Greatness takes time – whether you are Michael Jordan or a beta city with worldly aspirations on becoming an alpha attraction.
So, while impatience is a virtue to those who seek greatness, Toronto lovers will have to curb that trait as the city lurches towards excellence.
That is one lesson best learned from the 2007 report card on the city's health. There will be setbacks, a wrong turn here, regression there. And as long as we are measuring the progress we will know where we need to improve and shore up.
Vital Signs 2007 is the sixth such annual checkup of Toronto's social, economic, fiscal, environmental – whatever happened to spiritual? – health.
And as with such necessary navel-gazing there are findings we would rather not unearth. Besides, improvement is incremental; progress, slow.
Last year, the Toronto Community Foundation, which launched this annual exercise at a landmark community engagement session in 1998, revealingly showed its impatience at the slow progress.
Among the eyebrow-raising findings is the stalling of Toronto's population and job growth, even as the general economy bounds along.
Toronto's population last year, at 2,503,281, is up less than 1 per cent since 2001 – way below projections. Population of the entire region was up 9.2 per cent (to 5,113,149), with Toronto's slower population growth pulling the GTA's growth numbers down below double digit increase.
And the number of jobs in Toronto declined 1.6 per cent since 2000. By comparison, jobs in the rest of the GTA jumped 28 per cent.
This, of course, bears watching. Policy decisions that give newcomers to the region an excuse to locate outside the denser core city of Toronto are not in our best overall interest.
Every person that moves to a low-density subdivision puts enormous pressure on the transportation system, adds to global warming, and increases the cost of providing infrastructure, which is already lurching along in a deficit position.
Investments in a subway system, rapid transit, dense urban form that supports transit, a livable and walkable city, people-friendly urban landscape and all the amenities that has garnered Toronto awards and accolades will be wasted – if the early signs prove a definite trend.
Another concern could be fewer immigrants choosing the GTA to call home. The number dropped 12 per cent in 2006 to 99,263 from 112,784 the previous year. That's a major concern because over the past decade (1996-2006) the natural increase in the city of Toronto's population (births minus deaths) has fallen by 49 per cent.
As in previous years, these Vital Signs show mixed results.
Toronto is exercising more, wasting less water and smoking less. Poverty rates are rising among children and falling among seniors. The number of public school students fell 6.6 per cent while private schools attendance jumped 7.2 per cent.
Twenty-five years ago it was true that the rich were getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Today, it's also true, only worse. The gap has doubled since 1982. Now, the top 10 per cent of the Toronto population rake in income 11 times that of the bottom 10 per cent of wage earners.
Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of poverty among children grew 13.3 per cent and fell 18 per cent among seniors. There may be angst over gun crimes and shootings, but most forms of crimes are down, including violent crimes.
And for those who like to compare us to Chicago, consider the murder rates of each city. Toronto had 69 homicides last year, a rate of 2.5 murders per 100,000 persons. Chicago, comparable in size, had a murder rate of 16.3 per 100,000.
Enough to keep Toronto optimistic, motivated to improve.
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