London Construction - Development News Thread#1

[ldoto]

Fri, July 25, 2008


Imagine making the trip to Toronto from London in an hour, even during rush hour.

One city think-tank says that dream needs to become reality if Canada ever hopes to catch up with the rest of the world.

In a report released yesterday, the University of Western Ontario's Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management called for an overhaul of Canadian infrastructure.

The report recommended provincial and federal governments identify which cities between Windsor and Quebec City would want to be part of a high-speed rail network, arguing the network would be environmentally friendly and improve Ontarians' quality of life.

"High speed rail builds communities again. It's on the map . . . the governments are talking about it," said Dianne Cunningham, director of the Lawrence Centre.




Canadian experts on transportation and trade attended a conference in March to examine Canadian infrastructure and make recommendations about what can be done to improve transportation within the country.

Eric Kung, a student at UWO's Richard Ivey School of Business, pointed out Canada is years behind countries such as Korea, Taiwan and Spain when it comes to rapid transit.

"It took Spain just over 25 years to develop a formidable high-speed rail line running between Seville and Barcelona . . . Canada is falling behind Spain by 25 years," he said in the report.

With a high speed rail network, Toronto's one day living zone would extend to London.

"I have hoped for this for years and years. I used to travel back and forth to Toronto when I was an MPP," said NDP MP Irene Mathyssen (London-Fanshawe).

"Who in their right mind would get in a car to battle the 401 when you could arrive in half the time? Vehicles put a lot of wear and tear on our highways."

A network spanning the 1,150 kilometres between Windsor and Quebec City would be a multi-billion dollar investment, but Elgin-Middlesex-London Conservative MP Joe Preston said it's worth it. "I think the answer here is that if we keep waiting, the cost will never be cheaper, and the cost may be worth doing it now," he said.

Gerry Macartney of the London Chamber of Commerce said he's lobbied for high speed rail, among other infrastructure improvements, for years. But the investment and planning involved means a one-hour ride to Toronto won't happen any time soon.

"Even if you said 'Yes,' today, and had the money, to get through the environmental assessments, financing and acquisitions it'd be 15 years to get the shovel in the ground," he said.

HIGH SPEED RAIL FACTS

Other recommendations from UWO's Lawrence Centre:

- Integrate North America's freight transportation network to ease congestion at the borders

- Harmonize regulations to make trade between provinces easier.

- Research how global sourcing is changing the flow of goods and its impact on the Ontario-Quebec trade corridor

- Evaluate high-speed rail as part of a national development strategy for the future

[Snark]

Agreed! Why not let constructive ME comments speak for all instead:

heh, heh. I guess I am reluctant to do just that. It is no big deal anyway...I get my name in the papers relatively often given my career.

Speaking for myself, I feel eminently qualified to comment on such phenomena

I am quoted in the LFP today
I have appeared on A-Morning a couple of times (interviewed...I am in academia). Oh well, there is still the LFP

I have no idea what the cost would be.

<deleted>

Sorry, I was barely awake, and I just tune out of all the bad news of late, for the sake of my sanity.

Landmark? Looks like a pile of shit.

A mountain of locusts? Change the name. Likewise, would you want to live on Cheapside (major street in London).

Middlesex (what the hell is this, a hermaphrodite?)

Yeah, aren't they vile?

I am glad, then. So that I will not have to waste my time instructing such retarded deadbeats.

Take London (ON), multiply it by 10, and maybe then, you would have something that could, very possibly, be a candidate for world-class.

Not the Shriners thing again. Fer fvcksakes, when will it ever end?

It's the new building for West Park Baptist Church (currently near Wonderland & Hyde Park Rd.). Damn. Not another one.

London has long ceased being a head-office city, to being a back-office city.

Whats the news of the new Walfart that is supposed to go up at Sprawldale and unWonderland?

Man, the Galleria has gotta be one of the biggest urban disasters in Canada. I was there yesterday...unfuckingbelievable how empty the place is.

A veritable ghostown of a mall, with more than 40 vacant stores to better serve you!

overmalled....but Westmount will still be a mall? Sounds like the managers are lacking a solid strategy. If I were a tenant in the mall, I would be worried.

The "rebirth" of the Galleria is rather like a woman experiencing 72 months of gestation followed by 24 months of labour.

could this be the first signs of Masonville mall going the way of Westmount mall??

Nice, but I hear that they do not serve BEER at Labatt Park...extremely ironic and moronic.

allow Labatt park to serve beer...and I will go to see London Majors games.

