How to Clean Up San Francisco’s Dirty Streets

24 08 2011

My previous blog post discussed Travel and Leisure’s recent list of America’s Dirtiest Cities.  As I stated at the beginning of that post, I have found San Francisco to be quite dirty with trash and litter in comparison with my previous hometown of Toronto.  While a lot of San Francisco is quite clean, there are definitely large sections that are downright filthy.  While I don’t want to complain about the city’s litter problems, I do want to offer a couple of ideas that I believe could greatly decrease the trash on San Francisco’s streets.  Below is a list of these ideas.  Some of them are more concrete, easy to execute ideas whereas other ones may require more thinking:

  • The public trash cans throughout San Francisco are far too open.  Homeless people can easily sift through the trash in these garbage cans and often end up throwing up a lot of the trash on the ground.  Additionally, if the trash can is full, the wind can easily blow the trash out of the can and into the street and side walk around the can.  The trash cans should be changed to a trash can that must be opened to deposit trash (similar to trash cans you would find at food courts).  In Toronto, for instance, many of the public trash cans would require you to step on a lever to open the top and deposit the trash.  Even when opened, it is difficult to reach into the trash, which would stop the problem of homeless people sifting through the trash and throwing the garbage on the streets.
  • Increase the fines on littering to something very high ($1000?).  This may sound extreme, but it will certainly make just about everyone to think twice about littering.
  • Incent those who pick up garbage on the street.  People get a small amount of change whenever they deposit an empty can or bottle.  Perhaps we could the same with garbage.  For instance, for each full bag of trash someone picks up and deposits to the San Francisco Garbage Collection Services, they would get $5.  While this would cost the city extra money, it could be offset by less need for street cleaners if it turned out to be a successful program.  The only potential issue is that people could abuse the system by simply taking trash from a garbage can to fill up a bag.
  • Give out fines for anyone who leaves out unsecured garbage or recycling to be picked up by garbage collection.  This garbage or recycling needs to either be in a closed bin or tied down so it will not blow away.

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Travel and Leisure Lists America’s Dirtiest Cities

9 08 2011

Having recently moved from Toronto to San Francisco, it wasn’t hard to miss the difference in trash and litter between the two cities.  I wouldn’t say Toronto is completely spotless, but it certainly is a heck of a lot cleaner than San Francisco which can be quite dingy in a lot of places.  Yet, according to Travel and Leisure’s recent list of America’s Dirtiest Cities, San Francisco only ranks as the 12th dirtiest.  The winner of this not so prestigious award: New Orleans (pictured above).  Yet, while this distinction is certainly not a favorable one, one look at the list reveals that the dirtiest cities also tend to be some of the most exciting cities as well.  So while Indianapolis, Indiana may not be on the top 20 list of dirtiest cities, it is very unlikely to make the top 20 for excitement or livability as well.  The top 5 dirtiest cities in America are listed below:

1) New Orleans

2) Philadelphia

3) Los Angeles

4) Memphis

5) New York City


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Neighbourhood Revitilization: A Success Story or a Story of Displacement?

2 07 2011

First of all, let me start off by saying that anything here is strictly my opinion and nothing more.  But I do believe there is a lot of truth in what I have to say.

Just about any city has at least one neighbourhood revitilization success story in the last couple of decades.  We’ve all heard it before: a once downtrodden neighbourhood has been transformed into a lively an energetic and livable neighbourhood.  It certainly sounds like a great thing.  For instance, here in San Francisco, SOMA continues to becomes one of the most livable areas in all of the city as it’s gentrification continues to spread west throughout the neighbourhood.  Similarly, in my former city of Toronto, the King West corridor has become one of the most desirable areas to live.  Just 15 years ago, this was not the case at all.

I will certainly admit that both SOMA in San Francisco and the King West corridor in Toronto are far more pleasant, safe and exciting than they were in the past.  But there is a side effect from all this change: the residential and commercial prices move up (and generally at a rapid rate).  No doubt, it’s perfectly normal for a desirable neighbourhood to cost more to live in or to own a business in than one that’s not so desirable.  Yet, when a neighbourhood often gets ‘revitalized’, the dynamic in that neighbourhood changes.  In the end, the people that lived in the neighbourhood at the start of this revitalization are not same as the ones at the end.  It’s another story of the rich displacing the poor.

