The Madness of Luxury Living.
My heart is aching. I just can't believe the excess we live in.
Two issues that are really hitting me are public transportation and urban sprawl. Why I have such a passion for these two things, I don't know. But it's frustrating to be so concerned about these loosing battles.
Public Transportation:
What is wrong with our government? How can they have the nerve to promise us tax cuts, when they've dramatically cut funding in this area (and others too I'm sure) that is so vital to our health, the enivronment, and the infastructure of our country? It used to be that the province helped to fund public tranportation, but that all but disappeared with Harris.
The situation is so dire that I can't even see the solution as getting people to take public transit. I know I for one wouldn't be able to do in Peterborough. The system is so out of date with current traffic patterns, so unreliable, and unintuitive in general. This is true of many people I'm sure in cities all over Ontario. Toronto (I'm told) has one of the best in North America, and it's desperate for fixing. But no one wants to spend money on it. No wants to give Public Transit a chance even. The TTC propsed to create a right-of-way streetcar route on St Clair, only to be met with opposition from the merchants who felt it would 'take away from the beauty of the neighborhood.' I almost counldn't believe that this was a valid argument, and yet they won their first court case against the TTC (which the TTC is now appealing).
To try and give you a visual:
this many cars:
_____
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo - O < can be replaced by this streetcar.
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo___|
With the unbelievable environmentally friendly impact that this would have, as well as the relief of congestion, and the easier access for hundreds of thousands of Torontonians who don't own a car, is 'beauty' a valid excuse?
Urban Sprawl
I covered most of this a few days ago. But it's important to note how closesly it is with the public transit issue. Suburbs can't be served with public transit efficiently. It's extremely low density residential, and developers have this sick facination with creating 'elegent winding streets' that are in fact nothing but a maze, making bus routes nearly impossible.
The visual applies here as well. That many suburban houses can be replaced by one apartment building that is substantially easier to maintain and service with transit. And the environmental footprint is considerably less.
The Problem
We like to live in excess. We like to have a big backyard, a car, a house we can keep up. They're all signs of prosperity that signify to others that we achieved a certain level of wealth (which is a lie of course, since we don't also show off the amount of debt we have put ourselves in to obtain these signifiers).
We are a prideful people. And I wish I wasn't.
Two issues that are really hitting me are public transportation and urban sprawl. Why I have such a passion for these two things, I don't know. But it's frustrating to be so concerned about these loosing battles.
Public Transportation:
What is wrong with our government? How can they have the nerve to promise us tax cuts, when they've dramatically cut funding in this area (and others too I'm sure) that is so vital to our health, the enivronment, and the infastructure of our country? It used to be that the province helped to fund public tranportation, but that all but disappeared with Harris.
The situation is so dire that I can't even see the solution as getting people to take public transit. I know I for one wouldn't be able to do in Peterborough. The system is so out of date with current traffic patterns, so unreliable, and unintuitive in general. This is true of many people I'm sure in cities all over Ontario. Toronto (I'm told) has one of the best in North America, and it's desperate for fixing. But no one wants to spend money on it. No wants to give Public Transit a chance even. The TTC propsed to create a right-of-way streetcar route on St Clair, only to be met with opposition from the merchants who felt it would 'take away from the beauty of the neighborhood.' I almost counldn't believe that this was a valid argument, and yet they won their first court case against the TTC (which the TTC is now appealing).
To try and give you a visual:
this many cars:
_____
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo - O < can be replaced by this streetcar.
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo |
oooooooooo___|
With the unbelievable environmentally friendly impact that this would have, as well as the relief of congestion, and the easier access for hundreds of thousands of Torontonians who don't own a car, is 'beauty' a valid excuse?
Urban Sprawl
I covered most of this a few days ago. But it's important to note how closesly it is with the public transit issue. Suburbs can't be served with public transit efficiently. It's extremely low density residential, and developers have this sick facination with creating 'elegent winding streets' that are in fact nothing but a maze, making bus routes nearly impossible.
The visual applies here as well. That many suburban houses can be replaced by one apartment building that is substantially easier to maintain and service with transit. And the environmental footprint is considerably less.
The Problem
We like to live in excess. We like to have a big backyard, a car, a house we can keep up. They're all signs of prosperity that signify to others that we achieved a certain level of wealth (which is a lie of course, since we don't also show off the amount of debt we have put ourselves in to obtain these signifiers).
We are a prideful people. And I wish I wasn't.
posted by Barron C @ 1:55 a.m.
2 Comments:
At 9:05 a.m. ,
Fungineer said...
Barron,
I'm with you on this. I'm part of the guilty masses of people who drive to work as the sole occupant of their vehicle. I could walk to work in half an hour. It'd be better for me, better for the environment, etc. However, that would require me to get up earlier, plan my day better, and walk through snow/rain/biting cold. Yet I found myself annoyed that they hadn't cleared the parking lot whilst pulling in to work in the comfort of my warm car. Anyway, the real reason for this comment was to introduce you to the writings of a fellow 'anti-sprawl' writer, one Mr. James Kunstler. His website is here:
http://www.kunstler.com/
his blog is here:
http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/
At 1:58 p.m. ,
Barron C said...
I really appreciate your unique view!
And I do agree, that there are much better places to spend the money (according to the TTC reports, both Jane st. and Dufferin st. are way over capacity and already carry more passengers than some streetcars)
I will say though that running the streetcars in mixed traffic is a bad idea, and the TTC realizes it, stating that they would never build a mixed traffic line again. Becuase streetcars are supposed to be higher capacity and more efficient than busses, it makes litte sense now to place them amongst traffic congestion (Toronto is the only city in North America I believe, that still has mixed routes).
What I find most disheartening about SOS is the precident that it sets, that people would fight against improved transit.
But again, is St. Clair the most needy project? Hardly! I think you're right about Jane St. In the last report, it was one of the highest capacity routes.
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