The following is a post which was recovered when my last blog deleted itself from the internet. Due to a recent article in the Vancouver Province and a story about actor Ryan Gosling, both about the interaction between bicyclists and others, I feel that the time is right to repost it. Enjoy!
In the last few years, I have noticed the word “taxpayers” used much more frequently in our political lexicon. I’d like to take this opportunity to call on politicians to strike this term from their vocabularies in favour of a term more befitting of the citizenry. I feel that when a politician uses this term, it implies that they only consider the needs of a select group of citizens rather than the needs broader community. The term implies two classes of citizens, where those who are “taxpayers” receive preferential treatment in policy-making, while those who are not “taxpayers” must hope for some trickle-down benefit.
I do not own property, nor do I make enough money for significant amounts of income tax to be deducted. But, does this mean that my opinions and needs are of less value than those of the head of my neighbour’s household? Those who are not required to pay taxes still have a stake in the success of cities, provinces and countries. Respect for taxpayers, or whatever the buzzword of this election cycle is, should not come at the cost of respect for all those who desire a better community.
According to an article in the Brampton Guardian, the provincial government will soon announce a review of the Ontario Municipal Board – the quasi-judicial body best knowns for hearing appeals of planning and development-related decisions made by municipalities. Most commonly, a land-owner will appeal the rejection of a development permit application to the board, but there have been instances where citizens have appealed an approval. Over the years, the board has gained a reputation of overriding the official plans of municipalities and allowing unwanted development. Until I entered planning school, this negative perception was one that I shared. But, as I learned more about the planning process, my opinion changed to something that will make most of my neighbours see red. Continue reading
After my last post on the Six Points interchange, a friend of mine who studied planning in Sweden wondered if the area can truly become pedestrian friendly. We both seemed to agree that fixing the interchange will improve the situation for pedestrians, but his point that wide suburban arteries present a barrier to true pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods is a very good one. In an ideal world we would narrow the street the make it easier to cross and slow down traffic, but since such a suggestion would not be well received in this political climate, we must look for ways of turning wide suburban avenues into pedestrian-friendly streets without removing lanes. I believe it is possible, but we need to look across the ocean for inspiration. Continue reading
Six Points - Bloor & Kipling, with Dundas & Bloor flying over.
The Six Points interchange is the location near Kipling subway station where Dundas Street, Bloor Street, Kipling Avenue and a number of local roads converge into a complex series of onramps and overpasses. It is clearly optimized for traffic flow (which it does well), but it is a pedestrian deadzone in an area which is a designated urban growth centre. As it stands now, residents of the tower complex at the southwest corner of the interchange cannot safely walk to the plaza across the street – and this will only get worse as the lands around the subway station are redeveloped. Continue reading
On Friday morning, the Urban_Empress was watching Breakfast Television on CITY TV and saw that they were accepting nominations for viewers to ride the 148 km/h, 93m Leviathan rollercoaster at Canada’s Wonderland. She nominated me (being too chicken to do so herself), and somehow won me a spot. After riding the tallest, fastest roller coaster in Canada three times, I headed for home, passing Vaughan Mills mall just after rush hour.
The north frontage of the mall features Tuscany Place at Vaughan Mills, a collection of strip malls which appear to double the number of individual stores at the site. In addition to this, the southwest corner of the site features a small lifestyle centre not unlike the Shops at Don Mills. Tuscany place makes the property feel much more urban, but it suffers from design and operational flaws that underline some of the downsides of planning for the automobile. Continue reading
This post is going to make me seem like a Debbie Downer, but I find the fantasy transit maps that individuals publish online to be of a mixed blessing. While they do foster public debate about what our public transit network could be with the right investment and political will, these cartographers rarely justify why the proposed lines appear where they appear.
Don’t get me wrong – I like looking at pretty maps. But, transportation planning is more than just drawling lines on a page. It involves identifying where people are, finding out where they want to go, and designing the most cost-effective ways of getting them there. This is why I try to justify all of my proposals, and why I am calling on fantasy map makers to do the same. I’m not asking for a comprehensive demand study – just a few sentences on why the corridor and terminus was chosen, and why it is better than other proposals.
Without the accompanying justification, I feel that the general public could rally around a proposal which is not supportable, then become cynical when their wishes are not met.
Wednesday, the Urban_Empress and I boarded the #47 GO bus bound for downtown Hamilton, a city which many lump in with the supposedly-homogenous “905″. Shortly thereafter, another passenger boarded the same bus at Burlington Carpool Lot. But, they soon realized that they were travelling in the wrong direction. This individual got off at McMaster University for the return trip to York University, but it left us wondering what could be done to prevent this from happening. Countdown timers at stops could be helpful, but these did not stop a couple from boarding a late night bus to Brampton last week when they really wanted to go to Square One. We expect perfection from our transit agencies, but we must concede that there is a small group of people who will forget to tap their PRESTO cards, will board the wrong bus, or will miss the announcement of an upcoming service change. Continue reading
Niagara Region Transit (NRT) is one of the new kids on the block, having commenced operations on September 21, 2011 with eight buses running on five routes. Oriented as an express service connecting the otherwise disconnected municipalities in eastern Niagara Region, the new service has a high cash fare but accepts transfers and passes from the municipal systems it connects with. I wish it great success going forward, but I wonder if a new transit provider was really the solution to the inter-municipal transit problem in Niagara. Before we can answer that question, we need to establish some context: Continue reading
Immediately after Toronto city council voted in favour of reverting to the at-grade LRT transit plan for Eglinton, Finch West and Sheppard East, I wrote a post saying that I felt that it was a vote to apply the most cost-effective solution to a transit problem (curiously, this was the post that crashed my old blog). I have always been of the opinion that both modes could provide the local service and development style we desire, so unless there was a need to go under narrow streets, needed capacity was the only justification for the added expense. Since developing Sheppard to the point where the capacity was needed would not be in keeping with our development vision, the right decision was made. However, there are proposed corridors where the capacity of an underground line is needed from day one. Continue reading
