London Construction - Development News Thread#1

[Tony]

I'm sorry, but why does London keep building "fat" stuff?!

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by Tony

I'm sorry, but why does London keep building "fat" stuff?!

London doesn't build anything. It is the developer that builds buildings.

These buildings aren't tall and slender like some in T.O., but the article does say they will be the tallest residential in the city. I think they look pretty good, not amazing, but much better than CityPlace London. Developers usually only design nicer buildings when they have to.

[ldoto]

London hospitals get $35 M to finish building projects

Fri, June 16, 2006


London hospitals will gain an extra $35 million to finish several restructuring projects, the province announced Friday.

“That means $35 million the community doesn’t have to put into the building,” London West MPP Chris Bentley said at a news conference in the partly constructed new Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario and Grace Donnelly Women’s Health Pavilion.

A minimum of $20 million will go to finish that building on the site of Victoria Hospital and to reconstruction at University Hospital, and $15 million will go to reconstruction at St. Joseph’s Health Care, said Cliff Nordal, CEO of both St Joseph’s Health Care and London Health Sciences Centre.

“There is still lots of work ahead but this is a great news story,” Nordal said.

The province has upped its share of projects like London’s from 70 per cent to 90 per cent, Bentley said.

In return, the hospitals will pay a greater share for equipment.

The net effect is a $35 million gain for London’s hospitals, Nordal said.

It’s easier for many people to contribute money for equipment, such as MRI machines that they can see, rather than continue to pour money into long-term projects, Nordal said.

Fundraising for reconstruction is a big job for communities, Bentley added.
__________________

[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.

[ldoto]

Mon, June 19, 2006

London leads Ontario in the number of immigrants deciding to stay here.

By NORMAN DE BONO, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER


London is holding on to more immigrants than ever before -- and leading the province in the number of new Canadians staying here.

The numbers are a sure sign that they're finding jobs here. It also translates to a larger pool of employees to attract potential new businesses, John Kime, chief executive of the London Economic Development Corp. (LEDC), said yesterday.

Figures from Citizenship and Immigration Canada show the number of new arrivals moving to and staying in London jumped 38 per cent in 2005 over 2004. That's the highest total in Ontario and fourth-highest in the country.

"This is very exciting news for the city," Kime said.

"Some people think this is a conservative town, but this shows we are breaking the mould."

London's primary immigration numbers grew to 3,213 in 2005, from 2,328 in 2004.

New Canadians generally move to where there is work and London recently has posted a significant drop in unemployment, said Jeny Wallace, director of workforce development for the LEDC.

"People will come here for employment and they are being employed. This is very good news for London. We are doing very well."

The growth is not a case of refugees and immigrants arriving here looking for work, but in many cases businesses, the university and hospitals are bringing workers here, added Wallace.

"I think we are seeing a lot of workers being brought into London . . . a lot of people (are) being imported here for their talent," she said.

Across Canada, only Saint John and Fredericton, N.B., with growth of 60 per cent, and Abbotsford, B.C., with a 40 per cent jump, were higher.

The immigrant population is an important part of the city's future workforce, as business and industry face a looming labour shortage, added Kime.

"It's an important part of our future that we access these people to meet industrial demands," he said.

"This is a sign people are choosing London as the place to be. This shows we are a welcoming community and people are finding opportunity here."

London's unemployment rate stands at 5.5 per cent, down from 6.1 per cent in April. Total employment in London has hit 248,100.

The spike in London employment -- up 3,600 jobs -- came as more people looked for work, there were more jobs available, and more people found jobs, according to Service Canada figures.

The immigration numbers are welcome news to LEDC, which had been warning of an impending labour shortage, citing London's aging workforce and past failure to attract and retain young workers or immigrants.

Indeed, statistics show London's population grew only 10.4 per cent between 1993 and 2003. That's lower than most urban centres, including Toronto (25 per cent), Kitchener (21.4 per cent), Windsor (19.94 per cent) and Hamilton (13.8 per cent).