Wharnecliffe is going down the toilet. At least half of it (from Oxford to Commissioners) sits at the bottom of the bowl, with the other turds. A charming slice of East London in western London.

YEAH! more commie-blocks!

I am getting pissed off at the so-called leaders of London.

Nostalgia for the status quo = today's london leadership = mediocrity

yup: london planners/council-->think small.

I have to agree that the current administration really comes up short in their 'vision' for what London ought to aspire to.

London busses are horrible. They smell, have no seats, and constantly lurch. Not to mention, the schedules, and the asinine amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B

very overdue. I can't understand why they rezone/develop areas prior to improving the infrastructure.

too bad that it will probably be years before it goes back up again for phase II

More bad news for London. The daily dose

For Gawd's sake, London has only 2 complete East-West and North-South roads:
East-West: Fanshawe Park Road and Oxford
North-South: Wonderland and Highbury.
That's it. Everything else does not go through all the way.

Council should wake up...given the lousy local economy, taxpayers are not feeling generous, and frankly, a little tired of property (et al.) tax increases that have long outstripped inflation

London has the third-busiest airport in Canada, after Toronto and Vancouver. Really? Ahead of Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, etc.? Must be freight. Would like to see the supporting statistics.

thats a tall proposal for a shitsville corner. Love to see it happen....but in this market?

Visonary. 30 years, I will be approaching 70. I can then look forward to a quick way to Fanshawe Park Road. Yay.

Any info on the proposed Walfart at Exeter and Wonderland Rd. South?

Does the Ash Borer also eat jobs? I ask because the London area has lost so many in the past 6 months.

Weird. Hope that it is better than the aborted pseudo-freeway blip that is Highbury Ave.

I think that London's city planners look towards the 905 area as an urban model, rather than say, more concise urban fabrics like those found in Europe.

Looks like a run-down 70's era Las Vegas motor inn.

Quite frankly, who gives two-shits what Jack Layton says?

And the commie-blocks keep-a-comin' in London, esp. in the Oxford-Wonderland area.
I'd rather have no construction, than more of those ugly commie-blocks. Parts of London could easily pass for Irkutsk or Dniepreprovetsk.

I am not too impressed, having bought a home in the neighborhood.

Not again.

Good, but if it happens, I will eat my shoes.
I refer to them as Dumbcentres.

Ultra 80s, Ultra Smell (Bell) Canada. Smell has a building like this in every single major city in Canada.

This actually looks pretty good. I was in the area this weekend past, and it currently is about as gritty and shitty as anywhere in the country.

Yeah, just what I expected, city council is totally in cahoots with the big box sprawl developers. Who gives a shit if inner London looks like shit,

Yeah, I live about 1 km from that shitty bridge. and cross it from time to time. It is the Marie-Anne de Cicco way: rezone, build, but do not expand the infrastructure.

More of Anne-Marie's "Best and Brightest" (aka, highest salaries and sick-days, and moreover, mediocre results

yep. exactly. anyone else, it would be front-page news. And you'd think, "wow, the mayor's husband...for sure the LFP will have something"...but it is buried like a skeleton in the closet.

And while we are at it, how on earth did Best get the exemption for that lousy deck/patio along Richmond? Fishy, fishy.

What do you all think about the Mayor's husband's little adventure last saturday? Must be pretty damned embarassing for Anne-Marie, to say the least.

Same shit they smoked when they decided to bury the drunk-driving adventure of Mr. A-M deC-Best.

No news on Mr. AMdeC-Best? Still got his drivers' license, I presume?

If he got drunk (and then drove) in his own bar...could he be at risk of losing his liquor license? Did you sit out on the cheapo patio at Friday Fright Nites?

Not because of, but despite the current administration on dufferin st.

[Skorji]

harsh...

[GreatTallNorth2]

Finally some encouraging thoughts from London's city council...


If you had $6 billion . . .
Sat, July 26, 2008 London Free Press
London is in for millions in new public works money from the provincial and federal governments, which have announced a $6.2-billion, seven-year Building Canada fund. Here's what we don't know: How much of the windfall will come to London and what projects city councillors will want to spend the money on.

By JENNI DUNNING

Here's what we know: London is in for millions in new public works money from the provincial and federal governments, which have announced a $6.2-billion, seven-year Building Canada fund.

Here's what we don't know: How much of the windfall will come to London and what projects city councillors will want to spend the money on.

So Free Press reporter Jenni Dunning asked members of city council for their wish list.

