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Shabby Public Realm

Admiral Beez said:
@DSC I already pay more than 40% of my net income to municipal, provincial and federal taxes. If I was a farmer and the overseer in one annual go seized more than a third of my crop as tribute I suppose I’d notice it more the thousand cuts of taxes and levies Canadians pay.

nationalpost.com

Canadians pay 42% of income in tax — more than they spend on food, shelter, clothing combined

Since 1961, the average family’s tax bill has rose by 1,832%, dwarfing increases in the costs of housing, clothing and food, according to a Fraser Institute…
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com

How much more do I have to pay before I can live in a city that’s not so shabby?
Click to expand...

To which country would you like us to compare?

Give or take, the would-be tax freedom day in Canada is around day 160 of the year. (43% of income goes to tax)

So, perhaps you would prefer Germany at 174 days

Italy at 185

or

Finland at 190

or Belgium at 206

?

How about France at 209

*****

There are 2 fundamental ways to generate revenue for priorities.

One is to generate more revenue, the other is to re-prioritize.

If we cut spending on corporate welfare and imprisoned people a whole lot less.......

We could easily free up about 20B per year on a national scale (likely more)

In Toronto-centric terms (per capita) that would about 1.5B per year.

Of course, if you invested in universal pharmacare that's roughly the money spent.

So we're back to raising a bit more tax if you'd like that and a nicer streetscape....
 
Admiral Beez said:
@DSC I already pay more than 40% of my net income to municipal, provincial and federal taxes. If I was a farmer and the overseer in one annual go seized more than a third of my crop as tribute I suppose I’d notice it more the thousand cuts of taxes and levies Canadians pay.

nationalpost.com

Canadians pay 42% of income in tax — more than they spend on food, shelter, clothing combined

Since 1961, the average family’s tax bill has rose by 1,832%, dwarfing increases in the costs of housing, clothing and food, according to a Fraser Institute…
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com

How much more do I have to pay before I can live in a city that’s not so shabby?
Click to expand...
You need to think a bit more about this. The question is not "why do I pay so much tax?" but "What are my taxes buying me?" If you look at taxes that you (and I) pay to all 3 levels you get pretty good health care, infrastructure, efforts to support the less advantaged, education etc etc. Is some of this money wasted? Yes, of course it is. Is the balance between taxes paid to each level (Federal, Provincial, Municipal) correct? I would say no to this and that the municipal tax in TO is lower than required to be able to provide better services and 'less shabbiness'. Could Federal and/or Provincial taxes be reduced so Municipal could be increased while keeping total tax the same? Maybe but municipal taxes are, generally, based on property values so are not distributed as 'fairly' as taxes based on income. It is not a simple discussion and needs to be examined in detail.
 
Admiral Beez said:
I can’t control what tax dollars are spent on. Government does what they want, always growing but showing little results.
Click to expand...

At the municipal level in particular, you can have a pretty large effect.

Its a total cop out to suggest you can't.

I'm not on the City's payroll (or that of any lobbyist or councillor); but I regularly meet members of council and senior City officials, sometimes privately, though often at public meetings and events.

While the City does not universally function the way I wish, I could point to any number of budget items and by-laws that my fingerprints are all over.

It doesn't require massive $$$, or unlimited free time.

Know how to marshal an argument; pick your fights; meet a few folks and its amazing what you can do.

I won't put out a full list here, but I will tell you I've had developments sent back to the drawing board; I've had proposed public policies withdrawn; and I've gotten items I support into the capital budget, amongst other things .

That's no great achievement on my part; its something anyone can do.

You want government to be better; help it get that way.
 
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All this talk about tax and our Toronto's shabbiness looks to be a red herring. I don't think even if we increased taxes here in the city of Toronto our public spaces would all of a sudden improve, the money will of a sudden be spent on our public spaces. From the citizenry, to the politicians, to the bureaucracy things like good design, public spaces, good public realm don't seem to be on the radar. When last have you seen a mayoral candidate advocate for good public spaces as part of their campaign and actually win? When we vote people like Rob Ford, John Tory, and Doug Ford into power does it look like we are concerned about good public spaces.