In that same period, the number of Londoners ages 45 and up grew by 42.5 per cent, more than most major cities in the area.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada figures, immigrants are predicted to account for all net labour force growth in the next five to 10 years.

London has more than 90 ethnocultural groups, added Wallace.

[ldoto]

The Premier is coming to town tomorrow morning ( June 23rd )with some funding for Diamond Aircraft to help ensure its latest aircraft will be built here.
The D-Jet is a 5 seat single-engine jet is to be unveiled in mid-July.

There are recent reports, however, that production might happen in Quebec or south of the border if the London operation doesn't get financial support.

It currently emplyes about 250 people, and the number will grow if the D-Jet is produced locally.

[ckkelley]

These Tricar towers would be rentals rather than condos?

/former Londoner.

[ldoto]

Diamond gets $10 million

Sat, June 24, 2006

By CHIP MARTIN, FREE PRESS POLITICS REPORTER




Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was in London yesterday to announce a $10-million loan to Diamond Aircraft Industries for development of a single-engine, five-seat jet aircraft, known for now as the D-Jet. Diamond CEO Peter Maurer points out features of some other Diamond models as he and the premier walk the tarmac next to the company’s manufacturing facility. (Dave Chidley, The London Free Press)
Diamond Aircraft received $10 million in high-octane help from the Ontario government yesterday to help develop and produce an innovative lightweight jet plane in London.

The 10-year loan under a new $500-million Liberal government plan to support cutting-edge technology was announced at the plant by Premier Dalton McGuinty as he was surrounded by Diamond's propeller aircraft and many of the firm's 340 employees.

The loan, the first five years of which are interest-free, will help ensure the D-Jet is produced in London, where an additional 550 highly skilled jobs would be created.

Diamond chief executive officer Peter Maurer said the provincial commitment is an important step in providing help with manufacturing technology, but in itself doesn't guarantee anything.

The company still needs provincial help to train workers and from Ottawa for further training and to help with costly research and development, he said.


"The announcement today," Maurer said, "is one element of many we need to be successful with the D-Jet program. . . . It gives us a lot of confidence -- we will be equally successful in securing the other building blocks."

"We look forward to support from municipal, provincial and federal governments," he said. Austria-based Diamond has been producing aircraft in London since 1993.

Maurer said his company has had trouble finding enough skilled workers to help in its leading-edge composite technology and company owners have found it exceedingly costly to develop new products and processes.

Diamond has invested more than $100 million in the five-seat single-engine jet already. Maurer said he is talking to both federal and provincial governments about providing further help to the company, which is turning out about 300 two- and four-seat propeller aircraft this year.

Yesterday's loan, he said, "is not the single element that will ensure the D-Jet will be produced here." Maurer warned recently if jet production must be moved elsewhere, the rest of Diamond's product line would likely have to follow. And Diamond has had overtures from other centres.

McGuinty was optimistic about the impact of the loan in securing new jobs for London.

"Our government is pleased to be a partner with Diamond Aircraft," he said. "This is a great company . . . (with a) relentless pursuit of innovation and a very attractive product."

He said the Diamond announcement was among the first under his governments advanced manufacturing investment strategy, which he said will produce hundreds of highly skilled jobs, $1 billion in private investment and help Ontario manufacturers compete with the best in the world.

McGuinty said his government's support for the automotive sector has produced nearly $7 billion in new investment so far.

Chris Bentley, Liberal MPP for London West and minister of training, colleges and universities, said he is determined to deal with Diamond's training needs and added that dialogue with Maurer is ongoing.

[ldoto]

Update!

The Harriston 23 floors
Ridout Street and Dufferin Avenue
Here's some new pics. Lerners building is in the background!

[ldoto]

LONDON —The governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of London today announced the start of construction to widen and improve Highway 401 in London, which leads to Canada’s two busiest international border crossings at Windsor and Sarnia.



Joe Preston, MP (Elgin-Middlesex-London), on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, the Ontario Labour Minister and MPP (Elgin-Middlesex-London) Steven Peters on behalf of Ontario Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield, and City of London Acting Mayor Tom Gosnell were on hand for the announcement.



