[Northern Light]

Were I in charge of Toronto, I would:

1. Purchase/expropriate private properties along the Etobicoke and Scarborough waterfronts (west/east suburbia) Completing a full public pedestrian/cycling trail along the entire water's edge of Lake Ontario with associated publicly accessible parks. Keep costs sane by phasing same over 20 years.

2. Daylight 4 or 5 buried creek segments, including Taylor-Massey Creek in Scarborough, Small's Creek in central-east City, Wilket Creek north of York Mills in North York, and Burke Castlefrank Creek in the Rosedale Valley.

3. I would restore any creek's in concrete channels to 'natural' embankments with at least 30M of natural cover on either side.

4. I would remove the Allen Road expressway completely, fill the ditch, and build a local complete street, parks and affordable housing in its place.

5. I would build the badly needed 'Relief Line' subway from Bathurst/Queen in the west to Don Mills/Eglinton in the north-east.

6. I would adopt as-of-right zoning on every arterial/collector road in Toronto for at least 5 storeys, (without reducing any current permissions).

7. I would finish the expansion of public library hours, opening all Branches for at least 72 hours each week; with large/district branches open 84 hours per week.

8. I would adopt a similar program as above to expand recreation centre hours to at least 6am-11pm, 7 days per week across the City.

9. I would expand the availability of year-round public washrooms with a focus on parks and the subway system.

10. I would narrow/diet any road greater than 2 lanes in each direction, highway excepted. Surplus space would go to wide sidewalks and boulevards with quality tree-growing conditions and to cycle tracks (protected bike lanes).

11. I would better winterize the City by deploying snow-melt technology strategically to streets/sidewalks/bus stops that are on slopes or in flood-prone areas to reduce the use of road-salt and improve winter safety. I would also make optional heaters standard in most bus shelters.

12. I would better protect the city against extreme summer temperatures by mandating that all surface parking be at least 75% shaded by trees and use a high-albedo surface.

13. I would reduce the multiple for monthly transit passed to 40 (from around 56 today).

14. I would expand Bike-share city wide.


And a few other things..............


To pay for the above, I would:

1) Raise Toronto's property tax rate to the median level for the Greater Toronto area.

2) Impose Tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway

3) Raise the cost of Permit Parking to fair market value (Typically a range of $100-$220 per month) from a current range of mid 30s- 60'ish.

4) I would impose pay and display parking on all side streets near popular shopping districts or within 300M of a subway line. (permit holders exempt)