MetroMan said:
That said, I really liked Peter Fonseca, but then he went off to Federal politics and was wiped out in the Liberal Extermination of 2011. Bad move on his side. He could have been vying for the Premier's job in just a couple of years.
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He may well have been a viable replacement for McGuinty's job - they're very similar. Up until the beginning of this month, I lived about a block away from the Fonseca's and have met him in person. He's likable enough and I think he came into politics from the right place, so to speak, but when discussing actual issues he's remarkably like Dalton and is unable to give a very direct answer. Seemed a little slippery to me and rubs me as more of a bureaucrat than a leader.

The choices just aren't very good all around and I think McGuinty squeaks into a minority, unless the NDP siphon off enough votes to hand a minority to Hudak.
 
I don't expect a coup in the real sense of the word, but a quasi-coup is increasingly likely: Councillors running the city while ignoring the Mayor and perhaps choosing a leader to bring council together and setting a consensus policy direction.
 
Be careful what you wish for - that's one genie one shouldn't let out of the bottle - beyond the fact that even at its worst a 'coup' is hardly proportional to the issue at hand.

AoD

Metro:

Well, that's different - it's entirely within the framework of the law.
 
Doug Ford on the arrest of SPUD:

I come with an update to my blog here with an update for Toronto graffiti artists : stay the fuck out of my city. -- Doug Ford

Wow. That's pretty harsh. Have some decorum Councillor.

EDIT: This line...

I have confirmed with contacts in the Toronto police department that during the process of arresting “SPUD†at gunpoint, the 3 men involved in the graffiti (rightfully) had the shit kicked out of them by our wonderful Toronto Police force.
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... makes me think that this is a parody blog and not Ford's own words. Can't be. Or is it?
 
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MetroMan said:
EDIT: This line...... makes me think that this is a parody blog and not Ford's own words. Can't be. Or is it?
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As much as I oppose these clowns and would love to believe it's true, I'm 100% sure it's a bullshit site. Just look at its other few entries.

Or even its masthead: "Explaining. Talking. Staring."
 
This just appeared on City website:

WORK UNDERWAY TO CREATE A PLAN TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT IN THE PORT LANDS

Toronto, November 25, 2011 - Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto have begun work to create a development and implementation plan for the Port Lands and are inviting members of the public to be part of the process.

The goal of the initiative is to deliver a high-level road map for accelerating development and maximizing the value of the Port Lands as a unique city legacy. The undertaking is the result of Toronto City Council’s September 21 unanimous decision for Waterfront Toronto in conjunction with the City of Toronto to lead a review of the Port Lands and to ensure the process is informed by extensive public consultation.

An initial public meeting is being held from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Monday December 12 at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street. The meeting will include a summary of the work to date, the goals for the Port Lands initiative and an overview of acceleration opportunities and challenges for development. The meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to ask questions and discuss their goals and ideas for the Port Lands.

“The work being undertaken is an opportunity to seize the full potential of these lands and to deliver development of enduring value and legacy to the people of Toronto,” said Councillor Peter Milczyn, chair of the City’s Planning and Growth Committee. “It is a first step in realizing our joint objective of creating one of the world’s great waterfronts.”

The work is a highly collaborative process. Waterfront Toronto and the City are working closely with Toronto and Region Conservation and seeking input from other agencies such as The Toronto Port Lands Company and the Toronto Port Authority. Stakeholders such as land owners, tenants, port users and sector specific groups are being engaged throughout the process.

Work on the Port Lands acceleration initiative is well underway. A series of technical working groups are examining key issues including land use and design, infrastructure and constructability, and real estate development and financing. Waterfront Toronto has also issued or will be issuing a number of Requests for Proposals to competitively procure the required technical expertise.

“Our intent is to take a fresh and wide-ranging look at the challenges and opportunities of developing the Port Lands, including examining phasing options, higher-value interim uses, and the feasibility of modifying or removing existing constraints,” said Waterfront Toronto President and CEO John Campbell.

