interchange42 said:
Along with the re-writing of history in that article, especially as concerns the original scope of the project, I have a problem with the way he characterized a number of dealings through his glossing over of details. @Ward8's choice of the term propaganda to describe the essay is spot on.

42
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Well, to be fair propaganda - def: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person - requires that there to be a cause. I am not sure if there is one so far as Sidewalk is concerned.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Well, to be fair propaganda - def: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person - requires that there to be a cause. I am not sure if there is one so far as Sidewalk is concerned.

AoD
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The article seems to have been created to get Sidewalk Labs other jobs by shifting the blame over their failures in Toronto, like they think that every other city will—or at least should—roll over for them, like they expected Toronto to, if only we breathed the same air as those up in the God realm.

42
 
interchange42 said:
The article seems to have been created to get Sidewalk Labs other jobs by shifting the blame over their failures in Toronto, like they think that every other city will—or at least should—roll over for them, like they expected Toronto to, if only we breathed the same air as those up in the God realm.

42
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There is a sucker born every minute! To think that this appeared in a journal called "Governing" is sadly laughable.

AoD
 
As soon as I read this propaganda, I wrote Alex Marshall an email and attached Rocky's amazing river valley tweet/pic:

ATTN: Alex Marshall

Hi Alex:

I read your Sidewalk Labs Toronto article with a bemused grin and some head-shaking. I won’t suggest that the article was "under-written” (by Google ;-), but wonder about the quality of air circulation in your "glass-walled skyscraper in New York City's newest urban district, Hudson Yards”.

Pretty sure you’ve re-written the actual time-line and fudged Sidewalk’s agenda here: "Waterfront Toronto entered into a partnership with Sidewalk Labs to carry the vision** out” - ** this vision presumably means, at the very beginning, Sidewalk had a deal to gift us with all 880 acres of the Lower Don Lands with their genius. Utter nonsense.

“...consigning Sidewalk to a 12-acre parcel called Quayside”. < Pretty sure this was what Sidewalk agreed to do before trying to expand their reach by 868 more acres.

"I suspect that if I visit Port Lands a generation from now, it will still be a largely empty and underused piece of land.”

You should drop by sometime and take an up-to-date photo of the $1.5 Billion being spent just to provide flood protection (little stuff like creating a new river valley as seen in the attached photo), site remediation and shipping (gorgeous) new bridges from the Netherlands etc. etc.

Best regards.
 
So you spent all that time just to write someone a nasty note? Some people have too much time on their hands.
 
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isaidso said:
So you spent all that time just to write someone a nasty note? Some people have too much time on their hands.
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I think it's commendable to see engaged citizens standing up for what they believe in and making their stance known to those who have challenged it.

Beats shouting into an Internet forum.
 
ADRM said:
I think it's commendable to see engaged citizens standing up for what they believe in and making their stance known to those who have challenged it.

Beats shouting into an Internet forum.
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What's super ironic is that the guy who wrote about our "generational wasteland" forom the NYC "God Realm" didn't know/mention the Lower Don Project, which is headed by a NYC-based firm (MVVA) with it being one of the biggest project in their portfolio :rolleyes:. Did he do his homework, or is he hoping no one will do his homework? Someone whose temporary office (cough cough) not even 1km off the site should know better.

AoD
 
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He wrote me back:

On Oct 15, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Alex Marshall <amcities@gmail.com> wrote:

All good points. I knew about the $1.5 billion new canal/river and indeed saw it myself. I should have mentioned that. Hard in a column, because if I mentioned it I would have had to explain it, which would have taken a few sentences. I saw it when in Toronto.

But a flood control project, even with some nice bridges, is not a new city filled with homes and businesses. I still think Toronto let a huge opportunity slip away.

So I wrote him back (don't worry I'll stop now ;-)

Alex, editorializing like "Although Waterfront Toronto and Toronto's mayor pledge to soldier on in some fashion” smacks of a condescending “big brother” (ironically) corrective for his little brother (Toronto). You do realize that this little town nicknamed The Six has by far more active skyscraper and medium-rise construction sites on the go than any city in North America (during COVID) and has $Billion+ dollar makeovers happening in neglected neighbourhoods across the city like Regent Park, Alexandra Park, West Don Lands etc.

Even the suburbs are exploding with growth (Mississauga’s Oxford and Rogers developments alone dwarf most U.S. cities developments).

It’s not like we need a ton of extra help in order to 'soldier on' to the future ;-) And rest assured there many experienced developers who will be coming to the Bayside table and the larger Portlands vision.

Best.
 
3Dementia said:
He wrote me back:

But a flood control project, even with some nice bridges, is not a new city filled with homes and businesses. I still think Toronto let a huge opportunity slip away.
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Hahaha, he was in Toronto - he should know damn well this is not a city that had trouble filling with homes and businesses. It wasn't a problem in East Bayfront, it wasn't a problem in West Donlands.

You know what this article read like? Someone who is a lover spurned.

AoD
 
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
Hahaha, he was in Toronto - he should know damn well this is not a city that had trouble filling with homes and businesses. It wasn't a problem in East Bayfront, it wasn't a problem in West Donlands.

AoD
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Also, the whole point of the portlands project is precisely to unlock this land (and other land in the area) for development!
 
ADRM said:
Also, the whole point of the portlands project is precisely to unlock this land (and other land in the area) for development!
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The whole notion of Sidewalk being a white knight to deliver us is nonsense anyways. It would have been nice to have, but not in the terms they had offered, and we are the ones in the position to choose.

AoD
 
I find it hilarious that these bros from NYC think we need their help to build out the Port Lands. That's going to be some of the most desirable real estate in the city once the parks and infrastructure are in. Any developer in North America would be salivating to get a slice of the Lower Don Lands once it's in a developable state. Sidewalk had some interesting ideas but we'll be just fine without them. They're trying to rewrite history here: in reality, they always needed us way more than we needed them.
 
Automation Gallery said:
We just might be getting a pedestrian bridge south of the Lower Don Lands to the islands:cool:...

www.blogto.com

Here's what a new bridge to the Toronto Islands could look like

The idea of building a fixed link between mainland Toronto and the city's beloved network of nature-filled Islands has been the subject of recurrent …
www.blogto.com www.blogto.com
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This is the prefect opportunity to get our Calatrava cable-stayed bridge (married to a swing component). Now that's a Jasonzed drone skyline shot I can't wait to see. :)

puente_de_la_mujer_buenos_aires_32008.jpg

Link
 
I think the span of any bridge will have to be a lot higher than this/and or being a drawbridge to accommodate shipping - and it will have to get Ports Toronto's OK.

AoD
 
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