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Planning `gifts' that beg to be returned
December 28, 2006
Chris Hume
Sometimes the best presents are the ones you don't get. Sometimes, the worst are the ones you do.
This year, Torontonians missed out on a number of gifts that many didn't want in the first place. But we also received a few none of us needed.
Let's start with the Front Street Extension.
The good news is that it didn't happen, and chances are that it never will because of cost increases. Conceived as a means of avoiding the bottleneck that experts claim would result from the demolition of the Gardiner Expressway, it has no place in a city trying to reclaim itself from the automobile. Given that it's highly unlikely our cowardly council will work up the guts to take down the Gardiner, the extension has no place in Toronto. We should be concentrating on transit, not more highways.
Then there's the Toronto Port Authority, which has brought federal contempt for the citizenry to new heights, or should that be depths? From the start of his mandate, Mayor David Miller has made it clear he wants it shut down. Most Torontonians agree. However, a report prepared by former Ottawa bureaucrat Roger Tassé, who clearly didn't have a clue, exonerated the TPA, which will be around to look after its own interests and thwart those of the city. Its anti-civic record – unpaid city taxes, the Rochester ferry debacle, the Toronto Island Airport – has become the stuff of legend; it is now a designated villain, aided and abetted, indeed, empowered, by the federal government.
Speaking of the island airport, it is as misguided a venture as we have seen recently. Thanks to the TPA, it was enlarged and put back in operation this year by Porter Airlines, an arrangement as odious as any we know of. Its presence flies in the face of stated city policy.
The St. Clair Ave. streetcar right-of-way is one of those projects that could have – and should have – been much better than it is. Instead of using the extra width of St. Clair to accommodate public transit, vehicular traffic and pedestrians, the Toronto Transit Commission decided pedestrians would pay the price. As far as TTC officials are concerned, streets are transportation corridors, not destinations. Because of this kind of thinking, Toronto will never be a great city. Another example of why engineers shouldn't be in charge of major projects such as this. They, their standards, and their colleagues, the safety tyrants who only seem to know how to say no, have been successful at keeping Toronto from realizing its potential and ensuring it's just another North American urban wanna-be.
The spit hasn't fully hit the fan yet, but the soccer stadium at Exhibition Place is one of those private-public partnerships in which the public makes the payments, and the private sector, in the form of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, makes the profit. This white elephant-in-the-making will provide one more reason not to go to the CNE.
They say timing is everything, and certainly in the case of the Inn on the Park it was. The fabulous Peter Dickinson-designed hotel was torn down the day before the issue of its designation as a property of architectural significance went to community council. By the time the matter was raised, it had been reduced to rubble. It should have been the other way around.
With friends like the Dalton McGuinty Liberals, who needs enemies? This was the year the panicked premier agreed to a proposal from Ontario Power Generation to build a generating station in the Docklands. The $750 million facility will be erected beside the old Hearn Generating Station, an area slated to become a sustainable community where tens of thousands will live. Go figure.
Speaking of the waterfront, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. is working its way through 100 or so environmental assessments, down from nearly 400 originally. This is madness, an example of how a good thing can be used as a means of delaying development. Some EAs may make sense, but a lot don't. One now underway will examine the ecological impact of extending the streetcar line east along Queens Quay. Give us a break! On the other hand, no EA will be required for the Docklands power plant. If you wonder why Toronto can't keep up with the rest of the world, look no farther. Is it any wonder Canada was designated an environment "fossil" by an international climate change watchdog? Toronto's fear of incineration has led to some strange results, none more so than its dependence on landfill. Mayor Miller and his retro-environmentalist cohorts are decades behind the times, but the strength of their ignorance lies in their numbers. When Miller negotiated the purchase of the Green Lane landfill site near London, he may have saved his butt politically, but he also ensured the city will continue to deal with its garbage in the most primitive way possible. All his arguments against incineration apply to dumping, only more so.
At a time when most Toronto neighbourhoods are busy fighting development, there's one that actually sat down to figure out the best way to make it happen. The residents of the Queen West Triangle hired planners and lawyers and drew up a plan, presented it to council, planners and even the mayor himself. All said they liked what they saw and promised their support. Then, in the words of senior planner Gary Wright, the city "fell behind the curve." That's for sure. The city did nothing. Now residents, builders and officials are giving testimony before the Ontario Municipal Board, the Star Chamber of development. It will make its decision next year, but don't hold your breath for the right one. Expect the worst; that's what we've had so far.