The comprehensive undertaking builds on the large body of work delivered to date on the Port Lands and Lower Don Lands and explores new ideas and creative solutions. The project includes:
• Further examining the options for the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Environmental Assessment (EA) within the EA’s terms of reference, by reviewing costing and exploring options for value enhancements through such things as alternative construction approaches and project phasing, and by increasing the development potential of surrounding lands; • Identifying financial and policy tools, incentives, and delivery mechanisms that enable development and offset or reduce the initial public sector investment needed to provide required infrastructure such as roads, services, utilities and flood protection; • Exploring opportunities to increase private sector investment involvement; and • Ensuring that the plan delivers a great waterfront for people to live, work and play.

Public consultation will play a central role in the creation of the go forward plan for the Port Lands and will include traditional in-person public meetings and interactive social media and/or web enabled consultations. The on-line consultation initiative is expected to launch early in 2012. In addition to the December 12 meeting, two rounds of public consultation are planned to be held throughout the city in 2012.

The final report on the results of the Port Lands review is expected to be completed for the June 2012 City Council meeting. On January 24, 2012 the City and Waterfront Toronto will provide City Council’s Executive Committee with a report on required funding for the review.
 
Is New York City planning their own giant ferris wheel?

Wall Street Journal: Ferris Wheel Eyed for Ferry Terminal

The Bloomberg administration is in advanced talks with an investment group seeking to build a giant Ferris wheel akin to the London Eye near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, according to multiple people briefed on the details of the proposal.

The plan for the structure would make it the tallest "observation wheel" in the world, lifting visitors roughly 600 feet, the people said.

By comparison, the London Eye, the popular 12-year-old tourist attraction on the South Bank near Parliament, is 443 feet tall, while Deno's Wonder Wheel at Coney Island stands 150 feet high.

Each year, the London site attracts about 3.5 million visitors who sit in large, glass-enclosed pods that offer panoramic views of London.

The investor group, Plaza Capital Group Management, responded to an August 2011 request for bids from New York City's Economic Development Corp. to develop two parking lots next to the terminal and on both sides of the Staten Island Yankees stadium. Plaza plans to develop the site furthest from the ferry terminal to the northwest, the people briefed on the proposal said.

Still, no deal has been reached, and a spokesman for the EDC, Benjamin Branham, said that the agency is "in negotiations with multiple respondents" for the two sites. Any development would need approval from the City Council.
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A giant ferris wheel tourist attraction makes sense on the south bank of the Thames, and in lower Manhattan, because there's something to see from it ( the Palace of Westminster, for instance ... ), but who in their right mind would have ever gone to the Ford's Portlands wheel if it'd been built, just to look at seagulls?
 
Urban Shocker said:
A giant ferris wheel tourist attraction makes sense on the south bank of the Thames, and in lower Manhattan, because there's something to see from it ( the Palace of Westminster, for instance ... ), but who in their right mind would have ever gone to the Ford's Portlands wheel if it'd been built, just to look at seagulls?
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Not that I'm saying the Ferris wheel is needed here, but have you ever actually seen the view of the Toronto skyline from the Portlands area? It's fantastic.
 
Yes, it's a pretty view from ground level but it's a distant view, and more or less the same view that you'd get from being up in a big wheely thing at the same location ... so who'd trek out there for it? As with the London and Manhattan examples, locating a big wheely thing in the heart of a bustling city where you get a surprising new perspective on established structures and familiar places is a different kettle of fish ( not that I'm saying the Ferris wheel is needed here either! ). A wheel at Yonge-Dundas Square, or at Pecaut Square, for instance, might work.
 
Assuming that people patronize a 'viewing wheel' for the view may be misguided to begin with. They go because they get to go up high in some contraption they paid $27.50 a head to get into, to take their obligatory pictures and say "been there, done that". I don't even know how many times I've been up the CN Tower with visitors and such and as a people watcher, I've noticed that most people are there for the experience, not so much the actual view.
 
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