The view from 905

Jim Tovey.

Good morning Toronto, this is really going to be fun. Asking a citizen of Mississauga to Blog on Toronto is akin to appointing a Canadian as the White House critic for CNN, and if you remember we did burn that little house down in 1812. Today is not a day for playing with matches though; today is a day for just playing.

Toronto has many wonderful attributes that its citizens are inclined to criticize and those of us living in the 905 flock to adore. The recent alterations to the Art Gallery and the ROM are two perfect examples. Some people hate them; some people love them, but isn’t that what interesting architecture is about, creating a conversation. Your good fortune is that you have a real art gallery and a real museum and you now have an opportunity that no other city in Canada will have for years to come. Intrigued, read on.

On March 31, 2011 the federal government is going to shut off the tap for infrastructure funding, the province will follow suit, and as we have been forewarned, get ready to make sacrifices. Ironically, on April Fools Day 2011, we will all wake up with a collective hangover that will make the day after the U.S.-Canada Gold medal game seem like a very minor headache.

Everyone that is except for Toronto.

You will all be basking in the glow of an additional $3 billion in committed funding leading up to the Pan Am games in 2015. Toronto will receive $765 million for the Seneca subway extension, $1 billion for the West Donlands project, and an additional $1.4 billion for legacy infrastructure.

History has demonstrated repeatedly that every host city for the Pan Am or Olympic Games has always, with only two exceptions, gone over budget and generally by a large margin. The total federal, provincial and municipal investment coming to your city may be as high as $4.5 billion, all at a time when every other municipality is being forced to reduce spending. Please don’t blow it. As one of my friends rather crudely pointed out “they’re going to be the only pig at the trough.”

This is why this election matters to you and why you need to get out and vote, and why you need to convince your friends and neighbours to vote.

Toronto has a rare opportunity to re-imagine its legacy infrastructure in a truly exciting and far more sustainable way than at any time in memory. The key to realizing this opportunity will be who leads the ship and how hard the deck hands work. Go to the debates, find out what the candidates will do to change the culture at city hall, ask them what their plan is to create more efficiency in governance, and most importantly, listen to their vision for the future of Toronto.

If you do all of that, Toronto will become the great city we all, in our hearts, believe it to be.

About Jim Tovey

Comments

[Marc]

Great! First article starts with a throw away line about how proud some Canadians are the British burned down the White House.

I'm done with this constant undercurrent of anti-Americanism in Canadian discourse.

[Michael Spaziani]

Jim This is an excellent introduction on the topic. I am looking forward to the "white house burning" that you promised. Surely the 416 silo has some warts in your view. I know of many Star correspondents that get nose bleeds crossing Etobicoke Creek, entering the western 905. Surely there are topics in the 905 that will be of great interest to the 416ers, that may even have them seeking gas masks and nose jobs to allow them to handle the travel outside their space ship.
Keep it up!

[Michael Spaziani]

In reply to Marc... you need a gas mask for sure. Try to get past the white house stuff as the issue really has nothing to do with anti-Americanism. It is about how 2 distinct places/ mindsets can work together in a kind of mutual respect, with positive visioning for the whole as I see it. It is truly how positive initiatives get so quickly sidetracked. Let's keep it positive kids.

[Stewart Zaracofds]

As a Ex- Montrealer living in T.O, for many years, I always found this city very conservative. I would like to see a casino built downtown on the waterfront and I could guarantee there would not be amy more crime than what we have now. If not a casino than a new Museum.

Also what about more flashing greens or arrows at major intersections.

We have come a long way since I moved to this great city 25 years ago (new buildings etc), but we still have a long way to go !

Thanks
Z

[Jim Saxon]

Toronto is filthy - the best areas of Toronto, financial district, Nathan Phillips Square, area around Eaton Centre all stink of human excrement. In fact, last Fall, the stink emanating directly from underneath the City Hall was so overpowering that I and my colleagues started taking an alternative walking route. TTC stations and trains are dirty and TTC staff is shabby and unprofessional. But, you cannot point a finger to any one organisation or group - the fact is Torontonians are not proud of their city and will make a slum out of the best places on earth...For Toronto to be better, Torontonians need to be better. The only thing that will fix it is the Broken Window approach...you cannot take the Kumbaya approach to filth-makers and expect things to improve.

[PL]

As all of us know there in an increased in the elderly population some of whom are living in apartments that are not kept up to standards, for example, December 18 I visited an elderly couple (81 and 87.5 y.o) and the elevators were not working properly. According to the maintainace crew they were working on solving the problem. Today I visted again and the elevators are still not working properly. I was wondering who is advocating for these pensioners whom are not ever mentioned. I would like to see some guidelines put inplace to mandate repair in these buildings.