“The Government of Canada is continually looking for ways to better Canadians’ quality of life,” said Mr. Preston on behalf of Minister Cannon. “Infrastructure improvements like this one help reduce traffic congestion, cutting the time Canadians have to spend in their cars and reducing pollution.”



“We’re on the side of Ontarians who want to get to their destination quickly and safely. More than 42,000 cars and 14,700 trucks cross the Sarnia and Windsor international borders every day,” said Mr. Peters. “That adds up to about $164 billion in imports and exports every year. We want to move people and goods faster, create jobs and build a stronger economy.”



“This updated interchange is great news for London’s economy as it promises to ease traffic congestion and provide our business community with significantly enhanced access to the 401 trade corridor and the United States border,” said Mr. Gosnell. “And, by partnering with the province and the federal government on this infrastructure fund project, we’re also reinforcing London’s Transportation Master Plan and Industrial Land Strategy.”



Aecon Construction will start construction immediately this week, and expects to complete it by 2007. This investment of more than $36 million is being cost-shared by the governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of London



Highway 401 is being widened from west of Highway 402 easterly to Wellington Road in London to improve traffic flow and safety in the area. Improvements include:




widening Highway 401 from four to six lanes to improve traffic flow

rebuilding the Wellington Road interchange ramps to improve safety

building a new Wellington Road bridge to accommodate a wider roadway

improving the Dingman Creek bridge to accommodate the widening of Highway 401

installing new lighting to improve safety; and

installing a new changeable message sign to provide road and traffic information to the traveling public.

In addition, the governments of Canada and Ontario are investing $285 million in the five-phase widening of Highway 401 from Windsor to Tilbury. Phases 2 and 3 of this project, costing more than $112 million, are now under way, and include improvements to Highway 401 on a 10 kilometre stretch between Puce Road and Manning Road and a 10-kilometre stretch between Highway 77 and Essex Road 27.



The Government of Canada’s funding for the London project comes from the $600-million Border Infrastructure Fund. The fund is designed for projects that reduce border congestion, improve the flow of goods and services, and expand infrastructure over the medium term.



This year, the McGuinty government is investing over $1.4 billion in highway improvements through its five-year ReNew Ontario infrastructure investment plan. The Ontario government has allocated an additional $400 million under Move Ontario, which municipalities may use for improvements to municipal roads and bridges. These investments will strengthen Ontario’s economic advantage and create opportunities for Ontario businesses and people.

[MolsonExport]

^Quite frankly, the 401 should be 3 lanes each direction, from the Quebec border to Windsor (naturally, it grows to 24,000 lanes wide in Toronto).

[ldoto]

Update!Lerners office building

[ldoto]

Incentive or no, market right for new highrise

Mon, July 3, 2006

By JOE BELANGER, FREE PRESS CITY HALL REPORTER




John Camara of Ayerswood Developments stands on the northeast corner of Talbot and Kent streets on a site being prepared for an 11-storey apartment building. Unlike the apartment tower in the background, Ayerswood's won't get a city incentive. (Sue Reeve, LFP)
John Camara knew the time was right when three people walking by asked what he was up to at the corner of Kent and Talbot streets.

Camara told them he was building a highrise apartment.

"They said they couldn't wait to get in and it's not even built."

Seven years after the project was first proposed by his boss, developer Tony Graat, Camara is overseeing construction of the 11-storey, 52-unit apartment building for Ayerswood Development Corp.

It's one of a string of high-rise projects already built or planned in the core with one major difference from the others -- no city incentives.


"It's just the right time for us," said Camara, who has helped build dozens of highrise buildings in London during his 36-year career.

The new building site is on the northeast corner of Kent and Talbot, a few metres north of an area within which the city waives development charges for new residential projects.

That means Ayerswood will pay the city upward of $500,000 on top of construction costs.

In 1999, the city refused to extend the boundary to include the Graat property and the project went on hold.

