Sunday, May 27, 2012 — Mostly Cloudy 19°C
MB Toronto

Morning Brew: New census data tells two stories about Toronto, Zagat thinks Spring Rolls is our most popular restaurant, Sutton Hotel set to close, Leafs will play Red Wings in next year's Winter Classic

Posted by Brianne Hogan / February 9, 2012

24 Comments

TorontoFinally! A brand new census to analyze for weeks. Yesterday, 2011 data was released to replace the 2006 figures. The first news bit to come out of it says that the GTA leads urban growth, increasing 9.2 per cent over the last 5 years. On the other hand, Toronto itself is lagging behind. OpenFile speculates that the differential could have to do with exorbitant real estate prices in the city proper — what do you think?

What would you do if you just lost a vote on your transit vision? Well, if you're Rob Ford, you ride the rails. Accompanied by one of his assistants, the mayor was spotted talking to his constituents on the TTC early into the morning. Perhaps it calms his nerves?

Can you guess Toronto's most popular restaurant according to Zagat? Wrong. It's Spring Rolls. Yes, the Pan-Asian fast-food chain restaurant even beat out Canoe (which ranked second). Oh, and apparently we tip less than Americans too.

Toronto's Sutton Place Hotel, a hotel that has seen the likes of Mafia men and movie stars in its heyday is set to close and will be redeveloped as — what else? — luxury condos. Lanterra Developments acquired the property from its current owners and is hoping to begin construction this year. They better keep the sign.

An NHL source has leaked that the Toronto Maple Leafs will indeed face off against the Detroit Red Wings in next year's Winter Classic, though an official announcement won't be made until later today. Anyone else excited for the 24/7 series to come?

IN BRIEF:

Photo by Jonathan Castellino in the blogTO Flickr pool

Discussion

24 Comments

Sort By Oldest First / Newest First

Subscribe

Dave / February 9, 2012 at 08:44 am
user-pic
Before all the Ford-Bots arrive and sneer that 'subways are the future', please explain how you are going to find the Billions of dollars needed for a subway plan that would reach as many people at the LRT plan, kthx.
Reply
Rob / February 9, 2012 at 08:55 am
user-pic
I'm glad some common sense has broken out in City Council. LRT is the way to go. All this talk about how they'll (for example):

- handle the weather
- take away lanes (they won't, in fact, additional lanes will be added to ensure none are taken away)
- stop traffic (dedicated lanes solves this)

is pure bunk and misinformed. I think people really think streetcars found on King and Queen are going on Finch and Eglinton, they're not. This mode of transportation is really what's needed in these parts of the city. There just isn't enough denisity to justify the need for subways.

