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Riverdale Rink Rat said:
This is new, I think. I don't believe the Brothers Ford are planning on changing WDL nor the Hines plans. Nor even the Citizen stuff. This is about accelerating the south of Lake Shore, east of Cherry plans. Still asinine, but let's be fair in our criticism.
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Your point is well taken, but it's worth noting that the addition of elevated rail and, presumably, elevated stations would have significant impacts on the plans for other parts of the eastern waterfront.
 
Gavin said:
I wouldn't care if my wife was on council and proposed it, if it included a 1.5 million sq ft mall, the world's largest Ferris wheel, and a monorail I'd be equally furious.
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A 1.5 million sq. ft mall, the world's largest Ferris wheel, and a monorail on top of existing plans is what gets me. Why is there no room elsewhere?

Here's a fascinating post from the Globe and Mail:
I say if if the portlands are such a gem (and they are), then its worth taking the time to get them right. A lack of shovels in the ground isn't necessarily a lack of progress. Phasing strategies are a critical part of planning and growth management.

The least successful waterfront developments around the world share a common trait - they leap frog over post-industrial lands to take quick advantage of large land assemblies and views back towards the city. But they will always exist as an appendage to that city - a destination you drive to, and feel compelled to shop lest you feel unwelcome. They never grow from an established pattern; they just spring up out of the ground like suburbs.

WT's current plan recognizes the need to establish a meaningful connection to the portlands through the measured take-up of the West Don Lands and East Bayfront. As those projects start to come on-line (and they really are - go take a look) we gradually build enough interest and value to make the cost of the portlands worthwhile. But not yet. 20 years is an entirely appropriate timeframe. Don't worry, you can still get on with your life in the meantime.

And a shopping mall is NEVER an appropriate lead-in investment, as it creates a huge void of inactivity around it, and sets low development standards. The public sector should always control the catalyst infrastructure like roads, parks, pipes. Set a flexible block pattern, permissive zoning and high architectural and environmental standards. The public sector takes away the risk, but maintains quality control. THEN you step back and let the private sector do their thing.

Just another 'lefty' opinion from someone that did his master's thesis on waterfront development, and has worked on waterfront plans in Canada, the US and the UK. (And no, I don't work at WT)
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Gavin said:
I wouldn't care if my wife was on council and proposed it, if it included a 1.5 million sq ft mall, the world's largest Ferris wheel, and a monorail I'd be equally furious.
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That would be grounds for a divorce.
 
Found this, pretty funny.

thethingwith2heads.jpg
 
Good work on the graphics!
I remember that movie, I saw it at the Downtown cinema (now Yonge-Dundas Square) on a double bill with Blacula when I was a kid. They don't make 'em like they used to (movies, and Mayors).
 
EMP1729 said:
The way I see it, is Doug's vision is like this: http://www.broadwayatthebeach.com/

Ironically or perhaps fittingly, this isn't located near the beach. I'll admit, it appeals to some people, and the Ford Bros. would enjoy themselves there. But this doesn't belong in a city like Toronto. Myrtle Beach - yes. Woodbine Live is, actually, perfect for such a thing. Dougie should go focus his attention on that.
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Exactly. Woodbine Live is the perfect place for that. We want tourists to come to downtown Toronto to experience something unique, something urban, something that isn't the same as Nowhereville's tourist trap. Every city that doesn't have something to offer naturally builds that kind of crap. Real attractions are historic, natural, or artistic. Theme park Disneylands can be built in any part of this city, or any city, and they don't need the waterfront and Toronto's city core. What city doesn't have a mall? Where would these tourists have come from to be impressed by a mall?

The link to Myrtle Beach shows exactly what is wrong with the whole idea. You click dining and you get fake pirate ships and brands of restaurants found everywhere, you click attractions and you get a fake upside-down building, kiddie rides, and a putt-putt golf castle. You throw in some T-shirt shops selling a mix of shirts with Toronto and Canada related prints and ridiculous souvenir shops and voila... you have created something many cities with little to offer have already created.
 
And a shopping mall is NEVER an appropriate lead-in investment, as it creates a huge void of inactivity around it, and sets low development standards. The public sector should always control the catalyst infrastructure like roads, parks, pipes. Set a flexible block pattern, permissive zoning and high architectural and environmental standards. The public sector takes away the risk, but maintains quality control. THEN you step back and let the private sector do their thing.
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So true. How many cities have planned their downtown core revitalization around a mall and saw that fall through. London Ontario had the Mews and Galleria and there was another mall planned by Campeau at one point where the hockey arena sits now. Galleria, once filled with shops is now dead. The Mews is mostly surface parking.
 
Go Kristyn!


August 31, 2011

Open Letter to Mayor Rob Ford
City of Toronto
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2N2

Dear Mayor Ford:

I will be submitting an administrative inquiry to the City Manager in an attempt to make public
whatever information is available about the decision that was made not to bid for the 2020 Olympic
Games without Council's participation.

