sunnyray, while you are correct re lagging infrastructure, another problem is car-dependent mentality of local residents. How come Bayveiw-Sheppard is the busiest intersection despite having a subway station right on it?
There you again,... making false assumptions. You're assuming the locals at Bayview & Sheppard are causing the gridlock at Bayview & Sheppard. In fact, it's the condo dwellers at Yonge&Sheppard area that's causing the gridlock at Bayview&Sheppard! Look around Bayview&Sheppard (even Leslie&Sheppard),... there's only a handful of condos nearby and they're generally isolated to 1 corner. Drive on 401 westbound collector lanes in PM rush hour (between 4-6pm),... it's bumper to bumper gridlock traffic,... forget about getting off at Yonge, the line up of cars getting off at Yonge already backs up to Bayview! The Yonge-401 interchange was last redesigned in 1960s to handle a suburban NorthYork full of bungalows on huge lots and strip plaza stores,... not the canyon of high density condos that you see today! So what happens,... many of the 401 westbound drivers that should get off at Yonge, get earlier at Bayview or Leslie,.... and drive along Sheppard to get to their condos at Yonge&Sheppard area. Look at Bayview&Sheppard intersection (#1 in top 10 worst according to city) and Leslie&Sheppard (#5 in top 10 worst according to city),.... What do these two intersections have in common? They both have double left turn lanes from northbound Bayview/Leslie to westbound Sheppard,..... and where are all these cars going?,... to to condos at Yonge&Sheppard area!
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1211295--toronto-s-10-worst-streets-for-traffic-gridlock
Entire West Lansing is within walking distance to two subway lines, but only few opt to walk.
You live on Poyntz and literally a stone throw away from Yonge,... stand in front of your house during AM or PM rush hour,... you'll see a lot of local residents walking! You don't see the high percentage of local pedestrian that you would see downtown (because their neighbourhood is more walkable with better transit network),.. but you'll see a higher percentage of walking local residents than you will see in other suburban neighbourhoods. The residents of WLHA pay a premium for their houses on the subway line,.... it would be rediculous if they don't use it! In my household, everyone uses the subway on an almost daily basis,... and we have two cars, both of which don't even get 5,000km per year because we use the TTC so often.
You said WLHA fight hard to improve the situation? Hardly so, unless we belong to two different WLHAs...
I know that WLHA have been and continue to be very involved in lobbying our local councillor and MPP to fight the gridlock traffic at Yonge&Sheppard.
My impression attending WLHA meetings that the most prevalent point of discussion is how to maintain a status quo. Even the story with the Sheppard West Secondary Plan, which suggests that building 4 storey houses would be optimal was not enthusiastically accepted and viewed as necessary evil. My impression was that folks would be way happier if the wall of townhouses is build on Sheppard W, which would make Lansing even more of a bedroom community. I suggested my own solution and sent it to the city planning department, but i understand it would "too radical" for our sleepy hollow:
Wait a minute, Ohhh,... now I remember,.... at that WLHA meeting regarding Sheppard West, you're that tall grey hair gentleman who was proposing converting Sheppard West between Beecroft to Senlac into a retail strip like Queen Street West or the Beaches or Bloor West Village,....
The WLHA actually gave you about 10-15 minute to do your presentation and show your slides to a gym full of people,... and they posted your documents on their website. Does that sound like the WLHA just want to keep the status quo??? Sounds more like they're open to all opinions,... and they want the residents of WLHA to hear about all the options available,... so they can make an informed decision.
I seriously doubt a retail strip along Sheppard West would work. Retail strips are not something that you just build and people will come. The vast majority of retail strips,... leaves much to be desired.
First of all, we already have too much retail stores in Yonge&Sheppard area,... Look around at the existing retail, they're hardly surviving as it is,.... even malls like SheppardCentre, EmpressWalk and NorthYorkCityCentre are generally dead,... almost the entire lower retail floor of NorthYorkCityCentre is boarded up! The retail in MadisonCentre died years ago,.. SheppardCentre is basically full of moms&pops dollar type stores,... EmpressWalk is has some retail life, but then again, it has 4 anchors like Loblaws, FutureShop, Staples and a movie theatre.
And why does the Yonge&Sheppard area has too much retail already? Because when a developer looks to build a condo close to Yonge and need to "give concessions" to the local,... they like offering retail on the first level,... not only does it interface better with the street but it gives the local something they could actually interact with,... Oh, and it generates revenue for the developer and property owner!
We would strongly discourage city from giving building permits to build townhouses on Sheppard. They might look attractive when you drive by, but they would turn Sheppard into a complete bedroom community that relies on cars to get anywhere. Considering that Sheppard is reachable by a short, 5-7 min walk from even the most distant parts of the Lansing, the street has potential to become a catalyst of creating a walkable neighbourhood rather than a turning it into a typical bedroom community (e.g., what Finch East is becoming). I see why some neighbours were concerned to see development similar to what is taking place on Sheppard W between Bathurst and Wilson Heights, but I guess the majority would love to see an attractive, shop-lined street filled with people (similar to Avenue Rd or Yonge Str around Lawrence Ave rather than Finch E type).
vz64,... look around,... in the last 15 years since amalgamation, NYCC has 50 new condos and only 1 new office building,... NYCC is now already A VERTICAL SLEEPING COMMUNITY!!! The net flow of traffic in AM peak time is OUT of NYCC,... most drivers heading south on Yonge to downtown or 401,... gridlock traffic!!!!
I definitely do NOT like the idea of townhouses along Sheppard West between Beecroft and Senlac,... especially like those gated community townhouses along Finch West,... it makes you feel like you're living in gun-happy USA.
