What is wrong with me, I agree with Rob Ford. Toronto needs subways.
Now before you go all crazy think about this. We should be building for 2050, not 2015. I know it seems like a long time from now but in reality it isn’t. It is our grandchildren’s time and personally I hope to be alive to see it.
The goal to get subways isn’t to get cars off the road. (Rob was very wrong on that one) That is going to happen anyway as the cost of ownership and gasoline climb. The goal of subways is to move as many people as possible efficiently. Subways are more efficient than street-cars; but the inverse problem is true too. Without riders, they’re more wasteful.
People are against subways because they are so costly, especially when they don’t know where the money is coming from. They know the current subways are not fully utilized, for example the Sheppard Subway. Sheppard wastes 7 million dollars a year. The issue isn’t the cost, it’s the lack of riders. If it was fully utilized then no one would be complaining. So, how do you increase ridership?
First, you change zoning. All along Sheppard avenue should be rezoned as high density housing. They are condos there now, around the Ikea, but when the subway was finished years before there was nothing. Development was finish and people can start moving in but it has been awhile. By changing the zoning, not only will there be more riders, but more tax revenue. I own a condo and a house and pay similar taxes on both. The same plot of land under my condo condo generates taxes dollars from me, my neighbours and the hundred of other units in the building. The land under my house only generates taxes from me.
Developers should be encouraged to build 20,30 40 story buildings. That can lead to gentrification like in the Liberty village area, but that can be offset with bylaws stating the amount of green and commercial space required. People are going to have to start living closer to were they work and start use public transit. By rezoning to high density we will be building subways to where the people are, not building the subway and hoping people will come.
Rob Ford’s problem is his brother and others who give him advice. You cannot bully people into doing what you want and now that the council has shown they can and will stand together you have to convince. If Rob had shown that the subways could be paid for by tolls on the DVP and 401, a modest increase in property tax and a vehicle registration tax people might have gone for it. If he had shown thought leadership and done his homework as opposed to yelling about how “they don’t want these damn streetcars.” He might have gotten his way. Subways are more efficient, and in the long run the better choice it was just poorly articulated.
As it stands I will continue to ride my bike to work. I live close enough that the commute is easy. But if I couldn’t ride I would take the subway over any other transit option including owning a car. While I rarely agree with the Mayor I think he with this one. Toronto needs subways. It’s just a shame he was unable to articulate it.
If you are going to write this bullshit at least get your facts straight. They are LRT’s not streetcars. If you are to stupid to know the difference then you are more like Ford then you know.
If don’t have anything to contribute to the conversation then keep quiet while the adults are talking. LRT’s are simply long street cars, same tracks. LRTs are also simply subway cars above ground. The change from subway to LRT means there is either an exchange at Don Mills where you switch like at Kennedy or the subway train will need to continue it’s journey above ground. Personally I hope for the latter. Getting people to have to transfer is slow and inconvenient.
in your solution, how do you explain Yonge/ Sheppard through to Leslie/ Sheppard being dominated by a lot of High Density Housing, 20-40 stories high as you recommend, and ridership still being so low
are you proposing adding even more condos to that area ?
and if the current failure of a Sheppard subway line has so much HDH already, why do you think adding more further east, into scarborough, would be the solution
That is a good question. The ones around Sheppard and Leslie are only just finished. If you look at the Google maps you can see the plethora of houses, not condo along the Sheppard line, while along along the Sheppard to Finch area is condominiums. We need population density if we want subways.
Also, we keep seeing stories in the news about how expensive housing is in Toronto. So, more condos means more supply which means lower prices. To me it is a win/win. If you want to live in the suburbs, and some do, then by all means but you can’t then complain about the commute.
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your solution then, is to add even more condominiums;
more condominiums along Sheppard, at a density greater than what is currently present along Yonge/Sheppard to Leslie/ Sheppard.
If you really want subways there, this must be necessary, is your argument. However I do not think those that want subways so desperately, also want this kind of density. Especially not in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto.
Also, putting more condos does not mean less expensive housing. Actually it’s the opposite since they are entirely separate sections of real estate. You’d actually have cheaper condos, and fewer detached homes, and therefore higher prices on existing housing.
So in response to your post I would say no, Toronto does not need subways. We don’t have the density to support it, no matter what zoning laws you put in place. The under-utilization of the Sheppard line is evidence that even with high density housing, you still can’t achieve maximum utilization. You need high density commercial zones as well as residential. You need a downtown core, similar to yonge/ sheppard or yonge/finch. except you need that in scarborough.
I understand your trepidation, I would agree that people who live in suburbs, don’t want to live in high density areas, but then they can’t complain about the transit they have. The sad truth is we cannot afford to run transit in low density areas. The possible solutions are to either change the density or introduce zoning and charge them more money. (which I would do anyway since it’s a no-brainer that the more you ride the more you should pay)
More condos does mean cheaper “housing”. Not cheaper “houses”, so if you own a home then you’re pretty much set. Right now, a two bedroom condo in downtown Toronto is $600K, my condo at Yonge & Finch has two bedroom units for $409K. Even if the house price doesn’t drop at least people will be able to get their foot in the real estate door through the condo route. As it stands anyone not pulling in a combined income of $100K a year can kiss their chances of affording a house in Toronto good-bye.
The Yonge-Sheppard line does not have high density. That’s my point. If you look at the map there are some condos near sheppard station and some near Leslie (now), but when they build the line, there was nothing.
If I were able to put in a subway line right now, I would run one along Queen St. from River Street to Parkdale/Liberty village, possibly touching the Regent park area. That would remove the street cars from Queen street free up the extra lane. I would also remove the street side parking in favour of parkades, which wouldn’t be cheap to encourage people to use transit. Toronto has to stop building out and start building up. Build parkades up, build housing up. This spreading out only hurts us in the end. I would encourage you to watch this.
And finish a subway line to the airport. It’s embarrassing that Toronto still doesn’t have dedicated transit to Pearson.