With an ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor in many developed countries, this appears to be yet another situation in which those that cannot keep up economically truly lose.  While one would want to believe that these types of changes in a neighbourhood would result in a place that is more livable for everyone, this is almost always not the case.  And while I’ve brought up displacement due to money, I haven’t even touched on the displacement that sometimes happens due to demolition and new construction (most recently, for ‘luxury’ townhomes or condominiums).  There are many ways in which these people are being ‘exiled’ from these neighbourhoods, not just one.

In the end, this problem is one that can often lead to more harm than good.  Recently, many of these gentrified neighbourhoods have been located within the inner area of a city.  This often provides it’s residents with more access to jobs or services they may need.  But frequently, they get displaced to somewhere much farther away without these same jobs or services.  And while this problem of displacement is certainly one that is not going to go away (especially as more and more people move into the city), it is one that doesn’t have to to exist.  And I truly believe we can have it both ways: safe, livable neighbourhoods that are open to everyone.


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Toronto Transit Commission Takes Stance on Whether to Privatize Toronto Public Transit

4 02 2011

For anyone who lives in Toronto and takes the subway fairly regularly, you may have noticed the posters discussing the potential negative outcomes of privatizing Toronto public transit and using Vancouver, Melbourne and London and examples of why not to privatize public transit in Toronto.   You can read the full story in the Toronto Sun article entitled ‘Keep TTC public‘ about the 1/2 million dollar campaign by the TTC to make people aware of why the TTC shouldn’t be privatized.

Well now, it’s time for my rant…

Having moved to Toronto nearly four years ago, I can truly say that the TTC is the worst public transit system I have dealt with.  The ticket prices are astronomical (the price of a monthly pass is double that of Boston’s for example), the staff is extremely overpaid, rude and generally quite lazy, and the coverage for a city of Toronto’s size is abysmal.  On top of this, the subway stations are generally dirty and all of the subways and streetcars are old and regularly broken.  The fact that there has been so many problems trying to get the light rail projects off the ground highlight the TTC’s inefficiencies.

What I find most insulting is the fact that they bring up Melbourne’s public transit system as an example of why privatization does not work.  Most people in Toronto have not likely lived in Melbourne nor have they visited it.  Having lived in Melbourne back in 2006, I can set the record straight that Melbourne’s public transit system is a huge step up from Toronto’s.  The coverage of the transit system is incredible (whereas Toronto has 3 subway lines, Melbourne has more than a dozen).  The prices are reasonable and the trains, trams and buses are both efficient and clean.

So what can I conclude from all this?  Well if Melbourne really is an example of what happens when you privatize a public transit system, then I believe Toronto’s TTC should be privatized as soon as possible.  So thank you Toronto Transit Commission for helping me realize what the right thing truly is to do.


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The Fate of Ontario Place

10 11 2010

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Canuck with a camera

 

Most adult Toronto residents view Ontario Place with a true sense of nostalgia.    Over the course of several decades, the inner city theme park delighted visitors with it’s water park, IMAX movies and beautiful lake side views.  However, over the last 5 to 10 years, Ontario Place has begun to lost some of it’s lustre.  Despite decent attendance on the weekends, Ontario Place can often be quite empty throughout the week.   Recently, according to this Toronto Star article, the Provincial Crown corporation has started to look at overhauling the entire Ontario Place complex.  The extremely unfortunate thing is that this may mean that all the buildings currently on the Ontario Place property may be torn down.

The Provincial Crown corporation is looking for ideas to redevelop the site and are hoping to make a decision by 2011.   I have heard rumours of such developments as a high end condo complex and a hotel to accommodate all the convention goers at Exhibition Place.  However, it seems quite alarming (and disheartening) that the idea of simply improving the amusement park hasn’t been considered.  There are many buildings on the site already that are considered an icon of Toronto and to destroy all these buildings seem like a somewhat ludicrous thing to do.    Thus, it seems to make more sense that if they want to make better use of the space, they simply need to improve what they already have.

