How Can Toronto improve? How can Toronto become a better city overall?

[RC8]

honestly? without immigrants being allowed into our country we wouldn't have most of our best neighborhoods! e.g. chinatown, little italy, greektown etc. etc. we should pride ourselves in being a multicultural city, and country! and as other people said immigration drives the economy forward if anything we should encourage immigration. not discourage it

Little Italy is nice, the others are absolutely horrendous (though fun and convenient).

 

[spider]

without immigrants being allowed into our country we wouldn't have most of our best neighborhoods!

And our worst.

Through most of the 1900's and earlier immigrants were able to find gainful employment often in agriculture and mining. They prospered, became citizens and taxpayers supporting themselves and the infrastructure that made Canada a desirable destination for immigrants and a better country.

In recent years employment has not been so easy to find for new immigrants for a whole host of reasons. Without employment they often become a burden on the government that their expected taxes were supposed to help support. To compound the problem some immigrants come from cultures where it is considered almost a personality flaw to pay tax of any kind (see present day Greece).

In order for the premise that immigration is good for the country on a monetary level to work the newcomers must quickly attain a median income and pay tax on it just to pay their own way never mind contributing to the rest of us in any way.

It may seem harsh but I question whether current immigration levels are good for Canada. They may be good for immigrants but it turns Canada into a welfare agency that we can't afford.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

And our worst.

Through most of the 1900's and earlier immigrants were able to find gainful employment often in agriculture and mining. They prospered, became citizens and taxpayers supporting themselves and the infrastructure that made Canada a desirable destination for immigrants and a better country.

In recent years employment has not been so easy to find for new immigrants for a whole host of reasons. Without employment they often become a burden on the government that their expected taxes were supposed to help support. To compound the problem some immigrants come from cultures where it is considered almost a personality flaw to pay tax of any kind (see present day Greece).

In order for the premise that immigration is good for the country on a monetary level to work the newcomers must quickly attain a median income and pay tax on it just to pay their own way never mind contributing to the rest of us in any way.

It may seem harsh but I question whether current immigration levels are good for Canada. They may be good for immigrants but it turns Canada into a welfare agency that we can't afford.

It looks bad because they whole up in their own areas. Spread them out to Calgary, Halifax and take pressure off Toronto.

 

[khris]

They are actually forced to live in other cities besides the big 3, but they end up in the big 3 after their "probation" time is up in the smaller cities.

 

[uptown]

honestly? without immigrants being allowed into our country we wouldn't have most of our best neighborhoods! e.g. chinatown, little italy, greektown etc. etc. we should pride ourselves in being a multicultural city, and country! and as other people said immigration drives the economy forward if anything we should encourage immigration. not discourage it

Every major city has a Chinatown and ethnic neigbourhoods. Today the real Chinatown and Little Italy are arguably in Markham and Vaughan respectively.

 

[Jeremy]

Sorry that I post here, but I am looking for relative in Torronto. Her name Irene Miskiw. Maybe anybody know she?

 

[canmark]

New York magazine has some good things to say about Toronto in a travel feature.

The Urbanist’s Toronto
Shareable bikes, enviable buildings, desirable snacks.

For a town that 30 Rock called “New York … without all the stuff,†there’s no shortage of, well, stuff in Canada’s most diverse, dynamic city. Having weathered the financial crisis far better than most Western metropolises, Toronto is aggressively building, with some 30,000-plus home starts last year, more than any other city on the continent (and more than double the total in New York). The architectural boom has yielded new downtown museums, opera houses, and hotels like the Ritz, Thompson, and soon-to-open Shangri-La (with two Momofukus) while gentrifying far-flung areas like the Junction with requisite coffee shops, pop-up galleries, and poutine-slinging restaurants. Of course, all that growth has come with acute growing pains, including some god-awful traffic; a dearth of affordable housing in a sea of new condominiums; and a polarizing, conservative mayor who has, to many a Torontonian’s chagrin, scuttled proposed rapid-transit lines, eliminated bike lanes, and refused to attend this summer’s gay-pride parade. Strong-arm mayor, kvetching constituents, public transit–culture wars: yet more proof that Toronto has much in common with New York.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Spider, I'm not suggesting immigration is good or bad or even suggesting we should discuss this issue here any further but this sentence you wrote just made me laugh:

"In recent years employment has not been so easy to find for new immigrants for a whole host of reasons. Without employment they often become a burden on the government that their expected taxes were supposed to help support. To compound the problem some immigrants come from cultures where it is considered almost a personality flaw to pay tax of any kind (see present day Greece)."

Because you could almost fill in the blanks and write in "white Canadian" and it would pretty well sum up what most immigrants think of established anglo-Canadians

""In recent years employment has not been so easy to find for white canadians for a whole host of reasons. Without employment they often become a burden on the government that their expected taxes were supposed to help support. To compound the problem some white Canadians come from cultures where it is considered almost a personality flaw to pay tax of any kind (see present day Greece)."

 

[canmark]

From SpacingToronto.ca: Toronto Life screws Jane Jacobs?

I have to agree with this opinion piece and really question Toronto Life's cover story "Exodus to the burbs" which seems to screw the very city it's supposed to represent. And I also wonder whether the article isn't just about white flight.

 

[spider]

""In recent years employment has not been so easy to find for white canadians for a whole host of reasons. Without employment they often become a burden on the government that their expected taxes were supposed to help support. To compound the problem some white Canadians come from cultures where it is considered almost a personality flaw to pay tax of any kind (see present day Greece)."

I will play the shameless white Canadian if it makes you happy, but that changes nothing. The "let's bring in lots of Immigrants" plan just can't work, it didn't work for Ponzi or more recently, Bernie Madoff.

 

[thepatrickblack]

The only Toronto merchants I see doing this are Asian. I appreciate it.

 

[nfitz]

The only Toronto merchants I see doing this are Asian.

I've seen non-Asian merchants doing this on Danforth and Gerrard - where I would notice most. Asians too ...

Not sure why one would mention ethnic origin in this thread ... will you be categorizing by shoe-size as well?

 

[thepatrickblack]

I've seen non-Asian merchants doing this on Danforth and Gerrard - where I would notice most. Asians too ...

Not sure why one would mention skin colour in this thread ... will you be categorizing by shoe-size as well?

I said Asian. YOU mentioned skin colour. Can you not seperate the two?

 

[nfitz]

I said Asian. YOU mentioned skin colour. Can you not seperate the two?

Fair enough ... I've edited the post.

Though making prejudiced comments based on ethnic origin seems just as bad.

 

[isaidso]

They are actually forced to live in other cities besides the big 3, but they end up in the big 3 after their "probation" time is up in the smaller cities.

I'm assuming that comment wasn't supposed to be taken seriously.