Shredder trucks. Dead trees. The TTC. Christopher Hume’s Top 10 list of the things he hates most about Toronto struck a nerve with Star readers. Here’s a sampling of some of the comments:

On shredder trucks …

Fines for large vehicles parking illegally should be in the thousands not hundreds. And no bunching or discounting as is often negotiated by firms that get tons of tickets. You’ll see them gone in a hurry — they are there for the profit after all.

—dane

On Maple Leaf Square …

Well, it is a square for revelry, partying and what have you. You do need open space to get the maximum gathering, but a few chairs and tables and/or benches would also be nice to relax folks on in the quieter times. So I support Mr. Hume, in a restrained way on this one. Good Series.

—LisaMurr

Problem is you won’t get all those people in there with benches and seating. Sure when they have events there they can and do bring in temporary seating. You can always sit in or bring your own chair. Don’t think just cause they’re no seats it means the space is telling you to move along. It means it’s standing room only. Remember the Leafs are in the business of selling seats.

—dane

It’s not an inviting square to begin with, why would you want to sit there? It’s mostly empty and sunless. It’s there for big game viewing, that’s about it.

—bpat

Good idea. All public squares should welcome a passer-by who would like to have a short rest. MLSE could put up some chairs/tables like the ones at Yonge/Dundas. People would have lunch there. Brown baggers and others.

And when necessary, MSLE can pack up the (folding) chairs and tables.

—alreadytaken

On the dead trees lining the city’s streets …

The new planting system ain’t cheap . . . Could the solution be a bit better uncompacted soil area for planting combined with a much stronger species of trees. I’ve seen huge trees growing thru cracks in solid granite and limestone. Can’t some more durable types be found that can stand up to the rigours of street life?

—dane

On street furniture . . .

Those huge “information panels” don’t just block the sidewalk; they’re dangerous.

Sooner or later, they’re going to kill a pedestrian, because they make it impossible for drivers to see pedestrians waiting to cross the street, and for those pedestrians to see oncoming traffic.

—Blattodea

On noise …

I thought Hume was all for more density or at least that’s what he preaches in almost every article he writes. More density comes with more noise. Sorry Hume, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

—Struggling middle class

Just like any other city where the population is comparable, noise in certain areas will be elevated compared to the rest of the city.

You have, however, gone to a the concrete bunker of Yonge & Dundas, where the drop of a pin at 4 a.m. is resonated at the intersection.

Go down a side street in the city, and take a listen. You’ll soon realize that the volume drops dramatically.

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—MyOwnOpinions

Agree with you totally, Mr. Hume. It’s difficult to have a conversation with another person out on the street unless your practically shouting. It’s mostly traffic noise, which is difficult to do anything about but there are other causes of noise, which supposedly regulated by bylaws but little or nothing is done about it. Fines for construction noise, outside of allowable hours, goes on all the time because the fines are puny and the contractors and developers just see it as the cost of doing business. These fines need to be reviewed and increased to a level that actually hurts.

FlyOnTheWall

On congestion . . .

Traffic congestion is worse when there is only one person (the driver) in each automobile. What a waste of real estate.

wklis

Not all cities have congestion. We have zero congestion in Hamilton and are one of the fastest growing cities in Canada right now. I can quickly and easily get around the city no matter what form of transportation I choose.

ctc25

On the TTC …

As usual, Mr. Hume is bang on again! With this transit system, the city must focus on high density areas that need improvement and not bundles of money on areas that are almost out in “the sticks,” so to speak.

LisaMurr

We could make [streetcars] much faster by eliminating the cars on the street. Take one street, King, and make it TTC only, bigger streetcars, longer distances between stops, priority at street lights and we would have a much cheaper alternative to a subway. And as Hume points out — it would be where there is current demand instead of building capacity where the city thinks there is potential increased margin to the tax base.

The Riverdalian

By now we could have built a whole lot of transit for the same money that is now wasted on the three-stop [Scarborough subway] extension. Common sense is in short supply, it seems.

LTR1937

On the city in general . . .

For a city that wanted to be a world class city but ended up as a world class joke, there are plenty of things to hate. I hope Hume’s sequel is 10 things he loves about Toronto. My #1 hate, by the way, is the sense of entitlement many have because they live in Toronto.

The Bull

And what did Star readers hate the most? According to our poll, of all the problems plaguing the city, readers agreed with Christopher Hume: the number of cars in the city is the No. 1 most hated thing about Toronto.