This is an interior shot of the Main Floor of 229 Wallace. I took it on one of the first cold, wintery days we had in January....
Ahhh, Toronto in January. Specifically, transit in Toronto in January is what is on my mind for this post. As I look out my office window at the street below all I can think is, "It's a fight."
Sidewalks are a hazard. Pedestrians are confronted with stretches of clean yet salty concrete and then BAM! it immediately turns to icy-slick wasteland. And it's been a wee bit chillier than last year, so everyone is either bundled to the hilt, or a slave to fashion and risking life and limb to get to where they are going as quickly as possible.
Cars are in seeming constant struggle with slush, snow and ice whether it be on the actual roadway itself or in the parking spaces on the sides of the streets. And don't get me started on the snow tires. Snow tires, although fantastic in their application, seem this year to be accompanied by owners who will spend money on the tires, but not on rims. The effect is sort of thug/gangsta for the 2010 Mercedes lineup. Effective, as I said, just not so attractive. C'mon people, you can afford the expensive car, pony up a few hundred bucks for some rims.
Public transit on the subway side of things is quite civilized I find in the winter time. Underground it's relatively warm, the system is fast, and once you're tied into the PATH system, it's possible to avoid the elements entirely. Unfortunately, mass transit is not just subways in this city. It's all one big system, so I have to include the busses and streetcars into the mix which means they struggle under similar burdens that cars do. In fact, as our local political scene and news outlets keeps us ever mindful of, they are often not sharing the roadways of Toronto, but fighting for them.
But I digress. Okay, what am I forgetting.... Bikes! I have two clients who would heartily chastize me if I forgot to mention bicycles in the winter. All I have to say is they are a valid form of transport on ice laden streets, but not for the faint of heart. Every time I see a cyclist in the winter not wearing a helmet and travelling on a busy Toronto street I hope for them that they have an extremely up to date last will and testament.
Yes, it's a bit of a nightmare getting around the city at this time of year. One of the things I have noticed though, is that the city is very good at trying to keep certain corridors very open for traffic during inclement weather. And it's not only what they term as the "main arteries" like Yonge, Bathurst, Dufferin, College, Dundas, Queen and the like. It's also some of the smaller important feeder roads to those arteries like Davenport, Gerrard, Symmington, Logan, Lansdowne and lots of others. They obviously feed into the main routes, so they are very effective to keep transit moving smoothly.
As I was driving to the development yesterday to meet some prospective buyers for one of the units, I realized that partially because of those feeder routes we're not just whistling Dixie when we market the Junction Triangle as a fantastic place for business. Among the other great things the development and area have going for it, it truly is extremely centrally located to major transit arteries and hubs. You can get to where you want to go very fast. I would actually argue that the location is really ideal because if using the roadways you quickly feed into major arteries from great feeder roads going in all directions. And access to the mass transit system is just down the block, with the subway only two blocks away. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do is fight to get to and from work.
So that's it for now, just a few thoughts about our fair city, and of course a bit about the Lofts. Drop me a line and come and check them out for yourself.
Michael