Three main projects: A strategic waste management facility, grade separation at Hale Street and Trafalgar Road and a rapid transit system.

Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best


Wants to create a mass transit system and fix roads and bridges. "I would hope that (the money's) used for basic infrastructure and not for programs that are not that urgent."

Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell

Core infra-structure, including roads (and related issues, such as transit and bridges), sewers, industrial land and water. "They're our highest needs and they're our greatest bang for the buck for the taxpayers."

Controller Gord Hume

Develop a green box recycling program and work on a climate change study. Move the downtown London Transit terminal to a more central location. "That is something that Londoners are really looking forward to. There are a lot of things that we need."

Controller Gina Barber

Spend some of the money on the Hale Street-Trafalgar Road overpass, and on fixing bridges on Hamilton and Gore roads.

Coun. Roger Caranci

Top project should be the Hale Street-Trafalgar Road overpass to make the area safer and because the city has already put money into it. "We might not have another window or bundle of money to use. Governments don't do this very often."

Coun. Bill Armstrong

Wants the money spent on roads and the city's sewer system, and on making bicycle paths on newly paved roads for commuter safety and to catch up with other cities that do this. "This is one of the directions we should be looking (to) make it safe for the citizens of the city to use bikes."

Coun. Bernie MacDonald

Spread money equally but focus on older areas of the city more than newer areas. This includes updating and repaving the sewer system and roads in Old East Village. Wants some to go toward the Hale Street-Trafalgar Road overpass to relieve pressure on traffic.

Coun. Stephen Orser

Improve the flow of traffic into the city's core, such as developing a bus rapid transit system and grade separation in areas where railway lines and major roads cross. "We're sorely in need of transit infrastructure dollars. We need to repair and rebuild our services."

Coun. Joni Baechler

Repair roads, bridges and underground pipes, especially in older parts of London, which need "pretty extensive repairs. We're still probably behind in where we need to be in terms of spending."

Coun. Nancy Branscombe

Spread the money equally across the city and include fixing roads and the water and sewer systems. "City staff has a wish list. I'll leave that up to them to prioritize the work."

Coun. Walter Lonc

Focus on repairing bridges, such as the Sarnia Road bridge, and on road widening projects, including Oxford Street and Commissioners Road. Create a bus rapid transit system and regional transportation strategies, such as moving manufacturers' products across the border faster.

Coun. Paul Hubert

Expand London Transit into areas where there's no service and develop a bus rapid transit system. Also wants the city to separate its sewer and storm water systems in some areas of London where they're still connected.

Coun. Susan Eagle

Focus on building better roads. This includes repairs and widening -- especially at Wonderland Road between Gainsborough and Fanshawe Park roads. Also wants an emphasis on sewers and bridges.

Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen

Road, sewer and water projects and develop a bus rapid transit system to limit vehicle exhaust and trouble parking downtown. "A lot of money can be spent and should be spent looking at future solutions to alternative methods of transportation."

Coun. David Winninger

Money for London Transit, including developing a rapid transit system to the city's core, buying more buses and finding more locations to house them. "It's not going to be enough. (We have) time to plan it and decide exactly what we want."

Coun. Harold Usher

Focus on the Huron Elgin London Project for clean water and improve the city's storm water and sewer systems. She also wants the city to fix London's "deplorable" roads, deal with railroad crossings and overpasses, and build better parking downtown. "Once you get this phenomenal money (the city could be) the regional centre for clean water in Ontario and perhaps in Canada." Coun. Cheryl Miller

Councillors Judy Bryant and Bud Polhill couldn't be reached.

---

HOW IT WORKS

The federal and Ontario governments are giving $6.2 billion to Ontario municipalities over the next seven years for infrastructure projects -- large works such as sewers, bridges and waterworks.

Each level of government -- including the municipality -- will pay one-third of the cost for all projects.

It isn't yet known what local projects will be funded -- that will be determined by an upper-tier government panel that will consider submissions from municipalities.

Under the program, $100 million has already been pledged to the $150-million Huron Elgin London Project (HELP) for clean water.

Among public works projects London has talked about, aside from road and sewer improvements:

Grade separation work across the city to eliminate level rail crossings.

A regional waste-water strategy.

Rapid transit ventures: Dedicated bus lines, new transit terminals and grid systems.

[QuantumLeap]

Sorry to be out of touch for so long guys. Good to see that the forum is still working. I am in the 'other' London for a bit, but I'll be back soon. Any thoughts on this Wal-Mart at Commissioners and Highbury ? I would like to see it squashed, and plan to write a letter. Hopefully some of you would join me in this effort.
Cheers,
Joshua
PS I like that great downtown development plan! Keep up the good work.

