Nobody should get their house up. Nothing will change. After all, what motivation does a suburbanite have to pay higher taxes to maintain facilities that don't benefit him/her? That's the fundamental problem. They don't see value for their tax dollars. Hence, they want cuts.
There's a downtown centric focus on UT that misses the forest for the trees. Come up with more city wide standards and more of the city might support these sorts of initiatives. Better yet, come up with a support infrastructure to empower neighborhoods. There are enough retired people who would turn neighborhood parks into gems with the right support.
I don't really buy this.
I read the budgets every year, down to the 'blue book' level (think replacing the carpet on the 8th floor of building x)
The 'burbs' get their share of projects. If you looked at libraries, there's a sparkly new one w/lots of design to it sitting in Scarborough City Centre; while a major reno/expansion is underway
in another Scarborough Branch, Eglinton Square, North York is about to see the Bayview branch relocated and drastically expanded, Albion is getting the same treatment in Etobicoke.
If one looked at Recreation ctr spending, the last significant new Rec. Ctr was Warden Hill Top in Scarborough, while the new one in former city of York is about to open at Black Creek/Eglinton.
Major new facilities are set to go in in Western North York as well as the far North East of Scarborough.
The last new District-class park was/is McCowan in Scarborough.
The subway extension (Spadina) is in suburbia, the one before that was Sheppard.
While roads investments are led by items like 'Six Points' now underway in Etobicoke.
If you were discussing operations, hours aren't flawlessly harmonized but are roughly equal throughout the City for rec centres and libraries.
I'm not sure what standard you want to bring the burbs in on that they aren't already benefiting from?
Not to say there isn't lots to do, in those areas of the City, but I wouldn't say there has been inordinate neglect.