I have lived and worked in…

I have lived and worked in this area all of my life. As a child we were The Borough of York, then later the City of York and now we are part of Toronto. This history alone should make it obvious that the location of THE STOCKYATDS is out of date. A place where farmers ship their livestock for slaughter, packing and distribution is not what we need in the BIG CITY. As a young adult, the left hand turn from my street onto Jane St. was never a problem. Today, the traffic is so dense that I have sometimes opted to turn right and 'go around'. Going around is also not a good option because none of the streets flow, there are traffic slowdowns/jams everywhere. This is an older area of the city, and one that has not had a strong voice. It is an a marginalized immigrant community and statistically this does not represent a group of people who have the languages skill and educational confidence to speak out against community issues. Keeping quiet, not making trouble, making sure the food is on the table and there is a roof overhead is the main focus. Imagine working odd shifts, not having your skills recognized in 'the new country', juggling your schedule with the kids schedule, there is no family member in the country to babysit and child care is not a financial option. After years of struggle, you save the money to place a deposit on an entry level home. Finding this 'affordable' home is in itself difficult. You make the 'big step' of home ownership. Excited, you move into your new home, only to realize IT IS LOCATED BESIDE SLAUGHTER HOUSES. Aside from the stench, philosophical awareness is making the act of slaughtering increasingly unappealing. Imaging belonging to a faith group that does not believe in the slaughter of the same animals that are being killed beside your home on a daily basis. To clarify - I eat meat and my uncle farmed beef., When the location of The Stockyards was chosen, it was a different time. This industry would have never been located in what was then downtown Toronto. Given the expansion of the city, the increased density of the current population and the expected future population growth of the city, the PHYSICAL PLACEMENT OF THIS INDUSTRY IS OUTDATED. ALL of the meet processing industry located in The Stockyards, should be encouraged to relocate outside of the city. I understand that this would relocate jobs, but it would also create an opportunity for NEW JOBS. The jobs that come with the critically needed redevelopment of the areas infrastructure. The jobs that come with the building of new homes and services desperately needed in the community. The jobs that come with daycare, homecare, schools, medical facilities, retail stores, (the list could continue), needed to support the growing population density of the city. The name THE STOCKYARDS, should already give logic to the fact that this is something that does not belong in the middle of one of the worlds larges cities. Please lets come into modern times and apply some login here! We need to build a community that provides a health living space and is developed in a way that if considers the future needs of the city. If the slaughter industry wanted to be 'Good Neighbours" they would have realized a long time ago that THEY SHOULD MOVE AWAY, into a community that is better suited to their business operations. Letting this 'out of town' industry stay 'intown' congests out streets with heave traffic, prevents redevelopment that would better suit the communities needs, provides unhealthy omissions to the air, and it is quite frankly not an industry that should in any way be encouraged to stay in its current location.

[Original Comment ID: 215100]