of influence in the Mayor's office is the real issue. This is something to be concerned about if you care about good government regardless of your political affiliation.

 

[allabootmatt]

This all seems rather a dangerous game with regard to the East Bayfront anyway. Presumably Hines and the other developers involved have very serious contracts with WaterfrontToronto, and very serious lawyers if those agreements aren't honored. And I would be willing to bet rather good money that those documents specify public realm and infrastructure improvements to be provided by the City and/or WT. Similarly, tripartite funding agreements between the three levels of government aren't typically written in gravy, but in rather permanent ink.

I know this is asking a rather lot of the Brothers Grim, but if I were them I would be awfully careful about shooting my mouth off.

 

[Urban Shocker]

My favourite Edsel ( or whatever his name is ... ) Ford quote from the Globe article:

Mr. Ford wants things to happen faster – big things. He talks about making the waterfront a true destination, with attractions like the giant London Eye Ferris wheel and dramatic buildings like the curvy “Marilyn Monroe” condominium in Mississauga – not just “square glass condominiums.”

He says that when he brings U.S. visitors to Toronto, they tell him, “Doug, you’ve got a beautiful, clean city but there’s nothing to do here.”

“Well,” he tells them, “there’s going to be something to do.”

Methinks we've heard this all before - spectacle! the Edifice Complex! etc. etc.

 

[nfitz]

I do wonder how much of the land developers would be willing to buy- some areas are good, but other areas have contaminated soils that may need costly remediation.

Doesn't really matter how willing they are. They will find it difficult if not impossible to get financing if the land doesn't pass standards. And most of these developers don't have the financial resources at hand to self-finance ... they need someone to put up the money.

 

[adma]

My favourite Edsel ( or whatever his name is ... ) Ford quote from the Globe article:

Mr. Ford wants things to happen faster – big things. He talks about making the waterfront a true destination, with attractions like the giant London Eye Ferris wheel and dramatic buildings like the curvy “Marilyn Monroe” condominium in Mississauga – not just “square glass condominiums.”

He says that when he brings U.S. visitors to Toronto, they tell him, “Doug, you’ve got a beautiful, clean city but there’s nothing to do here.”

“Well,” he tells them, “there’s going to be something to do.”

Methinks we've heard this all before - spectacle! the Edifice Complex! etc. etc.

Yeah, I guess Toronto's failed. I mean, compare Plano, Texas. If Toronto grew the way Plano has over the past half century, we'd have 15 billion people living here by now. But all we have is a piddly 2.5 million

 

[GraphicMatt]

To be fair, I tried to make a list of potential things-to-do-in-Toronto recommendations for Doug Ford's friends and came up only with "baseball game" and "????"

 

[urbandreamer]

Doug Ford was talking about his city, not our city. Etobicoke.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Doug Ford was talking about his city, not our city. Etobicoke.

In Doug's ward, he must have spent nights seeing the airplanes land on the runways as they pass overhead, place bets on horse races at Woodbine Racetrack, and shop at the Woodbine Centre (and ride in the amusement park in the centre).

 

[Tewder]

I guess both Doug and Billy Bob feel that Toronto is a whole lot of mashed potatoes sans gravy... wait, no gravy?

Still, I can see a little of Doug's point here. The waterfront is starting to feel a little overdesigned, a little too precious for words.

 

[Eug]

NOW Magazine has filed a complaint against Rob Ford.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/977067--now-files-integrity-complaint-against-ford?bn=1

In a complaint to the city’s integrity commissioner, NOW Magazine says Mayor Rob Ford abused his influence when a member of his staff contacted a City Hall custodial supervisor on Mar. 31 about an issue of the publication that featured doctored images showing Ford nearly naked.

The supervisor, Lorraine Pickett, subsequently instructed custodial colleagues at other city facilities to remove and dispose of all copies of the issue. Pickett said she had been asked to do so by “the mayor’s office.”

Ford’s spokesperson, Adrienne Batra, said the staffer had never made such a request. She called the situation a “misunderstanding.” But NOW editor and chief executive Alice Klein expressed skepticism on Tuesday.

“Under media scrutiny, the mayor’s office claimed that the order to remove and destroy our newspaper at all city facilities, including libraries, was a misunderstanding. We feel that that was a significant breach of citizens’ right to free expression, and we deserve a more detailed explanation. We obviously are suspicious that the mayor overstepped the powers of his office,” Klein said.

The integrity commissioner, Janet Leiper, investigates complaints that city councillors and the mayor have breached the council code of conduct. She does not have jurisdiction over staff members. Batra, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, said on Mar. 31 that Ford himself had nothing to do with the staffer’s call to Pickett and that he responded to the images with “good humour.”

---

Yeah, freedom of speech and all that, but honestly NOW now just sounds like a bunch of whiners.

 

[Redroom Studios]

My favourite Edsel ( or whatever his name is ... ) Ford quote from the Globe article:

Mr. Ford wants things to happen faster – big things. He talks about making the waterfront a true destination, with attractions like the giant London Eye Ferris wheel and dramatic buildings like the curvy “Marilyn Monroe” condominium in Mississauga – not just “square glass condominiums.”

He says that when he brings U.S. visitors to Toronto, they tell him, “Doug, you’ve got a beautiful, clean city but there’s nothing to do here.”

“Well,” he tells them, “there’s going to be something to do.”

Methinks we've heard this all before - spectacle! the Edifice Complex! etc. etc.

see, my impression of Toronto is completely the opposite: its a messy, broken down, poorly planned, garbage littered eyesore that has plenty of things to do.

 

[RC8]

That quote shows that these 2 live in Etobicoke and not in Toronto.

The CN Tower, Distillery District, and central King St. alone are substantially more than what most U.S. cities can brag about.

I feel, after living in both places, that there is a lot less to do in the entertainment mecca that is Miami, than in Toronto.

 

[Jonny5]

Still, I can see a little of Doug's point here. The waterfront is starting to feel a little overdesigned, a little too precious for words.

Now complete with nesting swan at HTO! (Best picture I could get under the circumstances)

 

[Urban Shocker]

In Doug's ward, he must have spent nights seeing the airplanes land on the runways as they pass overhead, place bets on horse races at Woodbine Racetrack, and shop at the Woodbine Centre (and ride in the amusement park in the centre).

Yes, and if we generously accept that he has the worldview ( or city view ... ) of an entry-level-skyscraper-geek-online-forum-newbie, his wide-eyed wonder at the London Eye and any building that isn't rectilinear sorta makes sense. But he's Edsel Ford, dammit, the power behind Ford Fairlane's throne, and if we took him to Yonge and Bloor and showed him Casa and walked him north to the Clewes Block and showed him 18 Yorkville and the new Four Seasons condo/hotel ... he still wouldn't get it, unfortunately.