Why can't even geniuses do simple math?

When Porter began flying out of the Island Airport a few years ago I started a debate with a co-worker of mine about noise pollution. My co-worker, who has multiple graduate degrees and more important, common sense and street smarts felt that noise pollution wasn't an issue. I responded by saying that yes, with 4 or 6 planes things weren't too bad but when 20 would eventually operate, we'd have 4 times more noise pollution than currently. And if you simply multiplied the current level of noise pollution by 4, you'd have a problem on your hands. Well, he disagreed and just didn't get it!

Fast-forward a few years and Porter has the 20 planes operating. And what is he saying now? He has come back to me on many occasions with stories about how he was jogging along the waterfront or sitting in HtO Park and he felt that the noise of the planes ruined his experience. He has also stated that he could smell the jet fuel and found it terrible.

And myself, the noise with 20 planes has been worse that I expected. I go down to the harbourfront every now and then to sit along the water's edge and have lunch. I went twice this summer and thought the noise was quite bad. One reason is that now you'll see more than one plane taxiing at once and this can be really noisy. Now I still prefer to the harbourfront instead of sitting outside in the city core, but I would estimate that 50% of my enjoyment of going to the harbourfront is gone.

What will it be like with 35+ or so planes? I think that with this number the noise will be a disaster. You are going to see times when there are 3 or 4 planes taxiing at once and when that happens, the noise will be so loud that you’ll have trouble hearing the person next to you speak. Of course the level of noise will also depend on the wind direction. But with 35+ planes, my guess is that the noise will be so bad that I won’t go to the harbourfront for lunch. With perhaps 80-90% of the enjoyment gone, it won’t be worth the 12 minute walk.

It really is a shame. Toronto has been blessed with a location that is right on one of the magnificant Great Lakes. Other cities would kill for our location. And what do we do? We put a noisy and stinky commercial airport right smack in the middle of our waterfront parks and community.

It is fairly hard to measure, but thus far the new commerical flights operating out of the Island Airport has not affected real estate values on the harbourfront. But it will be interesting to watch what happens to harbourfront condo values if the real estate market remains weak over the next few years while commerical flight activity almost doubles from current levels. Should you be worried if you have a major real estate investment on the harbourfront. Damn right you should be. Stay tuned!