Toronto's Mini Boom

[isittimetomoveyet]

I've been reading these boards lately, and it seems like a very positive time for Toronto. We will actually start to see some significant waterfront improvements over the next three to four years, Union Station will be renovated within the next decade, Transit City will modernize public transit, we have some quality buildings going up like 1 Bloor, the Shang Ri La, Bell Lightbox, RBC Place, etc.

Its a good time for Canada's biggest city isn't it? Thoughts?

 

[Hipster Duck]

Toronto is undoubtedly booming but I would not go so far as to say that it's a 'very positive' time right now for the city. Toronto is in a financial crisis and, thanks to backward tax policies, is completely at the whim of higher governments for funding. City council is probably one of the most sordid collections of elected representatives operating in Canada right now. One look at a council meeting, and I sometimes understand why the province is leery about cutting the city a check.

The most troubling thing about Toronto right now is our foot dragging with respect to regional transportation. The GTA's transportation infrastructure is roughly the same as it was in 1977, when the population of the region was just over half of what it is now. The Harris government singlehandedly set the clock back 20 years, and we are only digging out of that mess now. Even worse, I find that the last decade of total inaction has left Torontonians frustratingly ambivalent about the ability of government to step in and effect real change on the transit front. Most people just shrug their shoulders and spend more time in traffic or pay more money out of their own pockets for public transit systems struggling to maintain basic service.

The condo boom has been a spot of good news, though. Downtown has definitely become more vibrant with the infusion of people moving to the core. Sometimes, the design of these condos are lamentable, but it doesn't change the fact that 300 people are living on a spot that was once a gravel parking lot, and they are eating, shopping and doing their business in the surrounding neighbourhood.

 

[Observer Walt]

Hipster's comments are well taken. The condo boom in the downtown area has been the best thing happening in Toronto in a long time. Keeping the downtown alive at all hours is the single biggest thing in creating a healthy city. Too many American cities demonstrate this, with office workers stampeding out to the suburbs at the end of the work day, leaving the downtown desolate.

I would also mention the great cultural renaissance in Toronto (AGO, ROM, Conservatory of Music, Gardiner Museum, Opera House, Ballet School, Festival Hall, etc.) All of these amazing projects are also in the downtown area. I wonder if any other city in North America has had such a range of major new projects within such a short time frame.

The downside is definitely governance, as Hipster says. The City Council is too often a joke. Both of the senior levels of government seem reluctant to fund the city's needs, although there are times when I think I can't really blame them for this attitude. This will have to be addressed in a permanent fashion, sooner or later.

 

[JasonParis]

Our infrastructure deficit is so huge and nobody is honestly talking about it. If anything is our downfall, that'll be it.

 

[isittimetomoveyet]

Some very good points.

You are absolutely right about the financing crisis. Im looking forward to the coming report on downloading of service costs. I imagine its going to say what we hear now, that the province needs to take back these costs. But what if it doesn't, what then? Higher property taxes? Itll be interesting to see.

We do have a massive infrastructure deficit, and I have no idea how they are going to go about solving it. More public private partnerships perhaps?

I think the bottom line is that although we have some significant challenges to face over the next decades, we are generally heading in the right direction. If we can get the financing issue solved and get a national municipalities type deal from the federal government, Toronto can really start to hit its stride.