In cancelling, modifying, or delaying projects—some already funded and ready to go— [Rob] Ford has begun to pick at this city, pulling the ends of what he deems to be small, useless threads. The thing about the city, though, is that what may seem like small, expendable threads turn out to be woven and connected to so many other things, that when you tug on them hard enough something you didn’t expect begins to unravel too.
~ Jake Tobin Garrett, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Torontoist, June 7, 2011
8 June 2011
I think at certain times [road tolls are unmentionable] but presented in a different form, under different circumstances, I think an adult conversation could be had about them. And, later on there may be that possibility.
~ Ford-selected transit advisor Gordon Chong to the CBC, in reply to the recent back-and-forth about whether the City is considering using road tolls to help pay for the Sheppard subway. (NO KIDDING.)
(Source: torontoist.com)
2 June 2011
What Toronto Light Rail Could Look Like
I just picked up on this post from torontoist, “What Would Light Rail Be Like?”. They also have a followup post, “What Else Would Light Rail Be Like?”. Both worth checking out if you’re interested in finding out just how different light rail is from current TTC streetcar operations, as well as light rail’s similarities to subways.
21 December 2010
Rob Ford himself is not a smart individual; this would be forgivable (and perhaps even endearing) if he acknowledged his issues with intelligence as candidly as he does his issues with weight. There are some things he does well and some things about which he is clever, but he has difficulty with abstract thinking. (For example, he lacks the capacity to empathize with people with whom he has not made direct contact.) So I don’t think, in his mind, there is anything inconsistent about his approach. Nor does he grasp that many of the promises he made on the campaign trail were fanciful ones that, for any number of reasons, cannot be implemented in the context of reality. But the people on his team know what they’re doing and are embarking on a deliberate strategy to advance as much of their agenda as possible as quickly as possible, because they know it will only become more difficult as the months wear on and Ford’s momentum wears off. They’re never going to have as many allies on Council as they do now, and every day they put something off, the more likely it is to be subjected to credible scrutiny. Their method is smash first, ask questions later: As a tactic, it’s suitable crafty, but as a philosophy of governance, it is (by definition) about as short-sighted as you can get.
~ Jonathan Goldsbie, The Slow Death of Transit City. National Post, Dec. 6. 2010.
7 December 2010
Ford is Serious About Stone Aging Transit Development
Well, it looks like our new Council could very well roll back four years of planning and billions of dollars of committed funding so Rob Ford can go back to the drawing board on Transit City. (See the great G&M editorial here.)
I moved to Toronto in 2006, and in four years NOTHING NEW HAS BEEN BUILT, nothing has changed. This will be four more years wasted, if not more: New designs, new environmental approvals, new RFPs and contracts, and hundreds of millions in cancellation clauses. At this rate our transportation network will be paralyzed and strangled before we have any meaningful transit development. What a joke. I realize this is an oversimplification, but we have in front of us what is regarded as an ambitious plan in Transit City — a plan that the incoming Mayor plans to abandon.
If you hate this as much as I do, start writing meaningful letters to your new Mayor and Councillor. Do your research. Cite Montreal and Vancouver as possible examples of what you want to see here. Regardless, please take action any way you can.
1 December 2010
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