If you could change one thing about Toronto, what would it be?

[WillC]

The Toronto council thinks about going green. However, the epidemic of 4-way stop signs negate that.

Doesn't the council know that the motor vehicle wastes the most fuel in the lower gears, especially first gear. From a full stop, first gear is used to get the motor vehicle moving, before shifting to second and then third. Then braking again for the next stop sign. Running the motor vehicle in first gear wastes the most fuel.

Get rid of the stop signs and replace them with yield signs instead.

Maybe the epidemic of stop signs will convince some people to get out of their cars and into public transit. The most effective policy we could have to improve the city would be to control the flow of private motor cars into the city. That would stop urban sprawl, clean the air, and turn us into a city to be emulated.

 

[Torontovibe]

In my humble opinion, yes.

Scuzziness?

Ever spent the day with a gutter punk? They'll show you scuzziness and postering ain't it.

Have I ever spent the day with a gutter punk? Maybe not the day but I've spent more than a few nights with gutter punks and surprisingly, it was quite enjoyable. I never could resist a mohawk. (still can't lol)

 

[pman]

The one thing I'd change...

I'd keep Toronto tax dollars in Toronto instead of shipping them to Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces via the federal government. That would be worth around $4 billion a year.

 

[OttoSchloss]

I'd keep Toronto tax dollars in Toronto instead of shipping them to Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces via the federal government. That would be worth around $4 billion a year.

Or the rest of the province. Don't forget, people in the far flung regions of Ontario (anywhere outside the GTA for that matter) have this persistent idea that their taxes are going to support Toronto and not the other way around.

 

[Tewder]

How about greater oversight of how tax dollars are being spent or safeguarded (hello ehealth, loto-gate, adscam...)? We could achieve a lot with the billions that our political leaders have squandered, with the added bonus that we wouldn't have to secede from the rest of Canada.

 

[kettal]

We need fewer Dogs on acid, and more Think in Spanish.

 

[pman]

the wire

I'm encouraged that so many people on this thread have identified our dense network of overhead wires and the associated frontier town wooden poles, mid-air garbage can sized transformers, and rusting metal poles as something uniquely Torontonian. And not in a good way.

This stuff is public infrastructure in a very publiic realm, but I don't recall we were ever asked if we wanted our city to look this ugly. My question is how can we organize to get Toronto Hydro and the City to bite the bullet, bury the wires, and implement some kind of coherent, non-kitcshy standard for street and pedestrian lighting. Or as a first step, how can we even get the issue on the agenda so we can have a public discussion about the costs and benefits?

 

[pilinha]

Keep more of our tax dollars and use them to fund the TTC: build more subway lines, hire more staff, etc.

 

[Eug]

I would like to see...

I would like to see real street food... partially because that would suggest that t-dot-o had become a little less of a nanny state, to allow good street food to actually happen.

 

[allabootmatt]

I'm encouraged that so many people on this thread have identified our dense network of overhead wires and the associated frontier town wooden poles, mid-air garbage can sized transformers, and rusting metal poles as something uniquely Torontonian. And not in a good way.

This stuff is public infrastructure in a very publiic realm, but I don't recall we were ever asked if we wanted our city to look this ugly. My question is how can we organize to get Toronto Hydro and the City to bite the bullet, bury the wires, and implement some kind of coherent, non-kitcshy standard for street and pedestrian lighting. Or as a first step, how can we even get the issue on the agenda so we can have a public discussion about the costs and benefits?

Hear, hear. The problem one would run into, though, is that most Torontonians are so used to the wires they barely notice them--or, if they do, don't care/assume it's like that everywhere.

I am trying to get over my obsession with the wires. I really am. The first step is admitting you have a problem, of course--and perhaps the second is realizing that lots of first-world cities DO still have them in lots of places, and just as bad--check out Street View of our South Pacific sister, Melbourne, and you'll see what I mean.

I get that burial is expensive, Hydro's mandate is to provide power not beautify the streets, etc. etc. But what gnaws at me is that I've not seen any evidence that the City and its arms-length utility see burying/rationalizing wires as even being preferable all things being equal.

I would be a lot more comfortable with an honest answer to the effect that, 'this isn't our priority but over time we will improve things where we can.' Instead, with Hydro's new round of wooden pole installations--particularly in the West End and along Eglinton--if anything the problem is getting worse, a few exceptions (St. Clair and Dundas in the Junction) notwithstanding. That's pretty alarming.

