Raise the Hammer

I am going to repost what I just added to the conversation on Ryan's latest piece.

A link was provided to the first article Ryan wrote regarding the Pan Am Games.I for one found great value in looking back, and here is my response to Ryan's original piece:

Think Long-Term, Urban

If planners and decision makers want to get the most out of the Pan Am Games, they need to keep two core principles in mind:

1.Think Long-Term

2.Think Urban

1. Long Term - from this article, GO and transit in general, was a key objective for these games, to improve this access and jump-start long term goals such as GO service to the Niagara Region. If a GO stop is inserted at Gage Ave (GO at Gage), we accomplish this. I'll speak to this point more in a minute.

2. Think Urban - I'll just quote the Wrigley text from above, with Ivor Wynne's location in mind:

Wrigley Field was built in 1914 on Chicago's north side, and is, along with Fenway Park in Boston, one of the two oldest remaining stadiums in MLB. ... [T]he stadium is nestled into a neighborhood that is densely populated with restaurants and bars, retail shops, and residential housing. Wrigley is famous for the apartments bordering the stadium from which the occupants can look down into the stadium and watch games as they are played. Many of these buildings, in fact, actually sell tickets to non-resident customers for rooftop viewing.

Wrigley predated the automotive culture and the exercise of monopoly muscle by professional sports leagues in the United States, and almost no large parking lots are within easy walking distance of the stadium as a consequence. Fans either arrive by mass transportation or park on neighborhood streets. Local residents also do a brisk business selling spots in garages down back alleys.

Sure, we need more restaurants and such around 75 Balsam, but Ivor Wynne today, boasts many of the same qualities the beloved Wrigley Field does. I have even seen a neighbor erect scafolding in his driveway, sitting atop the structure that was as high as his second floor window, with cooler beside him, enjoying a rare view of a sporting event.

Why could we not offer seating atop the new Prince of Whales or a refurbished/new Parkview Secondary?

I am going to take out some text from the above quote and change out a few words:

Ivor Wynne Stadium predated the automotive culture and the exercise of monopoly muscle by professional sports leagues in North America, and almost no large parking lots are within easy walking distance of the stadium as a consequence. Fans either arrive by mass transportation or park on neighborhood streets. Local residents and churches also do a brisk business selling front lawn spots or utilized their large parking lots to raise money for their charities.