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(02-10-2016, 05:57 PM)Markster Wrote: (02-10-2016, 05:36 PM)ookpik Wrote: And who got bribed (or otherwise "induced") to approve it? Ah, it's been a while since the last casual accusation of municipal bribery around here. Care to suggest a Councillor's name, to upgrade that to full on libel?
Perhaps the City simply decided that LRT was not a reason to have a complete moratorium on construction. Sure, it's awkward, but life goes on.
It's not an accusation. It's a question. It's a valid question too because there was no urgency to add to the chaos that LRT construction has already unleashed on Uptown. (I say that, not as a frustrated driver, but as a pedestrian who has to find a new way around all these obstacles almost on a daily basis.) And if it's an inflammatory question then it reflects just how much I'm burned up about the bozos who made these decisions.
Don't misunderstand. I'm 100% in favour of the LRT. I'm also in favour of intensification. But I'm totally against and aghast at the ham-fisted, arrogant way in which the city is trying to do both simultaneously. It's madness at best (or could it be bribery?)
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02-10-2016, 06:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-10-2016, 06:32 PM by BuildingScout.)
(02-10-2016, 05:57 PM)Markster Wrote: Perhaps the City simply decided that LRT was not a reason to have a complete moratorium on construction. Sure, it's awkward, but life goes on.
I'm actually in favour of the construction taking place right now. That area is such a mess that we might as well go for broke. It worked well for The Cortes and wouldn't it be nice to have a Grand Opening come 2017 with 1 Victoria, City Centre, Kings Crossing, The Midtown, The Cortes and The Shops II coming all online at the same time?
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I think it's a good idea to get it done and over with at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone.
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(02-10-2016, 06:31 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: I'm actually in favour of the construction taking place right now. That area is such a mess that we might as well go for broke.
This, plus a delay of development approvals for a relatively arbitrary "now is not a good time" reason would likely get the city taken to the OMB.
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(02-10-2016, 10:45 PM)mpd618 Wrote: (02-10-2016, 06:31 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: I'm actually in favour of the construction taking place right now. That area is such a mess that we might as well go for broke.
This, plus a delay of development approvals for a relatively arbitrary "now is not a good time" reason would likely get the city taken to the OMB.
If only we could "get it over with" in one period of construction hell. But we can't. Construction "messes" will continue to occur for years following the completion of the LRT, at least if intensification along the LRT route is the intent.
As for the OMB, why can't the city exert a bit of moral suasion on developers? Perhaps they don't have the same regulatory powers as say the feds have over banks. But surely they could do some horse-trading, e.g. relax some of the parking requirements or zoning restrictions in exchange for the developer delaying construction until after the LRT "mess" is over.
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(02-10-2016, 06:31 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: I'm actually in favour of the construction taking place right now. That area is such a mess that we might as well go for broke. It worked well for The Cortes and wouldn't it be nice to have a Grand Opening come 2017 with 1 Victoria, City Centre, Kings Crossing, The Midtown, The Cortes and The Shops II coming all online at the same time?
This is a beautiful dream. We won't be far off, either. Too bad the Kings Crossing construction won't get started until after King Street is reopened.
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I don't really see the big deal about the Wills Way/Caroline building being built right now. It isn't disrupting anything other than the one corner of the parking lot and the aforementioned entrance/exit for motorists - of which there is another on Caroline. I think it's just fine to build it right now.
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LOL to suggestions that the Willis development should wait for the LRT. for all the same points that have been presented...take your NIMBYism elsewhere.
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(02-11-2016, 10:10 PM)Canard Wrote: http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=806857
I don't feel like going to watch videos ... I'll wait for someone to at least comment on the content first. 
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I watched it for you; it was only two minutes out of my life, but don't bother wasting yours. Usual CTV segment. My favourite part was the quote that there is a "Huge amount of lack of parking" in Uptown.
Mark Whaley came across as thoroughly cool, however.
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(02-11-2016, 10:48 PM)MidTowner Wrote: I watched it for you; it was only two minutes out of my life, but don't bother wasting yours. Usual CTV segment. My favourite part was the quote that there is a "Huge amount of lack of parking" in Uptown.
Mark Whaley came across as thoroughly cool, however.
Thanks! 
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How much would it cost to have an aeryon labs drone go take photos of parking lots in UpTown every time someone says there's no parking? I'd wager that the supply is never even 3/4 full.
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That goes both ways; I've seen the lots very full, it's totally subjective. A snapshot with a drone at one point in time when it happens to be empty doesn't give a true picture of the situation - just like a photo of it full would, either.
Hard data would have to be collected over time.
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The lots adjacent to The Shops, yes, they've been full. I would challenge anyone to find multiple days a week where the Bridgeport/Regina pair of lots, the Parkade, The Regina/The Station lots, or Caroline/Alexandra lots are full. Until last year, I spent half a decade UpTown, driving/biking/walking, and never saw it. I understand that people will go to The Shops' lots, because they are the largest and closest, and that's why I believe that parking information is far more cost-effective than trying to build more. Whether it be Aeryon, in-ground sensors, or the car-counting cameras of Miovision, a better way to determine (and relay to drivers) the parking availability has to be out there.
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