I live on Carlaw Avenue and my friend, who I was enjoying a coffee with yesterday, lives on Hammersmith Avenue.
We admit last week's debate on public transit was a tough one for both of us because neither one of us is directly affected by it. Yes, we both like the idea of a subway underground but the subway system we use was built 40 to 50 years ago. Today, one mile of subway costs a billion dollars, which means even if we had the money the proposal would have to be thought about long and hard. We both also realized whatever transit system they do decide on, neither one of us will be using it. We live in a different city than the people of Scarborough or Downsview, and the city election in 2010 proved there was literally a downtown type of thinking and a suburban way of thinking.The two of us have lived a combined total of 37 years south of Bloor Street / Danforth Avenue. In that time, we have taken the subway and streetcar millions of times and because we live downtown we've been able to travel by foot even more. This combination of quick reliable public transit and two legs made the two of us realize how spoiled we are. When either one of us go to Scarborough or Downsview, we always use a car. We would never think of using public transit and we wouldn't think of walking either.I can walk to the grocery store, the bank, the hospital, restaurants and walk-in clinics. If I do need to go to Scarborough to visit a friend or get a specific item, I would get in the car and drive there. My friend on Hammersmith would do exactly the same.Now of course this isn't an insight a lot of people want to hear about, but it is an opinion that could be shared by about 500,000 people who live exactly like I do.Here's the beautiful part: These 500,000 people all have an opinion and because we live in a world where everyone can now express that opinion on blogs, Twitter, BBM and email, it means we now have to listen to someone living at Parliament and Wellesley drone on about what the city should do when he or she will never use the Eglinton, Finch or Sheppard LRT system at all. There is a statement that has been used jokingly for years by people like me who live in Riverdale, The Beach, The Kingsway and the downtown core of Toronto."If I have to go above St. Clair Avenue to get a service or product, I almost certainly don't need it."