[QuantumLeap]

According to the city's website, final site plan approval is going to Planning Committee on August 11 for the 500 bed private student residence at First St and Oxford St. Whoopee!

7:00 p.m. – 625 First Street (formerly 1461 and 1465 Oxford Street East and 613 to 629 First Street) - Consideration will be given for the application for Site Plan Approval by York Developments (Soufan) for a fourteen storey apartment building with 129 units and 162 parking spaces.
File: SP07-031176 Contact: Bruce Henry

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Snark

So has K-W, Oakville, Windsor, and Oshawa to the same problem. This is not a London problem. It is an Ontario problem. But, beyond that...

Maybe academics such as yourself should try to work in the real world for a little while instead of making what they think is cleaver little bitchy comments.

Try sometime to get out of your academic bubble at Western for a short time, and discover that the real world is apparently much more difficult to navigate than you seemingly can imagine.

Running a city is much, much harder than what you can apparently possibly imagine. If you could, you would not post the crap that you do. For every one thing that you bitch about, 10,000 things go right - EVERY SINGLE DAY. Yup, that's right: EVERY SINGLE DAY. But hey, that fact complicates things in your world I'd imagine. I would imagine that folks like you might think that launching the Space Shuttle involves one guy pushing a big red button, and it just flies away in a big "woosh", and that when things don't go right, they're all a bunch of f*cking idiots.

Your endless snide and arrogant "clever" comments that have no real constructive value - only show your real intent: complain, complain, complain - without any real understanding of how things really work.

If you cared an iota about London, you would have mentioned today that the city has received mega dollars for infrastructure renewal from higher levels of government today. You were the first to blame Mayor DeCicco (and her "ilk" as you called them, whoever they are - you never did say) here for the sinkhole at Wellington Street last year (in what is probably the the most stunning display of ignorance of municipal operations I have ever seen), yet when the City lands serious federal/provincial cash to deal with the infrastructure deficit, I see total silence here. A major coup for the city in this regard - and yet total silence here. So quick to (incorrectly) blame the mayor personally for an infrastructure failure when that happens, and yet total silence from you when the city receives huge funding to help deal with decaying infrastructure.

Enough said. You either have no idea what you are talking about, or you have an agenda.

What is your agenda? Give me a friggin break. My concerns are very widely shared, and I pay a great deal of taxes. Your presumptions about my so-called academic bubble are unwarrranted, and moreover, unsubstantiated.

[VectorBoy]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

What is your agenda? Give me a friggin break. My concerns are very widely shared, and I pay a great deal of taxes. Your presumptions about my so-called academic bubble are unwarrranted, and moreover, unsubstantiated.

Ok ladies, take this to PMs alright? no need to clutter the thread with useless bickering.


In other news, the construction (or reconstruction) at westmount mall has begun,

The new bus terminal is slowly being constructed, as is the first building in the new proposed plan to replace the TD building (where the old Westmount twin cinemas were).

The plan for the new Cineplex theater has been expanded from 9 screens to 11 screens, and will be fully digital (projection and sound).

There will be two eat-in restaurants (think of Silver City's NYF and Pizza Pizza), as well as a Bar/VIP area for 19+ drinking and possible private screenings.

New proposed open date for the theater is April '09, and the old theater is rumoured to be on the chopping block to make the new theater visible from wonderland road.

They've begun to tear down the old beer store attached to A&P to further increase visibility to the new theater construction behind Zellers.

[Skorji]

Excellent!!!

Do renderings exist for the Westmount Mall Plan?? I would love to see them.

[VectorBoy]

They've sent a very basic line drawing of where the new buildings will be to tennants, but they've not yet determined what each building will actually be. I've recreated the drawing with the aerial photos of the mall.

I've done a little guess work (The dentist and TD could be switched, but it makes sense to have them where they are), and the ? marks are supposedly going to be restaurants.

red X's denote buildings to be demolished (I didn't put an X where the old td/westmount twin/westend building is ,as they're covered by NEW buildings)

[Skorji]

Thanks, VectorBoy! Thats awesome.

[QuantumLeap]

Originally Posted by Skorji

Thanks, VectorBoy! Thats awesome.

Yes, awesome. Too bad it is such a despicably crappy development.

[VectorBoy]

Originally Posted by QuantumLeap

Yes, awesome. Too bad it is such a despicably crappy development.

