Toronto 2150 Lake Shore | 215.75m | 67s | First Capital | Allies and Morrison

Call me old fashion or naïve but I would like to see as much of Toronto's near core industrial land kept for light-industrial use. What I would like to see is young millennial etc. entrepreneurs who are interested in made items colonize these light industrial spaces and incubate businesses that can graduate to larger 905 digs or off-shore production. I realize I'm dreaming because there are three hurdles: Land owners will always get more money converting to residential or retail, the economics of made goods is questionable in Canada, and young people today have very little ambition in this regard because they have grown up in an environment where goods producing industries are considered backward and uninteresting economic sectors.

But put aside all this "realistic" non-sense for a second. What if Toronto's light-industrial areas where encouraged and policy was designed to attract young makers into these spaces and into the goods creation and production industries. It would be a far better catalyst for growth and employment in the region than the current status quo where everyone wants to be a free-lance writer or some such occupation, and property owners just want to sell their land for townhouse and big-box retail.

An interesting example of what I'm talking about is Caledonia Common being built at Caledonia and Eglington around the Canada Goose Lands. We should expand this thinking all throughout the city.

http://fugitive-glue.com/branding-caledonia.htm
 
Last edited:
That's exactly what we need for economic development. In the Junction, the Stockyards had many commercial buildings that were leveled in the 1990s for big box stores. However, a few factories like 500 Keele and Canada Bread were not demolished and now house a variety of emerging businesses and studios for artists.
 
aismail said:
My questions are bolded, the answers are from the Mayor's office.

<snip>

-I've read that the Mr. Christie site has been zoned for commercial use - does this mean along with transit we'll see restaurants and shops?
Currently the property is zoned for employment use which basically means light industrial or office only. when all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised to see some form of commercial there but as a smaller part in a larger development.
Click to expand...

interchange42 said:
Wow. That last response shows that Tory (and/or his staffers) are unfamiliar with how much of a fight the City puts up to not rezone employment lands for other uses. Hmm.

42
Click to expand...

innsertnamehere said:
Mayors office would still be under Fords control, Tory doesn't get it until December 1st.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, well now it all makes sense.

42

Actually, it doesn't sound like a Ford response. I dunno…
 
TrickyRicky said:
Call me old fashion or naïve but I would like to see as much of Toronto's near core industrial land kept for light-industrial use. What I would like to see is young millennial etc. entrepreneurs who are interested in made items colonize these light industrial spaces and incubate businesses that can graduate to larger 905 digs or off-shore production. I realize I'm dreaming because there are three hurdles: Land owners will always get more money converting to residential or retail, the economics of made goods is questionable in Canada, and young people today have very little ambition in this regard because they have grown up in an environment where goods producing industries are considered backward and uninteresting economic sectors.
Click to expand...

I think the bigger issue is that most entrepreneurs would have trouble swinging both the design and production aspects of their product. Taking on a big production space and all the necessary equipment is a huge business risk which would be very hard to finance (bordering on impossible). It would probably be easier for start-ups to focus on the design aspect and leave the production part of the business to established sub-contractors, who in turn could be located almost anywhere on earth for most products.
 
^That is correct and conventional thinking today diminutive. In my opinion though it is tough to separate design and production. Modern communications may allow coordination of actions without the boundary of geographic location but good design and production are interlinked. If we think we can just design and outsource production we are going to get buried. A person who does not have physical experience producing a product will have a hard time designing anything good. I'm not talking about the later stages of mass production but you at least need to have a garage or light industrial workshops and small scale production facilities to ever hope to design good products. You also need a critical mass of people who have the equipment and experience to produce physical objects in your area. There would be no Magna or Apple etc. if the company founders did not have hands on experience designing, building, and producing their products. If we follow the logic of design and outsource production, all the design will eventually shift to the production location. There is an intermediate step required, small scale or lower volume mass production.

At any rate my comment is starting to become to much of tangent to the thread so I will stop.
 
aismail said:
My questions are bolded, the answers are from the Mayor's office.

-Will there be a kiss & ride to the Mimico Go Station? If so, when?
A kiss and ride is included in the current reno plans at Mimico GO. If it hasn't been completed already it should be done shortly: http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/improve/projects/mimico_station.aspx
-What's happening with the Mr. Christie Site? I know it's been closed but are we turning this into a transit hub/ Go station stop? If so, when?
The property owner, Mondelez (which is a Kraft subsidiary) has put the property up for sale. As far as we are aware, no buyer has been found. Whenever the property is purchased, and a development application does come forward, one of the first things we would ask for is for the new owners to transfer the necessary lands to the City to make a transit hub possible. A time frame is hard to determine as so much depends on the sale of the property and the eventual purchaser.
-When will the Lakeshore Go Station line be electrified?
The lines are owned and operated by Metrolinx which is a Provincial agency. They have indicated that they intend to electrify the GO lines starting with the Kitchener/Georgetown line and the Lakeshore West line but they have never delivered a time line.
-I've read that the Mr. Christie site has been zoned for commercial use - does this mean along with transit we'll see restaurants and shops?
Currently the property is zoned for employment use which basically means light industrial or office only. when all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised to see some form of commercial there but as a smaller part in a larger development.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing this Aismail. It's nice to see that you've got a response (how long did it take btw?), however, it appears that the responder is only somewhat aware of the what is happening with the Christie site. It might be a good idea to also direct these questions to Mark Grimes (Ward 6 councilor) and the City planning department.

Last time I checked, Mondelez has put in an application for re-zoning from employment to mixed use, however they haven't submitted all the required supporting documents. The City report that I've read mentioned that rezoning would be subject to Mondelez submitted the documents and the planning department approving an amendment to an official plan. That latest report was release some-time in spring of this year. Does anyone have any updates on the status?

The area is about to hit the density where the Christie site will become a very attractive piece of land, so I expect to see something happening soon.
 
Insertnamehere. What is the source of this jnfo that CA is the developer? Close confidant of yours?. I'm dismayed that it is them if this is true but I can't help but be skeptical of this.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top