Draft options and directions report for north York

Look at an aerial shot of Toronto. There are high rises in Old Toronto, a spine along Yonge St with concentrations around Eglinton and Sheppard East. Tower estates peppered here and there. The rest of the city is a sea of suburban sprawl. Too many neighborhoods are failing to pull their weight. Particularly along the western leg of the YUS subway/Line 1. Toronto's transit is decades behind. Mike Harris cancelled transit along Eglinton. Rob Ford and his brother cancelled Transit City, which was already funded by the Ontario Liberals and Stephen Harper's federal Conservatives. Then City Council fought the brothers to secure the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch LRTs. Plans focus growth around transit because public transit is the most efficient way to move thousands of people. A more interconnected city would allow for more opportunities for growth. This is why Willowdale and the Yonge corridor are such a major focus. We sit on two subway lines. There are buses along Willowdale and Bayview. The proximity to Highway 401 is important consideration. The plan discusses transit. The purpose of these proposals is elevating the importance of North York Center Station which is grossly underused. Finch pulls from Finch, Steeles and much of York Region. Sheppard pulls from Willowdale, Senlac, Scarborough and Don Mills. North York Center Station pulls from a bunch of side streets without transit. There are already plans to extend the subway north into York Region, and extending Sheppard east and maybe west to Sheppard West Station. This plan also mentions RapidTO, expansion of surface transit. Business as usual, as the plan puts it, puts us further behind. The province has cancelled rent control. Rent prices will skyrocket without action. Even with the recent drop in prices, housing is beyond the reach of most Canadians. Canada is needs to build ~4 million more homes. Several reports indicate that the province consistently fails to meet housing targets. It is however embroiled in scandal after scandal with developers regarding fundraising, the Greenbelt, Ontario Place, the Science Center, etc. Waiting for Doug Ford to act before building homes and allowing opportunities for business will be folly. He is interested in hurting Toronto because lost to Tory, and supporting his voters in the 'Blue Belt'. He has frozen hires and salaries of teachers, nurses and doctors resulting in shortages of each profession. He has increased classroom sizes from maximum low twenties to average 25. There have been reports of class sizes of 40! He wants to build a tunnel under 401 which would be a massive waste of money and worsen traffic. The solution is not to stop progress but hound the Stan Cho and his PCO, and Ali Ehsassi and his LPC to get behind this and similar projects.

I took a quick glance at the document. "We have no vacancy in North York right now"? That is the reason we need more housing in the area. Downtown North York/Yonge St corridor is highly desirable because of the amenities available. Access to transit, the 401, walkability, restaurants, shopping, excellent schools... Building more housing alleviates the demand by creating more supply. The closest hospitals are at Finch W & Bathurst and Leslie & Sheppard E. Both are outside the area of interest. Expansion or additional hospitals would be outside the scope of this plan unless it is a new hospital near Yonge St. Given the expected population growth, one expects greater demands on the hospitals. Considering hospitals are currently understaffed and the last few years have had ERs shutting down, as well as ambulance shortages, this should be of great concern. Potentially, improvements to infrastructure could improve health, offsetting the demand from increased population. Sadly, our healthcare system is increasingly becoming privatized. Having more commercial and mixed used areas could include spaces for pharmacies, walk-in clinic, family doctors, etc. where non-emergency, non-critical care could be delivered. It is disappointing that healthcare is ignored like this. While the City is has some responsibility for public health, it does not have responsibility for healthcare. It is a Provincial and Federal matter. Increasing population also means more children. While schools are mentioned, I didn't see anything on adding more classroom spaces. Schools are similarly understaffed. Considering Doug Ford and his Ministers of Education wants to sell school properties, this is alarming. He has also taken control over the TDSB and TCDSB. This type of plan needs to be drafted to get Queen's Park and Parliament Hill to open up their budgets to support the kind of growth that is needed.