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Downtown Toronto’s pace of population growth triples, outpacing suburbs’ as Echo Boomers flock towards urban centre: report


Jan 22, 2013

By Megan O'Toole

Read More: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...ho-boomers-flock-towards-urban-centre-report/


Toronto has reached a “substantial turning point†after five years of massive growth in the downtown core, says a new report that also raises questions about whether the localized condo and employment boom will be sustainable in the decades ahead.

- The pace of population growth has tripled since the previous three census periods and — for the first time in decades — outpaced the suburbs. “This is a turning point for the city,†report author Francis Fong said. “I feel like we’ve hit critical mass and now we’re sort of on our way to becoming a city like New York or London. “We’re on our way; we’re not there yet.â€

- The report finds that “Echo Boomers,†the children of post-war Baby Boomers, have increasingly eschewed the suburbs for proximity to transit, workplaces and amenities. Recognizing the opportunity, more employers have started setting up shop in the downtown core, reversing a decades-long trend of businesses opting to locate in outlying municipalities to avoid the high costs of downtown real-estate, the report states. Since 2009, 4.7 million square feet of office space have been built in Toronto, compared with 3.9 million in the surrounding suburbs.

- “If we look at the previous few decades, so much of the development of the city was driven by the Baby Boomers; what they wanted, what they demanded,†Mr. Fong said. “Now, [their children] want to be close to transit, they want to be close to restaurants, they want to be close to nightlife. “They want it all … It’s a selling point for businesses to locate here if they want to be able to tap that talent pool.†The data is not surprising, Mr. Fong says, considering other generational shifts: Echo Boomers are far more likely to switch jobs or careers than their parents were.

- The growth presents a number of challenges, not least of which is transit: “Rising population density, specifically along transit lines, will put serious pressure on the city’s already-strained road and public transit infrastructure,†the report notes. There is also uncertainty as to whether the current trends will hold. On one hand, Baby Boomers may begin downsizing and shifting yet more of Greater Toronto’s population to the core. On the other hand, as Echo Boomers begin raising families, some may opt to return to the relative quiet and big backyards of the suburbs — leading to a downtown bust.

.....




downtown-rise1.jpg
 
Sounds good if they can be better accommodated of course, but the current road infrastructure is inadequate, and maybe a need for more hospitals and stuff.
 
Good news.

I hope the suburbs such as Scarborough, Etobicoke etc will see decreasing population in the future when more people make the right decision to the old city.
The worse thing about cities are their ever expanding suburbs.
 
Good news.

I hope the suburbs such as Scarborough, Etobicoke etc will see decreasing population in the future when more people make the right decision to the old city.
The worse thing about cities are their ever expanding suburbs.

It's one thing to dislike suburbs; but it's another to actively hope that their population will decrease. There's a reason why the more common urbanist "fixes" for the 'burbs involve intensification--"citification", if you will--rather than allowing them to go to rot. Because rot = blight--then again, given your attitude t/w Queen East, I suppose you'd be just as well content if the disavowed 'burbs settle into being penal/leper/reject colonies, out of (your) sight, out of (your) mind...
 
Good news.

I hope the suburbs such as Scarborough, Etobicoke etc will see decreasing population in the future when more people make the right decision to the old city.
The worse thing about cities are their ever expanding suburbs.

Do you know how cities function? Do you view people as simply singular units of a population statistic? Did it ever cross your mind that a lot of people don't have the luxury of 'deciding' where they live.
 
Do you know how cities function? Do you view people as simply singular units of a population statistic? Did it ever cross your mind that a lot of people don't have the luxury of 'deciding' where they live.
He was harsh but but what a copout...people ALWAYS say they can live where ever they want. So why is now they don't have the option?
 
I think there is a real danger of hoping for suburban populations like Scar to see a decline in their populations.

Just as a booming population can build upon itself the same can happen with declining populations. Declining populations mean fewer need for schools, fewer stores, less employment and all those things leave a desolute enviornment and due to these outcomes the decline continues and even picks up pace. That results in less support for libraries, community centres, social and housing services..........in other words it becomes a unstoppable spiral to the lowest common denominator.

