Smell of jet fuel wafting through the waterfront
In the past few weekends, I've started to notice more and more the smell
of jet fuel wafting through the waterfront. And on more than one
occasion in the past few weeks, I could immediately smell jet fuel fumes
as soon as I walked outside of my building....a building that is at
York and Queen's Quay.
Furthermore, I have paid more attention to noise from the airport vs. noise from Queen's Quay, the street cars and the Gardiner. I've found that when walking along the water's edge, I could not hear the Gardiner at all and only occasionally I could hear noise from Queen's Quay. But the noise from the airport is now almost constant. In terms of the degree of noise, last weekend I found that the noise from the airport dominated even when I was 80% of the way to Queen's Quay from the water's edge.
On my last walk though, I bumped into an old neighbour from 33 Harbour Square. I asked him if he was bothered by the noise from Porter and he said he didn't hear it at all. He then stated that if you're going to choose to live right in downtown Toronto, you've got to expect noise.
The big question in my view is does the benefit of having a convenient airport in downtown Toronto outweigh the negative effects that the airport has on the waterfront and Island community? It is a very tough question indeed. Even though I don't like the airport, I must admit that I think that having the airport would be a net benefit for Toronto. I know that at least half of the people who live down here don't mind it. And this percentage may be even as high as 70-80%. Furthermore, the waterfront is only really used for 4 months or so of the year while Porter operates all year.
So again, I would definitely love to see the Island Airport close but I would also be the first to admit that I believe that on the whole, Torontonians want it to stay open. And if that is the case, it should stay open.
Funny how it is that anyone who likes the airport can justify why it should stay open and that anyone who doesn't like it can justify why it should be closed. And all of these folks can’t seem to acknowledge the views or opinions from the other side even though both sides have very valid points. It seems like everyone is doing this except for one person: Joe. Joe: I disagree with lots of the things you say but I must give you credit for acknowledging some of the views of your opponents. This shows intellectual integrity, objectivity and honour and everyone on this board should learn from this.
And so I put this challenge forward to everyone here: to those that are dead against the airport, try to acknowledge some of the points from the folks that like the airport. And to those that love the airport, try to acknowledge some of the points from the folks that want it to close. My guess is that this post will fall on deaf ears......
WMABO
Furthermore, I have paid more attention to noise from the airport vs. noise from Queen's Quay, the street cars and the Gardiner. I've found that when walking along the water's edge, I could not hear the Gardiner at all and only occasionally I could hear noise from Queen's Quay. But the noise from the airport is now almost constant. In terms of the degree of noise, last weekend I found that the noise from the airport dominated even when I was 80% of the way to Queen's Quay from the water's edge.
On my last walk though, I bumped into an old neighbour from 33 Harbour Square. I asked him if he was bothered by the noise from Porter and he said he didn't hear it at all. He then stated that if you're going to choose to live right in downtown Toronto, you've got to expect noise.
The big question in my view is does the benefit of having a convenient airport in downtown Toronto outweigh the negative effects that the airport has on the waterfront and Island community? It is a very tough question indeed. Even though I don't like the airport, I must admit that I think that having the airport would be a net benefit for Toronto. I know that at least half of the people who live down here don't mind it. And this percentage may be even as high as 70-80%. Furthermore, the waterfront is only really used for 4 months or so of the year while Porter operates all year.
So again, I would definitely love to see the Island Airport close but I would also be the first to admit that I believe that on the whole, Torontonians want it to stay open. And if that is the case, it should stay open.
Funny how it is that anyone who likes the airport can justify why it should stay open and that anyone who doesn't like it can justify why it should be closed. And all of these folks can’t seem to acknowledge the views or opinions from the other side even though both sides have very valid points. It seems like everyone is doing this except for one person: Joe. Joe: I disagree with lots of the things you say but I must give you credit for acknowledging some of the views of your opponents. This shows intellectual integrity, objectivity and honour and everyone on this board should learn from this.
And so I put this challenge forward to everyone here: to those that are dead against the airport, try to acknowledge some of the points from the folks that like the airport. And to those that love the airport, try to acknowledge some of the points from the folks that want it to close. My guess is that this post will fall on deaf ears......
WMABO
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