ProjectEnd said:
It's almost like something happened in the Toronto real estate market like 1.5 years ago that threw everything into flux..
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Everything wasn't empty here 18 months ago.

Lease terminations could have been revoked/extended; or failing that, the units could have been put back on the market pending a plan to build.

ProjectEnd said:
I don't disagree, but that's never going to happen. I'd love to introduce a 'tax by lot width' a la Amsterdam, but that's not the world we live in...
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I'm not going to dox myself here; but I will say, I've spent a significant amount of my adult life doing activism both professionally and personally; and I have to believe change is possible (I have been involved in making it happen before) so I'm not going to stop trying now.

The world we live in must evolve. It will.
 
Northern Light said:
Everything wasn't empty here 18 months ago.

Lease terminations could have been revoked/extended; or failing that, the units could have been put back on the market pending a plan to build.
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Vacant land shows better and holds more value than something encumbered by a lease.
Northern Light said:
I'm not going to dox myself here; but I will say, I've spent a significant amount of my adult life doing activism both professionally and personally; and I have to believe change is possible (I have been involved in making it happen before) so I'm not going to stop trying now.

The world we live in must evolve. It will.
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Again, I don't disagree. But that's not what's going on here today.
 
However, leases do provide holding income over the period of time needed to typically prepare the site approvals for a redev. I realize that’s not needed here, but leases aren’t always considered in the negative. Either way, the purchase price probably won’t be negatively affected by a short term lease in place. It’s a wash from what I’ve observed.
 
TossYourJacket said:
Well I guess we're doomed to a dead streetcorner for 5-10 years. What a wonderful main street we have here in Toronto!
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In all fairness, one building isn't going to turn Yonge Street around. It's a 4 lane thoroughfare for cars with a narrow concrete sidewalk thrown in as an afterthought. People don't go to Yonge Street because it's nice. We'll likely need wait another 30+ years before it gets re-worked into an appealing Main Street. Till then it will remain an embarrassment.

Toronto should take pointers from George Street in Sydney. 2 lanes (still space for parades), wide sidewalks, quality pavers, attractive lamp posts, landscaping). As much as I'm an advocate for bike lanes, Yonge is too narrow (and busy) to accommodate them. Put the north-south bike lanes on Bay Street and/or Church Street instead.


George Street Sydney
George_Street_Sydney_in_2021.jpg

en.wikipedia.org

George Street, Sydney - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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isaidso said:
Toronto should take pointers from George Street in Sydney. 2 lanes (still space for parades), wide sidewalks, quality pavers, attractive lamp posts, landscaping). As much as I'm an advocate for bike lanes, Yonge is too narrow (and busy) to accommodate them. Put the north-south bike lanes on Bay Street and/or Church Street instead.
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I just returned from a trip to Sydney, and it was a real eye opener with regard to how far away we are from being a 'truly' world class city. Not sure where the bad decisions have happened in Toronto since there are so many, and I can see progress in a positive direction relative to where we were just 10-15 years ago ... but my main take-away was that it would take decades just to catch up to what a city like Sydney has already done.
 
City improvement projects are always delayed here and take decades to get going. We have been talking about remaking King with the new tramway, John st makeover still not done, ReInvent Yonge in North York not funded, downtown Yonge not funded. We like to make plans in Toronto but never execute citing lack of funds. It’s lack of will here. Toronto and Canada just don’t have a sense of pride or place.
 
lead82 said:
City improvement projects are always delayed here and take decades to get going. We have been talking about remaking King with the new tramway, John st makeover still not done, ReInvent Yonge in North York not funded, downtown Yonge not funded. We like to make plans in Toronto but never execute citing lack of funds. It’s lack of will here.
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Yes, lots of things here are delayed and/or could be done better.........but.

This statement above is preposterous hyperbole.

Did you miss the project where an entirely new river has been built?

Or how about the all-granite sidewalks w/uplit trees along Bloor?

Perhaps the narrowing of Queen's Quay west and delivering that space as granite mosaic tile?

Toronto is having trouble opening..........but has built, a 22km rapid transit line on Eglinton; which is already being extended, has the Line 2 extension under construction, Finch and Hurontario LRTs wrapping up.....

Meanwhile, we have a thread devoted to the new landscape at U of T; and we created a National Park within the City that is currently seeing its visitor centre built and is delivering new trails, parking and washrooms.

The idea that we never deliver 'big idea's is just way too much.

lead82 said:
Toronto and Canada just don’t have a sense of pride or place.
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Nonsense.

Yes, it needs to be better, yes progress needs to come more quickly; but this City is not some open dumpster fire; if you think it is, you haven't really traveled much.
 
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I never said we are a dumpster fire. We both agree that things here take time. A lot of the projects you mentioned were accomplished yes, most during Millers term or started /
funded by him. Since Rob Ford and Tory not much was built. Yes the port lands are proceeding but that was started years ago back under Mel Lastman days.

