You're suggesting decking over the VIA and GO Willowbrook yards, right? Who would pay for that? There's no reason that it would be any cheaper than the Rail Deck Park being touted for north of CityPlace right now, and they're talking hundred of millions for that.
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*Parts* of the Mimico Yards, especially the proposed expansion for servicing the RER electrics adjacent to Judson. It would be financed as an offset condition of approval for density for the various developers involved in the overall cluster.
Section 37.
https://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toronto/City Planning/SIPA/Files/pdf/S/SECTION37_Final_JK.pdf
A footnote: The City's absurd approval of townhouses on the present site of ML Readymix on Judson St is going to the OMB, being taken there by Metrolinx. And the prime testimony for Metrolinx will come from the City's own Planning Department, who were against the approval. For obvious reasons, as discussed in a number of other forum strings at this site, Metrolinx will win this appeal, and the City and the questionable case for the developer and connections to at least one councillor will be laid bare in proceedings.
One of the ways (and this has been suggested by the local community orgs) to ameliorate many of the locals' concerns is to make it parkland there. I say take that one step further, (and Metrolinx also likes the idea of parkland on that location) is to increase the parkland space and damp noise concerns of the expanded rail maintenance operation by Metrolinx expropriating the Judson property(ies), digging slightly below grade for that section of yard, and decking it over for parkland.
This suggestion will be made at some point, as Metrolinx is very much in favour of intensification of areas adjacent to stations, and this would be a move to satisfy most everyone, and also allow further decking over later for Metrolinx themselves to utilize the air-rights for commercial/residential to recover costs and actually see a return on investment.
There's no reason that it would be any cheaper than the Rail Deck Park being touted for north of CityPlace right now, and they're talking hundred of millions for that.
The concept isn't manic in the least, Tory's approach is.
Many cities have done exactly this, and Oxford Properties are deeply involved in the Hudson Yards in New York (a fascinating development) and have a very real interest in Toronto's core.
Isn't it just a little odd that so many other *world class cities* can do this and Toronto can't? And yet Toronto has world class cost of land. The taxpayer stands to *gain* from effective planning and leadership, not pay for it.
But alas, that would require something a bit more dynamic that what we now have here.
Toronto's new CRE zoning category has yet to be used while Vancouver is far ahead in this nation on it, and the US much further ahead still.
New York even included a chapter on mixed Commercial/Res/Industrial zoning, *even within the same building* in this report: (Chapter starting page 35)
http://council.nyc.gov/downloads/pdf/NYEO.pdf
Discussion by Planet Citizen here:
http://www.planetizen.com/node/72451
And lo and behold! On that linked Planet Citizen page is this:
Toronto Wants a Deck Park to Span Downtown Rail Tracks