Fak Checka July 5, 2007 at 9:34 a.m.

Well actually, you adopted that foolish suggestion from Greg Clark, but really it isn't that foolish anyway. We could reroute water through the ravine system in Toronto and have canals running along side the trails. The Don and Humber could be the great aquatic thoroughfares of my futuristic dreams.

Herbert July 5, 2007 at 10:02 a.m.

I think that is a really interesting suggestion. While it is clearly far-fetched and a concept that would not come into fruition for many years, it is very appealing. I live right beside the Don Valley, in Riverdale, and I am an avid kayaker. The notion of being able to finally get to work in style is exciting.
On the notions of floating rockets, I think its a solid idea...though I fear there might be some hesitation from commuters as it would be such as drastic change for them. Not to mention the delays that would inevitably be prevalent.

Concerned Citizen July 5, 2007 at 10:12 a.m.

Forgive me if I am a bit skeptical about the idea, but this city has had a bad history with rockets. The Subway..."ride the rocket" does not begin to service major portions of the population. Roger 'The Rocket' Clemens was a 20 million dollar pain in the neck for the Jays, Street Racing, done largely by Crotch ROCKETS, or rice ROCKETS, are causing major fatalities, fear, and heartache for Torontonians. Romaine and Iceberg lettuce are losing marketshare to posh British 'Rockit' lettuce at our beloved salad bars. Even the world Arugala, in Dutch, and spelled backwards, looks suspiciously like Rocket. Besides...who the hell in Etobicoke wants to go the Bluffs and vice versa.

Jake July 5, 2007 at 10:23 a.m.

Concerned Citizen,
If I am to understand you correctly, you are proposing an outright ban on the word rockets and all things relating to them. (Similar to the U.S. ban of the word French) Would you be happier with a distinctly Canadian word instead of Rocket? Perhaps in the same way that the Americans substituted the word ‘French’ with ‘freedom’, we could substitute ‘Rocket’ with a more gentle and distinctly Canadian 'beaver'. Make the substitutions in your head, you might just be pleasantly surprised…

Herbert July 5, 2007 at 10:29 a.m.

Utilizing the cities current and future waterways is an essential solution to the transit problems. Lets face it, the problem is not going to go without some serious creativity and ingenuity.
As for the bizarre posts concerning the title 'floating rockets', a term I quite like, I feel like you are off base. For example, you described Roger Clemens as a 20 million dollar pain in the neck and yet, "In two seasons with the Jays, he made a comeback as he won the pitching triple crown (leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts) and the Cy Young award each year." (Wikipedia) he was the best pitcher in baseball for those two years. Riding the rocket is essential for thousands of Torontonians daily, including myself, and an integral part of our city.

Concerned Citizen July 5, 2007 at 10:30 a.m.

Not exactly. In some instances, your suggestion makes complete sense. For instance, i think the floating beaver is more marketable to Torontonians than the floating rocket. Similarly, A Rice Beaver sounds quite appetizing, while a baseball player with the nickname, 'the beaver' evokes all sorts of nationalist sentiment in me. But, please, Jake, imagine motorcycles were called crotch beavers...that is not only redundant, but also very immature.

Concerned Citizen July 5, 2007 at 10:39 a.m.

In both of your retorts, you fail to see the forest from the trees. You're watching shadows dancing on a cave wall without seeing whats happening outside the cave. Roger Clemens may have won those games, but he drained the Jays of money. As a result, they couldn't get decent relievers, our hitting was no good, and we ended up losing a lot of games. Your point about the subway is that it merely exists. People like yourself rely on it, great! People rely on the public transit system in LA and Sao Paolo. Does that it mean it couldn't be drastically improved? Don't be so rosy Herbert.

Herbert July 5, 2007 at 10:57 a.m.

Concerned Citizen,
While your reference to Plato sounds very lovely, its ridiculous. Having the best pitcher in baseball does not hurt a baseball team. Baseball does not have a salary cap unlike most North American professional sports. Clemens was a machine, giving us 20 wins a year almost single handedly. The problem for our team was management being unwilling to spend more money to go along with Clemens. But this argument and your ignorance towards baseball is beside the point.
Obviously our transit system could be improved, but that does not mean we need to short change it. Expansion of 'the rocket'...or 'the 'beaver' as people have started dubbing it in this blog, would be cost vast sums of money, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, money that may not be available.
Concerned Citizen, thus far you have given us nothing but a dislike for Torontonian Rockets, how about you give us something with a little more substance to chew on.