Planning `gifts' that beg to be returned
December 28, 2006
Chris Hume
Sometimes the best presents are the ones you don't get. Sometimes, the worst are the ones you do.
This year, Torontonians missed out on a number of gifts that many didn't want in the first place. But we also received a few none of us needed.
Let's start with the Front Street Extension.
The good news is that it didn't happen, and chances are that it never will because of cost increases. Conceived as a means of avoiding the bottleneck that experts claim would result from the demolition of the Gardiner Expressway, it has no place in a city trying to reclaim itself from the automobile. Given that it's highly unlikely our cowardly council will work up the guts to take down the Gardiner, the extension has no place in Toronto. We should be concentrating on transit, not more highways.
Then there's the Toronto Port Authority, which has brought federal contempt for the citizenry to new heights, or should that be depths? From the start of his mandate, Mayor David Miller has made it clear he wants it shut down. Most Torontonians agree. However, a report prepared by former Ottawa bureaucrat Roger Tassé, who clearly didn't have a clue, exonerated the TPA, which will be around to look after its own interests and thwart those of the city. Its anti-civic record – unpaid city taxes, the Rochester ferry debacle, the Toronto Island Airport – has become the stuff of legend; it is now a designated villain, aided and abetted, indeed, empowered, by the federal government.
Speaking of the island airport, it is as misguided a venture as we have seen recently. Thanks to the TPA, it was enlarged and put back in operation this year by Porter Airlines, an arrangement as odious as any we know of. Its presence flies in the face of stated city policy.
The St. Clair Ave. streetcar right-of-way is one of those projects that could have – and should have – been much better than it is. Instead of using the extra width of St. Clair to accommodate public transit, vehicular traffic and pedestrians, the Toronto Transit Commission decided pedestrians would pay the price. As far as TTC officials are concerned, streets are transportation corridors, not destinations. Because of this kind of thinking, Toronto will never be a great city. Another example of why engineers shouldn't be in charge of major projects such as this. They, their standards, and their colleagues, the safety tyrants who only seem to know how to say no, have been successful at keeping Toronto from realizing its potential and ensuring it's just another North American urban wanna-be.
The spit hasn't fully hit the fan yet, but the soccer stadium at Exhibition Place is one of those private-public partnerships in which the public makes the payments, and the private sector, in the form of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, makes the profit. This white elephant-in-the-making will provide one more reason not to go to the CNE.
They say timing is everything, and certainly in the case of the Inn on the Park it was. The fabulous Peter Dickinson-designed hotel was torn down the day before the issue of its designation as a property of architectural significance went to community council. By the time the matter was raised, it had been reduced to rubble. It should have been the other way around.
With friends like the Dalton McGuinty Liberals, who needs enemies? This was the year the panicked premier agreed to a proposal from Ontario Power Generation to build a generating station in the Docklands. The $750 million facility will be erected beside the old Hearn Generating Station, an area slated to become a sustainable community where tens of thousands will live. Go figure.
Speaking of the waterfront, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. is working its way through 100 or so environmental assessments, down from nearly 400 originally. This is madness, an example of how a good thing can be used as a means of delaying development. Some EAs may make sense, but a lot don't. One now underway will examine the ecological impact of extending the streetcar line east along Queens Quay. Give us a break! On the other hand, no EA will be required for the Docklands power plant. If you wonder why Toronto can't keep up with the rest of the world, look no farther. Is it any wonder Canada was designated an environment "fossil" by an international climate change watchdog? Toronto's fear of incineration has led to some strange results, none more so than its dependence on landfill. Mayor Miller and his retro-environmentalist cohorts are decades behind the times, but the strength of their ignorance lies in their numbers. When Miller negotiated the purchase of the Green Lane landfill site near London, he may have saved his butt politically, but he also ensured the city will continue to deal with its garbage in the most primitive way possible. All his arguments against incineration apply to dumping, only more so.
At a time when most Toronto neighbourhoods are busy fighting development, there's one that actually sat down to figure out the best way to make it happen. The residents of the Queen West Triangle hired planners and lawyers and drew up a plan, presented it to council, planners and even the mayor himself. All said they liked what they saw and promised their support. Then, in the words of senior planner Gary Wright, the city "fell behind the curve." That's for sure. The city did nothing. Now residents, builders and officials are giving testimony before the Ontario Municipal Board, the Star Chamber of development. It will make its decision next year, but don't hold your breath for the right one. Expect the worst; that's what we've had so far.