MB Toronto
Morning Brew: A new DRL funding poll, Santa Claus visits Toronto, the fifth Jarvis lane and Spadina streetcar return, a weird Christmas tree, and the Argos advance
According to the The Star, a new poll says Toronto is split on how to finance a downtown relief line. 45 per cent of respondents said they were willing to pay for the infrastructure with a $50 annual property tax hike, while 40 per cent said they were opposed. 15 per cent said they weren't sure. The proposed line would connect Pape and King stations to take pressure off the Yonge line. Does these results surprise you? Where do you stand on a property tax hike for transit?
The 108th annual Santa Claus parade brought festive cheer to late November this weekend. The parade, which featured Rob Ford handing out candy canes, ran from Christie Pits Park to the St. Lawrence Market. CTV helpfully notes the candies were stored in a "reusable black canvas bag." The parade was shown on TV in New Zealand, Norway and Ireland, apparently. We'll have pictures shortly.
Doug Ford defended his "workaholic" brother on a special solo edition of their weekly this weekend. Guest starring councillor Frances Nunziata while Ford was busy on parade duty, the show featured a justification of the mayor's dedication to time spent coaching the Don Bosco Eagles. Is the coaching justified now his team is seeing success?
Speaking of councillors, the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition, a group dedicated to monitoring municipal spending, has handed out report cards for each member of the 45-person council, rating them A+ to F. Doug Holyday, Cesar Palacio and Denzil Minnan-Wong all received the top grade. Rob Ford got a B.
The reversible centre lane on Jarvis Street is set for its first major workout this morning. Two bike lanes made way for the additional vehicle lane, which has been open since Saturday. Perhaps the hardest pill to swallow for cyclists still smarting from the loss: the reappearance of on-street parking on the west side of Jarvis. Will you use the street if you commute by car? Will you still ride if you're a cyclist?
Also in transportation, the Spadina streetcar is back this morning between King and Bloor streets. The TTC was replacing sections of track on the street and renovating stations.
The Toronto Sun's fixation with Christmas trees and what people choose to call them continued this weekend. Coverage of the Eton Centre's weirdo pink tree made the front page this Sunday.
Finally, in case you missed it this weekend, the Toronto Argonauts are heading to the Grey Cup thanks to their closely-fought win over the Montreal Alouettes Sunday. The championship game will be played against the Calgary Stampeders at Rogers Centre next weekend.
IN BRIEF:
- Toronto public school board ponders selling land from 127 school playgrounds [The Star]
- Loved ones voice more concerns about Sunnybrook veterans [CBC]
- TTC reinstates 'brave' streetcar driver suspended for chasing assault suspect [National Post]
FROM THE WEEKEND:
- Mighton's The Little Years bends time and space
- Shrunken heads, 2-headed calf at Toronto auction
- That time when Toronto went stadium crazy
- New Ryerson gallery unveils world-class photography
- Flash Forward 2012 showcases new photography talent
- This Week in Theatre
- This Week In Comedy
- Toronto butcher makes over 60 varieties of sausage
- Sunday Supplement: Nathan Phillips Square, streetcars, and the Beach Motel
- City Hall gets a zip line (for a limited time)
Photo: "18/365 - ROM" by mcdux from the blogTO Flickr pool.
Discussion
42 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
I hate to break it to these neocon morons, but most public transit initiatives, and the building of the lines in the United States and Europe are paid for by this kind of thing (Los Angeles and Salt Lake come to mind in the case of the former mentioned above.) How else do/did they expect that a DRL be built, by private funds? Then, neither they or anybody else would be able to use the subway due to the high cost. Like it or not, taxes are the lifeblood of a civilization, and the only way (barring the election of a majority Green Party or NDP government to power at Queen's Park and in federal parliament) we'll be seeing public transit funded.
This is a proposal for a subway
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1289596--mayor-rob-ford-s-no-show-at-cities-gathering-leaves-toronto-sidelined
Oh and on the relief line, I would have thought the western end of bloor was more packed, is it just too difficult to get a line from Keele which runs under the park, then follows the waterfront to union?
What about a traffic congestion tax similar to London's would or tolled highways. Not only would they raise money but reduce the amount of drivers on the already congested roads.
I think his point is that even when there's a proposal to build a subway, which should appeal to Ford supporters and others as well, slightly less than half of respondents are willing to help pay for it, but an almost equal group are not. It seems hypocritical to clamour for 'subways, as long as someone else pays for them' or 'subways, but not downtown'.
1) Not really separated lanes, at least by the definition of such as used in places like New York, Chicago, Montreal. Bit of a bait and switch, which really ticks people off.
2) Three blocks over, not one.
3) The whole "use Sherbourne" thing is a red herring, like there should only be one bike route into downtown and who cares how direct it is. Do you think just because they built a bike lane on 8th Avenue in Manhattan that they don't need one on 6th Ave or 10th Ave or West Street? Of course not - you have to build a network if you want people to use something, not just a single wandering route. There is a concept called "complete streets", whereby all streets should be designed properly and functionally for cars, bikes and pedestrians.
4) It's not like the bike lanes were taken away for pedestrians or beautification (the original intent before the whole controversy). They were taken away to turn Jarvis into an at-grade highway! What year is this, 1958? Who does that in 2012? Oh, nobody. This is a real insult to intelligent planning. Sherbourne is irrelevant; this is all about foxes running the henhouse.
5) Sherbourne already had bike lanes, so it was not a wash. It was a removal. On principle alone, not one city in 2012 has removed bike lanes. Plus it costs money to remove things. No matter what the context, Toronto should not be the one to wear the dunce crown.
That enough rationale for you?
Hey, you, in the weatherproof, gas-powered vehicle. Why don't YOU drive three streets over?
By that logic, why are we building a subway to the airport? Those pesky tourists don't pay Toronto property taxes either! It's opinions like this that have held back innovation in this city by 40 years.
*facepalm*
Personally I'd be fine moving over 3 streets for a quality separated bike lane (and I agree the ones on Sherbourne are not good enough, if cars/buses can park in them, they will)
I agree with you to a certain extent about funding, but saying we don't want to raise our taxes to fund our transit system because we aren't the only ones who use it is a ridiculous argument. It needs to be paid for, and if nobody else is going to help out then we just have to fucking grow up and do it ourselves.
Ford and DMW - what a team!
These reasons, and a lot of others, are why I think of them as stupid. If they don't wish to be though of as such, then said people can rectify this by saying YES to taxes for a change instead of trying to avoid them. Of course, knowing people these days, it'll be the latter instead of the former...
Besides, these people have no problem what so-fracking-ever with the federal government buying crappy expensive fighter jets that may not be good against an invader, which their tax money is going to. What's the problem with same money going to build a much needed subway and LRT line, or similar transit projects across the nation?