LRT is practically the only reasonable transit solution for the east part of the waterfront beyond the short term. The plans are drawn up, but the city hasn't funded it, so it can't be built yet. Yet the mayor would like faster development of the land. Again we see how careful and thorough the thinking is in this tinpot regime.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/City+wants+faster+sale+port+Lands/4598945/story.html

I'm sorry, but I don't see how Ford can meddle in Waterfront Toronto without slowing everything down materially.
Click to expand...

I don't see how Ford getting involved can make matters any worse.

After 10 years of existence and $3/4 Billion in expenditures the ONLY thing that Waterfront Toronto has to show for itself is a controversial 8 story office building and adjacent park.

I think it is long overdue for this organization to get a kick in the pants.
 
Progress has been slow down there. Intolerably slow for we Urban Toronto types who are always watching the pot to see when it will boil. But I don't see Ford making it any better.

Funding has been a gigantic issue trying to get anything going down there. The fact that it's metered out in dribs and drabs is a huge part of the problem. We've been wanting something "worlde class"on a parochial budget.

Ford certainly won't be on the side of any of the necessary gigantic outlays of money needed for highly visible, high-end projects. He's obviously also dead-set against any new funding for surface transit anywhere (especially streetcars), which was one of the vital centrepieces of the entire waterfront project - not just for making new density and projects viable, but for the entire comprehensive planning and beautification of Queen's Quay Boulevard along it's length.

Happily after years of digging sewers and the like, it looks like the whole things about to take off. What with eastern parcels bought up, and the Pan-Am games fast-tracking the Don lands.

It can't happen quickly enough, IMO. But I wouldn't expect a guy who doesn't even want to fund the basics to have a grasp of how to work the rest.
 
Peepers said:
I don't see how Ford getting involved can make matters any worse.

After 10 years of existence and $3/4 Billion in expenditures the ONLY thing that Waterfront Toronto has to show for itself is a controversial 8 story office building and adjacent park.
Click to expand...

...and a number or planned, funded approved projects that have broken ground or are set to break ground very soon. Planning is important. Planning takes time.
 
Peepers said:
After 10 years of existence and $3/4 Billion in expenditures the ONLY thing that Waterfront Toronto has to show for itself is a controversial 8 story office building and adjacent park.

I think it is long overdue for this organization to get a kick in the pants.
Click to expand...

I assume you think that you can just build 60 storey buildings all over the place without decontaminating the land, planning streets and infrastrucure and transit. WT has spent most of its time doing these kinds of (invisible and rather boring) things and in next few years you will see LOTS of buildings going on top of the new infrastructure. Look at West Don Lands, look at East Bayfront; these are new communities and they are underway right now. Would I have liked it all to be done faster, YES but I would rather "measure twice and cut once".
 
Peepers said:
After 10 years of existence and $3/4 Billion in expenditures the ONLY thing that Waterfront Toronto has to show for itself is a controversial 8 story office building and adjacent park.
Click to expand...

Bzzt. Try again.

Completed
- Flood prevention landform that allows development on most of the land to occur is complete.
- Sewer system through West Don Lands complete.
- HtO Park complete.
- Port Union Waterfront Park complete.
- Marilyn Bell Park and Western Beaches Watercourse complete.
- Mimico Waterfront Park Phase I complete.
- Sherbourne Common south complete.
- Waterfront Edge at Harbourfront complete.
- Three wave decks complete.
- Sugar Beach complete.
- Corus Quay complete.
- Cherry Beach renovation complete.

Under Development
- Union Station second platform project under construction.
- George Brown college under construction.
- Canada Square under construction.
- Bayside Development contract signed.
- Parkside Development contract signed.
- Queens Quay LRT and street makeover EA complete.
- Cherry LRT EA complete.
- West Don Lands neighbourhood study and EA complete.
- River City Development contract signed.
- Pan Am Games development in advanced planning.
- Don River Park under construction.
- Underpass Park design complete.
- Keating Channel precinct plan complete.
- Mouth of Don design competition and EA complete.
- Lake Ontario Park master plan complete.
 
I can see why the general public would have felt it's been really slow, up to say 2 years ago i.e. from the late 1990s ? to 2007 or so ? There was little in the way of completed projected the public can use.
But Ford is not part of the general public and should know better.
 
"Government sponsored waterfront development a waste: Doug Ford

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...development-a-waste-doug-ford/article1984730/

“You don’t subsidize the most valuable property in Canada to the tune of $10-million an acre,†he said. “You let the private sector buy it and let them develop it. We can control it. We can say we want a round building here and a square one here. We can control it but we don't spend 1.5 billion dollars in tax dollars when everyone’s feeling pressure. It’s just common sense.â€

I forget now - what is the reason why the taxpayer is subsidizing the most valuable land in Canada?:confused:
 
Neocon translation:
'common sense'='my opinion' (often based on feelings sprinkled with a couple articles they read in the opinion section.)
'the people'='me' or 'I' (or at most 'the people who voted for me and who share the same brain as I do')

...god, it's going to be a long treacherous 4 (or gulp, 8) years.
 
Peepers said:
"Government sponsored waterfront development a waste: Doug Ford

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...development-a-waste-doug-ford/article1984730/

“You don’t subsidize the most valuable property in Canada to the tune of $10-million an acre,” he said. “You let the private sector buy it and let them develop it. We can control it. We can say we want a round building here and a square one here. We can control it but we don't spend 1.5 billion dollars in tax dollars when everyone’s feeling pressure. It’s just common sense.”

I forget now - what is the reason why the taxpayer is subsidizing the most valuable land in Canada?:confused:
Click to expand...

The private sector is more than happy to buy the land and cover it with condos- see the central waterfront as a prime example. The problem lies in the creation of public land. Do we want another Canoe Landing "Park", or do we want another Sugar Beach?

I currently see it more of an excuse to sell off the land to cover the massive gap in the budget.
 
After the lunatics at city hall sell off all the furniture in the house, then downsize the house to a shack and still have a shortfall years from now, are they going to commit arson to collect the insurance?
 
What can Ford do unilaterally? Can the city actually force Waterfront Toronto to sell off land, or do the province and/or feds get a say?
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top