Dont' hold me to this, but apparently all the entrances and some of the mall's exterior are getting a facelift... I've heard rumblings about a fountain at the main entrance (which one is the main one, I do not know), and a few other changes to modernize the mall.

Here's hoping they do a bit with the inside too, those faux marble tiles are amazingly retro.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Core housing filling up

Fri, August 1, 2008

New Londoners flocking to downtown

By NORMAN DE BONO

Downtown London has become a magnet for newcomers to the city.

Apartments in the city's core are filling up and many of the new tenants are from outside the city and province -- and even from outside the country, say leasing agents.

"There is a real trend developing here," said Adam Carapella, vice-president operations for Tricar Group in London.

"We have about 1,000 units across the city and about 15 per cent of those tenants are from outside London, but our downtown property is at more than 20 per cent, the trend is upward."

But that figure is low compared to other downtown apartments where 35 per cent to 50 per cent of new tenants are from outside London.




"We have fluctuating vacancy, but we are generally full and I would say about half of our new tenants are from out of town," said Melissa Brown, residential leasing co-ordinator for Blue Stone Properties Inc., which began leasing its 176-unit building at 550 Talbot St. three years ago.

"It varies from graduate students to corporate people who are transferred here and a lot are out-of-town lawyers and graduate students," Brown said. "People want to live downtown."

Brown said people from Korea, South Africa and Bulgaria have called her to inquire about units.

Nearby, on Ridout Street, Auburn Developments has leased 65 per cent of its new building, The Harriston, even though it's not completed.

About one-third of the newcomers are from outside London, said leasing agent Kerilee White.

"We have seen people transferred from their jobs. We have seen hiring at Western and medical students. They are from all over."

Because they are new to the city, they are drawn to the downtown before deciding where to buy and settle down. Others are young and attracted to the parks, the convenience of walking and biking and the city nightlife, White said.

That doesn't surprise Jeny Wallace, director of workforce development at the London Economic Development Corp.

There is enough business growth and new hires at the University of Western Ontario and London Health Sciences Centre to draw newcomers, she said.

"They are attracting and recruiting workers all the time. . . . We are also working with companies struggling to find skilled workers and we can help get them here."

Between 2001 to 2006, 14,700 immigrants moved to the London region, an increase over the 9,620 who moved here from other countries between 1996 to 2001, state figures from the Elgin Middlesex Oxford Local Training Board.

At Tricar, its 600-unit Renaissance Towers downtown will start renting next spring, but the company already has a list of 400 people interested in the property. More than 20 per cent of them are from outside London.

"We are on the cusp of real change in the downtown. In a few years it will be very different. There will be a huge turnaround," Carapella said.

"London is seen as a nice, safe community, and the affordability factor is huge."

For the newcomers, MainStreet London is putting together "welcome packages" to tell them about the city, said general manager Janette MacDonald.

"We want to attract these kind of people. It is tremendous for London."

[flar]

^^that's good. Downtown is the place to be if you don't have a car in London. I can't imagine how alienating it would be to live in a highrise at Oxford and Wonderland or down by Westmount if you relied on the bus.

[QuantumLeap]

Mayor backs vision for river area

London Free Press Sun, July 20, 2008

By JOHN MINER

The vision of developing a section of the south branch of the Thames River into a district of stores, restaurants and clubs is one that should be pursued, London's mayor said yesterday. "I hope there is a lot of support for it," said Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best. "I think from the city perspective we should be as creative as we can to allow whatever development is going to help, not only clean up that site, but take advantage as much as possible of the river." Landscape architect Ron Koudys is calling for the development of the south branch of the Thames River from South Street hospital to the London Hydro parking lot. London has a spectacular river, he said, but no one can see or use it in that stretch. Koudys and others who favour developing the south branch of the Thames point to San Antonio, Texas, where the river has been developed into a top tourism attraction in the state. DeCicco-Best said she has visited the San Antonio River Walk. "We probably couldn't reconstruct something quite like that, but the idea of taking advantage of the river with restaurants, shops and cafes and making it a real destination is worth pursuing," she said. An opportunity for the city to take advantage of the area will come with the closing of South Street Hospital. While the aging buildings are owned by the hospital, the city owns the land. "Council has been talking about it for a while, but we don't know how long the site would take to be decommissioned. You can't really plan until you know that," DeCicco-Best said. Woodstock Mayor Mike Harding, who also shares the Thames River, agrees that the river can be a major asset for a city like London, but he has a word of caution. Woodstock backed the expansion of a golf course on farmland next to river lands, followed all of the rules, but was turned down by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority after intense lobbying by local environmentalists. "Our challenge now and the challenge for anyone in the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority is what constitutes the rules. "We don't know what the rules are anymore. It is highly politicized," Harding said. DeCicco-Best said she is optimistic the city can work with other groups that have an interest in the river. "If you get people involved at the outset and start having a lot of conversation about what you want to do and how you want to develop it, you can work things out. "But you can't do something that will create a problem later on," she added. "You can't build on floodplain land."

