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Toronto is a city with some great potential, and one of the best cities in Canada. But it has a problem: it’s addicted to cars. Here’s how that happened.
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NJB Live (my bicycle livestream channel):
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References & further reading:
History of Toronto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Toronto
By William Armstrong – This image is available from the Toronto Public Library under the reference number TRL JRR 291, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5985519
By Arthur Cox (1840 – 1917), after Edward Walsh (1766/7 – 1832) – This image is available from the Toronto Public Library under the reference number TRL, X 4-1, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6034112
Toronto Historical Streetcar Photos courtesy of Transit Toronto
Photographer: Richard Glaze
https://transittoronto.ca/streetcar/4100.shtml
Historical Photos of Toronto from the City of Toronto Archives:
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accountability-operations-customer-service/access-city-information-or-records/city-of-toronto-archives/whats-online/digitized-photographs-by-fonds-and-series/
https://www.blogto.com/city/2011/10/that_time_when_toronto_was_a_city_of_parking_lots/
The Yellowbelt – Map TO
http://www.mapto.ca/maps/2017/3/4/the-yellow-belt
Map of Toronto with the borders of the 1974 – 1998 boroughs indicated
By Lencer – own work, used:OpenStreetMap
created with Greater toronto area map-de.svg by NordNordWest, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6077610
The Amalgamation of Toronto
http://www.mapto.ca/maps/amalgamation
Vote breakdown shows pre-amalgamation split
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vote-breakdown-shows-pre-amalgamation-split-1.894941
Amalgamation of Toronto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgamation_of_Toronto
TORONTO ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS FAILURE OF AMALGAMATION
https://www.newgeography.com/content/001890-toronto-election-highlights-failure-amalgamation
Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Toronto Megacity
http://www.publicpurpose.com/n-torref.htm
The Megacity Threat to Toronto: Less Democracy for More Money
http://www.publicpurpose.com/tor-emp.htm
The fight for TORONTO
https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1997/3/17/the-fight-for-toronto
Sizing up amalgamation, 20 years on
https://torontoist.com/2018/01/sizing-amalgamation-20-years/
Toronto: Trouble in the megacity, facing a financial crisis in 2010
https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/after-copenhagen/toronto-trouble-in-the-megacity-facing-a-financial-crisis-in-2010/
THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF AMALGAMATION: THE CASE OF THE CITY OF TORONTO
https://www.yorku.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/205/2020/10/MontrealPaper3.pdf
Toronto Election 2010 Map
By DrRandomFactor – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54168674
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford: I Was Drunk But Never High at Work
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/toronto-mayor-rob-ford-i-was-drunk-never-high-work-n146556
Pt 1 John Tory on Toronto’s Financial Situation (May 16, 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MclpbpTe1dQ
Strategic Plan for Cycling in Toronto:
The “Toronto Bike Plan – Shifting Gears” (All Wards)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2001/agendas/council/cc010724/plt8rpt/cl003.pdf
Premier Doug Ford and the politics of spite
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/11/15/premier-doug-ford-and-the-politics-of-spite.html
The War on Cars 74. Not Just Bikes with Jason Slaughter
https://thewaroncars.org/2021/11/30/not-just-bikes-with-jason-slaughter/
This video contains photos and video licensed from Getty Images
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Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:14 The early history of Toronto
2:20 CARS! WE NEED MORE CARS!
2:35 Gotta get rid of those streetcars
4:17 Freeways everywhere
5:27 What was left of Toronto
5:55 Car-dependency in the suburbs
6:52 The MEGACITY
9:21 The worst mayor Toronto ever had
11:30 How the Conservatives f-up cities
13:02 You need to vote. DO IT.
14:25 Conclusion
15:00 My travel problems and NordVPN
source
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You know it’s a good day when NotJustBikes makes a new video
please continue singing
♫ Toronto was Olde Towne of York
♫ Now it's Toronto, not Olde Towne of York
♫ Been a long time gone, Old Towne of York
♫ Now it's beaver tails by the CN rails
♫ Every gal in Olde Towne of York
♫ Lives in Toronto, not Olde Towne of York
♫ So if you've a date in Olde Towne of York
♫ She'll be waiting in the ol’ Big Smoke
♫ Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
♫ Why they changed it I can't say
♫ People just liked it better that way
♫ So, take me back to Olde Towne of York
♫ No, you can't go back to Olde Towne of York
♫ Been a long time gone, Olde Towne of York
♫ Why did Olde Towne of York get rephrased?
