Takao said:the blue jays need to make the playoffs before a new field could be talked about
so 20 years?
cleveland
Councillor Doug Ford has laid out his most detailed vision for Torontos eastern waterfront, with a monorail skimming along the shore, a 1.6-million-square-foot megamall and island airport users boating right into their hotel lobby.
Ford, the brother and closest adviser of Mayor Rob Ford, laid out his vision in an interview Tuesday morning on CBC Radios Metro Morning.
The interview came on the heels of the Ford administration revealing it wants to seize control of port lands redevelopment from Waterfront Toronto, a tripartite agency to which Ottawa, Queens Park and the city have each contributed $500 million.
In the interview, Doug Ford laid out a much grander vision than Waterfront Torontos existing plan lauded by planners and developers, but criticized by the Ford administration as moving too slowlyfor a vibrant residential community that would incorporate stores and parks.
What wed like to do is have a monorail system thats running right from the Pan Am Games (site) right along the lakefront and stops at Union Station and Ontario Place and right across the front of the lake, Ford said.
And then it would hang a quick little right, right down Cherry St., and as it goes down Cherry St. the first stop would be right at the end of the pier.
You would have some just beautiful iconic buildings, hotels, youd be able to get to the hotel from boat, from train or from the airport and itd be the only hotel that youd be able to get off the plane, throw your luggage in a boat and pull right into the lobby and unload it.
And the second stop would be down by Lake Ontario Park, Cherry Beach, and youd have just 250 acres of beautiful beachfront. Youd be able to picnic, bike, jog and then the next stop would be the megamall.
It would be 1.6 million square feet of one of the most prestigious malls in Canada. Wed try to attract Nordstrom and Bloomingdales and Macys ...
And the last stop is the Hearn Station, and that would be a multi-use facility with ice rinks on the base and soccer pitches on the top, retail on the back end and then the monorail would come back up to Union Station. It would be absolutely spectacular, it could be the most prestigious address in Canada and we need to develop it.
Ford had said he also hopes to have looming over all of it the worlds biggest Ferris wheel, similar to Englands London Eye.
The Ford administration has not publicly released its detailed vision for the port lands but the councillor said it made an impression when unveiled recently to an unspecified group.
We had 15 people in the room and everyones jaw just dropped when they saw it. It is spectacular, just spectacular.
Asked how the city would finance the redevelopment, Ford said private sector investment would cover everything including the roads and other infrastructure. The Ford administration is also seeking billions in private investment to fund the Sheppard subway line.
Fords interview on CBC Radio after he and his brother have long been cool to the public broadcaster seemed aimed at putting pressure on Premier Dalton McGuintys Liberal government, which is on the cusp of a provincial election and is resisting the citys port lands takeover plan.
The office of provincial Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli told the Star on Monday that the province remains committed to Waterfront Torontos mandate and their ongoing work in revitalizing Torontos waterfront.
And Glen Murray, minister of research and innovation, said a city decision to pull out of the port lands partnership would jeopardize the broader waterfront strategy. All of the projects are interrelated; you cant just pull one piece out. Its important that governments stick to the plan and not change the plan halfway through, Murray said.
The office of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty would not comment directly on the citys proposal, but said federal participation in Waterfront Toronto is winding down because $492 million of its $500 million contribution has been spent.
The city can negotiate to withdraw from the port lands deal and, if those talks fail, unilaterally pull out within nine months.
Mayor Fords executive committee will next week vote on a city manager recommendation to take back its port land properties because Waterfront Toronto has not come up with a plan to pay for the flood prevention project that must be completed before development can proceed.
Council, however, approved the $634 million flood prevention strategy just last year, on the advice of senior bureaucrats, on the understanding that a funding plan would come later. Funding was not expected to be found by now, said Waterfront Toronto spokeswoman Michelle Noble.
They asked us to report back with a business case. And thats something weve been working on.
EvilMario said:It's okay guys. They're going to cut cost by using materials from the demolished libraries.
A monorail made of paper mache and illiteracy.EvilMario said:It's okay guys. They're going to cut cost by using materials from the demolished libraries.
Roto13 said:A monorail made of paper mache and illiteracy.
I know what I'll be daydreaming about in the car today.typo said:No worries, we'll have the silent majority riding it as it collapses into Lake Ontario.
The Ford administration is also seeking billions in private investment to fund the Sheppard subway line.
I was going to read the article, but then I remembered that taking seriously that which comes out of Doug Ford's mouth, to the point of reading it without laughing, is to lose more brain cells than I can possibly afford.EvilMario said:Maybe we'll finally have the water front developed! Well, sort of. As if it was a nightmare come true. Mega mall, Ferris wheel, monorail and boat in hotel. :S
One passenger is dead and 13 others injured after the TTC bus they were travelling on collided with a construction truck Tuesday.
A 43-year-old woman from Toronto was killed in the crash, which took place around 2:30 p.m. Six passengers went to trauma for serious injuries, police said.
The male bus driver was uninjured, said Danny Nicholson, supervisor of corporate communications for the TTC. It was not immediately known how many people were on board the 54 Lawrence East bus, he said.
The TTC is cooperating with the investigation, which is being handled by Toronto police.
The front right corner of the bus was smashed after the crash and debris spread across part of Lawrence Ave. E.
