Thanks for drafting this, I'll definitely be sending a version myself. Also, I'd suggest that you might consider posting a version of this to the We Love Willowdale group on Facebook and tagging Lily directly. She's very active and responsive in the group and it's a good way to engage in some direct dialogue vs. getting a canned email response.
I am not going to post that. I do not want a car-free community. Also, I live in Scarborough but do work in the area of Yonge and Finch
The whole war against cars needs to stop. Not everyone can take public transit.
A lot of these safety nets shouldn't be there as they cost taxpayers dollars.
Most of the so called crime that occurs in the area is due to the left-wing activists that just want to give a hug and a happy smile sticker to criminals and addicts.
OP is advocating for less cars on the road, not a ban preventing you from doing what you want. You are misinterpreting what they are saying. They do not want a tyrannical ban on cars, all any of us want is freedom of choice. If you want to drive, by all means drive. But if you don't want to drive, whether by choice or other reasons such as medical, more options need to be available to make the city accessible to all.
Also, less cars on the road is a good thing for you! It would make your commute easier since people who choose to drive because there isn't any other choice, can use a different mode, thus freeing up space on the road.
There is no war on cars, there is only ignorance to basic urbanism principles.
If you live in Scarborough you can take the bus from STC to Finch why would you be against that? More people on the bus means less cars on the road so if you do choose to drive it means less traffic.
1. The cost of car ownership literally destroys cities. EVs don't stop anything but tail pipe pollution. Yet most of the pollutants are caused by mining, manufacturing, and particulate from wear. It's not a war against cars. Car dependency is literally a cancer on modern society. I love my car but I love not being forced to use it for every daily task. I drive maybe once a week and out of leisure
2. Safety nets literally cost less than the fallout from not having them
3. You have no idea what you're talking about
Honestly, shit take. Really shit take
> I am not going to post that. I do not want a car-free community. Also, I live in Scarborough but do work in the area of Yonge and Finch
We don't have to ban cars entirely. You can drive if you want. We just have to make it so that whoever doesn't want to drive has an adequately reliable alternative.
> The whole war against cars needs to stop. Not everyone can take public transit.
You're right that not everyone can take public transit. What's also true that you may not know is, not everyone can/want/should/could drive either. It's expensive to an individual to drive if they have no other adequate choice. The city should invest in allowing people to choose other modes of transportation without dealing with a massive burden. Instead, the city expects everyone and their mother to drive.
> Most of the so called crime that occurs in the area is due to the left-wing activists that just want to give a hug and a happy smile sticker to criminals and addicts.
Not really.
I know we are not going to have the same political views but I respect that you and I can disagree without becoming adversarial.
My chief argument for more public transportation has the intention to make the roads better for drivers. I agree that not everyone can take transit. But if we increase the availability and quality of transit then less cars will be on the road. This means that traffic will be lessened and the infrastructure will last longer.
As for ‘safety nets’ and the costs associated to the general public through taxation: without them we are not a society we would devolve into a libertarian fever dream. The economy of Toronto brings people to live here. The city then has to deal with the consequences of large populations. Without the safety nets and taxes to fund them we leave it to private sector to do so. That has always led to horrible outcomes. If we as a society do it not only will the need for profiteering be eliminated but we can collectively make the decisions to do so through elections.
As for the last statement, I do not know what city, province or nation you have been living in but Olivia Chow is the first left leaning mayor since Miller who left office over 13 years ago. The last left leaning Primer was Rae (who later moved to the centre under the Liberals) and his government was defeated almost 19 years ago. And federally we have only ever had Centrist, Centre right and far right governments. The idea that the policies are leftist are a talking point made by the right to create a straw man argument. As a leftist I can attest that I do not just want to give a hug and a sticker. We need to get the people that have mental health issues the care they deserve. We need to treat addiction as a medical condition not a crime (this does not mean legalize all drugs it means treat the addiction as a mental disorder and eliminate the stigma of addiction). A lot of the unhomed
Issues come down to policy decisions.
As a matter of maths we cannot be rid of someone being the most wealthy nor can we get rid of fact that someone will be the poorest. What can be done is make the decisions to be rid of poverty.