Ontario Place is an extremely popular spot for families and provides Toronto with a central amusement park for everyone to enjoy.  It is also a cheaper alternative to the overpriced Canada’s Wonderland outside of Toronto.   And it seems that there is a growing community who want to make sure that site of Ontario Place continues to be a place for everyone to enjoy.  I have already found (and joined) a Facebook group entitled ‘Save Ontario Place‘ and I urge those who don’t want to lose this important piece of Toronto to join.  And while I am intrigued to hear all the different proposals, I truly believe the best one is one that improves what is already there and not one that takes away a true piece of Toronto history.


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Highlight in Urban Planning: Vancouver’s Canada Line

9 07 2010

Photo courtesy of Flickr user S. Yume

I recently took a small trip over to Vancouver for the Canada long weekend.  Vancouver has always come across as a cleaner, fresher city in comparison to my current hometown of Toronto although it does have a horrendous homelessness issue.   Anyways, after I landed in Vancouver, I quickly found out that one could simply take a subway to the center of the city.  This certainly isn’t anything new, but what I did find quite fascinating was just how recent the subway line, better known as the Canada Line was put into place.  It opened in 2009, 15 weeks ahead of schedule.

I find it quite remarkable that in this day in age, a city is still able to successfully build and financially support such a giant development and even finish it ahead of schedule when most major projects fall short by months or even years.  This also truly hits home since Toronto lacks any high speed public transport to the airport and it looks like it may never happen as it apparently is too costly.  But one has to wonder why when a city like Vancouver is able to succeed at building the same thing.  I took a look at Wikipedia for some financial information on the subway line and it was apparently paid for by a private-public partnership.  The total cost was approximately $2.054 billion and the main sources of funding were the Canadian Government ($450 million), Government of British Columbia ($435 million) and the Vancouver Airport Authority ($300 million).

While one has to wonder how much of a role the 2010 Olympics played into making this project a reality, I will note that the Wikipedia article also specified that the project had been in the works since the early 90′s, long before Vancouver had been announced as the host of the 2010 Olympics.  While the Canada Line project was a massive disruption for the city as many roads were torn up, it still was considered a justifiable risk since it completed the important link between downtown Vancouver and the Vancouver airport.  Maybe other cities should wake up and stop using the cost as an excuse.


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G-20′s Impacts on a City

25 06 2010

Well, as the G-20 summit descends upon my current home of Toronto and protests and chaos begin, I wondered if there are any long term effects on a host city for the G-20.  Typically, an enormous amount of money is spent on such an event and the current price tag for the G-20 summit and the G-8 summit combined (the 2010 G-8 summit is taking place 3 or so hours north of Toronto) is a whopping $1 billion.  One would think that with such an enormous price tag, there would be some kind of long term impacts.

I took a look at the Wikipedia entry for the Pittsburgh 2009 summit.  Interestingly, the city was chosen due to it’s economic recovery from it’s depressing post-manufacturing days.  And while the Direct Energy Business greened the city’s electrical usage during the two days of the summit, there was no information pertaining to the long term effects on the city.

However, one has to believe that such a massive event must have an effect on the future efficiency and effectiveness of the city’s police department for if it can handle something  as chaotic as the protests for the G-20, surely the police force must be better equipped for any possible future protests.  So as Toronto becomes a zoo of protesters over the next couple of days, I hope that the economic and social costs of such an event are outweighed by the future benefits.


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Save Transit City

24 04 2010

For those unfamiliar with the public transportation system in Toronto, let me just say that as far as rapid transit goes, it may be among the worst in all of North America for a city of it’s size.  For the most part, our subway system has no grown in the past 3 or 4 decades and has not remotely kept up with the growth of the city.  It does not have nearly the coverage it should and has made it near impossible to get to certain important locations throughout the city.  If anyone has ever taken public transit from the Toronto International airport to downtown, they know exactly what i’m referring to.  However, as 0f 2008, the government of Ontario committed nine billion dollars to greatly improving the Toronto public transit system including eight new light rail lines calling the project Transit City.  While these light rail lines will not be as rapid as a subway system, they are far more economic and still far quicker than a bus.  These lines greatly increase the coverage of rapid transit throughout the city to such places as the airport.

