Statement by Margaret Ferizis

I live in Scarborough and we used to have a streetcar line until the the early 1950's. It was replaced with buses and the area was designed around the car.

Scarborough is now considered to be quite backward and ugly. So is Etobicoke to a lesser extent.

Most of us in Scarborough wish those lines were never paved over. The planners of the day are often criticized for their myopia.

It was very short-sighted of many cities, including Toronto, London and Hamilton to give up the light-rail transit that existed up until the 1950's and later, in favour of bus routes.

Sixty years later we have come full circle, and need those LRTs. The situation is not going to go away and it would be foolish to think it will.

The city of Hamilton has been granted the funds to invest in itself in a meaningful way. Wouldn't you rather be remembered as a council that worked for it's city as opposed to a dysfunctional council that worked against it's own best interests in order to please a few squeaky wheels that you would be better off replacing.

The people complaining the most about the proposed LRT probably commute by car from outside the city and do not spend a cent in Hamilton. They rush in and out and do not want anything impeding their progress.

They also do not pay taxes in Hamilton, ergo they are not paying for the upkeep of the city roads they wear out year after year.

They do not stop to consider that the new streetcars can carry 250 riders, that's a lot of cars that are not in their way.

As for the businesses, tell them to take a look at Queen Street in Toronto, or College St., or any street with an streetcar route. They are busy and vibrant and the businesses thrive. If you see an empty store, that has more to do with a greedy landlord than a streetcar line.

No city can afford subways anymore, not even New York City. LRTs are the future of urban transit.

History will be judging you.

Thanks for allowing me to express my opinion. I still have my fingers crossed that we might still have an LRT built here in Scarborough. A 3 stop subway is a waste and will only help the construction company building it.

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