It still irks Camara when he looks across the street at a 15-storey apartment building whose owner didn't have to pay development charges.

But the growing trend of baby boomers leaving the quiet suburbs for the bright lights and excitement of downtown living was simply too hard for Ayerswood to resist.

"I think there's a definite change downtown," Camara said. "There are all kinds of people down here, new businesses. I'm just amazed at the amount of traffic."

There's been a flurry of building in the core since the city went on a $100-million spending spree that included construction of the John Labatt Centre, Covent Garden Market and new Central Library.

Two weeks ago, developer Joe Carapella announced plans to build two 28-storey towers at the corner of Ridout and King streets with more than 600 units. Cost of the project is $100 million.

It was the most recent of eight major highrise developments downtown over the last four years.

When the Carapella and Ayerswood projects are complete, the core will have seen the addition of more than 1,700 new residential units.

That doesn't include dozens of second and third-floor conversions in retail buildings.

And it doesn't include other new projects already in the works, including Ayerwood's plan to build a highrise a few blocks north.

Coun. Cheryl Miller, a champion of downtown revitalization, said the activity is "amazing."

"In spite of what all the naysayers say, people want to live downtown," Miller said.

"It's exactly what we wanted to happen down there and it's not over. When they're building without any taxpayer incentives, it tells me there's a strong market and people want to be living down there.

"It's very exciting times in the downtown right now."

RECENT DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS

- Developer Joe Carapella's planned $100-million, twin-tower project on the Ridout block with 600 luxury units housing more than 1,000 people.

- Auburn Developments's 23-storey, 200-unit apartment building at Ridout Street and Dufferin Avenue -- a project valued at $35 million.

- Two apartment towers recently built by Drewlo at Colborne and Dundas streets, with a total of 400 units.

- An 80-unit luxury condominium on Pall Mall Street built by Tricar.

- A 15-storey, 150-unit, $25-million building constructed by Old Oak Properties on Talbot Street.

- Another Auburn development -- this one with 137 units for students on Ann Street, just outside the downtown.

- 25 units of affordable housing being built on Dundas Street by Market Lane.

- More than 150 units being offered next year by Time Condominiums on King Street, near the Covent Garden Market.

- A 40-unit condominium under construction on Colborne Street, north of Dundas, by the Prespa Group

[ldoto]

Update!

The Harriston 23 floors crane went up this week some time at Ridout Street and Dufferin Avenue.

[ldoto]

UPdate!

Auburn Developments's 23-storey, 200-unit apartment building at Ridout Street and Dufferin Avenue -- a project valued at $35 million.

Here's some more pics that I took when I was downtown at the sunfest it is happening this week in the core due to the Sunfest, soccer fans and the Pride Festival parade all going at once should keep police busy!

[ldoto]

Here's something what I found on proposed 28-storey Former Central Library from Emporis Buildings web site.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=262781

[ldoto]

Wed, July 12, 2006

Single-detached homes and condo starts jump 30 per cent in June from the same month last year.

By HANK DANISZEWSKI, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER



Another hot month for housing starts -- especially condo and apartment developments -- has scuttled forecasts that London-area construction activity would cool this year.

Single-detached homes, condominiums and apartment starts in the London- St. Thomas area soared by 30 per cent in June compared to the same month last year, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).

And for the first six months of 2006, there were 1,718 total housing starts, up 21 per cent from 1,428 in the first half of last year.

Last October, CMHC analysts speculated total housing starts would slide to about 2,500 in 2006 from 3,000 in 2005, but the latest report has them rethinking those figures.

"Chances are we will be revising our London numbers up, based on the strength we are seeing," said Ted Tsiakopoulos.

An updated CMHC regional market forecast comes out Aug. 11.

CMHC analyst Penny Hu said most of the strength in the London market is coming from apartment and condo starts, which are up 40 per cent, buoyed by a number of large projects now going up. But single home starts are also strong, up 11 per cent this year over last.

London's strong housing market comes from a combination of factors, said Hu.

