Waterfront, Union Station, Eglinton LRT, St.Clair, Regent Park Redevelopment, Nathan Phillips Square, and the streetcar fleet purchase. These investments will shape the future of our city for the better.
Waterfront: HtO, Marilyn Bell Park, Mimico Waterfront, West Don Lands, and East Bayfront. When you think of the people that will live and play in the West Don Lands and East Bayfront the city will reap the rewards of this investment for a century. Whether or not there will be LRT to serve the area is up in the air.
Union Station: The purchase of Union Station and the decision to think big rather than do some remedial work will create a building able to handle large scale growth and create a building the city can be proud of. When I think back to the deals Lastman was about to make prior to the Paula Dill incident... spotlight on a piano in the grand hall proposals, one decent proposal... none of them hold a candle to what we are going to get. Throw in the GO train shed work, the air rail work, and the TTC station work and this is going to be an amazing place in 2015.
Eglinton LRT: Being able to go crosstown north of Bloor and connecting to the Don Mills / Eglinton employment centre and eventually the Airport Corporate Centre and the airport. This is a huge benefit. When it was going to partially run on the surface it made sense as an LRT... I think it would make sense as a four car subway if the whole thing is grade separated.
St.Clair: Naysayers be damned. The street looks much better than it did, the transit works well, the street is active with pedestrians, and the street doesn't move that badly.
Regent Park Redevelopment: The results are already becoming visible and the project has only started. Shuter Street will no longer be purposely misspelt Shooter once this project is done.
Nathan Phillips Square: It never looked that inviting, the changes over the years from blocking off walkways to installations in the square, and ageing concrete made it into a place that didn't look its full potential. Once complete this will be a place we can be proud to show visitors... not just "hey that is city hall" and a quick moving on but a place you walk around and check out.
The Streetcar Purchase: While the cars themselves don't look as great (in the renderings) as they do elsewhere (and here for the TC cars) they will allow streetcars to show their real value and allow the city to determine whether or not there is a place for them in the transportation network. The all door boarding, increased capacity, and accessible low floor will ensure people evaluating the value of the streetcar do so with a modern example of what that can be, not the equivalent of a 1970s electric trolley bus on rails. How will they work here and does the European on street experience translate to a North American city? We are about to find out. It can't be worse than the under capacity, inaccessible with steep stairs, low capacity dinosaurs roaming our streets today.