(11-23-2017, 11:16 PM)KevinL Wrote: What 'old abandoned' rail lines exist between Sportsworld and Hespeler? There is a VERY ACTIVE CP line, but they are not willing to play ball.

(I do know abandoned lines are planned to be used between the Delta and Galt, but that's not what he's talking about.)

(11-24-2017, 12:54 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:

(11-24-2017, 09:39 AM)Canard Wrote: I’m always gobsmacked that some can talk about “buying up homes” like people don’t live there or have lives. “Just destroy them, who cares about them”.

We’re talking about a project to benefit the entire Region, hundreds of thousands of people. In that context, 30 houses should not stop the project. The point is, even homes (and I use the word advisedly, normally I would use “houses” but I want to be clear that this argument still goes through even though the houses in question are people’s homes) have a market value, and if the market price of buying out the people on those streets is less than the price of moving the CP line to a new alignment, it would be silly to waste money on the more expensive alternative.

Having said that, that is an extreme approach offered more as a reductio. In actual fact, I think we could either take the approach that sometimes people just have to accept that their street will change (and similar to good old Mr. Aissa up on Northfield, I predict we’ll see most of them stay put, thus acknowledging by their actions that LRT tracks down the street aren’t actually that bad), or we could offer the property owners compensation for the change in their street without buying them out. Would those people really still be protesting if they all knew they were each getting $25,000 out of the deal? The total cost of compensation would be something like $750,000 under this made-up-on-the-spot idea. I’ll eat my shirt if it’s possible to move the CP line for that money.

(11-25-2017, 09:03 AM)kitborn Wrote:

(11-24-2017, 12:54 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: We’re talking about a project to benefit the entire Region, hundreds of thousands of people. In that context, 30 houses should not stop the project. The point is, even homes (and I use the word advisedly, normally I would use “houses” but I want to be clear that this argument still goes through even though the houses in question are people’s homes) have a market value, and if the market price of buying out the people on those streets is less than the price of moving the CP line to a new alignment, it would be silly to waste money on the more expensive alternative.

Having said that, that is an extreme approach offered more as a reductio. In actual fact, I think we could either take the approach that sometimes people just have to accept that their street will change (and similar to good old Mr. Aissa up on Northfield, I predict we’ll see most of them stay put, thus acknowledging by their actions that LRT tracks down the street aren’t actually that bad), or we could offer the property owners compensation for the change in their street without buying them out. Would those people really still be protesting if they all knew they were each getting $25,000 out of the deal? The total cost of compensation would be something like $750,000 under this made-up-on-the-spot idea. I’ll eat my shirt if it’s possible to move the CP line for that money.

[quote pid='45288' dateline='1511542497']
My aunt and uncle owned a home on Madison Ave. and what is now Charles St. The house and land was expropriated and they were given good compensation that allowed them to buy a house on Filbert Street. A very nice house and neighbourhood. However, living in a house that has lost the front yard may not be a very good deal. 

(11-28-2017, 03:13 PM)DHLawrence Wrote: Either way, lessening the significance of the Ainslie terminal is a move in the right direction. The intercity terminal belongs on Hespeler Road, either at Cambridge Centre or Pinebush. Put an interchange platform at Main or Concession for Hamilton buses and Galt-area GRT routes, but really the main terminal should be closer to the highway.

(11-29-2017, 03:09 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Galt, Preston, and Hespeler will soon be as forgotten as Streetsville, because they will atrophy at their current residents' request.