You do have to admit though Keithz, STC is in a less than ideal spot. Ideally, It should have been between Kennedy and Midland, on the south side of the 401. That way it would have been straddling the Stouffville line perfectly.
Today yes. But keep in mind that these were independent boroughs not all that long ago. STC's location makes a lotof sense if you look at Scarborough by itself.
This is not an adequate reason to screw the whole borough over, however, with respect to transit developments. And I would suggest that the election of Rob Ford is simply a reflection of the backlash to this mentality. In the 90s, you had this "scary" image of Scarberia. You had a perpetual delay on the extension of both the Bloor-Danforth subway and the SRT. Now you have this image of Scarborough as being full of ignorant car-loving near-hillbillies. It's nonsense. The only reason Rob Ford did so well is not because his anti-LRT views resonated, it's because deep down people want speed. And that's what Rob Ford promised them.
The inner suburbs choose the car because that's the most sensible choice to take when faced with commutes that could hit up to 2 hours in one direction. This is why there's so much support for subways and a distaste for light rail. Give them speed and they'll choose transit every tiime. The question we should be asking ourselves is the same one a voter asks when they hit the polling station. "What will this do for me? Will this get me to work faster? How much faster?" Etc. You want support for your transit plan? It better be built around very strong answers to these kind of questions.
Also, if you're a Scarborough resident, it gets very hard to swallow the whole, "We don't have money for subways line." when the various levels of government seem to find money for subways to Vaughan and Richmond Hill (in due course). These folks are 416 ratepayers. That's not a line that's going to go down easily when they see 905 residents being prioritized over them. Mark my words, they'll also be grumbling a ton when the DRL comes along and its pricetag is announced.
Right or wrong, this is how the average person thinks. I hear this kind of attitude regularly from friends and family all over the 'hood. I honestly feel that sometimes, the crowd on this forum forgets what it's like to not be a transit geek excited to see a new subway train. Real people have real problems. And they don't have time for transitfan solutions.
Here's my prediction. Rob Ford may (probably will) get the boot at the next election. But the next guy to promise those residents speed will get the nod. And this will keep happening until something is done to address the mobility problems of the inner boroughs.
None of this is to say that I think the Sheppard subway, in part or in full, is the answer to all of Scarborough problems. But I am perturbed by lack of a sense of reality I see in these discussions sometimes.