My main point is very slow change and lack of political will. At the pace of growth Toronto has we should have had all the projects I mentioned completed already. This is a wealthy city but looks run down and unloved, which it is.

When I say we don’t have a sense of place I meant what we do here is small time. Compare the esthetics of Canadian cities to even US cities, I won’t even dare compare to EU where cities have centuries of history.

I have travelled plenty and while Canada has lots to be proud of our cities are shabby but very livable. They lack the infrastructure and aesthetics of global cities. They lack grandeur. It is in our culture to not invest in cities and when we do it’s modest at best. We starve them at worst. Heck we don’t even invest in our version of the White House - the PMs residence - that’s a national shame. Compare our national capital to Washington or heck even a Scandinavian city. We are in a second tier. That is what I mean by lack of pride. We simple don’t care and are fine with mediocre and run down infrastructure and public realm.
 
lead82 said:
I never said we are a dumpster fire. We both agree that things here take time. A lot of the projects you mentioned were accomplished yes, most during Millers term or started /
funded by him. Since Rob Ford and Tory not much was built. Yes the port lands are proceeding but that was started years ago back under Mel Lastman days.

My main point is very slow change and lack of political will. At the pace of growth Toronto has we should have had all the projects I mentioned completed already. This is a wealthy city but looks run down and unloved, which it is.

When I say we don’t have a sense of place I meant what we do here is small time. Compare the esthetics of Canadian cities to even US cities, I won’t even dare compare to EU where cities have centuries of history.

I have travelled plenty and while Canada has lots to be proud of our cities are shabby but very livable. They lack the infrastructure and aesthetics of global cities. They lack grandeur. It is in our culture to not invest in cities and when we do it’s modest at best. We starve them at worst. Heck we don’t even invest in our version of the White House - the PMs residence - that’s a national shame. Compare our national capital to Washington or heck even a Scandinavian city. We are in a second tier. That is what I mean by lack of pride. We simple don’t care and are fine with mediocre and run down infrastructure and public realm.
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I have never seen Washington DC and any city in Scandinavia in the same sentence! 😂

Let’s be clear about something: Toronto is twice the size of Sydney as well as being 2-3 times as dense. A few sparkly projects in the centre of a city does not make the entire city.

Canadian urban areas have done a lot of very heavy lifting in terms of basics that become apparent when looking at long range statistics. Btw the new LRT in Sydney is on par with the Eglinton delays. Shambles! 🇨🇦🇦🇺
 
Northern Light said:
Yes, lots of things here are delayed and/or could be done better.........but.

This statement above is preposterous hyperbole.

Did you miss the project where an entirely new river has been built?

Or how about the all-granite sidewalks w/uplit trees along Bloor?

Perhaps the narrowing of Queen's Quay west and delivering that space as granite mosaic tile?

Toronto is having trouble opening..........but has built, a 22km rapid transit line on Eglinton; which is already being extended, has the Line 2 extension under construction, Finch and Hurontario LRTs wrapping up.....

Meanwhile, we have a thread devoted to the new landscape at U of T; and we created a National Park within the City that is currently seeing its visitor centre built and is delivering new trails, parking and washrooms.

The idea that we never deliver 'big idea's is just way too much.



Nonsense.

Yes, it needs to be better, yes progress needs to come more quickly; but this City is not some open dumpster fire; if you think it is, you haven't really traveled much.
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Yes Bloor and Queens Quay were done well. Eglinton is a HUGE missed opportunity with Eglinton Connects not funded for the entire street to have been transformed.

I’ve been to Rouge Park and I’m sorry but calling it a national park is a disservice to our national parks. It’s a glorified city park and nature preserve with the same lack of care that city parks get. There is nothing grand there. It’s done on the cheap/modest.

Compare that to say Central Park in NYC. Even our Toronto Islands park while great is shabby and falling apart. We have potential to be fabulous but are fine to keep things mediocre. Remind me when are we going to upgrade our ferry terminal that looks like a mobile prison? We have the designs years ago… ETA? Never. Same goes with foot of Yonge park, I mean parking lot. The fact our Main Street Yonge is in shambles, no one seems to care. Same with our main city square NPS - what a disaster the remake was - it’s a dogs breakfast.
 
rdaner said:
I have never seen Washington DC and any city in Scandinavia in the same sentence! 😂

Let’s be clear about something: Toronto is twice the size of Sydney as well as being 2-3 times as dense. A few sparkly projects in the centre of a city does not make the entire city.

Canadian urban areas have done a lot of very heavy lifting in terms of basics that become apparent when looking at long range statistics. Btw the new LRT in Sydney is on par with the Eglinton delays. Shambles! 🇨🇦🇦🇺
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Toronto is 2x the size and denser and yet our public transit is a lot worse. Compare Toronto transit to Stockholm or Sydney or DC? Ours is a joke - 2.5 lines that are very unreliable. Proving my point, that our cities are neglected. It’s not the 1-2 flashy projects it’s the overall neglect from dead street trees to overflowing garbage to broken transit.
 
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