Where the Mayor went wrong on his Sheppard plan was to focus on the wrong end. It would have made more sense as a test project to find private financing for the bit between Yonge and Downsview. From there, he could have claimed (and have something to show) that private financing works (if it does, I'm not sure) and the same should be done going East.
Reply
skim milk / February 9, 2012 at 09:05 am
user-pic
we need to invest billions in teleportation research!!!
Reply
MrPotato / February 9, 2012 at 09:05 am
user-pic
Well if they had put up the giant ferris wheel we'd already have tons of subway money to sppend!
Reply
Whistles / February 9, 2012 at 09:07 am
user-pic
The SRT is 6.4 km in length. Let's not blow Ford's effort to 'talk to the people' out of proportion... It takes less than 15 minutes to ride from STC to Kennedy.
Reply
bob / February 9, 2012 at 09:18 am
user-pic
The LRT is going to cost more than you think! Dont believe the hype. Once they start digging there will be a ton of infrastructure surprises you can bet on that!!
Reply
Rob replying to a comment from bob / February 9, 2012 at 09:26 am
user-pic
Such as? Pleas enlighten us.
Reply
enlightened replying to a comment from bob / February 9, 2012 at 09:32 am
user-pic
More than a subway?
Reply
Mark / February 9, 2012 at 09:43 am
user-pic
We need a big giant ferris wheel downtown more than we need transit of any kind!
Reply
Jacob replying to a comment from bob / February 9, 2012 at 09:49 am
user-pic
You just described every public works project, including subways.
Reply
Xavier / February 9, 2012 at 10:08 am
user-pic
Short term solutions to long term problems. I guess the ghost of David Miller still haunts city hall. Too bad. It is funny that council's left wing only cares about spending money when its something that will actually benefit the city
Reply
Rob replying to a comment from Xavier / February 9, 2012 at 10:14 am
user-pic
How is this a short-term decision? The density doesn't justify the need for subways. You can count on potential development 40 years down the road for the need for a subway.
Reply
Bob replying to a comment from Rob / February 9, 2012 at 10:20 am
user-pic
Are you kidding me. Has any govt project been on time and budget. Not one soil sample has been taken. Do you know what the the soil makeup along each corridor is like? Does the cost per km include the money they will have to pay each business for lost revenue?
Reply
OoOo replying to a comment from Bob / February 9, 2012 at 11:11 am
user-pic
as far as I know, all the waterfront toronto projects have been on time, on budget and look great. can we get waterfront toronto to build our transit system please?
Reply
Janet / February 9, 2012 at 11:45 am
user-pic
Not another Lanterra falling-glass development (makers of Murano on Grenville/Grosvenor)...
Reply
auditorydamage replying to a comment from Bob / February 9, 2012 at 11:53 am
user-pic
Because that totally wouldn't be a concern with subway construction... hey, when was that part of Ford's plan supposed to begin? Where's the money coming from? The way he's been fighting for it, he must have some idea of how it will be financed... right? There's no way he'd float a budget-busting project with no actual implementation outline just to scare up votes, would he?
Reply
Rob replying to a comment from Bob / February 9, 2012 at 12:08 pm
user-pic
1) You're partially correct - soil samples for Eglinton have started (January 2011)
2) Environmental Assessments were done on each of the LRT lines years ago. These projects are ready to roll out, and, in fact, construction on Sheppard started just before the Mayor came into office.
3) I'm not sure what kind of inconvenience and lost revenue will occur. If you drive along Eglinton (outside of the portion that will be buried) and Finch, even Sheppard, you know what you'll see? Sub-divisions (where roads will be widened and there will be, admittedly, construction issues and big box malls. What you won't see is street parking and storefront shops (or very little) a la King, Queen, Spadina, etc. This might change in the future, but it's not there now.
Reply
THE MAYOR / February 9, 2012 at 12:08 pm
user-pic
U loooshers are all drunk out of ur facshes. I'm the mayor and ur not. Shtop moving around so mush. There's shree of u where there used to be only one. Hic.....oh wait...ish me..there's shree of me. I'm sush a big fat drunk loosher.
Reply
Clay replying to a comment from Bob / February 9, 2012 at 12:42 pm
user-pic
How is any of what you're asking here pertain only to the LRT? All of these questions, and more, would have to be addressed for a subway line. Using these as an argument against LRT is a red herring.
Reply
Max replying to a comment from Xavier / February 9, 2012 at 01:41 pm
user-pic
Where is this *future* you talk about... our population is going up only because of immigration from China and India... if you haven't noticed things are getting much better over there and people are moving back... the flood will stop and our population will stagnate or drop (like italy, russia, japan).. then what will we do in 30 years with the empty subways?
Reply
Max replying to a comment from Bob / February 9, 2012 at 01:44 pm
user-pic
looks like you haven't done your research.. subway construction is longer and more disruptive. You'll have your LRT up and running years before the subway is done... those years will be years of torn up roads... don't remember the sheppard being built do you?
ALso... over runs on something that is suppose to cost in the $10s of millions (st clair ROW... which is NOT LRT) vs a subway which costs billions... hrmmn... i think the subway cost overrun has a much bigger impact.
next.... subways increase taxes... why? have you heard of the sheppard subway? for that matter, in the spadina subway? both don't pay their way... taxpayers keep them up and running with huge subsidies
Reply
Tony / February 9, 2012 at 03:31 pm
user-pic
Will there be a Burger Priest on any of these lines? Its #3 in Toronto you know.
Reply
SUBWAY MASTER / February 9, 2012 at 04:30 pm
user-pic
The York University extension to the Spadina Subway was voted on with funding approval in 1986. It's still not finished. Are Ford's mind-slaves willing to wait til 2038 for the Sheppard Subway to be finished? (And that's at the earliest -- Ford's Sheppard fantasy still has exactly $0 in funding)
Reply
Dr. Shrinker replying to a comment from Max / February 11, 2012 at 11:15 am
user-pic
Why bother telling them all of this? Just do what I usually do: http://lrt.daxack.ca/
Reply

Add a Comment
Other Cities: Vancouver – Montreal