Week of October 4th
The COVID-19 second wave comes to Davisville, Eglinton LRT is delayed (again), and the community prepares for battle over new tower on Mt. Pleasant
Davisville is one of Toronto's most impacted neigbourhoods by the COVID-19 second wave
The line at Sunnybrook for COVID-19 testing. Starting this week, appointments will be required at all testing centres to help better manage the growing demand. (Source: CP24)
After another week of rising COVID-19 case counts, there is consensus among politicians and public health officials that Toronto has entered a "second wave" of COVID-19. There is also growing concern that it might be worse than the first as testing capacity remains inadequate and public cooperation with social distancing recommendations seemingly dwindles.
Davisville has the unique title of being the worst-hit area in midtown. "Mount Pleasant West" - the City's classification for Davisville and its apartment neighbours immediately north - has a total of 219 confirmed COVID-19 cases year-to-date, more than four times as many as its closest neighbour. Even accounting for density, it remains twice as hard hit as the next community in midtown.
The number of cases are still small, but the comparables paint a concerning picture. Still it is hard to know exactly how concerned we should be given the limitations in the data. Specifically, the City tracks whether these cases are part of an outbreak in a specific group or event, but little else. Were these cases from parties or events indoors? Dining in local restaurants? Working from the office? Using public transit? We simply don't know - and so it's hard to adjust our behaviors accordingly...a problem that will only get worse as the City's system for tracing sources of infection buckles under surging demand.
For now, it's best to err on the side of caution by following Toronto's new recommended restrictions on social bubbles and indoor activities, even while the province mulls whether or not to implement them (legally, it's not up to the City). Longer term, we're going to need a better system for managing the spread - best to talk to any of your local councillors and members of parliament who are advocating for that to express your support.
Comparison of Mt. Pleasant West - which includes Davisville and the towers to the north - to other midtown neighbourhoods. The results are... not great. (i.e., (Source: City of Toronto)
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT's station in Davisville may not open until late in 2022
View of the future Yonge Station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. During construction, contractors found structural issues in the existing subway station that have been one of the primary sources of delays in the project - a fun thought for the thousands of people who used it everyday! (Source: Crosslinx)
In case anyone needed a reminder that building big infrastructure in this City is hard, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT provides a fairly regular reminder.
Earlier this year, the province's transit agency (Metrolinx) admitted that the City's $5.9 billion rapid transit line spanning midtown wouldn't open until sometime in 2022 - a delay from the original September 2021 schedule. A report last week from the consortium building the line (Crosslinx) proposed a new schedule with most of the line opening in February 2022. However, the crucial Yonge & Eglinton station wouldn't be properly connected to the Yonge subway line until months later.
While Metrolinx debates Crosslinx over who's fault it is that the two lines will remain Unlinxed, the truth is that it doesn't matter much for those in Davisville. Although street level clean-ups will start in earnest as early as next year - and indeed the Yonge & Eglinton is already looking tidier - much of the disruption caused by construction will continue until the work is complete. No amount of lobbying or advocacy can change that.
But the additional time need not go to waste. There are many well known issues that will from the LRTs eventual opening that are already known and unaddressed. For example, the areas around the line will inevitably gentrify - bringing much needed investment to the area but also potentially pushing out the many small or black-owned businesses that call Eglinton Avenue home.
It's worth watching the many new organizations popping up to get out ahead of these issues - thanks to the delays, you certainly can't say we don't have enough time...
Local resistance emerges to proposed tower at Mt. Pleasant and Soudan
Proposed location of a new 27 storey tower along Mt. Pleasant. It would be the tallest building on the street south of Eglinton Avenue - and it's not even particularly close. (Source: Rockport Group)
Last Tuesday, the City of Toronto hosted a community consultation meeting for a new 27 storey tower proposed at 733 Mt. Pleasant Road. Even by Toronto's usual planning meeting standards - where just about all new developments meets at least some resistance - the session didn't seem to go very well.
Between the local councillors, the City, and the more than 100 community participants, the concerns raised were varied:
At 27 storeys, the tower is out of line with the typical 2-3 storey buildings along Mt Pleasant and would precedent setting for the rest of the strip
As a condo development rather than a rental, it only addresses a portion of the city's housing challenge (i.e., adequacy of supply) and not the more pressing issues (i.e., affordability of units)
The tower would overpowering and create shadow / privacy issues for the single family homes immediately behind it on Tauton Road
The retail at street level would be too big for the type of small businesses the area is known for and likely to result in another corporate chain
These are all classic issues.
Part of the unique pushback for 733 Mt Pleasant seemed to be one of process. At the time of the meeting, the development group had already applied for an appeal - a sign that they expected resistance to their proposal, but a bad faith move to do before even holding a community session. (There's a reason most developers don't go this route even though it theoretically speeds up the process).
But most importantly, the project is challenged by the rationale for its changing scope. The development was originally proposed to be just 9 storeys - much closer to that of other mid-rise buildings in the area. It was only adapted after the province changed legislation to allow it to go much taller given its proximity to the aforementioned Eglinton LRT.
When challenged on why 9 storeys was adequate before but nothing less than 27 was appropriate now, the development team at Tuesday's meeting didn't have a satisfactory answer. They consistently fell back on what the law allowed rather than how they could address what the community needed. Ultimately, it was an argument for why they could build this way, not why they should.
Perhaps that argument will come, as the discussion on the project is far from over. If you're keen to participate, it's best to follow the application on the City's site for impartial updates and opportunities to provide more feedback. The local councillors also have useful information on how to get involved - provided you're okay with taking a more hostile stance.
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