I don't think using the TTC to make your point is very effective. Yes, a malfunctioning transit system is bad, but the streetcar loop noise issue is really a first-world problem. Virtually all cities with streetcars have the same problem (like my hometown of Grenoble) and nearby residents just learn to live with it. It's the cost of living in a bustling metropolis.
There are so many more, and arguably more important problems facing Chow, like the virtual impossibility to build anything other than as-of-right buildings and the molasses-slow approvals process and all the nimbys who deny those who come after them, the same opportunities they benefitted from.
The rampant homeless and drug problem.
The horrible traffic.
The lack of park and even greater lack of park bathrooms.
You get the point. I don't think TTC helps is anywhere near the top of the pile.
Contrast to Vancouver, where all bus and train locations ate on your phone in real time...
As for the squealing ...why have loops anyway? That's so old, either get hydrogen or electric fuelled buses or make the cars with driver controls at both ends so they don't have to turn....Toronto's problems are not odd or unique, they are simply still problems because of an old fashioned Upper Canada stuffy inability to think modern. Olivia probably can't change that...it takes someone who is part Rambo and used to rescuing large corporate entities that lost their sense of purpose.
Uh-oh. Now here comes trouble. I get nervous when people start suggesting that governments need to be run more like capital B Business, led by swashbuckling Rambo types who will cut the crap and whip everything into shape, pronto. Only problem is that government is not a Business, it a social enterprise, with lots of lines which, by their very nature, will forever leak value, like it or not. You can't just slash this, chop that as you would at a widget factory to achieve profit and build shareholder value. Aspiring autocrats, tempted by "strong mayor powers" to undertake that approach will find that the "shareholders" (i.e. common citizens) may be dazzled for a bit, but won't like you for long. This is one reason why very few competent business leaders will consider a career in government. I would not consider the current Ontario premier among them.
Well Nestor, thanks for your well thought out answer, except what is your answer? More of the same? Why do you think Torontonians are moving to my city, Guelph, causing the same issues here?
I take your point but perhaps I did not make myself clear: undertrained hobbits "playing nice in the sandbox" with other bureaucrats - and as the author said, never answering the question " can you fix this please" ....shall not solve the problem.
Government has never been more bloated and has never spent so much $ on communication departments and policy wonks....
It ain't working better, as a matter of fact it's getting worse.
Well observed. Back in the "good ol' days" (weren't they all?) actor Peter Ustinov once declared that Toronto was "like New York run by the Swiss." Torontonians puffed up with pride at such a notion. I don't advocate empty sloganeering in lieu of genuine action, but I do wish there was a way to inspire broad support for arresting the city's decline and maybe restoring what once was. Mayor Chow is a cheerleader for that kind of collective commitment. Will others heed the call?
If it’s so bad, why are people not moving out of the city in droves? Why are real estate prices in the stratosphere? One can only assume that the benefits of living in the country’s largest city outweigh the problems that some folks complain about. As for bureaucracy, Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety explains why the management of complex systems requires an equivalent degree of complexity in the control system, something which can only be accomplished by reducing the recognized variables. Thus were forms invented.
There's a significant and steady outflow of people from Toronto and the GTA more broadly, typically to other jurisdictions in Ontario beyond the GTA. It's just offset by incoming immigrants, who prefer to settle in the city. (Some of the outflow is obviously now-established immigrants trying to figure out where to settle permanently to put down roots after getting their feet under them.)
People are moving out of Toronto in large numbers but immigrants coming here outnumber those leaving. Real estate prices are high and rising because the supply of new housing is much less than the demand for it.
While it’s interesting to learn of the myriad problems and their magnitude facing Toronto and it’s new mayor, who will have as do most socialists all the answers to all the problems, it’s not of much concern to those of us outside the GTA.
This reminds me of the inane non-answer I got from the mayor's office in the city where I live, after I had sent an email note to the mayor and my local councillor about the frequency of red-light violations by people driving motor vehicles.
Instead of addressing the issue--which is the complete lack of enforcement that has led to hundreds of violations every hour, just in the downtown area--the mayor's office answered by suggesting that I report i-n-d-i-v-i-d-u-a-l infractions to the local police.
Classic buck passing... and no, I don't for a minute wish to ascribe any sincerety of purpose to the person who offered me this infuriating response.
"God's fingernails on the Devil's chalkboard." Perfection.
I don't think using the TTC to make your point is very effective. Yes, a malfunctioning transit system is bad, but the streetcar loop noise issue is really a first-world problem. Virtually all cities with streetcars have the same problem (like my hometown of Grenoble) and nearby residents just learn to live with it. It's the cost of living in a bustling metropolis.