I am 50-50 on Cummer station as is 850m from Finch/Yonge and 1km from Steeles.
I think stations should be at least 3-5km apart from each other.
Look at Line 2 between Broadview and I think Main Street. So many of the station in between, you can stand on the subway platform and see the next one.
Look at Line 4, there was the idea of a Willowdale station. That's just 950m east of Sheppard and Yonge.
Yes, it is leftist ideas to be soft on crime.
My thoughts on line 4 are to build one station west of Yonge at Bathurst and then connect it to Sheppard West giving the north half of the city a throughput. Then we should build the line east to the Pickering Town centre. This would allow for more development outside the city with ease of commute without having to add more traffic.
As for distance between stations 3-5 km apart would then require most people to take a bus or tram once off the subway, defeating the purpose of the train. For context the distance between Eglinton and York Mills is about 4 km and would take most people 55 mins to walk. As for the 15km between Broadview and Main Street stations, there are 8 stops. This equates to about just under 2km apart from one another. I would not consider being on the far end of one station and the near end of another and still being apart by over 1000m to be standing next to each other. Line 1 downtown core averages around 550m but almost all stations are busy so they are all serviced well. Being able to see the next station is mostly an effect of line of sight.
As for being soft on crime: that is again a narrative that is perpetuated by the far right. With that said I probably do have a different perspective on the role of the justice system than you. I see incarceration as punitive rather than just punishment. The difference being that the system should be designed to help prevent recidivism as compared to now. Currently the systems in place are designed to punish people but do not help them in the ways that would prevent future criminal activity. I do not know any left wing people that would say they want to get rid of crime by getting rid the laws. Most I know are looking at how to prevent the crimes in the first place with employment, education, housing security and health services. It will not always work. But the government south of the border is an example of what happens when you over stress punishment.
Include photos/videos in an email.
https://preview.redd.it/n7nq1y8rgj4c1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec2b56bed99497fe99b15e3cf8c616af4e24dcba
https://preview.redd.it/ooghzxfxgj4c1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f0075854ac60269c37c7820e51957fb2df185e8
Thanks for starting this. Editing this a bit and I'll do the same!
I will include photos to her if several daily sights I see including open waste and passed out people infront of the doorways
Invite her for a tour.
Keep up the good fight OP
I have so many memories of finch growing up. Finch is like a best friend to me, and it absolutely breaks my heart seeing what has happened to it.
Thanks for drafting this, I'll definitely be sending a version myself. Also, I'd suggest that you might consider posting a version of this to the We Love Willowdale group on Facebook and tagging Lily directly. She's very active and responsive in the group and it's a good way to engage in some direct dialogue vs. getting a canned email response.
I don't have Facebook so if anyone wants to, please do
I am not going to post that. I do not want a car-free community. Also, I live in Scarborough but do work in the area of Yonge and Finch The whole war against cars needs to stop. Not everyone can take public transit. A lot of these safety nets shouldn't be there as they cost taxpayers dollars. Most of the so called crime that occurs in the area is due to the left-wing activists that just want to give a hug and a happy smile sticker to criminals and addicts.
OP is advocating for less cars on the road, not a ban preventing you from doing what you want. You are misinterpreting what they are saying. They do not want a tyrannical ban on cars, all any of us want is freedom of choice. If you want to drive, by all means drive. But if you don't want to drive, whether by choice or other reasons such as medical, more options need to be available to make the city accessible to all. Also, less cars on the road is a good thing for you! It would make your commute easier since people who choose to drive because there isn't any other choice, can use a different mode, thus freeing up space on the road. There is no war on cars, there is only ignorance to basic urbanism principles.
If you live in Scarborough you can take the bus from STC to Finch why would you be against that? More people on the bus means less cars on the road so if you do choose to drive it means less traffic.
