Yonge and Bay Streets To Become One Way?

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by telyou

This is obviously BS. Yes there are a few business owners who are not happy but that is mainly due to their closed mindedness. The street is a lot more vibrant then it used to be and has become a destination for many people around the city.

If a botched municipal construction project causes you to have several bad years, I would not call it "close mindedness". While the street is certainly more vibrant than it was back around 2009 or so, I don't think it has changed at all since the early 2000s. St. Clair was always a vibrant street the closer you got to Yonge, and it was always an unsightly street the closer you got to Jane (despite what the Barenaked Ladies would have you believe).

Originally Posted by telyou

I've been there many times. Thank you Ikea. And all i see is a suburban wasteland. Towers in the park type condos. Absolutely no pedestrian activity. Big box stores. Nothing remotely attractive about the area. Everyone gets out of their cars and drives everywhere. Even to get milk.
Obviously there's a lot of new development. There was absolutely nothing there but empty land. St-Clair on the other hand was already heavily developed.
I'll take CityPlace over Sheppard any day. At least you can walk to King Street and other hotspots.

Funny how you called me out on BS earlier, because I see an awful lot of it in this post. Aside from IKEA and Canadian Tire, which are remnants and cheaper land prices, there are absolutely no "big box" stores on Sheppard Avenue between Victoria Park and Yonge. If you're counting Fairview Mall and Bayview Village as "big box" centres then you have a very warped view of urban planning. Can't comment on the new condos being towers in the park because I haven't taken a detailed look at the street level (something you've obviously also failed to do), but I know for sure some new apartments at Bessarion and Don Mills make decent attempts to address the street, much like many of the newer condos along Queens Quay. I agree walkability remains an issue, but that's just the way things go when concessions are 2 kilometres apart.

[osmo]

Originally Posted by Wharn

If a botched municipal construction project causes you to have several bad years, I would not call it "close mindedness". While the street is certainly more vibrant than it was back around 2009 or so, I don't think it has changed at all since the early 2000s. St. Clair was always a vibrant street the closer you got to Yonge, and it was always an unsightly street the closer you got to Jane (despite what the Barenaked Ladies would have you believe).



Funny how you called me out on BS earlier, because I see an awful lot of it in this post. Aside from IKEA and Canadian Tire, which are remnants and cheaper land prices, there are absolutely no "big box" stores on Sheppard Avenue between Victoria Park and Yonge. If you're counting Fairview Mall and Bayview Village as "big box" centres then you have a very warped view of urban planning. Can't comment on the new condos being towers in the park because I haven't taken a detailed look at the street level (something you've obviously also failed to do), but I know for sure some new apartments at Bessarion and Don Mills make decent attempts to address the street, much like many of the newer condos along Queens Quay. I agree walkability remains an issue, but that's just the way things go when concessions are 2 kilometres apart.

Sheppard is a mirage. Even from VP to Yonge its a barren dead zone. You have fleets of Condos going up which all just run onto the 401 to get places. The only reason Sheppard gets any type of attention is because of a Subway that should not be there, all of this construction would take place regardless. Its proximity to the 401 and Suburban work hubs has made it idea just as much as CityPlaces initial proximity to the Gardiner and Downtown employment.

[Tony]

One-way street systems have already been regarded as generally bad planning for quite a number of years now as they have a detrimental affect on smaller businesses since they encourage increased traffic speeds which not only prevent drivers & passengers from actually realizing what stores are there, but also creates a less friendly environment for pedestrians.

It might be a better solution to provide a signalized lane along Bay St. instead. (Southbound morning, northbound afternoon).

ALSO please be respectful to your fellow forumers and knock out the insults people!!

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by osmo

Sheppard is a mirage. Even from VP to Yonge its a barren dead zone. You have fleets of Condos going up which all just run onto the 401 to get places. The only reason Sheppard gets any type of attention is because of a Subway that should not be there, all of this construction would take place regardless. Its proximity to the 401 and Suburban work hubs has made it idea just as much as CityPlaces initial proximity to the Gardiner and Downtown employment.

As I've said before, if that logic held true, the same thing would be happening to Sheppard east of Vic Park, and west of Yonge. As soon as you're more than a ~10 minute walk from the nearest station, not much is happening.

Originally Posted by Tony

It might be a better solution to provide a signalized lane along Bay St. instead. (Southbound morning, northbound afternoon).

That's actually a good idea, except it may cause some issues when Bay becomes narrower south of Queen. If traffic speeds are a concern as far as the street environment goes, couldn't we just impose a 40 km/h limit? Volume would be the main issue.

Originally Posted by Tony

ALSO please be respectful to your fellow forumers and knock out the insults people!!

For some reason, transport planning really boils peoples' blood. It's almost like discussing religion. I'm sorry for being uncivil.

[JayCortese]

unfortunately its true ^

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by Wharn

That's actually a good idea, except it may cause some issues when Bay becomes narrower south of Queen. If traffic speeds are a concern as far as the street environment goes, couldn't we just impose a 40 km/h limit? Volume would be the main issue.

Is speed really an issue? I live in a city much smaller than Toronto (Victoria) and it is almost impossible to even approach the speed limit given all the traffic. Your only chance to drive at all is late at night when few businesses are open. It seems to me that in urban centers, speed limits are irrelevant. In fact moving too slowly or not at all, is the real problem.