[ShonTron]

Sounds like an awesomely ideal commute to me.

A 20 minute walk, downhill. As long as you're able-bodied, it's pretty sweet, except in those slushy days from January to mid March. Once you're at Dundas, can duck into the PATH for a slightly longer, but climate-controlled walk. A project like this, as offensive as it is, will have a minimal impact on the subway during peak hours.

This doesn't take away from the impact of Yonge Street hyper-densification on electric and water infrastructure, or concerns about heritage, healthy retail mix, or other street-level effects.

 

[Skeezix]

[...] except in those slushy days from January to mid March [...]

Maybe I feel this way because I'm from Ottawa, but Torontonians whine too much about winter and don't really have a clue. Buck up, folks.

[...] This doesn't take away from the impact of Yonge Street hyper-densification on electric and water infrastructure, or concerns about heritage, healthy retail mix, or other street-level effects.

Agreed.

 

[ShonTron]

Maybe I feel this way because I'm from Ottawa, but Torontonians whine too much about winter and don't really have a clue. Buck up, folks.

We do a terrible job of clearing the snow and slush from our sidewalks and especially at intersections. The pools of water at so many of our corners is one thing I hate about winter in Toronto. Not the cold, but the slush.

 

[Skeezix]

Unlike Montreal and Ottawa, Toronto doesn't clear snow - it moves it.

But slush and puddles are part of winter everywhere.

 

[P23]

We do a terrible job of clearing the snow and slush from our sidewalks and especially at intersections. The pools of water at so many of our corners is one thing I hate about winter in Toronto. Not the cold, but the slush.

People use far too much salt here as well. It's hell on shoes and pants, as well as infrastructure and vehicles.

 

[maestro]

Sounds like an awesomely ideal commute to me.

To each their own. I can think of better things then walking home after a long day of work in a massive crowd with everyone doing their own things.

To add: I'll gladly take the old of Ottawa over the freezing. slushy show we get here too.

 

[Lenser]

Being amidst thongs of people on vibrant streets is very much a part of city life! But whatever.

 

[maestro]

Good for you if that's how you want convince yourself. I didn't care for it the years I did it. That was before smart phones and thousands of fewer people. There's nothing vibrant about being stuck behind a slowpoke or tripping over someone who has stopped on a dime for whatever reason in the middle of the sidewalk. This is just compounded by the text'rs and app'rs all wearing noise blocking headphones and not paying any attention.

 

[Lenser]

Man, it is gloomy over there, isn't it.

 

[Skeezix]

It's a commute that most people in this city would die for. But to each their own.

I too prefer an Ottawa winter, except for the fact that some years in Toronto we get visible signs of spring earlier than in Ottawa.

 

[Lenser]

I know it's almost a running joke, but in Ottawa and Montreal, it's a colder winter but it's also a dry winter. It's the first thing I noticed about moving to back to the GTA after a decade in Ottawa - it's much damper here. Goes into your bones more.

 

[Skeezix]

It might just be me, but I also find it greyer here during the winter. That might be a reflection of the damp.

Plus, as I noted above, there is also the incessant whining here. Stiff upper lips, people!

 

[Lenser]

No, I think you're right. More blue-sky days in Ottawa on average, methinks. Anyway, back to da topic at hand.

Hard to believe how transformed Yonge is going to be in just a handful of years.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

No, I think you're right. More blue-sky days in Ottawa on average, methinks.

You'd be right.

Average % possible sunshine hours for December/January/February (Environment Canada data):
Toronto - 28.0/29.7/37.7
Ottawa - 30.3/35.5/44.9

Sorry to continue the tangent, I thought it was noteworthy for broader planning knowledge.

 

[steveintoronto]

A 20 minute walk, downhill. As long as you're able-bodied, it's pretty sweet, except in those slushy days from January to mid March. Once you're at Dundas, can duck into the PATH for a slightly longer, but climate-controlled walk. A project like this, as offensive as it is, will have a minimal impact on the subway during peak hours.

This doesn't take away from the impact of Yonge Street hyper-densification on electric and water infrastructure, or concerns about heritage, healthy retail mix, or other street-level effects.

Well, the shid has hit the fan:

Toronto reaches for 'pause button' on Yonge Street development
Chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat, says it's time to push back against "megaprojects" on Yonge Street that are threatening the livability of the area.
Eduardo Lima/Metro

Chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat says new studies, including the #TOCore project, have shown just how significant the "infrastructure gap" is along Yonge Street. That gap will only get bigger if condos are allowed to pop up unchecked along the popular corridor, Keesmaat said.

By: Luke Simcoe Metro Published on Wed Oct 19 2016
With nearly 1,600 storeys of condos proposed along the Yonge Street corridor between Dundas and Bloor, city officials say it’s time to “hit the pause button” on development.

Toronto’s chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, said condos are sprouting up on Yonge faster than the neighbourhood’s infrastructure can handle. As a result, she said the city is ready to talk tough with developers.

“We’ve done a great job of attracting growth, now what we need are policies to do the opposite, so that growth doesn’t override our quality of life,” she said.

Despite city policies stipulating that growth should come with amenities and infrastructure – things like parks, schools, public transit, healthcare facilities and even sewers – Keesmaat says developers are still pitching huge condo towers along stretches of Yonge where the density is already on par with London, England.

But that’s going to stop.

“When development proposals come forward that are not in keeping with our policy framework, we’re going to more quickly make it clear to the industry that it’s not acceptable,” she said.

Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam, whose ward includes much of downtown Yonge Street, has been dealing with the impacts of intensification for years. She’s thrilled to see Keesmaat tackling the issue head-on.

Wong-Tam wants the city to make better use the tools at its disposal to slow down the condo boom on Yonge, including interim control bylaws, which can effectively freeze development in an area for up to a year.

“Every block is going to be under construction, but we don’t have expanded TTC capacity. I don’t have new affordable housing being built. We don’t have an increase in subsidized childcare spaces. I don’t even have wider sidewalks,” she said.

“We need a chance to catch up.”

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toront...-for-pause-button-on-yonge-street-condos.html