This is exactly what happened to US cities when their declining downtown populations started as a trickle and became a torrent leaving desimated inner city areas and all the dispair and poverty that it entails. It is true that racism played a part in the US but the idea is the same. From a purely financial stand point, it also costs the city a fortune as basic services must be provided but to a declining population and that means less expansion and resources in the fast growing populated areas.

A healthy city is not one where one part of the city is booming and the other declining. That scenario is unsustainable, expensive, and has dire social, economic, and financial consequences. A healthy economy is one where everyone benefits regardless of their income or social status. The same is true of healthy cities, everyone must benefit annd not just the choosen few in chosen areas.
 
I think we are being treated to some obvious "cherry picking" in the stats quoted above. While the numbers stated for 2 downtown Toronto ridings may be correct and may best illustrate the authors thesis what happened to the rest of the city stats? If the numbers exist for the 2 ridings quoted they must be equally available for the rest of Toronto, where are they and why are they being ignored?
 
I hope for Scarborough, Etobicoke, etc. to decline in population too. I want them to become like Detroit. Toronto would become a much better place as result.

First thing Toronto should do is demolish all the schools in these post-war suburbs. Then cancel all their TTC service, police servce, fire service, etc. Then they should demolish all the public housing downtown and move them to the suburbs. Then then should raise property taxes in the suburbs, and lower them downtown. And voila, instant population decline for Scaroborugh, North York, and Etobicoke.
 
I think we are being treated to some obvious "cherry picking" in the stats quoted above. While the numbers stated for 2 downtown Toronto ridings may be correct and may best illustrate the authors thesis what happened to the rest of the city stats? If the numbers exist for the 2 ridings quoted they must be equally available for the rest of Toronto, where are they and why are they being ignored?

I don't see any cherry picking here.
The two ridering are essentially downtown Toronto - they are actually larger than downtown Toronto, as Spadina-Trinity goes as far as Ossington and Dupont, and Toronto Ctr-Rosedale as far as Bayview/St Clair.
so using these stats to support his point that downtown is becoming increasing attractive to both business and residents seems appropriate.

Anything outside these two ridings are to a large extent suburban in nature.
 
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I hope for Scarborough, Etobicoke, etc. to decline in population too. I want them to become like Detroit. Toronto would become a much better place as result.

First thing Toronto should do is demolish all the schools in these post-war suburbs. Then cancel all their TTC service, police servce, fire service, etc. Then they should demolish all the public housing downtown and move them to the suburbs. Then then should raise property taxes in the suburbs, and lower them downtown. And voila, instant population decline for Scaroborugh, North York, and Etobicoke.
But first you'll have to de-amalgamate the city (or partially), then those cities can artificially bump down their commercial tax rate, luring businesses to their mini "city centres" .
 
I don't see any cherry picking here.
The two ridering are essentially downtown Toronto - they are actually larger than downtown Toronto, as Spadina-Trinity goes as far as Ossington and Dupont, and Toronto Ctr-Rosedale as far as Bayview/St Clair.
so using these stats to support his point that downtown is becoming increasing attractive to both business and residents seems appropriate.

Anything outside these two ridings are to a large extent suburban in nature.

If your argument is valid publishing the other riding statistics you are suppressing should strengthen your position. Your failure to do so is suspicious.
 
First thing Toronto should do is demolish all the schools in these post-war suburbs. Then cancel all their TTC service, police servce, fire service, etc. Then they should demolish all the public housing downtown and move them to the suburbs. Then then should raise property taxes in the suburbs, and lower them downtown. And voila, instant population decline for Scaroborugh, North York, and Etobicoke.

An interesting proposition but rather difficult to implement given that City councillors from your much maligned "suburbs" outnumber those from the old City. I could enjoy more the comedic content of your plan if I were sure that you were only kidding. You're kidding right? The gullible need to know.
 

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