[URBAN NOTE] Torontoist on the departure of Pachi and the cost of the 2024 Olympics

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's David Hains linked to the enigmatic final photo of Pachi, Pan Am/Parapan mascot, on his Instagram feed. He then posted an analysis of the Olympics, money-wise: At an estimated cost of $13 billion, what could Olympics funds pay for locally? Quite a lot, it turns out.

•Fund TCHC capital repair backlog over next 10 years to keep units in good standing ($2.6 billion).
•Build the Downtown Relief Line from Union to Don Mills (Over $4 billion).
•Build the full Waterfront LRT ($600—$900 million, depending on alignment).
•Fund Lower Don flood protection and area improvements, thus unlocking billions in real estate value (Over $900 million).
•Eliminate the TTC’s unfunded state of good repair backlog [PDF], including 372 subway cars, 201 Wheel Trans buses, 99 new buses, 66 new LRVs, subway and surface track maintenance, meeting the TTC accessibility requirement by the provincially mandated deadline in 2025, and more ($2.3 billion).
•A $400,000 condo for every homeless person in Toronto ($2 billion).
•20 new full-service community centres ($590 million).
•20 new libraries ($170 million).

(Why don't we just pay for that? Indeed, why not.)