Can You Find What's Changed?

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Not just summer, it's an awesome place during the winter as well! Great for snowshoeing!

If there was any snow left. Anyways, duly noted Snark. But I still think we are overreacting to urbanization considering that

a) London's urbanized land area, and Ontario's urbanized area in general, is minimal compared to non-urbanized land.

b) Farming already wrecked many of the key ecosystems by draining swamps and clearing forests to make way for fields, and once it was implemented it poisoned the remaining watercourses with fertilizer runoff. So when you build out into the surrounding farmland you're really only replacing one destructive activity with another.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Wharn

If there was any snow left. Anyways, duly noted Snark. But I still think we are overreacting to urbanization considering that

a) London's urbanized land area, and Ontario's urbanized area in general, is minimal compared to non-urbanized land.

b) Farming already wrecked many of the key ecosystems by draining swamps and clearing forests to make way for fields, and once it was implemented it poisoned the remaining watercourses with fertilizer runoff. So when you build out into the surrounding farmland you're really only replacing one destructive activity with another.

I've said it before on this forum and I'll say it again - London takes up way too much space for its population. This is a problem that stretches back to the 1800s - residential properties in London were allowed to be big, and Londoners became accustomed to it and expected massive properties. And no, it's not like this everywhere in Canada - I was in Toronto and Kingston last weekend and I noticed the older parts of both cities have far higher residential densities than London. I've also noticed this in Montreal on Google Streetview. The houses are right at the sidewalk - no massive front yard, and minimal backyards.

I once determined that if London was built at the same density as the one mid-size city I've been to in Mexico, London would fit into an area bounded by Wharncliffe Road to the west, Highbury Ave to the east, Windermere Road to the north, and Commissioners Road to the south. The city I was in had a population similar to Windsor but took up as much space as St. Thomas. If London were built that way, Byron would still be far outside the city. The Sifton Bog would be in a rural area and we wouldn't have deer in backyards. Maybe we wouldn't want density that high here, but if we compromised between the two extremes, we could have at least kept Sifton Bog untouched. We could have had no development west of Wonderland Road. We could have had a lot more public natural space and land being used to grow food for public consumption instead of all sorts of empty land being hogged by private landowners. We as a collective society gain no quality of life by this, only individuals benefit.

Even in North Bay, one of the largest commercial developments in town (with a Wal-Mart) didn't pave over a massive expanse of land for parking. They built a 5-level parking garage. Imagine seeing that in suburban London! But no, instead of directing a certain developer to build a parking garage to save space in the Hyde Park area, we let them pave over a massive expanse of farmland. And for what? The once charming community of Hyde Park has been changed forever.

[MolsonExport]

^interesting post. Indeed, there is nothing charming about the corner of Gainsborough/Hyde Park....during daylight hours, it is non-stop through traffic to walfart/dumbcentre. A forlorn abandoned used car lot. Lord Gainsborough restaurant with liver/onions special ($6.99); the draperyman, Hyde Park Rugs, and Hyde Park framing. There was a chance to make it quaint and pedestrian friendly; that time has long passed.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^interesting post. Indeed, there is nothing charming about the corner of Gainsborough/Hyde Park....during daylight hours, it is non-stop through traffic to walfart/dumbcentre. A forlorn abandoned used car lot. Lord Gainsborough restaurant with liver/onions special ($6.99); the draperyman, Hyde Park Rugs, and Hyde Park framing. There was a chance to make it quaint and pedestrian friendly; that time has long passed.

Hyde Park was a quaint little intersection out in the country when I was young, although the liver/onions special has been a fixture there since Lord Gainsborough himself lived in the area along with Viscount Road and The Count. Lord Gainsborough built the Gainsborough Road with his own two hands, cutting down trees in its path and using them to build his restaurant. His diet consisted entirely of liver and onions, although he was known to eat the livers of almost any animal, including blue jays, squirrels, and beavers.

I remember when there were buildings where the used car lot is now.

[MolsonExport]

^I now feel ashamed to have made fun of the legendary liver & onions special, that which is so deeply woven into the lore of Hyde Park, His Lordship, and the Viscount, and dare I say, Her Worship, AMdeC-W?


Question: if I want, say squirrel (or perhaps blue jay) liver and onions, will the restaurant be able to provide satisfaction?

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^I now feel ashamed to have made fun of the legendary liver & onions special, that which is so deeply woven into the lore of Hyde Park, His Lordship, and the Viscount, and dare I say, Her Worship, AMdeC-W?


Question: if I want, say squirrel (or perhaps blue jay) liver and onions, will the restaurant be able to provide satisfaction?

No harm in trying. I've never set foot in the place but I've heard Blue Jay liver and onions is served as a special on certain days the Toronto Blue Jays are playing. Squirrel liver and onions is available at some restaurant downtown, whose name escapes me.

The Count still visits the area from time to time along with a grossly large yellow walking bird.

[manny_santos]

Just took a drive by Lord Gainsborough on my way to Canadian Tire. They're closed on Sundays. No liver and onions after church.

[MolsonExport]

^everybody is at the mega church on Gainsborough, eating squirrel livers in the basement.

[manny_santos]

Don't know what it is with these small towns. I was in Listowel on business yesterday, and liver & onions is a big deal at the roadhouse just outside town. You can substitute bacon for the onions too.