The Toronto Star heads to St. Clair disaster zone and finds condos and trendy restaurants
For months, Rob Ford has been characterizing LRTs as streetcars and characterizing streetcars—like the one on St. Clair—as neighbourhood-destroying trolleys of doom. Dubious, the Toronto Star dispatched a few of its bravest reporters to the area, who found trendy condos and stylish restaurants rather than a neighbourhood gone bad. As for the right-of-way’s impact on local traffic, a morning drive along St. Clair from Gunns Loop to Yonge took a mere 20 minutes, and the same trip by streetcar, only 29 minutes. To be sure, commute times change depending on the time of day, and not all St. Clair residents support the right-of-way. But calling St. Clair a “disaster” seems somewhat far-fetched—not that a wee fib now and then has bothered the mayor before. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/toronto-star-visits-st-clair-disaster/&title=The Toronto Star heads to St. Clair disaster zone and finds condos and trendy restaurants&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/st-clair-624x288.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_127032" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="A streetcar on St. Clair long before all this "disaster" business (Image: Toronto History)"][/caption]
For months, Rob Ford has been characterizing LRTs as streetcars and characterizing streetcars—like the one on St. Clair—as neighbourhood-destroying trolleys of doom. Dubious, the Toronto Star dispatched a few of its bravest reporters to the area, who found trendy condos and stylish restaurants rather than a neighbourhood gone bad. As for the right-of-way’s impact on local traffic, a morning drive along St. Clair from Gunns Loop to Yonge took a mere 20 minutes, and the same trip by streetcar, only 29 minutes. To be sure, commute times change depending on the time of day, and not all St. Clair residents support the right-of-way. But calling St. Clair a “disaster” seems somewhat far-fetched—not that a wee fib now and then has bothered the mayor before. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
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Just because Blockbuster went out of business due to its location on St. Clair is out of touch with business. Do we blame all businesses going out of business because of the construction or transit on the street where they are located? Doesn’t they not have the contingency or savings set aside for disruption of business have something to do with it? Its like not having a few months of emergency savings put away. If something happens you would have something available during the construction or being out of work.
As for Rob Ford, he should get out of his horseless carriage more often and use public transit more than just for photo ops.
True, the construction period was painful at times but I never found parking to be lacking, I never had issues and frequent many restaurants, bakeries and cafes across the strip from Gunns Loop to Bathurst. I have seen many positive changes in the area know as St Clair Gardens; young families are moving in, storefronts are being upgraded and new businesses and services are moving in to meet the growing demand (incomes are rising).
NOOZEFLASH!! Blockbuster went out of business because hundreds of Blockbuster stores in Canada and the US are being closed. If Ford pointed his finger at that, it’s like pointing his fat, chubby finger at hat and typewriter stores closing up. OMG! Where will I get the ribbon for my Smith-Corona? David Miller killed the typewriter, that ba$tard!