[Dinu]

I always thought the large, asphalt parking lots around our malls and stores are monotone, boring and ugly looking. From an environmental perspective they are not very good either because they get very hot in the summer time. Europeans have solved this problem by breaking up these huge platforms with rows of trees. It may mean a little work for the maintenance people to collect the leaves in the fall, but it has important advantages like: 1. It is easy to retrofit in to existing parking lots. 2. It will make our city look much better. 3 It will provide shade to the asphalt surface reducing the heat generated by it. We need a municipal by-law for this similar to the green roofs by-law.

[Paul B.]

Jim Saxon makes a great point about the unkempt state of the city. Our public spaces are run-down, dirty. There is no sense of pride when new projects are built, they are unfinished and instantly get destroyed. I moved to Toronto 20 years ago and it was a quiet but clean city. Now it's congested, dirty and it's public spaces are a shameful display for our visitors and guests.

Torontonians have becomes litter-bugs because the city staff don't care about the public realm, thus it becomes a vicious cycle. Garbage attracts more garbage.

Lets implement steep fines for littering $500+ and hire staff funded by these fines to keep the city clean. Focus should be on places with high levels of pedestrian traffic: TTC, Yonge Street, Bloor, Queen, etc..

TTC should be the first place to start as it looks like a system in a 3rd world country rather than something from a wealthy western city.

[Darienne]

Its amazing how people from Toronto accept such deplorable roads. I have never heard anyone complain on any forum or any media highlight such a faux pas. I think Toronto has come to accept such mediocre standards. Most of the streets are uneven, filled with potholes and broken lines. With such high taxes I only wonder. You can feel the difference driving as soon as you cross any 905 borderline when driving into and out of Toronto. For example along Steeles, as soon as you enter Brampton or as soon as you cross highway 7 into Vaughan you feel the difference in the smoothness and quality of the roads. I always thought taxes were for infrastructure--- I can only wonder what the "City of Toronto" is doing with its residents' tax money. With only a few exceptions for example University Ave (and I can count on one hand the other few)most streets I drive on in Toronto are a nightmare. I dread my weekend visits to this city. Last summer the minister was parading about fixing potholes, why can't the department in charge just fix entire streets. And talk about Public transit that's another horror movie! Toronto is a great city but getting around by driving or transit takes away from its value and you cant be too sure about walking either as neither pedestrians nor drivers follow the rules of the road; the number of pedestrian deaths is proof in the pudding.

[MISSISSAUGAWATCH]

Me again Jim,

Just laying down another comment regarding your topic, "Infrastructure".

Given what the Mississauga Judicial Inquiry has revealed (that I was right about the dismal record-keeping that exists at the City of Mississauga) it's not bricks, mortar and asphalt infrastructure that Mississaugans, Torontonians and Ontarians need.

Priority One is ETHICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

And can't speak for our neighbour to the east but MYTHissauga sure hasn't any ethical infrastructure in place --or authentic accountability.

I submit that across the province, people's lives would be more improved by enforcement of municipal ethical infrastructure and authentic accountability than moving traffic from here to there.

Because right now, there's no ethical infrastructure and authentic accountability Here or when you drive to There.

MISSISSAUGAWATCH

[jim tovey]

Hi Darienne,
In the 905 we have infrastructure that is much newer than Toronto and greenfield development charges have paid for it. Greenfield development in the 905 is coming to and end. Toronto's sewers, water lines and roads, in some cases could be 50 to 100 years old. Don't trash Toronto, they are better positioned in the next five years to address their infrastructure deficiencies. The challenge for the 905 will be to maintain our infrastructure and create complete communities by way of bonusing, section 37 development charges and creative public/private sector partnerships. The next four years will be critical to achieve these goals. I am sure you will vote, please encourage your friends and neighbours to do so as well.

[Serge]

Darienne, if you cross Highway 7 into Vaughan, then you were already in the 905. All, I see the whole 416-905 rivalry as one of the most maddening things about Toronto circa 2010. When I moved back to Toronto we hunted for houses in a bunch of neighbourhoods, and were able to afford something just north of Steeles, as it happens. We moved back here with incredible energy and enthusiasm about Toronto. We live our lives here in and around the 416 and 905 -- there's no difference in our daily patterns, that's for sure. But the constant sniping and denigration of the 905 has soured us on Toronto so thoroughly that we just couldn't care less. It's pretty much a 360 from where we were at when we moved back here. So my one wish for Toronto is to get over petty line drawing. It's silly, it doesn't reflect reality, and it hurts everyone in the long run.

[will]

Does this 905 include Durham Region? Where is the voice of the East?