The Big Cover Up

I have learned that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is considering covering the Davisville Carhouse yards in order to open up the land for development. This would be a terrible loss to the railfan community. As it sits, most of the network is underground leaving riders with no choice but to stare at their phones during trips.

See Next Stop: Davisville – City of Toronto

After the long, dark journey from the north end of city, exiting the tunnels to pass by the Davisville Carhouse is a treat. Riders get to view the trains and work cars as they pass by between Eglinton and St. Clair Stations. The yard is spacious and open. There is a nice view of apartment blocks to the southwest side of the yard and office towers to the east side.

I understand that Toronto is in the midst of a housing crises, but I am tired of their plan to infill open spaces with luxury condominiums. Throughout the inner suburbs, apartment buildings built during the 1960s through 1970s have been subjected to infill proposals… the replacement of greenspace in front of, or between buildings, with townhouses or high rise condominiums and apartments. Meanwhile the vast majority of the city’s land is wasted by single-family homes. Are they the only residents who deserve to have greenspace outside their homes?

During the 1960s and 1970s, developers used to build apartment buildings surrounded by green space. This was later termed “tower in the park” and in recent years it appears to be frowned upon. Buildings constructed since the 1980s have virtually no greenspace on their sites.

After touring Davisville Carhouse, I walked around the adjacent Davisville community… a community of mid- and highrise apartments built during the 1960s and 1970s. To my dismay, nearly every building had a sign out front indicating that there was a redevelopment proposal to build more buildings on what little greenspace they have.

Is it such a bad thing to have a few trees and grass between buildings such as the following site? Yes, this too is under proposal to build another building.

Today was not a particularly good day to watch trains as the Sunday schedule is quite slow. I plan to return to this site someday during rush hour.