[kotsy]

Pics from yesterday

Didn't expect to see a whole section of outer wall on the ground intact.

Normally wouldn't share a glitchy panoramic, but I'll almost certainly never get another one with a rainbow from here with the Gardiner in this state.

 

[evandyk]

That liberty village wall of buildings in the first photo really looks like Hong Kong.

 

[JasonParis]

I do wonder sometimes if the city had worked with Metrolinx to somehow ensure 15-minute GO service on the Lakeshore West line between Union and Long Branch, all day, every-day could have helped here too.

 

[Bojaxs]

I do wonder sometimes if the city had worked with Metrolinx to somehow ensure 15-minute GO service on the Lakeshore West line between Union and Long Branch, all day, every-day could have helped here too.

Not as much as you'd think. A lot of folks are choosing to still drive along the QEW during the Gardiner construction. Most of them are aware of the GO train. The main complaint being is there isn't enough parking at the GO stations once you pass Clarkson. Port Credit has little parking due to construction of the LRT. Long branch's parking lot is tiny and is pretty much all reserved spots. Mimico is full by 7am. Go by Mimico on Monday and you'll see everybody parked on the sides of the road cause they couldn't find a parking spot.

I proposed Metrolinx should temporarily expand parking at Mimico until the Gardiner construction is done. But was swiftly shut down by the "urban puritans" of this forum.

 

[drum118]

Not as much as you'd think. A lot of folks are choosing to still drive along the QEW during the Gardiner construction. Most of them are aware of the GO train. The main complaint being is there isn't enough parking at the GO stations once you pass Clarkson. Port Credit has little parking due to construction of the LRT. Long branch's parking lot is tiny and is pretty much all reserved spots. Mimico is full by 7am. Go by Mimico on Monday and you'll see everybody parked on the sides of the road cause they couldn't find a parking spot.

I proposed Metrolinx should temporarily expand parking at Mimico until the Gardiner construction is done. But was swiftly shut down by the "urban puritans" of this forum.

View attachment 574980

That area was to be part of the GO Station redevelopment with parking underground until the developer went under. A new plan surface with a new developer and looks like they are. going under. ML wants a developer to help with the the redevelopment and making it accessible that cannot happen today, consider next year is the drop dead date. Since this is a province thing, the province can change that date for ML to what every date ML needs to make it happen.

There is 3 developers for the area and none of their plans for it have yet to get off the ground other than razing the area.

ML is supposed to be working with someone for Long Branch with shoring supposed to be taking place there now

 

[turbanplanner]

Not as much as you'd think. A lot of folks are choosing to still drive along the QEW during the Gardiner construction. Most of them are aware of the GO train. The main complaint being is there isn't enough parking at the GO stations once you pass Clarkson. Port Credit has little parking due to construction of the LRT. Long branch's parking lot is tiny and is pretty much all reserved spots. Mimico is full by 7am. Go by Mimico on Monday and you'll see everybody parked on the sides of the road cause they couldn't find a parking spot.

I proposed Metrolinx should temporarily expand parking at Mimico until the Gardiner construction is done. But was swiftly shut down by the "urban puritans" of this forum.

View attachment 574980

Reddit is bombarded with idiots screaming whY DiDn'T YOU tAKe tHE Go (ignoring the fact not everyone is going to union and the entire city of Toronto west of Scarborough has something like 30 unreserved spots on the lakeshore line.

I've called people out and they just say walk lmfao as if a family will do that on a summer weekend.

Mimico parking is so bad! People park on the grass, next to the bike rentals etc

 

[evandyk]

Most people here don't scream about anything. We have very reasoned discussion! Most of us frankly don't care that much if someone who chose to move out to Oakville takes 2 hours to drive to Toronto. Though there's obviously a simple solution to the problem, which is a toll or congestion charge, but nobody who lives in Oakville seems to want a fast drive enough to actually pay what it costs.

We do often make the helpful suggestion that if you hate spending two hours in traffic, there's a pretty convenient train that lands you close to a lot of destinations in Toronto, and right on the subway line. I guess everyone has their reasons as to why two hours in traffic is better than finding a way to make the train work (bike to the station? Taxi/Uber? Have someone drop you off?), which is up to them.

