Leaside

[donoreo]

I'm not unhappy with the Costco decision. We go to Costco quite a bit, so it will be nice to have one close by, but we never used the gas station. It still baffles me that people are willing to idle their cars for 20 minutes in order to save $3 on gasoline.

I know! Why do people do this? We often do get gas at Costco in Newmarket on the way up north. I have never run into a line of more than 4 cars even on a Friday night.

 

[Therion]

It appears that construction on the Walmart plaza north of Wicksteed is resuming. Equipment has been arriving on site for the past couple of weeks.

 

[ChopstickHero]

It appears that construction on the Walmart plaza north of Wicksteed is resuming. Equipment has been arriving on site for the past couple of weeks.

I noticed that too. It was stalled for such a long time.

 

[acornman]

Has it been confirmed that there will be a Wal Mart in that plaza? I've been looking around and can't really find much info on it.

Looks like the development for 36 Overlea is also still being discussed among local residents and the city.

 

[Therion]

I don't think it has been officially confirmed, but I believe it was leaked a while ago. Things can change, though. Still hoping for a full-size Macy's

 

[narduch]

The Leaside Walmart is happening.

I know one of the equipment suppliers who has been pre-warned to start production.

I don't know the timelines though.

 

[ChopstickHero]

Units are beginning to shut down on the northeast corner of Eglinton and Bayview. Mac's convenience store is no more. I wonder how much time remains on the other leases for the remaining stores.

 

[TomCycle]

I'm not unhappy with the Costco decision. We go to Costco quite a bit, so it will be nice to have one close by, but we never used the gas station. It still baffles me that people are willing to idle their cars for 20 minutes in order to save $3 on gasoline.

I thought exactly the same thing. Until my wife and I got a brand new Subaru w/turbo that needs premium gas. Costco premium gas can be .20 cents lower than esso, for example. For 60 litres, that's about $12 savings. Most people use the costco mastercard for an additinal 2% off.
Not sure if it also stacks with the 2% executive card discount.
Also the East York Costco is the only Costco that has a 20 minute wait time.
MIssissauga, Queensway and all other locations are ~5 minute wait.

 

[TomCycle]

Yes, midrises are appropriate on main streets like Laird, Bayview and Eglinton. But we should be looking to encourage the transition from midrises to single-unit dwellings by having townhouses, duplexes and multiplexes in between. This way we can continue to build density beyond the midrise.



I know this is addressed to ksun, but to address your first concern, that is the point of the 'missing middle' housing I pointed to above. They maintain the build form and character of low-rise, single-family homes while adding more dwellings per acre.

We want to encourage density because density helps local businesses, encourages restaurants, supports local services and public transportation (a lowrise single-family home build-form cannot support public transportation on its own, but the 'missing middle' housing types increases density of low-rise areas to meet threshold for viable public transport), and because more people in the neighbourhood means more security and safety by virtue of having more eyes and more people walking on the street going about their business.

We as a city also have growing demands for density as we want to encourage development along transit corridors like Eglinton. We've been focusing purely on building highrise condos so far to meet this density, and we have an official plan encouraging the building of midrises along our avenues, but these are not the only solutions. Certainly for an area like Leaside that wants and should maintain its low-rise build form, zoning can be amended to allow the construction of denser low-rise housing.

I personally do not agree that we should 'densify' areas for the sake of making housing more affordable.
Where do we draw the line? Do we all need to live like they do in Mexico City? or Hong Kong?

 

[Therion]

Subaru turbos take premium? Ugh. The Crosstrek was going to be my next car. Anyway.

I don't think Mexico City's slums are a fair comparison to what we're trying to build in Toronto, besides which, really nothing being built is affordable to the majority of the population.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

I don't think Mexico City's slums are a fair comparison to what we're trying to build in Toronto, besides which, really nothing being built is affordable to the majority of the population.

There's density and there's density. A few setbacks and other accommodations for Toronto traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and snow banks are required but I'd rather see these or the boulevards in Montreal or the low-mid rise 'hoods of Manhattan.

 

[Therion]

I love that pic of Vienna. I'm Hungarian and Budapest has lots of those types of streets, as well. They offer tons of retail space, but you're right in that we have different issues here to deal with. I'm hoping that if the old-folks home on Laird gets the go-ahead, it will include at least some ground floor retail. Can't say I'll miss that breakfast place, but I think it is well-positioned for some interesting, unique businesses. People going to the Sobey's plaza can leave their car there and hop across the street.

 

[ksun]

I personally do not agree that we should 'densify' areas for the sake of making housing more affordable.
Where do we draw the line? Do we all need to live like they do in Mexico City? or Hong Kong?

Comparing to Mexico City, the largest city in North America is silly. Toronto will never be that dense.
Comparing to Hong Kong is equally unreasonable. HK's density is driven by artificially low land supply. HK itself doesn't really lack developable land.
On the other hand, neighbourhoods like Leaside have perfect reasons to densify for a variety of good reasons. Housing affability is just one of them. Whoever is against it probably live there and worries about their own property value going down because condos are expected to rise.

 

[ksun]

There's density and there's density. A few setbacks and other accommodations for Toronto traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and snow banks are required but I'd rather see these or the boulevards in Montreal or the low-mid rise 'hoods of Manhattan.

I'd rather see those too, but unfortunately it will never happen in Toronto. I can't think of one single street that is primarily this kind of build form (a complete street wall of 5-10s buildings). We are stuck with either 2 story houses or 50s condos (and they sit side by side such as in the Yonge/Eg area).

 

[TomCycle]

Comparing to Mexico City, the largest city in North America is silly. Toronto will never be that dense.
Comparing to Hong Kong is equally unreasonable. HK's density is driven by artificially low land supply. HK itself doesn't really lack developable land.
On the other hand, neighbourhoods like Leaside have perfect reasons to densify for a variety of good reasons. Housing affability is just one of them. Whoever is against it probably live there and worries about their own property value going down because condos are expected to rise.

So basically you're saying to build condos anywhere where there isn't enough condos?
Should we get rid of the don valley parkland for this?
Wall to wall condos?
again, where do you want to draw the line?