What does the CNE need, to be great again?

[adma]

I know this was true for friends of mine who lived in the 'burbs, but getting to the Ex was a PITA as well. If you take the TTC, you inevitably have to deal with the horrible Waterfront "LRT" packed to the gills. And after a day walking around 30C weather, nothing sucks like herding a bunch of kids through the TTC. If you drive, parking is inevitably full, forcing you to pay huge premiums, and there is also the inevitable traffic jam at the end of the day as everyone piles onto Lakeshore. I recall once being trapped in some kind of traffic jam as a kid for 30m, the kicker being we were right next to some kind of agricultural pen. Nothing says "come again" like being stuck for half an hour in an area permeated with pig and horse manure, dehydrated from the hot weather. Wonderland, by comparison, is just plain easier. It isn't hard to find a group of friends to take a car up for the day, and if you are a larger group you can take a school bus.

It *may* say something that the most charitable "young person" judgments of the Ex seem to be among the Spacing-style urban-hipster bunch, i.e. the ones for whom it's practically at the walkable doorstep, and for whom getting to Wonderland is the PITA you say getting to the Ex is...

 

[andrewpmk]

Privatize it!

Sorry about being so radical, but I think that Exhibition Place (and Ontario Place) should be privatized. Turn it into a year round (or at least all summer) entertainment/sports/amusement park/nightclubbing/museum/convention/casino etc. destination that can actually compete against Canada's Wonderland or Niagara Falls. As it is the area is a ghost town outside the 2 week period the Ex is on (except during Toronto FC games and a few other minor events), and during the Ex the attractions are no match at all for the competition. It is clear that the city is incompetent in running Exhibition Place and the private sector would do a much better job. Oh, and the GO trains should run much more frequently as they are the only transit operator equipped to deal with the massive crowds (the TTC doesn't have anything like enough capacity during the Ex).

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Sorry about being so radical, but I think that Exhibition Place (and Ontario Place) should be privatized. Turn it into a year round (or at least all summer) entertainment/sports/amusement park/nightclubbing/museum/convention/casino etc. destination that can actually compete against Canada's Wonderland or Niagara Falls. As it is the area is a ghost town outside the 2 week period the Ex is on (except during Toronto FC games and a few other minor events), and during the Ex the attractions are no match at all for the competition. It is clear that the city is incompetent in running Exhibition Place and the private sector would do a much better job. Oh, and the GO trains should run much more frequently as they are the only transit operator equipped to deal with the massive crowds (the TTC doesn't have anything like enough capacity during the Ex).

nothing radical about that
I would like to see it as entertainment/sports/convention/casino/museum area