Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[kamira51]

We make it too easy for sleeper towns to exist here. We’ll expand highways at will for any town within 100km of a major urban centre, and ignore that those cities wouldn’t function otherwise as they’ve lost all but retail employment locally.

Those sleeper towns then expect any kind of share of public transit to and from them to be someone else’s—generally, the urban centre’s—responsibility.

Hint: because cars.

Our system is broken.

I recently read a few sections from John Sewells book

Shape of the Suburbs: Understanding Toronto's Sprawl​

And it really did open my eyes regarding sprawl and the issues it brings, the biggest being infrastructure costs during the 70s and 80s.
People warned the government about needing to curb sprawl during that time period, but it fell on deaf ears.

It's a very good book and highly recommend it.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Regarding point #2, the Federal Government may have played a role in the stunning about- face. At this point, there is simply no fight left in the Ford camp.

Having the RCMP sniffing around doesn't help either. Trouble for DoFo though is the the Mounties don't stop investigating a robbery just because you returned the stolen merch.

 

[afransen]

What's also needed is the notion of "Satellite towns" - use rail infrastructure as a way to shape development patterns regionally. This is common in Europe - but almost totally absent in NA.

AoD

I could get behind developing greenfield 'new towns' if it was done in a walkable, transit-oriented moderately high density way. Have the MTO preserve alignments for future rail transit. and locate such towns in less ecologically and agriculturally sensitive areas.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I recently read a few sections from John Sewells book

Shape of the Suburbs: Understanding Toronto's Sprawl​

And it really did open my eyes regarding sprawl and the issues it brings, the biggest being infrastructure costs during the 70s and 80s.
People warned the government about needing to curb sprawl during that time period, but it fell on deaf ears.

It's a very good book and highly recommend it.

You should read the prequel - Shape of the City - that basically talked about planning the 40s-70s in Metro Toronto as well.

AoD

 

[MisterF]

I could get behind developing greenfield 'new towns' if it was done in a walkable, transit-oriented moderately high density way. Have the MTO preserve alignments for future rail transit. and locate such towns in less ecologically and agriculturally sensitive areas.

It's a weird part of North American culture that small towns and suburbs should be car dependent while only only big city cores can be walkable. The reality is that small towns can be just as walkable as any big city if they're designed properly.

 

[Admiral Beez]

It's a weird part of North American culture that small towns and suburbs should be car dependent while only only big city cores can be walkable. The reality is that small towns can be just as walkable as any big city if they're designed properly.

At least our downtown didn't experience Detroit-like white flight, where the big city core becomes a slum.

 

[afransen]

It's a weird part of North American culture that small towns and suburbs should be car dependent while only only big city cores can be walkable. The reality is that small towns can be just as walkable as any big city if they're designed properly.

In theory, most of the travel within a town should be quite doable by walking and bike, with transit/car for longer distance travel (commuting to work).

 

[Towered]

At least our downtown didn't experience Detroit-like white flight, where the big city core becomes a slum.

True, but downtown did still see a notable decline for a while. When my parents moved to Toronto in the early 60's, they were shocked by what a "dump" the place was (coming from Austria I can totally see why they would have thought that), and had every intention of moving back within several years. I'm still bitter that they didn't...

 

[Admiral Beez]

True, but downtown did still see a notable decline for a while. When my parents moved to Toronto in the early 60's, they were shocked by what a "dump" the place was (coming from Austria I can totally see why they would have thought that), and had every intention of moving back within several years. I'm still bitter that they didn't...

I’ve lived in downtown east for twenty-five years. Back in 1998 it was much more of a dump. Like them or not, but the condo boom as brought a flood of sane, sober and solvent people into the core.

 

[Northern Light]

More on Mr.X ; on suspect MZOs and 'developers' flipping MZO'ed lands.

Mr. X and his MZOs: The Greenbelt consultant has claimed credit for getting special zoning for developers. Now one of his clients is looking to resell the land for a big profit

This is the latest instance of an Ontario developer apparently trying to resell a property after getting special zoning to fast-track building.

www.thestar.com

 

[lenaitch]

More on Mr.X ; on suspect MZOs and 'developers' flipping MZO'ed lands.

Mr. X and his MZOs: The Greenbelt consultant has claimed credit for getting special zoning for developers. Now one of his clients is looking to resell the land for a big profit

This is the latest instance of an Ontario developer apparently trying to resell a property after getting special zoning to fast-track building.

www.thestar.com

And his star employee: 'the fixer'.

 

[afransen]

More on Mr.X ; on suspect MZOs and 'developers' flipping MZO'ed lands.

Mr. X and his MZOs: The Greenbelt consultant has claimed credit for getting special zoning for developers. Now one of his clients is looking to resell the land for a big profit

This is the latest instance of an Ontario developer apparently trying to resell a property after getting special zoning to fast-track building.

www.thestar.com

It seemed somewhat inevitable that the raft of MZOs issued by the government are implicated in corruption.

 

[wopchop]

It seemed somewhat inevitable that the raft of MZOs issued by the government are implicated in corruption.

Of course. The development industry does not operate like a normal business - it is full of corruption. Secret deals, labour exploitation, collaboration to fix prices and wages, subcontractor exploitation, etc. All of this is common, every day business as usual.

We should not be surprised at all when these people are given such unbridled access to power that they will absolutely exploit it.

 

[zang]

"They do not get to just walk away from this. We will demand answers about where the money went. A lot of the Liberals got rich, really really rich, under Kathleen Wynne and off the backs of the taxpayers of Ontario."
- Doug Ford, September 2018

“I got to remind him, he was part of the most politically corrupt government this province has ever seen, ever."
- Doug Ford, October 2018

"Hold my beer."
- Presumably Doug Ford, 2022

Yesterday:
"A former top adviser to Premier Doug Ford, who joined a trip to Las Vegas that is now under scrutiny, left his government post in 2022, but has since kept working for the Progressive Conservative caucus on a $237,000 contract that only ended this month."

Former Doug Ford aide Amin Massoudi paid $237,000 by PC caucus services

Mr. Massoudi left his government post in 2022, but providing ‘communications support’ to Doug Ford, says Ford office spokesperson

www.theglobeandmail.com

I will remind people that Amin is a Ford loyal, who's been following Ford along since the Rob Ford mayoralty.

 

[lenaitch]

We should not be surprised at all when these people are given such unbridled access to power that they will absolutely exploit it.

The development industry is just better at it and has deeper pockets.