Concerned Citizen July 5, 2007 at 11:09 a.m.

True, I recognize that the costs of such ambitious projects are high, but that shouldn't make them automatically unattainable. there has been a tepid meekness in the body politic and amongst our elected officials in embracing costly, but ultimately positive advancements for our city. I would drop a couple dubs if it meant waterfront revitalization, increased ease of traffic flow, and a decrease in pollution. As for your obsession with baseball, I can only imagine your life...baseball almanacs, frito lays, ESPN, your mom's basement. I can picture you now...certainly short, possibly fat, definitely unathletic. I'll bet you are very quiet in real life, using this blog as a valve for your frustrations.

Herbert July 5, 2007 at 11:21 a.m.

While your were insulting me without any basis, you could have at least mentioned my beautiful eyes and soft hands...
You would drop a couple of dubs would you? But where would you get these dubs?? Although I do have to agree with you that the city is both short-sighted and irrational when it comes to their ambitious projects. Lets not forget the ridiculous streetcar modifications that have taken place on st. clair over the past two years. The city really came up with an ingenious way to make life difficult for drivers. Maybe there thinking is a couple more streets like st. clair, and drivers will become frustrated enough with driving that they sell their cars and use the transit system full time...City planning committee, you've done it again you geniuses!

Amu Welsmaing July 5, 2007 at 11:56 a.m.

This is quite a stimulating debate! While I sense a slightly mocking tone among a few of the bloggers, I have read some very interesting points scattered among the posts. I too am a water sports enthusiast (kayaker, skin diver, spear fisher), and while I agree that plans for a transportation system built in the ravine thoroughfares is quite an ambitious proposition, I think we could use this idea of water transport to promote travel alternatives on a small scale. Perhaps typical substitutes for driving such as cycling, walking, running, scootering and TTCing will some day include kayaking! I know of a man who commutes from Etobicoke to Front Street in the mornings, and he does so by riding his bike to the Lakeshore Yacht club and kayaking the rest of the way. Most office buildings accommodate for such methods of commuting and provide shower and change-room facilities for the employees. While I certainly agree with Concerned Citizen that ambitious projects in our city should not be deemed unattainable, I think small steps are also necessary to reaching our goals of lowering emissions, lessening the number of cars on the road, and making our city less congested. With a daily influx of so many people from the peripheral regions of the city, paired with an inefficient public transportation system, it is vital that we consider every possibility, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

Water enthusiasts unite! (Herbert??)

Herbert July 5, 2007 at 1:09 p.m.

Amu...?
While some of your points are rather insightful, I take issue with the individual who you use as a prominent example in your comments. Not all commuters are members of the yacht club. For all I know this person takes private helicopters to work when his arms are tired from kayaking. This is not the kind of person we are looking to help.
Further, while I can appreciate your stance on offering travel alternatives, the real problem at hand is addressing the massive commuter influx the city goes through every day. We aren't talking about people (I don't know any) that take their scooters to work, we are talking about getting commuters who drive an hour each way off the road and into environmentally friendly transit system.
You should join the conversation about radical transit ideas...so long as you don't mention your 150 yacht as a travel alternative for yourself.

Amy Welsmaing July 5, 2007 at 1:21 p.m.

hile I concede that my example does not adequately represent most Torontonians, I am simply trying to demonstrate that water travel is a form of transportation that is possible for the masses. You don't need a yacht club membership to kayak to work via thoroughfares. He is fortunate enough to have one, but it is certainly not a prerequisite.

If we were to create some sort of water system in Toronto, this would help to solve the issue of thousands of people from the 905 regions entering into Toronto.

It was simply ONE example - one that demonstrates that people are willing to change their habits and daily commuting methods.

Anything is possible, Herbert, if we put our minds to it and if we are willing to change!

Herbert July 5, 2007 at 1:32 p.m.

Amy, while your over the top idealism is nice and sweet, creating a water thoroughfare where one does not already exist is a massive undertaking, one that might even push the limits of your seemingly endless preachyness...

Amu Welsmaing July 5, 2007 at 1:40 p.m.

Anything is possible when we put our minds to it Herbert...my idealism may be sweet but it might move mountains!

I am simply commending Preville on his futustic thinking. I think any suggestions at this point are worth considering.