Let's compare to Montreal to Toronto. Toronto is a wealthier city than Montreal you can tell that in Montreal there is more concern about public spaces. They have better parks, public square, buried more of their hydro wires, have the sense not to leave ugly hideous hydro wires and wooden poles in tourist areas. According to this link they even spend more than Toronto on public parks:

"The city spends more than any other Canadian city surveyed on park construction and design — over $240 million."


Montreal is a local example here in Canada that we can emulate.

I believe there needs to increased awareness among citizens about the benefits of good design, better public spaces, etc who can then demand and put pressure on the politicians so that they can be aware of these issues. Things like more bike lanes on major roads, the King Street Pilot project are all good steps which the city seems to be taking and these things would have been unthinkable in this city 20 years ago while in other cities they are the norm. People are more concerned about how tall buildings are than if they have good design or the materials being used for them. Hopefully that changes as the city matures...

Thankfully there seems to be more attention being given to this issue but to some of us it may be a bit slow at times. Baby steps...
 
From the Star. Classic!

They should have scribbled a signature on the corner, called it an art installation and let the critics debate the merits.
And get those cheesy TD things off the sidewalk ffs.
200039


www.thestar.com

Asphalt is a poor replacement for missing sidewalk bricks

The decorative bricks were removed because of uneven edges that could trip up pedestrians, a common problem with sidewalk bricks, writes Jack Lakey.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
 
Having visited Seattle earlier this month and witnessed a city surrendered to lawlessness I had to watched this. I hope Toronto isn’t heading down this path.

Jump to 0:35 to hear now acceptance of small infractions (public urination, sleeping in parks, obstructing sidewalks, public nuisance, littering, etc) led to disaster. This is my fear for Toronto, that we haven’t the stomach to enforce the law but neither the will to address the reasons.

How can Toronto not expect to have a shabby public realm when its residents are allowed to vandalize, litter and piss on the city with impunity?
 
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I have some friends visiting from out of town a few weeks ago. They'd been away from Toronto for about 5 years.

Overall they were surprised at how many changes the city had seen and how much bigger it felt. They also noted the efforts at beautification (planters, flowers, etc.) that made a big difference.

Toronto has a long way to go, but hopefully we're on the right track.
 
syn said:
I have some friends visiting from out of town a few weeks ago. They'd been away from Toronto for about 5 years.

Overall they were surprised at how many changes the city had seen and how much bigger it felt. They also noted the efforts at beautification (planters, flowers, etc.) that made a big difference.

Toronto has a long way to go, but hopefully we're on the right track.
Click to expand...
This just in...hope triumphs over experience...
 
Just a little thing I noticed here the last week. On Monday - a contractor has been digging up the street at the start of the week to put in fibre broadband. They've not only got it done in a few days but they've even repainted the street as well that they had disturbed. It's the little things that make a difference.

IMG-20190905-WA0001.jpg


IMG-20190905-WA0002.jpg


IMG-20190905-WA0003.jpg
 
GabrielHurl said:
Just a little thing I noticed here the last week. On Monday - a contractor has been digging up the street at the start of the week to put in fibre broadband. They've not only got it done in a few days but they've even repainted the street as well that they had disturbed. It's the little things that make a difference.
Click to expand...
Despite the City's protestations over many years that utility cuts need to 'settle' for `12-18 months before being repaired I understand that they are now experimenting with allowing (encouraging?) utility contractors to make all the repairs at once. This is the first real example I have seen and I am 'amused" at the 'repair' of the street markings!
 
GabrielHurl said:
Just a little thing I noticed here the last week. On Monday - a contractor has been digging up the street at the start of the week to put in fibre broadband. They've not only got it done in a few days but they've even repainted the street as well that they had disturbed. It's the little things that make a difference.
Click to expand...

Where were these photos taken?
 
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