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Finch West Line 6 LRT

Towered said:
Why, that almost looks like a complete street!

Now we just need the density and vibrant retail strip...
Click to expand...
There are multiple apartment buildings in the photo?

Side note, as far back as feb/march basically everything was reported to be around 99% done, kind of hilarious close to a year later there are still regular closures and constrcution. I guess it's 99.999999999% done?

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Towered said:
You mean those towers-in-parks? That's not at all what I'm talking about. Think more the built form of St. Clair - midrises with, you know, actual shops lining the street.
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IMO that only works if there is something "desirable" in the area. Most of the route is either residential, or industrial. I'm hoping this will change but like most of the areas outside the old city of Toronto everything feels designed around moving people to work downtown or school and then home at the end of the day.
 
Towered said:
You mean those towers-in-parks? That's not at all what I'm talking about. Think more the built form of St. Clair - midrises with, you know, actual shops lining the street.
Click to expand...

Unlikely. That photo is of Sentinel and Finch, I grew up there. Off to the sides of the photo (to the right) is the rest of the University City complex along Four Winds Drive: six legacy condo towers, and the nearby mall now has townhouses and I think another rental proposal that would replace it. The Fountainhead towers - the ones in the photo - I also don't see being redeveloped, unless they squeeze a building or two in whatever greenspace it has, and next to *them* is the hydro corridor. Further north along Sentinel are all the dense townhouses built on what was then the periphery of the York University campus all along up to Murray Ross Parkway. To the left, just out of view, is a gas station abutting the single family homes stretching all the way to Keele (where there is an old plaza and townhouses that have a rezoning application in the pipeline for I believe two condo towers) kitty-corner to Finch West Station. To upzone that stretch of Finch from Keele to Sentinel would mean buying out all the old - still in good shape - houses that are probably still owned by the nonnas and nonnos of the guys I went to elementary and high school with, and they would raise holy hell. Speaking of, to the left of the photo also out of sight are some old townhouses near Derrydown that could be redeveloped, then next to them are St. Wilfrid's Church and St. Wilfrid's elementary next to it (my old church and school), and next to that is the Black Creek Ravine, which obviously won't see development. The church and school would have to go in order for that corner to be built up, but my understanding is that St. Wilfrid's might be expanded due to enrolment growth - it was last expanded in 1980.

And across the other - north - side of Finch is parkland/greenspace owned by, I believe, the Catholic School Board and/or the city, and I would be very surprised if that was given up in its entirety. At Keele is James Cardinal McGuigan - my old high school - so as much as I fantasize about it being blown up, I don't see it going anywhere as it was just recently - about ten years ago - expanded. So densification *might* happen at Sentinel, but certainly not west of it until you reach Tobermory and over to the Jane Finch Mall, which definitely has big plans for densification. At Keele, yes, there are several proposals in the pipeline. I've said this before but seeing LRT tracks in front of my old schools just blows my mind.
 
turbanplanner said:
There are multiple apartment buildings in the photo?

Side note, as far back as feb/march basically everything was reported to be around 99% done, kind of hilarious close to a year later there are still regular closures and constrcution. I guess it's 99.999999999% done?

View attachment 617436
Click to expand...
If you kook at my various, I stated the charts were over stated on what I was seeing first hand with a higher uncompleted number. Even today, its about 98%-99% completed with various areas at 100%. It is at the stage where TTC can have trainers train and have them start training the crews. By the time the crews are fully trained and and ready to run the 30 full service testing, the rest will be 100% complete by then.
 
drum118 said:
If you kook at my various, I stated the charts were over stated on what I was seeing first hand with a higher uncompleted number. Even today, its about 98%-99% completed with various areas at 100%. It is at the stage where TTC can have trainers train and have them start training the crews. By the time the crews are fully trained and and ready to run the 30 full service testing, the rest will be 100% complete by then.
Click to expand...
Yeah fair point we talked about it weeks ago
 
drum118 said:
By the time the crews are fully trained and and ready to run the 30 full service testing, the rest will be 100% complete by then.
Click to expand...
It will surely be years before it's 100%. The Line 1 extension to Vaughan is still not going to achieve 100% this year, and will now run into 2025.

But that doesn't necessarily effect opening.
 
Towered said:
Why, that almost looks like a complete street!

Now we just need the density and vibrant retail strip...
Click to expand...
I was going to say—between the protected bike lanes, curb extensions and transit right of way—it looks downright European.

Further areas of improvement would be to bury the utility wires, ensure pedestrian crossings are very well illuminated and east-west crossings across small streets are raised.

As for the built form, I firmly believe towers in the park get a lot of unjustified hate. These buildings provide:
  • 5-10x the density of single family detached
  • way larger units than anything built after the 2000s
  • the backbone of the relatively affordable older rental and resale units in the city
They just need a bit of decent landscaping to make the "park" areas nice.

Besides, it's good to have separation between towers. Certainly a better living experience than units staring into each other's windows just a few metres away.

And finally, not every street needs, or can be, Queen West. What makes Queen West special is every other area not being like that.
Space Gary said:
rockbolter
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My OF handle.
 
Last edited:
nfitz said:
It will surely be years before it's 100%. The Line 1 extension to Vaughan is still not going to achieve 100% this year, and will now run into 2025.

But that doesn't necessarily effect opening.
Click to expand...
What do you mean for the Line 1 Vaughan extension?

Work isn't done yet?
 
yurt2022 said:
What do you mean for the Line 1 Vaughan extension? Work isn't done yet?
Click to expand...
Yes - The Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE). The six new stations from Sheppard West to Vaughan Megalopolis Centre. Construction started in 2008, and it opened in 2017.

If you look at the TTC's December 2024 update on major projects, there's a report on the delay to the project.

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