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Rail Deck Park (?, ?, ?)

^It is bizarre....so much so I dismissed the headline, and indeed, even the author wouldn't have chosen the headline. TorStar is barely a step away from the National Perspirer in many respects of late.

Here's how David Rider, the author, provided perspective:
Tory said he expects in January city staff will report to council on next steps on rail deck park, a proposed kind of green roof that would span the rail corridor connecting downtown to the waterfront. The proposal had mixed support on council last term, with some saying the core desperately needs parkland and others questioning how to pay the $1.6 billion-plus price tag.

The mayor said he’s committed to “aggressively” pursuing the project that city staff are expected to suggest would need funding from corporations and developers, and could become a citywide draw and tourist attraction.
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As to how that translates to the headline is a good question...

I'm certainly no Tory fan, Mr Milquetoast dances in his Oxfords yet again, and now threatening a third time, but TorStar had best start to be more judicious with their headlines.
 
Tory is the same guy who couldn't justify and find $2 million on a display which would preserve and show an 1831 drain at the St.Lawrence Market. How he thinks he'll find $1.6 billion the way he has gone about city finances is just comical.

In the end it's just going to end up on the city's list of unfunded but approved capital projects. Just like 90% of the things Tory says he wants to do has ended up; Approved but Unfunded. Ultimately I think that's going to be his legacy.
 
Amare said:
In the end it's just going to end up on the city's list of unfunded but approved capital projects. Just like 90% of the things Tory says he wants to do has ended up; Approved but Unfunded. Ultimately I think that's going to be his legacy.
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ELECTION: What we didn’t talk about
OCTOBER 22, 2018 | BY JOHN LORINC

[...]
Well, beware of what you wish for. The Ford government will soon release its fall economic statement, which is a kind of mini-budget, and there’s every indication that the Tories plan to slash provincial spending. Setting aside the predictable hyperbole about allegations of misspending by the Wynne government, municipal governments may well experience these looming cuts like body blows.

Fully 17% of the 2018 operating budget, or $2.2 billion, came from provincial grants or subsidies, much of that for cost-shared social service programs delivered by the city. As for the capital budget, $4.1 billion, or roughly a tenth of the 2018-2027 spending plan, comes from provincial grants or the provincial gas tax.

In other words, the city has huge fiscal exposure, vindicating earlier warnings from Peter Wallace, the former city manager who came to be cast in the role of the Ancient Mariner in our municipal melodrama. If Ford slashes mandated social service benefits and programs, it will create a domino effect on the city in terms of growing homelessness and other forms of social dislocation. As for those capital budget subsidies, watch out because those outlays are all about city building. Cuts there will force the next council to either ice some of the big projects, find new revenues or plead for additional funding from the federal government. [...]
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http://spacing.ca/toronto/2018/10/22/election-what-we-didnt-talk-about/
 
ttk77 said:
I think he likely realizes that he hasn't done much for this city other than being a relatively steady hand. A step above the previous mayor for sure, but ultimately forgettable. He wants a legacy that will be remembered.
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Well, I am sure there are some backchannel stuff going on between the parties for some sort of grand compromise where everyone can take something home.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Well, I am sure there are some backchannel stuff going on between the parties for some sort of grand compromise where everyone can take something home.

AoD
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'Just throwing this out there': And that just might be the subway upload. Lorinc makes an excellent point in my post quoted above. Tory's fiscal latitude is about to shrink, and it was insufficient to begin with. If he didn't get much done last term, it's going to be even harder this one. Unless there's:
AlvinofDiaspar said:
backchannel stuff going on
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Something has to give.

I'm inclined to feel a bit sorry for Tory, albeit no-one forced him into the job, but QP has a lot aligned against him. The Tory Town sheriff is going to have to make a deal with the Ford Gang, or they shoot up the rest of the town...'Buck-a-Beer' rides again.
 
Oh man, there is no way this thing could ever get built. This city can't even build small capital projects on time and on budget.
And the reasoning, all these new condo owners and investor need more green space. Not only are all the condos in the area serviced by an abundance of amenities, but you also have the Skydome, canoe landing, new school and community centre at city place, the bentway, all of harbourfront, future parks at York Street, Rees St., 28 bathurst and a whole friggin island. How much more park space do they need?? money would be better spent increasing budgets for some of the new parks and building a gondola to the island. Please stop wasting money on feasibility studies for impossible projects.
 
It was interesting how Raildeck Park - only one of the city's biggest, most ambitious and totally unfunded projects - hardly came up at all during the campaign. You'd think, in a race where Tory is getting nailed for having no vision beyond low tax increases and cutting corners on SmartTrack, that he'd have been out there with renderings, talking about this amazing thing they're going to build.

I really thought someone would eventually mention it as another instance of the mayor talking a big game but producing little...
Maybe it never got mentioned because Keesmaat and Tory both support it, at least in principle, and trying to nail the other candidate for having no plan whatsoever to build it was pointless?
 
In a logical world, Keesmaat could have nailed Tory by simply asking him what his plan was to pay for the project (we all know that tax increment BS is not enough to pay for it).

However, seeing as how Doug Ford got elected as premier without providing an ounce of detail as to how he would pay for anything, I dont think people really care.
 
Amare said:
In a logical world, Keesmaat could have nailed Tory by simply asking him what his plan was to pay for the project (we all know that tax increment BS is not enough to pay for it).

However, seeing as how Doug Ford got elected as premier without providing an ounce of detail as to how he would pay for anything, I dont think people really care.
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I supported Keesmaat over Tory but her plan to pay for it wasn't obvious either.
 
steveintoronto said:
Out of interest, I thought I'd check ORCA's website http://www.orcatoronto.com/renderings/news/ to see whether they've 'thrown in the trowel' on the project. Lots are articles pasted and linked there, so many that I thought I'd best slim them down by using my browser's 'page search' for "2018".

One result:
Copyright © 2018 CRAFT Development Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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Well, yeah, but that's what happens when stuff goes to the OMB/LPAT.
Are there any 2018 updates to the City's Raildeck Park's website? I don't see anything, unless you count the "related reports" on the King Street Pilot, the Bentway etc.
at some point these projects will emerge from the cave they're in and it will be interesting again.
 
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