If I had to build a city with airports from a clean sheet, I would make at least some effort to build an airport where the flights went over water. If I had the opportunity to put an airport near the business district, and give the air carriers the marketing advantage of a convenient location in return for adherence to strict environmental guidelines-- and the the Q-400s pollute far less than the jets Air Canada and Westjet operate out of Pearson-- I would see that as an advantage for the residents. I would keep in mind that my city would soon have to wean itself off dependence on highly polluting, carbon-intensive truck traffic, and that the only technology we have for low or no carbon freight movement depends on marine transport, so I would try to make sure any residential or recreational waterfront development would accommodate the marine terminal. I would certainly not fear the word "industrial" in relation to the waterfront, nor would I use it as a curse word, nor would I blind myself to the great beauty contained in the industrial world, including, yes, aviation.

But we don't live in a clean-sheet, "Sim-City" Toronto, and the issue of Toronto City Centre Airport involves equity between different communities and the maintenance of a viable medical transportation system.

John Spragge