• Follow the leader game just unfair to challengers: Royson James has a good piece in the Star today about the upcoming city election. “It’s difficult to explain, but a near-record number of people is interested in running the City of Toronto. They’ve plumped down their deposit, signed nomination papers, and many have started campaigning via websites and door-to-door.This surge of candidates for Toronto City Council comes when the prospects of unseating an incumbent are as dim as ever. In fact, Tiger Woods has a better chance of winning every golf tournament he plays for the rest of the year than challengers have of unseating an incumbent.” [ Toronto Star ]
• Gardiner report for council eyes only: “They won’t be burying the Gardiner Expressway anytime soon, but city hall will continue to bury a report recommending what to do with the roadway. The report, considered a political hot potato and written by the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. was submitted to the city in the summer of 2004. It has never been publicly circulated and will now only be released to councillors.” [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto cleans up its act: While some days litter blows in the wind like leaves, it seems Toronto is getting cleaner. At least that’s what the stats show. “Toronto has 40 per cent less litter on its streets today than in 2002, according to an audit released by the city today. An outside firm hired by the city to check on about 300 sites found an average of 15 pieces of litter per site in the latest survey — down from 25 per site when the audits began in 2002.” [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC, union, mediator meet over wildcat cost: “The Toronto Transit Commission’s demand for $3 million compensation from the union representing its workers because of a wildcat strike won’t be resolved before the New Year, officials of the two sides say.” [ Toronto Star ]
• Contract tendering hot issue for Vaughan city council: “A stormy meeting of Vaughan city council ended yesterday with the city’s manager being ordered to find out if the three remaining developers competing to build its civic centre have met the required minimum experience to qualify them for the $93.5-million job.” [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto WiFi goes live: “Toronto Hydro Telecom announced today the launch of it’s city-wide WiFi initiative, One Zone. The first phase of a plan to provide all of Toronto with affordable wireless internet is now active. Phase 1 covers an area from Front to Queen, and from Church to Spadina. By the end of this year that coverage will be significantly expanded, reaching all the way north to Bloor, and from Bathurst to Parliament south of Queen — six square kilometers, the largest WiFi network in Canada.” [ Blog TO ]
• Worst Roads in Toronto: “For the fourth consecutive year, the Ontario’s Worst Roads web site is tallying our votes and will soon present us with a list of the 20 worst roads in the province. Urging us to “give [our] mayor some food for thought”, the coalition calls for increased funding for road and road safety improvements.” [ Blog TO ]
photo from Blog TO by Zach Slootzky
2 comments
How annoying that you have to have a cell phone to use the Hydro wireless. Yeesh.
Regarding the Gardiner – I work at Bay and Queen’s Quay, so often cross back and forth from the financial district to the lake front during the morning and evening commute, and also for lunch, as there are fewer lunch-time restaurants and along the lake front.
I always felt that the Gardiner isn’t the barrier, it’s Lakeshore Road. It’s a pain to cross Lakeshore, it’s so busy and wide. It’s what really cuts people off from the lake front, not the Gardiner.
And even if they tore down the Gardiner, the rail embankment would still be in the way, which is not something that will be removed (nor should it be).
I think that if they made the tunnels under the railways lighter and prettier (kind of like what they have done with York Street) perhaps put some stores or restaurants under the rail lines (it works in Europe and Japan), made Lakeshore less of a highway and easier to cross and prettied up the area under the Gardiner, either with one or two story retail or small parks with plants that don’t mind the shade or lack of sun, then the Gardiner wouldn’t be a problem at all, and people would be more willing to head from the financial district down to the waterfront.