However, recently, this budget has been cut in half putting the entire project in jeopardy, even after development has already started.  So where does this leave us?  Apparently, in a very similar state we were before the project began.  As a Torontonian who frequently takes public transit, it is a very difficult thing to hear.  There has already been numerous events, groups and coalitions built to stop these massive budget cuts.  So what can you do?  Well, you can go here:  TTCriders.ca where they will give you information on how to either phone or email the government of Ontario letting them know how you feel about these budget cuts.


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Downtown Highrise Condos: The Good and the Bad

23 02 2010

Here in downtown Toronto, you don’t have to walk far to find yet another construction site for a new ‘luxury’ highrise condominium project.   However, this isn’t just isolated to Toronto.  Around North America, Australia and even some parts of Europe, the construction of large scale condominium developments is in full force throughout the downtowns of many major urban centers.    This resurgence of living downtown has certainly had some positive effects on the urban fabric of these downtowns.  These residents help any number of businesses throughout the downtown and help to create a real center again in many of the major cities throughout the world.  The larger number of residents throughout the center of the city also provide it with increased safety and a larger retail presence.

Yet, all this comes with a price, especially when every little bit of space is now being replaced with yet another condo tower.  In Toronto, this is very much a reality.  The condo projects in the City Place development is a prime example.  City Place is a massive multi-building development on the west side of downtown Toronto.  In theory, the project seems like a good idea.  The project tries to create a neighbourhood atmosphere for it’s residents while providing those that live in City Place with easy access to the downtown and some spectacular views from their condos.  Yet, is a project like this too much?  Walking around City Place provides a different reality:  a neighbourhood full of giant similiar looking glass condo towers providing absolutely no sense of place and no sense of scale from street level.

But the faceless feel of some of the condos isn’t the only issue.  All these private ‘luxury’ condo developments are closing off many prime sites throughout Toronto that could be used for something more public.  Greenspace is an obvious choice, yet in the case of Toronto, the real need for the city are an increase in attractions that attract both locals and tourists alike.   Instead, these highrise condos provide another skyscraper that can really only be enjoyed by those that live there.

In the end, while there is absolutely nothing wrong with the development of many of these new downtown condominium projects, it is perhaps the sheer number that is most alarming.  While more and more condo towers get built, it creates a downtown that is less commercial and more residential and a downtown that is less public and more private.


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Underground Cities

12 01 2010

Montreal's Underground City

According to this SkyScraperCity forum post, a subterran underground project is taking shape in Seoul, Korea which will include shopping and dining as well as connections to apartment buildings and hotels.  Such a project may help to alleviate traffic on the congested sidewalks in the center of the city, yet these ‘underground cities’ are not always well received.  Living in the Canada, which is perhaps the king of underground cities (both Montreal and Toronto have extremely extensive underground complexes), I am certainly very familiar to these kinds of projects.   I have walked through both Montreal’s Underground City and Toronto’s PATH many many times and they both provide a unique experience for any urban enthusiast.  Certainly, in Canada’s harsh winters, using these subterrain passageways instead of walking around the cold streets seems like a logical idea.

Yet, there has always been criticism of these elaborate projects.  Most often, the criticism surrounds two main points:

  1. The fact that such complexes are accused of taking away a large portion of the pedestrian traffic in the streets above.
  2. The idea of safety in these underground complexes, especially at night.

I can certainly understand both points and they are legitimate concerns.  However, if I were talking strictly about the underground cities in both Toronto and Montreal, I can honestly say that neither has been a huge issue.  Here, in Toronto, the underground city often acts as a complement to the retail or dining on the streets above.  As well, there is often a high level of security staff and cameras within the underground passageways (sometimes, almost to the point where you feel like you’re being watched at all times).

So is such a project a benefit to Seoul’s urban structure?  It certainly can be, but only if is able to complement the street traffic above well and act as safe place for all those that use it.


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