♫ That's nobody's business but the Jays’
And ya, the Jays play at the SKYDOME. Stupid Rogers.
Love your channel. What do you think about Culdesac Tempe in Arizona? It will be the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US.
Gad Damn Jarvis and the stupid alternating centre lane, they just ripped up then whole road last year for reapirs and then put the idiot centre lane back.
so depressing, couldn't finish it, sorry, usually i love your stuff.
14:20 Love The War on Cars plug!! Everyone who is interested in urban planning should give it a spin.
1:21, they changed it because a native dude stepped in some tar. When he looked down at his foot he was astonished, his friend asked him what was wrong to which he replied "…Tar – on – toe !"
I live in a suburb of about 80,000 and if I ever want to go for a walk, I have to drive to the next town over. Its downtown is only 8 blocks but it’s better than where I live now. Too bad there’s no housing anymore in that downtown.
Reminds me a lot at my hometown of Frankfurt, Germany. My 18-year old me would get test drives from the local dealerships located on a typical stroad every other day – just to rev around and test all the cars. Yes, I used to enjoy the city's proximity to aplenty of highways so I could grab a car and try it out on the highway. The city felt like a playground for cars, literally. After having moved to Berlin, and especially after I moved to The Netherlands, I learned to see the world from a different angle and enjoy that every time I visit Frankfurt, there were more and more Bakfietsen added to the landscrape. And I will contribute: In a few days I am going to move back to Frankfurt and perform the symbolic act of mixing in my Bakfiets full of patriotic Dutch / bicycle activism stickers in the desert of SUVs .
I would love a full video of you doing whatever you were doing around 01:23
WTF this Polish flag is doing on Ford's rally @ 12:30? xD What a disgrace.
I hope the people of Toronto are watching this and come together to make Toronto a cycle and tram friendly city.
Fuck the ford brothers
Would you ever make a video on other Canadian cities? What to emulate or avoid. MTL has such unique urban planning and is probably the closest you'll get to a European city in NA.
"The conservative government ignored all that pesky democracy crap, and did it anyway." Gee, that sounds familiar for some reason…
12:33 What's up with the censorship?
Not just bikes wishes Mexico and the Caribbean weren’t part of North America 😂
Guys we NEED to elect new and responsible mayor for the Toronto!!!! The current politicians are so bad, that they made the guy say an f-word 😰
Why oh why do conservatives keep screwing us all over continuously? And they just lie about it
NJB, its good you left regular residence in Toronto. I cringe seeing the 401 at 2pm during the week. Its insane if I happen to have an appointment and take that road its magically jam packed at times of day you'd expect, you know, people to be working. I feel I've lost a few years of my life, not just literally, driving there and encountering the experience that is 401 traffic. Its also stark to be reminded of Rob Ford and his horrible management of the city and non-car infrastructure. I am hopeful riding my bike regularly both to work and leisure that things will improve in the near future enough otherwise I too will be an former Torontonian from a far.
Politics comes from the greek word for “city”.
It literally meant “the affairs of the city” or “city planning”!
Omg u said fvck
My mans name is Slaughter and he kills it with every video
The SkyDome, a venue that has never changed its name, nor built gaudy statues to team owners
A little offtopic: The reason for 2FA to kick in when your on a public network (e.g. train's WIFI) is that you are on a public network, I know crazy right. The only other security feature here is your password, but since this could be leaked/bruteforced/guessed/… they created 2FA. So the 2FA to kick in on public networks is exactly what you want even tho it might be a bit annoying.
I lived in Toronto for a decade (most of the 2000's). Getting around was painful and taking the bicycle was dangerous. I've lived in Edmonton since 2010 and like it a lot better, even though it's very car dependent as well. Thanks to the river we always had a respectable bike trail network, which is actually being expanded. However, even today Edmonton planners make a lot of Toronto style mistakes and it scares me. The Yellowhead is being turned into a 401 right now, with little consideration for anything but moving more vehicles. You make great videos. Nord VPN sucks, but we all have to pay our bills. Thanks for your good work!