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I was just at The Busker's Festival, when they announced a "special guest" and who should walk out but our mayor. As soon as Ford was announced, a loud groan and booing came from the crowd. Then I noticed the organizers (dressed in the red shirts) started clapping and yelling something like "YEAH", to try to drownd out or stop the booing. The large group of police officers also joined in with the wild clapping. I wonder if the reaction is a sign that Ford's popularity is not as large as some claim or is the Busker Fest crowd just mainly a downtown crowd?

The crowd stopped booing when they heard Ford talk about Jack Layton.
 
Will developers who supported Ford get first dibs at development? Will this neighbourhood be reduced to a sea of condos?

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1045774--city-wants-to-seize-port-lands-project

City wants to seize port lands project
Daniel Dale
Urban Affairs Reporter

The city has proposed to seize the port lands redevelopment project from Waterfront Toronto, the three-government agency Councillor Doug Ford has repeatedly criticized.

The proposal calls into question the future of Waterfront Toronto’s plans for the site.

The agency, which has received $500 million from each of the federal, provincial and municipal governments, wants to create a mixed-use Lower Don Lands community with 12,500 residential units, 500,000 square feet of retail space, and 53 hectares of parks and public space.

Ford, who has called the agency “the biggest boondoggle the feds, the province and the city has ever done,” wants parks on the site — but has also proposed an NFL football stadium, “massive” high-end stores and a monorail.

Ford declined to comment Friday, saying he would not speak to the Star.

Under the proposal from the city’s top bureaucrat released Friday afternoon, the city would attempt to renegotiate its port lands agreement with the other governments and, if necessary, consider terminating it.

Under the proposal, Mayor Rob Ford’s administration would gain far more control over the port lands than it has at present. The city would remove the site from Waterfront Toronto and hand it to a reconfigured Toronto Port Lands Company.

The company’s current board is composed entirely of senior city bureaucrats. Under the proposal, the board would have two councillors, five citizen appointees and two bureaucrats.

The city’s major concern, as expressed by city manager Joe Pennachetti, is with the flood protection plan council endorsed in 2010.

Development on the land cannot proceed without a flood protection strategy.

The current plan is estimated at $634 million, but no funding has yet been committed to it, Pennachetti notes. He also argues the plan would “have the effect of limiting development potential” by separating the land into three parcels.

Pennachetti’s proposal suggests that the city “explore private sector and other options” for flood protection.

“The existing governance structure has been in place for 10 years and has not produced a viable funding plan for the port lands,” he wrote.

“It appears that Waterfront Toronto is not in a position to coordinate a comprehensive revitalization program for the port lands that would allow for significant development within the next ten years, at a minimum.”

Ford administration allies on council have complained publicly about the pace of Waterfront Toronto’s work.

Waterfront activist Julie Beddoes, who was part of the community liaison committee for the project’s environmental assessment, scoffed at the suggestion that the corporations would pay for flood protection, pointing to the Fords’ abandoned promise that the private sector would cover the cost of the Sheppard subway expansion.

But left-leaning councillor Paula Fletcher, whose ward contains part of the site, said she was willing to consider Pennachetti’s recommendations. The cost of flood protection, she said, has not been adequately analyzed.

“The issue has to do with affordability. Often there are plans in the port lands that aren’t affordable,” Fletcher said. “Other flood protection plans may be just as expensive. But we have not done the analysis. That’s really what we need to do. We need to do our due diligence. And if this report allows due diligence, then that’s a good thing.”

Waterfront Toronto spokeswoman Marisa Piattelli would not say whether the agency believes Doug Ford is behind the attempt to seize the project. But she said the proposal did not come as a surprise given Ford’s public comments about the site.

“We’ve all been aware — it’s been in the media — of a desire to look at the port lands,” Piattelli said.

She said the agency’s work has “flowed from the direction government has given us.” And she noted that “there’s been a lot of work done,” including the completion of a lengthy public consultation process and the $19 million environmental assessment currently being studied by the province.

The Lower Don Lands proposal, she said, was one of 17 projects worldwide endorsed for its environmental qualities by Bill Clinton’s climate change initiative. Piattelli called Waterfront Toronto’s plan “stellar.”

“If there’s a change of direction, and a change of approach, and the three governments want to do that, then Waterfront Toronto takes its direction from the three governments,” she said.

Waterfront Toronto, created in 2001, has been defended vehemently by prominent architects and planners since the onslaught of criticism began earlier this year.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...e-over-port-lands-development/article2144353/

Ford office aiming to take over Port Lands development
ELIZABETH CHURCH

The administration of Mayor Rob Ford is moving to seize control of development on the east side of Toronto Harbour, paving the way for ambitious building plans in the Port Lands at the mouth of the Don River and private-sector investment.

A report to the powerful executive committee, chaired by the mayor, recommends that a city agency – the Toronto Port Lands Co.– take the lead on future revitalization of the area, a role now played by Waterfront Toronto, a collaboration among three levels of government.

Members of the mayors’ inner circle, especially his brother, Etobicoke councillor Doug Ford, have made no secret of their desire to kick start development on the city’s eastern waterfront, the former home of a generating station and industrial land. The change in governance, to be considered at the committee’s Sept. 6 meeting, would establish a new board that includes two members of council to oversee development, giving the mayor a direct line to shape the plans.

“It’s the city’s. This is what we need to do. We have to take ownership,” Councillor Ford said on Friday.