I've learned, through the media, that Toronto is required to notify the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) to express our interest to host the 2020 Olympic Games by September 1, 2011. I
cannot hide my disappointment that on the day before the deadline to express interest to the IOC,
43 other Members of Council were not privy to any details of the proposal. In fact, I believe that
you and Councillor Doug Ford disrespected our roles as elected representatives when you made a
decision by fiat without Council consideration.

Some of my constituents have asked me why Toronto turned down the bid so quickly, what the bid
was comprised of and why Council wasn’t involved with this decision. This is why I am writing to
you today.

Although Toronto is currently facing budget pressures, we as Members of Council still have a
responsibility to our residents to review and consider proposals that have a major impact on the
city. That is why we have rights to information as duly elected representatives.

With sincere respect to Councillor Ford, he is one of 44 City Councillors, is not a committee Chair,
and is not entitled to special privileges that do not extend to all of us on behalf of the constituents
we represent. This transparency and equality is a fundamental principle of our civic democracy,
and you as Mayor have a duty to ensure it.

Informal discussions in your office between you and your brother are not to be mistaken for official
committee or Council meetings. I believe discussions involving an Olympic bid require serious
exploratory consideration, due diligence, and a broader and more robust debate that involves all
Members of Council and Torontonians from every neighbourhood.

I am concerned with the health of our local democracy. The decision about the Olympics is only the
latest in a worrying pattern. On your first day in office, you declared “Transit City is dead” despite
the fact that a Council decision declaring it our first priority has never been revisited, and have
since been operating on the premise that your unilateral decree overrides the democratic
processes of civic government.

Media reports also reveal that detail financial and technical plans are not required by the IOC until
February 2012. There was sufficient time to engage all Members of Council and even more
broadly the general public about the feasibility of hosting the 2020 Olympic Games.

Transparency in government would have required that an informative briefing on the bid and an
invitation to the Olympic working group be presented to Members of Council on behalf of our
constituents. Whether one supports or does not support an Olympic bid, what is of the gravest
concern to me is the lack of accountability and transparency in your decision.

An informative briefing would have allowed Council Members and our constituents an opportunity
to learn more about the obligations and benefits expected for Toronto if we were to host the most
high profile international sporting event in the world. During such a briefing I would have asked the
working group whether or not Toronto’s hosting of the Pan American Games in 2015 could have
enhanced our bidding position. I also wanted to know if were leveraging opportunities for us to
“build once and host twice.”

I wanted to ask the Olympic Working Group what kind of legacy hosting the 2020 Olympic Games
would have had on Toronto as it relates to affordable housing, infrastructure, cultural assets,
amateur sports and public transit. I needed to know if there would be tangible benefits to the
suburbs as surely they would inherit all the major new facilities by their birthright in vastness of
land. I wanted to know if Toronto’s aging subways, theatres, recreation centres, swimming pools,
parks would have seen new stimulus funding. I would also have wanted to know if other levels of
government and private sector partnerships were interested in this collaboration.

As a result of your decision, we will not get answers to these questions, or even have the
opportunity to ask them. I am sure that my Council colleagues and the general public would have
had questions of their own for the working group about their Olympic proposal, but again we were
not given that opportunity.

In year 2000, then Mayor Mel Lastman championed the 2008 Olympic bid where the merits of the
bid were explored openly and debated robustly before Council unanimously agreed to submit
Toronto’s proposal to the IOC for consideration. Perhaps Council would have made a different
decision in 2011, but we will never know, as no vote will be held.

Mayor, our democratic institutions are to be respected and I urge you to re-consider the
governance style in which you currently operate. Making a public announcement cannot replace
legislative process and policy.

I am ready to work with you to build a more prosperous, just and beautiful city. A little respect
would go a long way.

Respectfully submitted,

Kristyn Wong-Tam
Councillor, Ward 27
Toronto Centre-Rosedale


Source: http://thestar.blogs.com/thegoods/2...ams-fords-over-olympics-decision-by-fiat.html
 
"Phew that stinks!" ..the only reason she and her left wing colleagues are pissed-off is because they were not invoved in that decision..otherwise if Ford had gone for it, Kristyn and her cronies would have been the first to shoot it down.
Nothing but socialist propaganda...cant believe she finds time to write that crap.
 
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Riverdale Rink Rat said:
This is new, I think. I don't believe the Brothers Ford are planning on changing WDL nor the Hines plans. Nor even the Citizen stuff. This is about accelerating the south of Lake Shore, east of Cherry plans. Still asinine, but let's be fair in our criticism.
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I thought it involved changes to the naturalization of the Don, which begins north of Lakeshore.

I was unaware that the Monorail was all south of Lakeshore and East of Cherry. That does seem bizarre to me .. but I'm sure you know better than me, I haven't seen a lot of information that Doug Ford provided, so I won't complain then. It's clearly not the issue I thought it was.
 
Automation Gallery said:
"Phew that stinks!" ..the only reason she and her left wing colleagues are pissed-off is because they were not invoved in that decision..otherwise if Ford had gone for it, Kristyn and her cronies would have been the first to shoot it down.
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Thank for being finally right! Ford's decision to shoot down the Olympic bid in lieu of council debate is exactly why Kristyn is upset. That, and his actions regarding the Portlands as well.
 
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