The truck was in second closest lane to the curb travelling westbound before the exit lane, said Const. Hugh Smith. It appears the bus was changing lanes from the same lane as the truck into the second lane from the center.
The bus will remain where it is for about three hours while the reconstruction team investigates, police said.
Both drivers are being investigated, Smith said. The Amherst truck driver was devastated, he said, and both drivers are shaken up.
The truck was carrying a lowered crane on its trailer. It has been pulled to the side of Lawrence, which is closed eastbound from The Donway E. to Victoria Park Ave. and westbound at Railside Rd.
Yvonne Bullard lives in the building overlooking the accident. She heard a loud crash and called 911.
"I said to the 911 people if there is anyone at the front of bus, they must be dead," she said.
Bullard takes that bus route everyday and was considering taking an afternoon bus today to a doctors appointment.
She saw lots of passengers rush off the bus as soon as they could, pushing the door. Many of them were bandaged up by paramedics as she watched from the sidewalk.
"My knees are all wobbly," said Janice, who preferred her last name be withheld. She rushed to the scene when she found out her daughter was on the bus. She heard her daughter was covered in blood and was rushed to the hospital along with the other injured, but does not know how severely she is hurt. She also doesn't know if her daughter's two children were in the bus with her.
The on-ramps to the Don Valley Pkwy. are closed in both directions at Lawrence.
Rinoa said:obligatory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM
Wonder if a Toronto one was made.
The rule of thumb is 4 litres to a gallon.The Take Out Bandit said:Only thing that got to me was the sheer stupidity of getting gas in my car at some station outside of the city. The lady couldn't just run my card and let me fill up. She wanted a number. I was trying to ballpark how many gallons I had left - then convert that to liters, but then just asked for a dollar amount to get the hell out of there before I started stabbing people by reflex of frustration.
lunarworks said:The rule of thumb is 4 litres to a gallon.
Firestorm said:Yeah that's what really confuses me about the mall. Well, aside from never having heard of a Macy's in Canada, why would you do that when you already have an iconic mall in the Eaton's Centre?
Draff said:I thought the point was to enjoy the scenery, not hit up Macy's.
I don't see how a megamall is ambitious.Represent. said:That mega mall sounds incredible to me. It sounds ambitious. Which is somethng i think toronto (canada on a whole) needs more of (ambition). Eaton center and a megamall in the same city. Dope.
Represent. said:That mega mall sounds incredible to me. It sounds ambitious. Which is somethng i think toronto (canada on a whole) needs more of (ambition). Eaton center and a megamall in the same city. Dope.
We have a mega mall. It's in Edmonton. It's really not that cool after the first time and does nothing for residents.Represent. said:That mega mall sounds incredible to me. It sounds ambitious. Which is somethng i think toronto (canada on a whole) needs more of (ambition). Eaton center and a megamall in the same city. Dope.
Parking lot makes sense. After all, half the platform involved ending the war on the car.EvilMario said:It's just a scheme to obtain the vast parking lot they wanted with the aquarium.
The best part about him mentioning Macy's, is it shows just how much 'I want to be like America' mentality goes into their decisions.
BladeWorker said:Parking lot makes sense. After all, half the platform involved ending the war on the car.
Let it never be said this man didn't stick to his principles, much though I may disagree with them.
ZZMitch said:Taking a 12 hours drive to Toronto starting tomorrow because I am moving into my dorm on Sunday!
I am very excited![]()
Firestorm said:Last day of work. Leaving tonight. It's been kinda nice experiencing Ontario =) Never been so close to the centre of the universe before ;D You all are great and I'm a little sad I didn't get to meet more of you before leaving!
I get interesting brouchures regularly from these people:dantehemi said:Hey gaf, lately I have been really thinking about taking night school courses. I would love to be able to write (like a book or short story's) or even contribute to blogs or Internet sites.
I have tons of ideas, but don't know how to express them on paper. So I guess what I'm asking is, does anyone know of any courses (in the Toronto area) that would benefit me? They would have to be night courses of course.
Thanks Toronto-gaf
I've been here since January. I think the percentage of times I said the word "fuck" before saying the word "waterloo" was at least 50% during the first two months.EvilMario said:We all feel terrible that you have to return to the land of beautiful mountains, trees and ocean. It's a shame you didn't get to experience a real winter! Come back soon. ;_;
I've barely bought anything since I got here (didn't wanna lug it home...) and if anything it would have affected Waterloo but there's like 1 of each store and 2 universities so it was already a lost cause lolBigJonsson said:this news will impact rfd Toronto significantly lol
If I get a job out here =/ May visit in the future - especially if they hold a video game Pokemon Canadian National Championship next summer in Toronto (was only TCG this year for Canada)Azih said:You coming back soon Firestorm?
With all this monorail talk there's one phrase that keeps going through my head.Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:"They built a mini-mall, so we built a bigger mini-mall!"
Vhalyar said:Has anyone been to the 360 (restaurant) at the CN Tower? How was the food?
I haven't seen my dad in over a year since he lives in France and can't really travel often, but he's finally coming over in October and I really want to have a great meal with him in Toronto before we set off on our little trip. The view is most likely nice, but if it's offset by crappy food...
Otherwise any suggestions for a nice, memorable restaurant?
Waterloo winters are absolutely THE WORST.Firestorm said:I've been here since January. I think the percentage of times I said the word "fuck" before saying the word "waterloo" was at least 50% during the first two months.