allabootmatt
Senior Member
A needed blast of sanity from Chris Hume. Particularly, re: the point that if Toronto were just more like Dallas (!) everything would be peachy.
Don't believe the reports of Toronto's demise
CHRISTOPHER HUME
Okay everyone, take a Valium. Reports that Toronto is about to become a suburb needn't be taken seriously.
What set off the rash of media stories about the city's demise was a "scoresheet" released Tuesday by the Toronto Board of Trade that points outs the 905 is growing faster than the 416.
This argument has been heard many times, and comes as no surprise. Business, which rarely manages to see beyond the bottom line, can operate more cheaply in suburbia, 905, where land costs less. Mexico is cheaper still, not to mention China and India.
Where would you rather live?
The report, which fails to take into account the full cost of suburban development – environmental degradation, growing congestion, low quality of life, and unsustainable building – also compares the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area with 20 other city regions. The authors, quoting statistics gathered by the Conference Board of Canada, tell us that the GTA ranks fourth (along with New York, Boston and London) behind Calgary, Dallas and Hong Kong.
Who are they trying to kid? Is the board seriously suggesting Toronto would be better off if it were more like Calgary and Dallas, even Hong Kong? If that's the case, then leave us out. Despite what the Board of Trade might think, its number one and two cities globally are acknowledged civic disasters whose growth and prosperity have been achieved at a terrible price.
The report offers a few interesting observations, but its authors don't appear to have a clear understanding of the point of the exercise.
As board president and CEO Carol Wilding tells it, the only criterion that really matters is growth. Growth, she makes clear, counts above all else. That's why Dallas and Calgary rate so high.
Though Wilding admits her data are several years out of date, one might have thought that in the midst of the Great Recession, even a business mouthpiece would know the world is starting to move beyond the growth-at-any-cost mentality. After all, that's what got us into this mess in the first place. Surely, we might have learned something. Apparently not.
Although Toronto finished fourth, Wilding complains it ranks down "among the laggards."
"We think Toronto can be Number 1," she declares, in full cheerleader mode.
The report does mention that one in five Torontonians is "low-income," but doesn't address the shamefully low minimum wage in Ontario.
To Wilding's credit, however, she does point out that although "Toronto's immigrant population is often cited as one of its great economic advantages ... the economic dividend from that workforce isn't being fully realized."
Wilding must have taken a cab to the board to deliver her speech that day. The effort various professional organizations put into keeping out foreign-born practitioners is a disgrace.
But like so many others, she is content to perpetuate the 905/416 divide. Though this strategy worked for former premier Mike Harris, it represents yesterday's thinking. The fact is that economic development will speed the 905's transformation into something more urban. Indeed, the process has started. The issue the suburbs must deal with is the appalling legacy of developer-controlled planning. As has become painfully clear, sprawl cannot be sustained, regardless of growth rates.
But already, suburban communities from Markham to Mississauga have realized this and have changed their planning regimes. Densely built communities organized around public transit are now the order of the day. Given the damage done in the past 60 years, however, it remains to be seen how successful they will be.
The point isn't that Toronto's about to become a suburb, but that the suburbs are becoming cities.
Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca
Don't believe the reports of Toronto's demise
CHRISTOPHER HUME
Okay everyone, take a Valium. Reports that Toronto is about to become a suburb needn't be taken seriously.
What set off the rash of media stories about the city's demise was a "scoresheet" released Tuesday by the Toronto Board of Trade that points outs the 905 is growing faster than the 416.
This argument has been heard many times, and comes as no surprise. Business, which rarely manages to see beyond the bottom line, can operate more cheaply in suburbia, 905, where land costs less. Mexico is cheaper still, not to mention China and India.
Where would you rather live?
The report, which fails to take into account the full cost of suburban development – environmental degradation, growing congestion, low quality of life, and unsustainable building – also compares the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area with 20 other city regions. The authors, quoting statistics gathered by the Conference Board of Canada, tell us that the GTA ranks fourth (along with New York, Boston and London) behind Calgary, Dallas and Hong Kong.
Who are they trying to kid? Is the board seriously suggesting Toronto would be better off if it were more like Calgary and Dallas, even Hong Kong? If that's the case, then leave us out. Despite what the Board of Trade might think, its number one and two cities globally are acknowledged civic disasters whose growth and prosperity have been achieved at a terrible price.
The report offers a few interesting observations, but its authors don't appear to have a clear understanding of the point of the exercise.
As board president and CEO Carol Wilding tells it, the only criterion that really matters is growth. Growth, she makes clear, counts above all else. That's why Dallas and Calgary rate so high.
Though Wilding admits her data are several years out of date, one might have thought that in the midst of the Great Recession, even a business mouthpiece would know the world is starting to move beyond the growth-at-any-cost mentality. After all, that's what got us into this mess in the first place. Surely, we might have learned something. Apparently not.
Although Toronto finished fourth, Wilding complains it ranks down "among the laggards."
"We think Toronto can be Number 1," she declares, in full cheerleader mode.
The report does mention that one in five Torontonians is "low-income," but doesn't address the shamefully low minimum wage in Ontario.
To Wilding's credit, however, she does point out that although "Toronto's immigrant population is often cited as one of its great economic advantages ... the economic dividend from that workforce isn't being fully realized."
Wilding must have taken a cab to the board to deliver her speech that day. The effort various professional organizations put into keeping out foreign-born practitioners is a disgrace.
But like so many others, she is content to perpetuate the 905/416 divide. Though this strategy worked for former premier Mike Harris, it represents yesterday's thinking. The fact is that economic development will speed the 905's transformation into something more urban. Indeed, the process has started. The issue the suburbs must deal with is the appalling legacy of developer-controlled planning. As has become painfully clear, sprawl cannot be sustained, regardless of growth rates.
But already, suburban communities from Markham to Mississauga have realized this and have changed their planning regimes. Densely built communities organized around public transit are now the order of the day. Given the damage done in the past 60 years, however, it remains to be seen how successful they will be.
The point isn't that Toronto's about to become a suburb, but that the suburbs are becoming cities.
Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca
