steveintoronto said:
Where to start on this one? A lot, like other advanced cities. RER through the core in tunnel would be an excellent place to start. And not just terminated, but through-running, even if a terminal (say University and Queen) was an interim destination until further extended west. NYC, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, etc, etc have this. Subways per-se are now being eclipsed with far more ambitious and efficient ways to move people from the core of cities to the outlying regions without having to change the mode of transport to do it. Subways are incredibly expensive to build. Extensions of present lines are being done, as the investment is already sunk, but new lines are now preferably RER in tunnel running through to surface lines already extant.
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The cost for that would be far greater than a similar length subway. You need the tunnel high enough for the bilevel cars to fit.
 
Streety McCarface said:
That councillor Maria Augimeri needs to calm the hell down...Seriously; it's not her land, and that area really should be where new apartment complexes are built; 2 subway stations by an airport barely ever used. It'd bring in far more taxes for the city so IDK why she opposes it.
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It is likely she is trying to protect jobs. I have family who work at that plant and they have known for years the plant will be either closing or relocating because they really only do the assembly, the fitting out is done in Montreal.

With that in mind, there is no need to keep the plant functional. If anything I can see the the feds expropriating the runway for civil defence purposes. During 9/11 fighter jets patrolled Toronto using the Downsview runway and I doubt anyone would want to lose a key piece of infrastructure without something in line to replace it.
 
Whoa!^ Actually I do see the airport being parceled off for development, but not the factory, which will be sold, but most likely to an associated transportation concern. The proximity to the Barrie Line adjacent adds a real value to someone in the rail business.
 
Richard White said:
It is likely she is trying to protect jobs. I have family who work at that plant and they have known for years the plant will be either closing or relocating because they really only do the assembly, the fitting out is done in Montreal.

With that in mind, there is no need to keep the plant functional. If anything I can see the the feds expropriating the runway for civil defence purposes. During 9/11 fighter jets patrolled Toronto using the Downsview runway and I doubt anyone would want to lose a key piece of infrastructure without something in line to replace it.
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Couldn’t Pearson, Billy Bishop or Oshawa Airport serve the same purpose for RCAF?
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Couldn’t Pearson, Billy Bishop or Oshawa Airport serve the same purpose for RCAF?
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It would be impossible to launch F-16s (or F-35s) from Billy Bishop or Oshawa Airport which are tiny little airports designed for cessnas or things with propellers. As for Pearson, doable but you would probably be conscripted at that point given how vital it is to the economy. They usage of Pearson would be a result of the MoD expropriating the land for military use using something like the emergency measure act.
 
steveintoronto said:
Whoa!^ Actually I do see the airport being parceled off for development, but not the factory, which will be sold, but most likely to an associated transportation concern. The proximity to the Barrie Line adjacent adds a real value to someone in the rail business.
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The land is too valuable to be kept industrial for very long. I can see the whole grouping of buildings (which date back to the early 50s) torn down and the area developed.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Couldn’t Pearson, Billy Bishop or Oshawa Airport serve the same purpose for RCAF?
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Absolutely, and do it better in the case of Pearson.

TorStar has info the NatPost didn't:
[...]
Mayor John Tory’s office is aware of Bombardier’s plans to shift production away from Downsview, said a spokesperson. “We have been in discussions with the provincial and federal governments as to how to protect — and even grow — jobs at Downsview and protect public investments made there over the years,” Don Peat said in an email.

But in an undated letter sent to Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare, Councillor Maria Augimeri (Ward 9, York Centre) said the 35-acre parcel occupied by Bombardier’s facility, is designated as Employment Land under the city’s Official Plan and that won’t change.

“Speaking on behalf of our municipality, it is our intention for it to remain so,” she wrote.

“It is regrettable that after so many millions of public dollars have been spent on the creation of an Aerospace Hub on the Downsview Lands, that the lead member of the group will walk away from the site and all of our investments,” says the letter obtained by the Star.

Augimeri said the city will hold the federal government to its promise that the federally managed and owned park and associated lands will be protected in perpetuity and held in the public trust.

“If any plans by Bombardier emerge in violation of this promise, we will fight them,” the letter reads.

In an interview, the city councillor said she had been approached by an undisclosed developer who said Bombardier had discussed selling the property for residential development for up to $900 million.

Two years ago, the province and federal governments gave Centennial College $44.2 million toward a $78-million aerospace campus at Downsview that is currently under construction. It was part of an aerospace hub that was touted for its potential to create thousands of jobs in the next 20 years.

Although it owns about 375 acres at Downsview, Bombardier only uses about 35 of those for its manufacturing and testing. Its 7,000-foot runway is seldom used.[...]
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https://www.thestar.com/business/2018/01/12/bombardier-considers-move-away-from-downsview.html

That factory is in too good a shape and too opportune to tear down. It's perfect for a rail concern to assemble kits from factories abroad. Including streetcars!
 
There's always the Pickering Airport lands that could be repurposed to a clone of Downsview Airport.
 
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