How NOT to encourage transit use.
To encourage transit use, both the origin and destination should be close to a transit stop or station. However, in current years, the development I have seen does not encourage transit use. It has been the opposite. The development has been to encourage automobile usage, and ignores transit.
Here's some examples from St. Clair Avenue West:
This Wal-Mart was built in the last few years. The photo is from near the (limited use) bus stop. There is an asphalt desert to be crossed to reach the entrance. (When the St. Clair streetcar is extended, the stop may or may not be used.)
The entrance is close to St. Clair, but there is no transit stop here.
This corner of the Wal-Mart building is the closest to the St. Clair and Runnymede corner where several bus routes stop at. There is no entrances at all on this side of the building. One has to walk the entire side of the building to get to and return from the entrance. Bad design.
This is the corner of St. Clair Avenue West and Runnymede Avenue. A streetcar stop or station would most likely be built here. However, only the bank and a couple of other stores are convenient to transit users. The site is owned by (not very)
SmartCentre, who unfortunately want to build a shopping centre in
Leslieville. I hope it is not like this.
Then there is the Home Depot at St. Clair Avenue West and Keele. Get off at St. Clair or Keele, and you ask yourself "where's the entrance"? It's 180° around the building from here in the parking lot. Convenient is you use an automobile to take home those sheets of drywall, but if you are only looking from some screws and you use transit to get here, it's not. There is no entrance on this side of the building.
Here at St. Clair and Keele, it looks nice from the corner when you get off the streetcar or bus, but you have to go on an expedition from here if you do. Bad design.
St. Clair Avenue West and Gunns Road, the streetcar loop. The entrance to the Canadian Tire is not visible in this photo, its another 150 m left in the photo to the Canadian Tire entrance from here.
This is part of the Home Depot, but it is not the entrance. Its the greenhouse and outside garden centre yard. Still have to continue going around the building.
No entrance for pedestrians to the Home Depot from here.
The bus stop at Keele Street and West Toronto Street. There is no entrance to the Staples store behind the bus shelter. It's 180° around the building to walk to the entrance.
Just a blank Staples building wall.
To make Transit City a success, buildings along ALL streets within Toronto (and 905) have to be made more transit user friendly. These photos are examples of how NOT to design buildings. Buildings have to be multi-use, low-rise buildings, which indulge mainly to the pedestrian and transit user. Then Transit City can be successful. Start building for the pedestrian and transit user
now.