Toronto Bloor Street Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Bloor-Yorkville BIA | architectsAlliance

Someone needs to explain this to me ...

I ride on the subway twice a day 5 days a week for the last 5 years. You can add to that a trip or two every weekend.

For the most part I have not noticed 1) excess order (exception being when the AC is off ... which is rare) 2) anyone eating food in a way that was even slightly offensive (I won't touch the rest of your comment pertaining to that) 3) An overly dirty subway car ... in fact I can attest in all my world travels (New York, London, Paris, ...) I find that the TTC cars are the cleanest (Yes there are some exceptions but again I can count them on one hand). I'll give you the fact that stations are dirty nothing that would want to make you throw up but you definitely do not want to touch the walls.

Delays on the bloor line are VERY rare ... on Yonge line they occur more often particularly in the last year but the TTC has explained this situation although yes it's annoying.

So to sum up I need someone to either tell me I'm crazy or have been completely missing something the last 5 years.
 
taal said:
So to sum up I need someone to either tell me I'm crazy or have been completely missing something the last 5 years.
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No, you're pretty much bang on. TTC subway service is excellent, and I've had no problems with odour, excessive litter (once on the subway) and have only met the occasional annoying fellow passenger. I think some people are just anti-social and get easily offended by the most minor things.
 
Or maybe some people just learn to tune out the environment around them? The woman beside me ate a bowl of cereal! Then after she put away her bowl, she peeled a banana and ate that. Sorry, but that's gross. A snack bar or a few cookies is one thing - but she had a bloody picnic!
The Bloor-Danforth line (being newer) is clean enough and brightly lit. My remarks were more about the clientele.
Recently, I read an article about some woman who advocates 'car-free' days in Kensington Market because people need to 'interact' more. I did not see much interaction on the subway. I made a point of watching the people around me. Half were wearing headphones and staring off into space. Others were reading their books. I was lucky enough to only have to endure the sardine can for 1 stop, as everyone got off at Yonge. Being squished like that for $2.75 is not my version of fun.
Quite often I will jump the subway down to the Eaton Center and walk back, or vice versa. Having the subway as a convenient luxury is fine. As a daily event, no thanks.
I may not be a subway expert, but my partner is. He takes the Subway every day, as he did in Sao Paulo. Be thankful he doesn't post here. He has a few choice things to say about the state of this system.

When you grow numb to something, do you really notice how bad it has become?
It's not that I am against the subway - hell, we should build more of them. But some of our politicians prance around like Toronto is the Center of the Known Universe. Ha! I've watched our infrastructure slide for the past 30 years: our roads, our highways, our subways, the sewers, the beaches. Frankly, the partisanship and neglect is criminal.

We need to start demanding better from our politicians - of all 3 levels. The days of passing the buck and blaming each other for the mess that Toronto has become are over.

There are never any 'good solutions' any more: just mere compromises.
 
Well I for one can't wait to see this project finished! (with bikelanes)
Bloor has world class shops, but the street itself is not.

They should do it to Eglinton. Its pretty ratty looking.
 
Considering how long it takes to traverse the city on public transit, it isn't unreasonable to pack a meal or two to eat on the way.
 
I hardly ever have occassion to ride the subway, but one of the few times I can remember doing so the person beside me was eating a big stanky sub smothered in onions. I wanted to vomit.

I also don't understand the logic of bikes on Bloor. It would scare the crap out of me to ride in that traffic and pollution and congestion.
 
Strangely, I think the only time I've felt nauseous was on the subway in Sao Paulo, of all places. Linea C travels aboveground for some distance immediately beside a "river" that is filthy and clearly loaded with sewage. No fault of the subway really, but highly disgusting.
 
I once felt nauseous on the bus because this woman behind me was eating some sort of ungodly fish-like dish... God I feel queasy just thinking about it..
 
So, has anyone raised the fact that certain subways (Washington, f'rinstance) ban eating?
 
Dichotomy said:
Or maybe some people just learn to tune out the environment around them? The woman beside me ate a bowl of cereal! Then after she put away her bowl, she peeled a banana and ate that. Sorry, but that's gross. A snack bar or a few cookies is one thing - but she had a bloody picnic!
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Big deal. Its not like this happens all the time anyways. I've had experience with systems throughout the world and I drive more often than I take transit, so there is no "numbness" clouding my judgement.

Ha! I've watched our infrastructure slide for the past 30 years: our roads, our highways, our subways, the sewers, the beaches. Frankly, the partisanship and neglect is criminal.
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I don't think you'd find a single person on this forum who would disagree with that. If you cut down on your annoying melodramatic ramblings, you'd probably be more liked around here.
 
theman23 said:
I don't think you'd find a single person on this forum who would disagree with that. If you cut down on your annoying melodramatic ramblings, you'd probably be more liked around here.
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And given his "annoying melodramatic ramblings", one might as well imagine that our system is akin to American public transpo/infrastructure at its 70s nadir, i.e. as something "we" avoid.

At times, Dichotomy strikes me as the ultimate "roll up the windows and lock the doors in the ghetto" character--whether that's symptom or cause of American-style ugliness is up to you to decide...
 
From the Star:

Businesses seek Bloor-Yonge project delay
Aug 13, 2008 12:54 PM
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau

A coalition of Toronto businesses is taking the city to court over the $25-million transformation of the Bloor and Yonge area, arguing the project is seriously impacting operations and should be delayed.

The group, called Concerned About Bloor, has retained noted Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby to launch the proceedings.

The Bloor Street Transformation Project, which began construction a few weeks ago, calls for the beautification of Bloor between Avenue Rd. and Church St. including widened sidewalks made of granite, new trees and reduced parking spots. The goal is to make that part of Bloor, with its expensive retail outlets, a magnet for upscale shopping and tourists.

The project got the green light from Toronto city council two years ago, and council approved technical changes, including a narrower roadway, earlier this summer.

Two local BIAs, the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area and Bloor Street Business Improvement Area, supported the plan and are using a levy to repay the city's $20 million loan for the project.

But the coalition behind the court action says there wasn't enough consultation.

Ruby is acting for William Ashley China Ltd., as well as a number of other businesses in the area.

Ruby, who plans to challenge the city in Divisional Court, told reporters today that the city is proceeding as though it's fixing a "pothole.''

He called for a halt to the project until an environmental assessment can take place.

"Does it mean we forever want this not to go ahead? It doesn't mean that. It ... can go ahead, but only after environmental assessments have taken place and consultations have taken place to make this a viable and better project,'' Ruby said.

Storeowners at today's press conference - including the part-owner of the Cultures store on Bloor and the owner of the L'Occitane en Provence on Bloor - said they were shocked a few weeks ago when construction barriers and work crews appeared in front of their businesses.

But between November 2005 and July of this year there were several notices to local businesses, and meetings at city hall about the project. There was also extensive coverage in newspapers including the Star.

A staff person in city councillor Kyle Rae's office said Rae is on vacation and unavailable for comment.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/477699

AoD
 
oh my god!! I swear sometimes I feel like we live in the most backward place in the developed world!! It is things like that lets progress go slower... this project is already a few years late.. do they not realise how much of a positive impact this is going to have on their businesses in the long run????
 
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