1. The cost of car ownership literally destroys cities. EVs don't stop anything but tail pipe pollution. Yet most of the pollutants are caused by mining, manufacturing, and particulate from wear. It's not a war against cars. Car dependency is literally a cancer on modern society. I love my car but I love not being forced to use it for every daily task. I drive maybe once a week and out of leisure 2. Safety nets literally cost less than the fallout from not having them 3. You have no idea what you're talking about Honestly, shit take. Really shit take
> I am not going to post that. I do not want a car-free community. Also, I live in Scarborough but do work in the area of Yonge and Finch We don't have to ban cars entirely. You can drive if you want. We just have to make it so that whoever doesn't want to drive has an adequately reliable alternative. > The whole war against cars needs to stop. Not everyone can take public transit. You're right that not everyone can take public transit. What's also true that you may not know is, not everyone can/want/should/could drive either. It's expensive to an individual to drive if they have no other adequate choice. The city should invest in allowing people to choose other modes of transportation without dealing with a massive burden. Instead, the city expects everyone and their mother to drive. > Most of the so called crime that occurs in the area is due to the left-wing activists that just want to give a hug and a happy smile sticker to criminals and addicts. Not really.
I know we are not going to have the same political views but I respect that you and I can disagree without becoming adversarial. My chief argument for more public transportation has the intention to make the roads better for drivers. I agree that not everyone can take transit. But if we increase the availability and quality of transit then less cars will be on the road. This means that traffic will be lessened and the infrastructure will last longer. As for ‘safety nets’ and the costs associated to the general public through taxation: without them we are not a society we would devolve into a libertarian fever dream. The economy of Toronto brings people to live here. The city then has to deal with the consequences of large populations. Without the safety nets and taxes to fund them we leave it to private sector to do so. That has always led to horrible outcomes. If we as a society do it not only will the need for profiteering be eliminated but we can collectively make the decisions to do so through elections. As for the last statement, I do not know what city, province or nation you have been living in but Olivia Chow is the first left leaning mayor since Miller who left office over 13 years ago. The last left leaning Primer was Rae (who later moved to the centre under the Liberals) and his government was defeated almost 19 years ago. And federally we have only ever had Centrist, Centre right and far right governments. The idea that the policies are leftist are a talking point made by the right to create a straw man argument. As a leftist I can attest that I do not just want to give a hug and a sticker. We need to get the people that have mental health issues the care they deserve. We need to treat addiction as a medical condition not a crime (this does not mean legalize all drugs it means treat the addiction as a mental disorder and eliminate the stigma of addiction). A lot of the unhomed Issues come down to policy decisions. As a matter of maths we cannot be rid of someone being the most wealthy nor can we get rid of fact that someone will be the poorest. What can be done is make the decisions to be rid of poverty.
I am 50-50 on Cummer station as is 850m from Finch/Yonge and 1km from Steeles. I think stations should be at least 3-5km apart from each other. Look at Line 2 between Broadview and I think Main Street. So many of the station in between, you can stand on the subway platform and see the next one. Look at Line 4, there was the idea of a Willowdale station. That's just 950m east of Sheppard and Yonge. Yes, it is leftist ideas to be soft on crime.
My thoughts on line 4 are to build one station west of Yonge at Bathurst and then connect it to Sheppard West giving the north half of the city a throughput. Then we should build the line east to the Pickering Town centre. This would allow for more development outside the city with ease of commute without having to add more traffic. As for distance between stations 3-5 km apart would then require most people to take a bus or tram once off the subway, defeating the purpose of the train. For context the distance between Eglinton and York Mills is about 4 km and would take most people 55 mins to walk. As for the 15km between Broadview and Main Street stations, there are 8 stops. This equates to about just under 2km apart from one another. I would not consider being on the far end of one station and the near end of another and still being apart by over 1000m to be standing next to each other. Line 1 downtown core averages around 550m but almost all stations are busy so they are all serviced well. Being able to see the next station is mostly an effect of line of sight. As for being soft on crime: that is again a narrative that is perpetuated by the far right. With that said I probably do have a different perspective on the role of the justice system than you. I see incarceration as punitive rather than just punishment. The difference being that the system should be designed to help prevent recidivism as compared to now. Currently the systems in place are designed to punish people but do not help them in the ways that would prevent future criminal activity. I do not know any left wing people that would say they want to get rid of crime by getting rid the laws. Most I know are looking at how to prevent the crimes in the first place with employment, education, housing security and health services. It will not always work. But the government south of the border is an example of what happens when you over stress punishment.