 

[OttoSchloss]

Okay I just came back to Toronto for a short while. And one thing I noticed, while the people may not be the most outgoing and exuberant bunch, they are pretty friendly. And I've watched on several occasions as complete strangers strike up conversations with each other on the street. There is a smidgen of anti-Americanism which I'd like to see go away (often it seems it comes from new immigrants or 2nd gen people, or Customs officials).

I can't find my brand of cigarettes (probably good since I need to quit anyway), think the whole plastic bag fee is reedonkulous (everyone walking around with reusable totes comes off as a bit euro-frau).

But otherwise it's not the cold, unfriendly city that it gets slammed for being. Except for the temperature which is COLD.

Oh and there are more visible homeless on the streets than even in NYC or Miami for that matter.

And the overhead wires are just nasty. Don't add any character and give the whole streetscape a definite frontier town look.

 

[Torontovibe]

San Francisco is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, yet if you go take a look on Google street-view, you will see that the city is littered with wooden poles and lots of overhead wires. I find it quite ugly myself but I guess in some cities people don't seem to mind. Unfortunately, the ones in Toronto are uglier and our poles are in much worse condition.

I'm not suggesting that keeping the poles is a good thing, I'm just saying I've never heard anyone say the poles in SF are ugly or even an issue. Yet in Toronto, I always hear people complain about our nasty poles and over-head wires. I just hope in new neighbourhoods like East Bayfront, West Don Lands and the new Regent Park, that they bury the wires underground. Whenever I've asked my local politician or Waterfront Toronto about it, nobody seems to know what the plan is. (trust me, I've asked many times) That's not a good sign, have they not given it any thought?

I've noticed in St. Lawrence and The Esplanade, they don't have the over-head wires and it's so much nicer. If all of Toronto was like that, what a difference that would make. I think we need to keep nagging our politicians and keep at it every chance we get. I intend to.

 

[Eug]

San Francisco is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, yet if you go take a look on Google street-view, you will see that the city is littered with wooden poles and lots of overhead wires. I find it quite ugly myself but I guess in some cities people don't seem to mind. Unfortunately, the ones in Toronto are uglier and our poles are in much worse condition.

I'm not suggesting that keeping the poles is a good thing, I'm just saying I've never heard anyone say the poles in SF are ugly or even an issue. Yet in Toronto, I always hear people complain about our nasty poles and over-head wires. I just hope in new neighbourhoods like East Bayfront, West Don Lands and the new Regent Park, that they bury the wires underground. Whenever I've asked my local politician or Waterfront Toronto about it, nobody seems to know what the plan is. (trust me, I've asked many times) That's not a good sign, have they not given it any thought?

I've noticed in St. Lawrence and The Esplanade, they don't have the over-head wires and it's so much nicer. If all of Toronto was like that, what a difference that would make. I think we need to keep nagging our politicians and keep at it every chance we get. I intend to.

I think the overhead wires in San Francisco are hideous, just like they are hideous in Toronto. However, overall, the city is still a nice one.

 

[Torontovibe]

I think the overhead wires in San Francisco are hideous, just like they are hideous in Toronto. However, overall, the city is still a nice one.

Yes, I agree but at least the poles in SF are in much better condition than the ones in Toronto. Our tilted, rusty, dirty poles are in really bad shape. It's way below any acceptable minimum standard, as far as I'm concerned. I can't believe it's not an important issue to Torontonians. I guess people are so used to our scruffy public realm, that they don't even notice anymore. (tourists do however)

 

[junctionist]

But what gnaws at me is that I've not seen any evidence that the City and its arms-length utility see burying/rationalizing wires as even being preferable all things being equal.

I would be a lot more comfortable with an honest answer to the effect that, 'this isn't our priority but over time we will improve things where we can.' Instead, with Hydro's new round of wooden pole installations--particularly in the West End and along Eglinton--if anything the problem is getting worse, a few exceptions (St. Clair and Dundas in the Junction) notwithstanding. That's pretty alarming.

I wholeheartedly agree. It's like the people at Toronto Hydro are completely blind when it comes to aesthetics. There's no plan to improve things, just ad hoc work to keep the street lights on it seems. Even in the Junction on Dundas the actual streetlight fixtures on those ornamental poles sometimes go missing for months. When construction finished on a new public space at Keele and Annette replacing a bus loop, redundant hydro poles where not removed for months.

It's not uncommon to see streets with inconsistent streetlight designs, or peripheral lighting like the sidewalk lights on Roncesvalles never fixed.

It's a mystery how they could work in such ignorance of the importance of their infrastructure in terms of aesthetics and peoples' perception of the city. It seems quite provincial.