There are so many more, and arguably more important problems facing Chow, like the virtual impossibility to build anything other than as-of-right buildings and the molasses-slow approvals process and all the nimbys who deny those who come after them, the same opportunities they benefitted from.
The rampant homeless and drug problem.
The horrible traffic.
The lack of park and even greater lack of park bathrooms.
You get the point. I don't think TTC helps is anywhere near the top of the pile.
No, 3rd world cities figure out things like squealing streetcar wheels. It's not a "first world problem" it's a lack of accountability problem.
Contrast to Vancouver, where all bus and train locations ate on your phone in real time...
As for the squealing ...why have loops anyway? That's so old, either get hydrogen or electric fuelled buses or make the cars with driver controls at both ends so they don't have to turn....Toronto's problems are not odd or unique, they are simply still problems because of an old fashioned Upper Canada stuffy inability to think modern. Olivia probably can't change that...it takes someone who is part Rambo and used to rescuing large corporate entities that lost their sense of purpose.
Uh-oh. Now here comes trouble. I get nervous when people start suggesting that governments need to be run more like capital B Business, led by swashbuckling Rambo types who will cut the crap and whip everything into shape, pronto. Only problem is that government is not a Business, it a social enterprise, with lots of lines which, by their very nature, will forever leak value, like it or not. You can't just slash this, chop that as you would at a widget factory to achieve profit and build shareholder value. Aspiring autocrats, tempted by "strong mayor powers" to undertake that approach will find that the "shareholders" (i.e. common citizens) may be dazzled for a bit, but won't like you for long. This is one reason why very few competent business leaders will consider a career in government. I would not consider the current Ontario premier among them.
Well Nestor, thanks for your well thought out answer, except what is your answer? More of the same? Why do you think Torontonians are moving to my city, Guelph, causing the same issues here?
I take your point but perhaps I did not make myself clear: undertrained hobbits "playing nice in the sandbox" with other bureaucrats - and as the author said, never answering the question " can you fix this please" ....shall not solve the problem.
Government has never been more bloated and has never spent so much $ on communication departments and policy wonks....
It ain't working better, as a matter of fact it's getting worse.
Well observed. Back in the "good ol' days" (weren't they all?) actor Peter Ustinov once declared that Toronto was "like New York run by the Swiss." Torontonians puffed up with pride at such a notion. I don't advocate empty sloganeering in lieu of genuine action, but I do wish there was a way to inspire broad support for arresting the city's decline and maybe restoring what once was. Mayor Chow is a cheerleader for that kind of collective commitment. Will others heed the call?
When I lived in T.O. way back when it was called Toronto the Good lol; and yes I remember the Swiss reference. Bygone times.
It's hilarious that Torontonians took that as a compliment. Peter Ustinov didn't mean to compliment Toronto with that statement.
If it’s so bad, why are people not moving out of the city in droves? Why are real estate prices in the stratosphere? One can only assume that the benefits of living in the country’s largest city outweigh the problems that some folks complain about. As for bureaucracy, Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety explains why the management of complex systems requires an equivalent degree of complexity in the control system, something which can only be accomplished by reducing the recognized variables. Thus were forms invented.
There's a significant and steady outflow of people from Toronto and the GTA more broadly, typically to other jurisdictions in Ontario beyond the GTA. It's just offset by incoming immigrants, who prefer to settle in the city. (Some of the outflow is obviously now-established immigrants trying to figure out where to settle permanently to put down roots after getting their feet under them.)
People are moving out of Toronto in large numbers but immigrants coming here outnumber those leaving. Real estate prices are high and rising because the supply of new housing is much less than the demand for it.
While it’s interesting to learn of the myriad problems and their magnitude facing Toronto and it’s new mayor, who will have as do most socialists all the answers to all the problems, it’s not of much concern to those of us outside the GTA.
This reminds me of the inane non-answer I got from the mayor's office in the city where I live, after I had sent an email note to the mayor and my local councillor about the frequency of red-light violations by people driving motor vehicles.
Instead of addressing the issue--which is the complete lack of enforcement that has led to hundreds of violations every hour, just in the downtown area--the mayor's office answered by suggesting that I report i-n-d-i-v-i-d-u-a-l infractions to the local police.
Classic buck passing... and no, I don't for a minute wish to ascribe any sincerety of purpose to the person who offered me this infuriating response.
Thoroughly enjoyed this piece.
For those who have watched The Wire, there appears to be a large "bowl of sh*t" awaiting Ms. Chow's first day as Mayor.