The solution to not enough parking is also simple. Clearly they don't charge enough.

 

[turbanplanner]

Most people here don't scream about anything. We have very reasoned discussion! Most of us frankly don't care that much if someone who chose to move out to Oakville takes 2 hours to drive to Toronto. Though there's obviously a simple solution to the problem, which is a toll or congestion charge, but nobody who lives in Oakville seems to want a fast drive enough to actually pay what it costs.

We do often make the helpful suggestion that if you hate spending two hours in traffic, there's a pretty convenient train that lands you close to a lot of destinations in Toronto, and right on the subway line. I guess everyone has their reasons as to why two hours in traffic is better than finding a way to make the train work (bike to the station? Taxi/Uber? Have someone drop you off?), which is up to them.

The solution to not enough parking is also simple. Clearly they don't charge enough.

The quality of discussion is a lot higher here! My biggest gripe is a lot of people hand wave away problems. I took the GO during active TO and missed a train by 2 mins (my bad I'll wait for the next in an hour) well the train an hour later was cancelled due to a trespasser, no replacement sent etc. So that 15 min trip to union took over 2 hours. The go is great until there is any sort of problem, or you're going somewhere that isn't union.

TBH charging for parking wouldn't fix things, I feel like urban planners have a love hate thing for the go because it "enables sprawl"

 

[goreckm]

Most people here don't scream about anything. We have very reasoned discussion! Most of us frankly don't care that much if someone who chose to move out to Oakville takes 2 hours to drive to Toronto. Though there's obviously a simple solution to the problem, which is a toll or congestion charge, but nobody who lives in Oakville seems to want a fast drive enough to actually pay what it costs.

We do often make the helpful suggestion that if you hate spending two hours in traffic, there's a pretty convenient train that lands you close to a lot of destinations in Toronto, and right on the subway line. I guess everyone has their reasons as to why two hours in traffic is better than finding a way to make the train work (bike to the station? Taxi/Uber? Have someone drop you off?), which is up to them.

The solution to not enough parking is also simple. Clearly they don't charge enough.

It's not really as simple as you say. Your solutions boil down to:
- pay more money (taxi, uber, increased parking cost, congestion charge, etc) in a world where people are already struggling
- take longer to get to work on a daily basis (decreased quality of life)

Now, I agree that the these lower costs that people are paying now are already baked into the current infrastructure that we have, and they're being subsidized, but, this is the world that people have to live in, not an imaginary world that doesn't exist yet. Suburbs are not sustainable, but, we can't just start bulldozing homes and build Hong Kong WeTheNorth Edition. As much as I would like things to change quickly, this is a problem that will take generations to fix, and that's assuming we have governments which work toward that future and not away from it. We need to build the right infrastructure, create *desirable* homes for people that fit into our desired best practices. If you apply too much pressure on people from a cost or quality of life perspective, you'll either get people moving away (terrible for all the nice things we want in our city), or increased political instability (already seeing some of this) and guaranteed reversal of these policies and worse.

 

[Bojaxs]

Though there's obviously a simple solution to the problem, which is a toll or congestion charge, but nobody who lives in Oakville seems to want a fast drive enough to actually pay what it costs.

The "gas tax" is the charge that drivers pay to fund the road infrastructure they drive on. Every time a driver fills up their car, they're funding the infrastructure their automobile relies on. Not to derail this thread, but this is why governments are now trying to figure out another type of "gas tax" for EV's.

Also I' m not sure why you're going after Oakville people. People in Oakville are generally good at taking the train into work. Even the wealthy ones. I've seen my fair share of Maserati's in their reserved parking spots. My comments regarding lack of parking was for people who live east of Port Credit.

My suggestion to increase parking at Mimico, was only a temporary solution until construction on the Gardiner is complete. Afterwards we go back to the original plan to construct condos right next to the station.

If temporarily constructing a couple more parking spots encourages more drivers to ride the GO train, then I say it's worth it. You have to get yourself in the mindset of these people. Unfortunately you need to make taking the train as convenient as possible for them. Otherwise they won't get out of their car. Which means ensuring theirs a parking spot available for them on a weekday morning. Maybe after a year or two of riding the GO train, they'll start considering changing their lifestyle? Move closer to transit, etc.