On Sheppard West, we already have offices there,... they city and local councillor have been crying for offices in the area for years,.... but yet, on Sheppard West where we already have offices,... why mess with that??? And those offices are building themselves without city tax incentives, which means us taxpayer are not subsidizing them,... so, why mess with that??? True, these new office buildings are typically only 4 or 5 storey,... instead of the 25 storey trophy office buildings like Nestle or TransAmerica,.... but if you were to add up all the office space along Sheppard West between Beecroft & Senlac,... how many Nestle buildings would that be equal to???
If you replace the offices along Sheppard West between Beecroft and Senlac with retail,.... all you're really doing is replacing good local office jobs with minimum wage retail McJobs. McJobs don't pay for houses in WestLansing,... less people walking to work, the end result is more people will have to commute further for work,... leading to more cars & transit congestion,...
Personally, I think you should be more worried about the retail at Bazis EmeraldPark,.... the 1st level retail are set up with small glass jail-cell size stores like PacificMall,.... and they were mostly brought out by Chinese mom&pop businesses thinking T&T (Chinese supermarket) would be the anchor on 2nd floor (Hmmmm,... they're in for a surpise on opening day!),.... With Bazis EmeraldPark not being able to deliver on time by Fall 2013, Loblaw T&T bailed,.... and now it's Metro on 2nd floor. A lot of those Chinese mom&pop stores on the 1st floor of EmeraldPark will NOT survive the first few year. That'll drive the value and rent for those retail lower and lower,... and because they're already so small to begin with,.... it'll eventually turn out to be like a flea market environment.
-Commercial property taxes should be discounted for a high-traffic retail. They need time to build their clientele and to survive in the first few transitional years.
The city isn't made of money!,.... when commercial property taxes get a discount,... that means someone else will have to pay for that subsidy! And usually it come from the residential property tax payers! Gee, I need time to build may family for a few years,... can you give me a tax discount? vz64, are you willing to pay more taxes? You could via a donation to the city, province and feds,... they even have a special little box for you on your tax form so you can give them more money!
-Make Lansing West a car-free neighbourhood. Why not to allocate a few designated parking areas (2-3) around the area, while keeping streets as car-free as possible (with exception of emergency and service vehicles).
And you want the entire WestLansing neighbourhood to be car free,.... hmmm,.... what shall we all do with our driveway and garages? I recall your new McMansion on Poyntz has a Japanese gas powered car on your new interlock driveway,... isn't it hypocritical for you to even have a car? Maybe an electric or even a hybrid car would go much better with your solar panel and geothermo McMansion.
I think I'm generally a very open minded person,.... heck, even some of my recent posts has been defending Bazis,..... but some of your ideas would cause a damn lynching! Heck,.... even the condo dwellers who generally live much closer to the subway line has cars,... and they're so car dependent, they'll pay about $20,000 for a parking space,.... usually more than the value of their car! Why do I mention the condo dweller's car,... because the whole idea of the province making NYCC a high density mobility hub was because NYCC is on a subway line so increase the density and they'll take the subway,.... gee, how's that working out? Have you tried driving in NYCC during AM rush hour traffic?
-Pedestrian-centered rather than car-centered development: much more stress should be put into providing easy pedestrian access to the retail on Sheppard. Some side streets connecting to Sheppard don't even have sidewalks. There are plenty of offices that have cars parked in front of them. No wonder Sheppard is not very attractive place to walk.
Your ideas for SheppardWest between Beecroft and Senlac calls for better streetscape and making the area more walkable with wider sidewalks and sidewalks placed on some of the side streets that currently does not have sidewalks. Yes, this is the Yonge&Sheppard area,... not some country road in the boonie,... some of the streets in the Yonge&Sheppard area still do NOT have sidewalks! Just before amalgamation, the former city of North York was had a lot of money and wanted to spend it all on infrastructure in North York,.... and spend it before amalgamation,... otherwise the post amalgamated new city of Toronto would spend that money as it please,.... even though that money came from the taxpayers of North York. Anyways,... back then many neighbourhoods got questionaire as to what infrastructures they would like in their neighbourhood,.... new sidewalks, road replaving, water main replacement, sewer work, etc,... I guess some of our local neighbourhoods without sidewalks didn't want new sidewalks,.... back then.
vz64,.... some of your ideas are good,... but some are just terrible. You really have to ask yourself, would the majority of people benefit from this or not? And even with your good ideas,... they need to be do-able,.. work-able,.... you see, the city is basically broke,... the city focuses way too much on costly non-city issues,... if you want wider sidewalks and sidewalks placed on streets without sidewalks,.... you need to figure out who should pay for it and how,... who would benefit,... the economics has to be there.
In my personal experience,... when I present an work-able idea or concept at work or to the city or councillors,... if I can present it where the economics make sense,... where it actually saves money and produces much better results VS another project, where it cost less than an alternative, where its a win-win situation for all or most involved,... not only will they listen,... but then you're golden.
Look at SheppardWest between Beecroft and Senlac,... new 4-5 storey low rise buildings that are being constructed are constrained by parking,.... the city requires them to have x number of parking spaces because there are no on street parking nearby,... if there were on-street parking they wouldn't need as many onsite parking spaces and could actually build a bit bigger,... But lets say if the city were to place parking meters on some of the nearby side streets, would the residents be ok with that as long as some of the money generated from those parking meter goes towards building new sidewalks for them or better streetscape? See, that could be a win-win situation for the property owner on SheppardWest, the residents on the sidestreets and the city,...
BTW, those towers in Astana look great on pictures (check this thread to see the pictures or just google it). I agree with sunnyray that the project is slow, but I wouldn't say it is too slow compare to some other projects in Toronto. It doesn't make sense to compare EP with HC as Tridel is well-known for its very fast construction pace. If you want to see the NYCC Secondary Plan, look at this document, http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-29871.pdf, p.29.
