To be clear we're comparing (almost entirely non-existent) development at VMC to SCC - the latter of which is a centre that has existed long before the concept of centres came to be, decades before the concept of P2G UGCs, that actually has the ingredients of a centre, that actually has high transit usage, that actually has thousands of residents and jobs and pedestrians and cyclists...
Yes, obviously one exists and the other doesn't. In both cases we're talking about what the future MIGHT hold.
But I've seen you comment on NYCC enough that I know even you will admit that Scarborough - AT BEST - is a mixed success. A fair person would probably say it has failed in its aims. If you go there and then to Yonge/Empress, the difference between a (relatively) successful, TOD centre and one that's basically a mall, an isolated civic centre and a bunch of towers is pretty stark.
Also, rather significantly, it has achieved this modest failure with existing RT. Yes, it needs to replaced, which is where a lot of this discussion is starting, but it's a pretty sad showing given what they already have. Given the rate towers are going up in VMC, pre-subway, it won't take them long to catch up.
As you know, I believe times have changed and lessons have been learned and there is no reason to think VMC cannot achieve its goals, at least to a degree and probably a greater degree than Scarborough has to date. The city's own planning documents show, in black and white, that they forsee no residential intensification and very little commercial intensification for Scarborough. We are replacing the existing line and serving what's there and, despite Duguid and others touting a fast-growing centre, not much else. And not only is it replacing the SRT, it's replacing a fully-funded LRT plan that was arguably more appropriate and more extensive, for a one-stop subway at greater cost. It's salt in the wound.
Oh, maybe they'll update their secondary plan just yet but I don't get why they had to wait. York Region, Vaughan, Markham and RH didn't. They were offered RT and got out in front of the ball. It's fine to be cynical or skeptical about how it will turn out but at a political and planning level they have schooled Toronto here.
At the end of the day, the projects are too different for any real tangible comparison but lots of people are citing it as another waste of money, like Vaughan. If you think Vaughan is a waste of money and subway to nowhere, I don't see how you can be any less upset about Scarborough. But even if you think Vaughan is a good idea, there's still reason to look askance at Scarborough.
It would be easier to take seriously if Tory et al seemed even somewhat perturbed by the ridership and cost projections but they literally seem like they don't care, since it's a fait accompli. The process should trouble people as much as, or even more than what the result might turn out to be 20 years from now.