You have to meet people in the middle. Don't just tell them to ride a bike. Otherwise they'll just double down on their destructive lifestyle.

 

[turbanplanner]

The "gas tax" is the charge that drivers pay to fund the road infrastructure they drive on. Every time a driver fills up their car, they're funding the infrastructure their automobile relies on. Not to derail this thread, but this is why governments are now trying to figure out another type of "gas tax" for EV's.

Also I' m not sure why you're going after Oakville people. People in Oakville are generally good at taking the train into work. Even the wealthy ones. I've seen my fair share of Maserati's in their reserved parking spots. My comments regarding lack of parking was for people who live east of Port Credit.

My suggestion to increase parking at Mimico, was only a temporary solution until construction on the Gardiner is complete. Afterwards we go back to the original plan to construct condos right next to the station.

If temporarily constructing a couple more parking spots encourages more drivers to ride the GO train, then I say it's worth it. You have to get yourself in the mindset of these people. Unfortunately you need to make taking the train as convenient as possible for them. Otherwise they won't get out of their car. Which means ensuring theirs a parking spot available for them on a weekday morning. Maybe after a year or two of riding the GO train, they'll start considering changing their lifestyle? Move closer to transit, etc.

You have to meet people in the middle. Don't just tell them to ride a bike. Otherwise they'll just double down on their destructive lifestyle.

Honestly, I’ve seen a deterioration in how people act in public (can you find a single bus, train car, or McDonald’s somebody isn’t playing Instagram out loud?) I think if we lower the attitude things like townhomes condos would be seen in a lot better light!

 

[Bojaxs]

Honestly, I’ve seen a deterioration in how people act in public (can you find a single bus, train car, or McDonald’s somebody isn’t playing Instagram out loud?) I think if we lower the attitude things like townhomes condos would be seen in a lot better light!

Things like "transit" and "walkable neighbourhoods" take a collective effort. So does driving on the highway and hoping every other driver respects the rules of the road. I don't know why their seems to be a spike in anti-social behaviour as of late. It definitely has gotten worst post-covid. I try to champion things like taking transit and living in denser neighbourhoods. But unfortunately all it takes is a few people to ruin it for everybody.

I often compare Canadian society to Japanese society. Transit and dense neighbourhoods are very successful in Japan. I theories it's because Japan is a "high-trust society". Look at Tokyo's metro and see how everyone respects the rules. Lining up on platforms before the train arrives, clean stations, no unruly behaviour from riders. I mean just look at what's considered a ghetto in Japan.

 

[kotsy]

June 24 Update

Lots to see at the streetcar entrance, which is still operational btw. The replacement busses must've been a temporary thing a few days ago.

 

[turbanplanner]

Things like "transit" and "walkable neighbourhoods" take a collective effort. So does driving on the highway and hoping every other driver respects the rules of the road. I don't know why their seems to be a spike in anti-social behaviour as of late. It definitely has gotten worst post-covid. I try to champion things like taking transit and living in denser neighbourhoods. But unfortunately all it takes is a few people to ruin it for everybody.

I often compare Canadian society to Japanese society. Transit and dense neighbourhoods are very successful in Japan. I theories it's because Japan is a "high-trust society". Look at Tokyo's metro and see how everyone respects the rules. Lining up on platforms before the train arrives, clean stations, no unruly behaviour from riders. I mean just look at what's considered a ghetto in Japan.

Yeah I was in one of the "worst" Neighbourhoods in Japan Nishinari, barred windows everywhere etc. The worst behaviour I saw was a ticketed and ilegally parked car. Japan is insane, no talking on the trains, all the airbnb's I stayed at were silent even though the walls were so thin I could hear hear someone cough. Contrast this to the townhouse I live in where my neighbours play music so loud I can hear it showering but the board and 311 don't care!

 

[kotsy]

July 3rd update.

A few bent caps have been poured at the West side of the site while forms have been built for 5 others.
Meanwhile, road bed/steal demolition has advanced to the next bent.