"There's an influx of people into London, mortgage rates are still relatively low and the May and June employment numbers were good."

Local developer Jamie Crich said London benefits from a solid local economy combined with a housing market that's still affordable, relative to the Greater Toronto Area.

"London has lots of serviceable lots, which has kept the price of housing down. People can move here and get a condo for a fraction of the price."

Crich's company, Auburn Developments, is building a 23-storey apartment building at Ridout Street and Dufferin Avenue.

"The city has done a great job with the downtown and we want to build on the synergy that they have created," he said.

Tsiakopoulos said overall provincial housing starts are down this year, but agreed London is one of Ontario's bright lights.

He said the high-end, single-family home market in the Greater Toronto Area has slumped due to high prices and a growing shortage of serviced lots.

Activity has shifted to more affordable multi-family units.

"We have taken a lot of serviced lots out of the pipeline in recent years because housing starts have been so strong and the single-family home is out of reach for the average first-time buyer," he said.

Kitchener-Waterloo-area housing starts are also down -- about 29 per cent this year from 2005.

Nationally, CMHC reports about 23,000 new housing starts in June, up 4.5 per cent from May.

CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said much of the increase was in the volatile multi-family market and single-family starts were starting to slow.

He noted second-quarter results were down nine per cent from the first quarter.

"We expect the level of activity to moderate in the second half of 2006 as rising prices and marginally higher mortgage rates result in a softening of demand for both existing and new homes," he said.

[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.

[ldoto]

LCBO plans big Wellington Road store

Sat, July 15, 2006

By HANK DANISZEWSKI, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER



The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is supersizing again -- building a large new store on Wellington Road in London.

A 10,300-square-foot outlet will be located at 1073 Wellington Rd., just north of White Oaks Mall, LCBO spokesperson Chris Layton said.

Two more large LCBO stores are expected to be built in new commercial developments in Hyde Park and the Highbury and Commissioners roads area, according to business community sources, but Layton would only say the LCBO is "exploring options" in the London market.

The new Wellington Road store will be at the former site of the Power Station, an electronics/audio store that suffered a major fire in 2004 and has since relocated to 555 Wellington Rd.

It's scheduled to open next January. At about the same time the LCBO will close a smaller existing store located nearby at a commercial plaza at 979 Wellington Road.

The LCBO's move into big box stores is part of long-term plan to become a more modern retailer, Layton said.

It has greatly expanded its product offering, especially in areas such as premium spirits, vintage wines, imported and craft beers and wine and spirit coolers, which requires much more floor space including refrigerated sections for beer, wine and coolers.

New larger LCBO outlets have opened in London on Fanshawe Park Road, Wonderland Road South and Argyle Mall.

"Whenever we have replaced an old store with a larger new one we see a definite sales lift. Obviously the customers like it better," Layton said.

Last month the provincial liquor agency reported net sales of about $3.7 billion in the 2005-2006 fiscal year, an increase of $154 million from the year before

[ldoto]

Patients rate St. Joseph's hospital tops in Ontario

Wed, July 19, 2006

By JOHN MINER, LONDON FREE PRESS HEALTH REPORTER



London’s St. Joseph’s hospital scored the highest marks for patient satisfaction at teaching hospitals in Ontario and London Health Sciences Centre was close behind in a report released today.

“We’re very pleased. It is very good news,” said Karen Dyer, director of primary care and inpatient surgery at St. Joseph’s Health Care.

The report released by the Health Ministry and Ontario Hospital Association rated Ontario’s acute-care hospitals on everything from budget performance to method of performing hysterectomies.

St. Joseph’s had the highest patient-satisfaction numbers in all four categories examined.

They were:


patients’ views of their overall hospital experience, including quality of care and their confidence in the doctors and nurses who cared for them;
patients’ views of the amount and quality of information they received about their condition and treatment and preparation for discharge;
patient’s views about whether they were treated with respect, dignity and courtesy;
patients’ assessements about whether they received the care they needed in hospital.