[SlickFranky]

So they want to develop this portion of the river?
(tried to embed map...couldn't do it, sorry)

Seems like as good a spot as any I suppose. About 100 times riskier an investment than the section near Harris or Ivey Parks, but a ton of upside if it were to actually succeed. I wish London was the kind of city that would go through with a project like this, but I think we all know it is not. Even if we won some fictional municipal lottery jackpot, I can't see the money going here.

That said...I love the idea. It would really transform that neighbourhood.

[ssiguy]

The City of London doesn't know which way to look.
Great news that people are moving downtown but at the same time they are encouraging a mega-SilverCity at Westmount.
London should not allow any new theatres south of Baseline, north of Oxford, west of Wharncliff, east of Adelaide to make downtown the true centre of London entertainment.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I am sorry, but I have to disagree with your analogy. You do not build a great downtown by forcing all development to happen there. They already have theatres at Westmount. They are just moving them to a standalone location. If you want to have a great downtown, create the conditions to attract business and developers, but you can't force it.

[QuantumLeap]

In a way, I agree with the above post. It is bad policy to develop only downtown. Although I strongly disagree with sprawl, I am in favour of neighbourhood renewal. Every part of the already bulit-up city (roughly but not exactly South of Sunningdale, East of Hyde Park, West of Crumlin, North of 401) should be the object of renewal and intensification projects. Every neighbourhood (and by neighbourhood I mean an area of which maybe there are 50-100 in the city) should have at least one really high-quality meeting place (a park, a square, a nice mall), some places to eat, a few local stores et c. In this way I have no objection to having a cinema at Westmount or elsewhere. But given this principle, I would like to see more small one and two screen cinemas and fewer "The Cinema Complex That Will Serve Everything From Detroit to Hamilton" sorts of places.
Furthermore, to a large extent, I agree with the planning principle that allows what is already in a place to continue existing, unless it is truly noxious. The cinema at Westmount obviously passed this test.
My main objections then, are as follows:
1. The new Westmount does nothing to improve the streetscape and actually create a pedestrian-friendly Wonderland Rd. It doesn't provide any public places, isn't designed to support transit. It isn't designed to better integrate the surrounding neighbourhood.
2. The new Westmount does not include any non-retail employment or more importantly, residential space. This lack of robustness was the cause of the downfall of the mall in the first place.
3. The city has not addressed the other cause of the downfall of the mall, the hideous and continuing sprawl corners of Wharncliffe, Southdale and Wonderland.
4. The cinema shouldn't have been allowed to increase the number of screens. The last SilverCity was (in retrospect) quite clearly an attempt to kill the Galleria and the Capitol. To a large extent, it worked. The plan of Famous Players/ Cineplex is obviously to kill what little paltry competition exists still in the city (Hyland, Rainbow and UWO) and to keep the Toronto players like AMC out. Certain areas of the city need a few screens - Southeast London and Northwest London notably. Central could also use a few more screens, especially as another activity-generator downtown.
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY.
5. Notwithstanding the specific issues of Westmount, the Planning Dept and Council are generally unwilling to address two major issues: sprawl (no further discussion needed) and overbuilding in general. There is really no problem in overbuilding of housing, and not a huge issue with industrial (still there is to some extent, but it mainly has to do with WHERE new industrial is built). The City needs to regulate how much retail, restaurant space, office space, hotels, cinemas et c. because otherwise they will be overbuilt, which we have seen in droves. It is much cheaper for companies to build new than to renovate (amazingly), and they are especially willing to do this to steal each other's market share. The people who lose out are the neighbours, who either get unnecessary construction or unnecessary blight, and the taxpayers, who still are partially funding this building. If the city bothered to pay attention to how much commercial building they were allowing and where, they would realize that the construction rate is at least twice the demand. People's retail budgets and square footage demands are shrinking, and the population is not growing all that quickly. There is a major gap in policy that needs to be filled.