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Don’t stop trying
Amsterdam, in the 1970s, was a car-dominant grid-locked city much like Toronto is and much like where London is headed. The notoriously inventive and cost-conscious Dutch retrofitted many of their cities in order to make them more efficient, less costly, and more habitable.
To be fair, they did so through numerous urban commitments such as reframing public transit as mass transit, seeing ground level buildings as primarily public-access space, and overthrowing roadside car parking from its postwar throne. Protected bike lanes were only one part of their national makeover.
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Nonetheless, Amsterdam is something of the Sidney Crosby of urban planning, so we’d be unwise to quit working toward that goal just because we’re not already the best.
Jon P. McGoey, London
Homes better value
In his letter to the editor, Anti-municipal golf bias hard to understand (Oct. 16), Andy McGuigan decries council’s lack of enthusiasm to increase the number of golf courses.
An 18-hole course can take up to 48 hectares. The development planned on 56 hectares on Highbury Avenue will accommodate 3,000 residential units. Obviously, the latter has more value than green lawn and sand traps.
London’s golf courses are public which means non-Londoners are benefiting without paying the true cost of a game.
Let’s leave the business of golf to others where land has less value.
Walt Lonc, London
Move encampments
Regarding the article Homeless people displaced after camp in park near Blackfriars Bridge shut down (Oct. 16).
As much empathy as I have for people camping out, I don’t think they should be allowed to stay there. Their encampments are eyesores.
Can’t London find fields equipped with facilities instead?
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John Hush, London
Vote buying
Premier Doug Ford’s decision to send every Ontarian, even millionaires, $200 is a failure of conservatism that believes in responsible stewardship of public funds.
It will cost $3 billion for a province with a $416-billion debt. Ford will have a 2024 budget deficit but gifts our money to buy votes prior to an election, just like his convenience store liquor sales scenario.
He’s forgotten our struggling health-care system and low-income families which need help.
Peter J. Middlemore Sr., London
Right direction
Ontario big-city mayors may expand the scope of involuntary treatment for people who are addicted to drugs and living on the streets. Other provinces and territories are watching, with some moving forward with this plan.
This will be targeted to our “most vulnerable” homeless people who are unable or unwilling to care for themselves. This won’t be a magic solution, but it will be a solid step in the right direction.
Freddie Ashkanase, London
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