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Funny enough many activists hail from pretty comfortable backgrounds as well.
Which is interesting. I do not begrudge someone for being born with a silver spoon, and anyone that advocates for a truly better city, I think is great.

My guess is that people that live more comfortable lives can devote more time to more than just surviving, whether that is making the city better or NIMBYism.

My cynical take is that advocating can open doors in politics.
 
This is quite the passionate conversation about racism and how communities are torn apart through city planning and gentrification. And if this conversation were to happen anywhere I understand why it would be Sheppard East.

As someone who grew up in Malvern, I think the rest of the city, most of which never take the time to even come to Scarborough, truly underestimate how many people are taking transit in Scarborough. Even in the early 2000's it was common place to see 30+ people waiting for the 116 Morningside southbound at Sheppard during AM peak at 7 min frequencies. The 116 Morningside in East Scarborough carries about as much people as Hurontario in Mississauga and it's far from Scarborough's busiest route. Even more important to remember that the RT that Line 2 extension is replacing has been operating over capacity during rush for almost 2 decades. The only reason transit ridership in Scarborough isn't higher is a lack of capacity. Because of the suburban environment people tend to stay on transit for longer distances and so the turnover of passengers over the length of any route is much less.

The idea that Scarborough in and of itself isn't deserving of transit investment is racist. It's similar to the fight Weston had to put up to get a stop on the UPX. Weston is a dense neighbourhood that would respond very well to additional heavy rail service but somehow it was seen as undeserving, I wonder why.

Regardless, I am happy transit investment is coming to Scarborough. I am happy Scarborough is getting a medical school. I do think we need to be cognizant of how we build our city and what is motivating our collective decision making. I do think many minority families who own homes in Scarborough will benefit from their increased property values, and the ability to build additional buildings on their lot as per the city's new as of right rules for garden suites and laneway homes.

I do think provisions need to be in place at the direction of local residents to keep these communities intact and to ensure that these investments result in increased access to opportunity rather than displacement.
wonderfully said. 👏
 
From the Ontario Budget at this link.

1679625743080.png


Still "proposed" Sheppard East Extension.
 
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As someone who spent half my life in an apartment on the SW corner of Bathurst/Finch growing up there, and relying daily on either the 36 or the 7/160 (yes, I loved the Utah buses we leased!).

I am really peeved about the general push on this forum to extend the Finch West LRT any further east before Line 4. I would’ve much rather taken a Bathurst bus south to a Sheppard West extension station, that would reach McCowan (or STC), not to mention the flexibility it would provide the TTC with the Yonge North extension now. Finch west of Wilmington to Keele is all commercial/industrial - Sheppard between the Allen and Yonge is all residential, and has much more redevelopment potential.

I just think it’s ridiculous to be pushing any Line 6 extension east of Keele, until the missing Western gap on Sheppard is built, and yes, I would like to see redundancy (as in both).

Ps. It’s so sad to see how the plaza on the SE corner (Bathurst/Finch) has fallen.
 
As someone who spent half my life in an apartment on the SW corner of Bathurst/Finch growing up there, and relying daily on either the 36 or the 7/160 (yes, I loved the Utah buses we leased!).

I am really peeved about the general push on this forum to extend the Finch West LRT any further east before Line 4. I would’ve much rather taken a Bathurst bus south to a Sheppard West extension station, that would reach McCowan (or STC), not to mention the flexibility it would provide the TTC with the Yonge North extension now. Finch west of Wilmington to Keele is all commercial/industrial - Sheppard between the Allen and Yonge is all residential, and has much more redevelopment potential.

I just think it’s ridiculous to be pushing any Line 6 extension east of Keele, until the missing Western gap on Sheppard is built, and yes, I would like to see redundancy (as in both).

Ps. It’s so sad to see how the plaza on the SE corner (Bathurst/Finch) has fallen.
Are you talking about line four extending west from yonge or east from fairview?
 
As someone who spent half my life in an apartment on the SW corner of Bathurst/Finch growing up there, and relying daily on either the 36 or the 7/160 (yes, I loved the Utah buses we leased!).

I am really peeved about the general push on this forum to extend the Finch West LRT any further east before Line 4. I would’ve much rather taken a Bathurst bus south to a Sheppard West extension station, that would reach McCowan (or STC), not to mention the flexibility it would provide the TTC with the Yonge North extension now. Finch west of Wilmington to Keele is all commercial/industrial - Sheppard between the Allen and Yonge is all residential, and has much more redevelopment potential.

I just think it’s ridiculous to be pushing any Line 6 extension east of Keele, until the missing Western gap on Sheppard is built, and yes, I would like to see redundancy (as in both).

Ps. It’s so sad to see how the plaza on the SE corner (Bathurst/Finch) has fallen.
The thing is, a line 4 extension to the Sheppard West Station has more chance of benefitting someone coming from line 6, than a line 6 extension to Finch Station benefitting someone coming from line 4 - if only one of those can be built at a time.

Although, some advocates for line 6 east extension would also like it be extended all the way to Don Mills. Then it becomes, "why not Warden? why not McCowan? ".
 
From the Ontario Budget at this link.

View attachment 463712

Still "proposed" Sheppard East Extension.
still need the central part of sheppard to make it viable.
As someone who spent half my life in an apartment on the SW corner of Bathurst/Finch growing up there, and relying daily on either the 36 or the 7/160 (yes, I loved the Utah buses we leased!).

I am really peeved about the general push on this forum to extend the Finch West LRT any further east before Line 4. I would’ve much rather taken a Bathurst bus south to a Sheppard West extension station, that would reach McCowan (or STC), not to mention the flexibility it would provide the TTC with the Yonge North extension now. Finch west of Wilmington to Keele is all commercial/industrial - Sheppard between the Allen and Yonge is all residential, and has much more redevelopment potential.

I just think it’s ridiculous to be pushing any Line 6 extension east of Keele, until the missing Western gap on Sheppard is built, and yes, I would like to see redundancy (as in both).

Ps. It’s so sad to see how the plaza on the SE corner (Bathurst/Finch) has fallen.
So it should be easier to build the LRT do to lack of opposition. I think both will be built, but if you look at that map the Ford government is thinking only east right now, so it's on them, not the forum. They should just build this whole thing in one shot.
 
I wonder what the long term plan is to ease connecting between Line 4 and 6. Two transfers in just a few km will be asking a lot.
This is fantasy, but I don’t even see the need for a separate Line 4 station at Sheppard West (Downsview). They could connect the Line 4 tracks to the Line 1 tracks heading NW, and turn Downsview Park (GO) into the transfer station for southbound Line 1 passengers, and then Line 4 trains could interline upto at least Finch West to provide the easy Line 6 connection.
 
This is fantasy, but I don’t even see the need for a separate Line 4 station at Sheppard West (Downsview). They could connect the Line 4 tracks to the Line 1 tracks heading NW, and turn Downsview Park (GO) into the transfer station for southbound Line 1 passengers, and then Line 4 trains could interline upto at least Finch West to provide the easy Line 6 connection.
This does make sense, although I wonder if the TTC/Metrolinx would want to hamper any future western extensions of Line 4 like that. Alternatively you could turn the Finch LRT south at some point, but where is also unclear.
 

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