The councillor said the 1,000-acre site south of Lake Shore Boulevard and west of Leslie Street has some of the best views of the city, but looks like a “dump yard.” A big and costly venture such as the port lands development needs a single authority to make the decisions rather than an arrangement that requires the city, the province and Ottawa to reach agreement, he said. He predicted development will attract badly needed cash and jobs to the city from international private investors who are on the hunt for stable investments.

The city report also recommends modifications to plans for the mouth of the Don River, a move Councillor Ford said is necessary to add land for development. He expects that with the proposed new arrangement, the revitalization can be completed in five or six years, compared to the 25-year horizon in the current plans.

The multi-use development he envisions would include impressive shopping malls, waterfront hotels, bike paths and possibly the world’s largest Ferris wheel. A stadium for a National Football League team – long an ambition of the councillor – would not be included, he said.

“We’ve got to get this city booming and tell the rest of the world about it,” he said. “This will be the most spectacular development in all of Canada. Your jaw will drop when you see this.”

The existing board of the Toronto Port Lands Co. already has given the green light for spending $550,000 for a consultant’s report on future development of the area, the staff report says.

Area councillor Paula Fletcher said the city needs to be cautious about jumping from one model for development to another. “There is a desire to go faster. Is that possible? I don’t know,” she said. “We have great expectations for the waterfront. It belongs to Toronto. It doesn’t belong to one councillor.”

She said the transformation of the mouth of the Don River, which now ends in a stagnant, litter-filled channel, is key to any plan. “You can’t build a new community around a ditch.”

Those who have worked for more than a decade to shepherd the existing plan are dismayed that the city would step in without any consultation.

“This is a huge slap in the face that this would come forward, snuck in as a staff report at the end of the summer,” said Cynthia Wilkey, chair of the West Don Lands Committee, a coalition of community groups that has worked for 14 years on the waterfront development.

The action, Ms. Wilkey said, calls into question the city’s credibility as a partner. “It is up to citizens now to raise the alarm bells.”

Councillor Ford said the new deal would not mean the city is severing its ties with Waterfront Toronto. “We are going to be working hand-in-hand with Waterfront,” he said.

Councillor Fletcher said the city needs to be cautious as it moves forward. “You only get to do it once, so you have to do it right,” she said.
Click to expand...
 
Torontovibe said:
6063983465_8d0041bded_z.jpg

Toronto by queer_central, on Flickr

I saw this on Front St. & Sherbourne.
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The OCAP March.
[video=youtube;U1p9R0Kdj_Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1p9R0Kdj_Q[/video]
 
Someone needs to follow the money down at the Portlands. Why is Doug Ford making noise about a place he probably never visited until someone took him by the hand and led him there? Is his interest only because he wants Toronto to be Chicago on the Mississauga and he sees plenty of room to surround buildings with parking lots in the Portlands? Maybe the Globe (not the Star, because he won't talk to them) needs to put Ford in a room with Ken Greenberg and have them detail their visions for the land.
 
taal said:
So a question, what area is this referring too exactly ...

I know there is basically:
East Bayfront
West Bayfront
Portlands (lower and something else) ?

Are they referring to the portlands only, not East / West Bayfront ?
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Okay after reading the article carefully I think it's just the lower donlands / portlands area. So East/West are safe so to speak.
 
taal said:
Okay after reading the article carefully I think it's just the lower donlands / portlands area. So East/West are safe so to speak.
Click to expand...

That's still not good. The Portlands offer an enormous opportunity to create a new mixed neighbourhood and turning it into another condoland will do the city little good.
 
The way Waterfront Toronto functions, it would take 25-40 years for anything significant to happen at that location.....
Waterfront Toronto has more than enough land to work with...“let's not be greedy here”
Forget the mixed use crap for this location, we already have more than enough proposed locations for that and the last we need is another look-a-like Riverpark City, East Bayfront, etc. This city of 5.5 million people deserves better than just turning this grand location into just another sleepy area.
I say, bring some life into this part of the city for all Torontonians and not just for the local dwellers that would think they would own this part of the city. Turn it into play/fun area with a grand city square, beaches, parks, film studios, casinos, stadium, amusement area, sports fields. etc. etc. etc.
.. Come-on how many more boring mixed-use residential neighbourhoods do we really need in this city.:confused:
 
Here's my take on it ... and I've always been a very pro waterfront Toronto organization from the get go.


I would be devastated if the plans for West / East Bayfront were changed, I think they both have the potential to add a great new neighborhood to Toronto. Tourist site ? Maybe to a certain degree, just how other areas (i.e. Queen W / King W / Bloor W ... are) but no major tourist attractions. Also, given how there isn't really any way to connect it to the central waterfront (less Queens Quay it self) this won't help the matter in that regard alone (i.e. as tourist area).

West Donlands adds something very similar and also the pontentially expandng the disterily district.

Sounds great and very promissing for all of us.


Now the portlands is more of the same (more parks really) and it's not planned to have any 'real' development for many years.


Given this in some ways this transfer stirs some excitement ... let WT focus on East / West Bayfront and let's see what the city can potential due with the other area, I think a big tourist attraction hear is called for. I love parks but I think we really have enough so I'm with the poster above on this.

But at the end of the day lets give credit where it's due ... if Sugar beach / Sherborne park represent the quality we can look for in the rest of the Bayside (Hine) development I think we'll have a lot to be thankful for.
 
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