Toronto Spadina Subway Extension Emergency Exits | ?m | 1s | TTC | IBI Group

I feel that Toronto council is a bit more fragmented with multiple conflicting agendas between Councillors. York region is able to have a unified transit plan in part because they don't have, for example, Markham demanding as much transit investment as Vaughan at the expense of other municipalities.

One of the reasons for the struggle for a DRL has been the tendency for Councillors to have a 'my kingdom' attitude. If a transit proposal does not benefit their riding (read put subways there) they will be against it.
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
I feel that Toronto council is a bit more fragmented with multiple conflicting agendas between Councillors. York region is able to have a unified transit plan in part because they don't have, for example, Markham demanding as much transit investment as Vaughan at the expense of other municipalities.
Click to expand...

Well, I think they do have that - but it's not like Toronto where you have 44 ward councillors ganging up and the councillors they do have in York Region aren't beholden to wards and crazy residents in the same way. If anything, I'd say there are differences between the southern 3 municipalities (RH, Markham and Vaughan) and the "northern 6." They can quibble about resources etc. but those two teams generally play on the same sides, and the chair effectively answers to them, which is a very different situation than the mayor in Toronto.

That said, it's a fairly similar structure in the other regions and lord knows it hasn't helped Brampton follow through on its transit plans. On topic - the commitment to develop VMC has been longstanding and consistent. Markham has been pushing the envelope on TOD and intensification since the mid-90s and the other munis have, for the most part, gotten with the program.

Obviously we've all seen how politics wreaks havoc with transit plans but I think the 5-second takeaway is that York Region has generally "tried to do the right thing," at least in the past. Whether it pans out remains to be seen.
 
I know I'm in the "I believe in VMC!" camp but this picture, posted on Vaughan's Twitter account still made me laugh. I don't know if they actually think this GREAT VIEW of the pond and, um, skyline, are impressive but lordy... bleak. Nothing to be proud of, Vaughan. Not yet, anyway.
vmc.JPG


(there's so little to see, I had to look at it 5 times to get oriented. Appears to be looking west. Or a bit north-west. Behold the glories of Concord and distant Woodbridge!)
 

Attachments

  • vmc.JPG
    vmc.JPG
    60.6 KB · Views: 938
Smart Centres owns most of the land in the photo, too. The pond is apparently going to become a fancy lake to try and make it a bit more than your typical stormwater management pond. Black Creek running through the centre is a bit of an issue in terms of connecting the different parts of the plan and trying to make Jane street pedestrian friendly.
 
Interestingly I think that pond/greenspace significantly boosts VMC's diversity index, perhaps helping it to eke past Yonge-Eglinton in terms of UGC land use diversity.

GTHA-urban-growth-centres-land-use.jpg
 

Attachments

  • GTHA-urban-growth-centres-land-use.jpg
    GTHA-urban-growth-centres-land-use.jpg
    80.9 KB · Views: 944
innsertnamehere said:
It's not really a green space, it's a bunch of bushes and overgrown weeds surrounding a marsh.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you're exactly right. It's pretty isolated right now - if you're on the corner you don't even know it's back there - but will be better once it's landscaped and the surroundings have evolved.


But for now, I just suspect that if I wanted to show off the view from Expo, South probably looks better than that.
 
innsertnamehere said:
It's not really a green space, it's a bunch of bushes and overgrown weeds surrounding a marsh.
Click to expand...

Might not be a playground but it's most definitely a green space, and would fall under the undevelopable parks/open space land use category listed above. It's not like we're talking about vegetated lands within a utility or transportation corridor here.
 
There's a debate about the pond, now?
Right now that's almost "leftover land." It's just tucked in behind some trees. But when the area develops it will be landscaped and turned into a proper green space. Green space doesn't have to be "pretty." A marsh or something naturalized can be "pretty" but I seem to recall the idea for this particular pond is to turn it from kind of terra incognita into a proper park within VMC. If anyone actually wants to read the city's stormwater planning regarding this, there are boards here . Here's a shot from one of them.
vmcboard.JPG
 

Attachments

  • vmcboard.JPG
    vmcboard.JPG
    160 KB · Views: 789
The stormwater plan points to further assessment and design that was done through an environmental assessment process. Four ponds were planned, designs from the EA report are below:

SjCNJSp.png

fTSuVp9.png

uHNe5RC.png

eDEc3Gq.png

Wv3qk1h.png


I heard from a source that they were reviewed by the environment ministry, and after getting slapped with some extra requirements, the city was contemplating whether they needed the southeastern pond at all, or if they would pursue better on-site controls.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top