And fix the "broken windows" before we go cap in hand to the provincial and federal governments. Remember there is only ONE taxpayer and thanks to McGinty they are now exposed to the leeches at the local level.
New urban vision for troubled city
May 28, 2007
The city once known as Toronto the Good rarely merits that title now. The shooting of a 15-year-old boy last week in a north Toronto high school was only the most recent symptom of innocence lost. Repeated eruptions of blatant violence, including the 2005 Boxing Day slaying of Jane Creba, 15, and Toronto's grim "summer of the gun" a few months earlier, have brought fear to a city that was once self-assured.
Other tears show in Toronto's urban fabric. More cars and trucks jam local streets each year making the simple act of travelling within or near the city ever harder. A growing number of smog days make even breathing difficult in the heat of summer. Poverty remains a blight. Homelessness, that distilled essence of misery, has become commonplace with panhandlers begging for coins on major streets.
Local roads are deteriorating faster than they are being repaired. And, despite some improvement in recent years, Toronto remains more litter-strewn than when actor Peter Ustinov declared the then-tidy municipality "New York run by the Swiss." Like the phrase: Toronto the Good, that description doesn't much apply any more.
Yet the city has a bigger, richer population than at any time in its past. The skyline bristles with imposing buildings. Toronto is more diverse, more accepting, more culturally vibrant and vastly more interesting than in the 1950s when this smug burg was simply deemed "good." There is pride here. There are strong neighbourhoods and, for many residents, a remarkably high quality of life.
But something was lost in the evolution from Hogtown to Canada's largest urban area. Torontonians used to be confident about their municipality's role and its future. That firm grounding has slipped away. Now Toronto tilts from global dreams and aspirations of New York sophistication to worry about bankruptcy and decline. There is uncertainty, rising alienation and a sense that the city has lost its way.
Most importantly, what is lost is that sense of boldness, that vision of the future, that once made Toronto a city to be envied the world over.
Today, there is a golden opportunity to regain that international prominence. But the way forward is not to chase validation of some vague and difficult-to-define world-class status. Rather, it is to return to what Toronto was – a place celebrated for being good.
Clearly, though, it must be good in a different and better way, retaining all the diversity, creativity and intellectual sparkle that ornament the city today. Measures key to that transformation have already been proposed. But the will and the money to make them happen are lacking. Toronto needs bold leadership, more support from Ottawa and Queen's Park, and renewed commitment from its residents.
First, more effort must be put into combating poverty, especially through strong investment in low-income housing. It may seem overly simplistic, but the best way to end homelessness is to provide the destitute with a place to live. Scores of homeless people displaced in the clearing of a notorious tent city on Cherry St. a few years ago, made remarkable progress when given clean, affordable accommodation. Equally important are more recreation, job, and treatment programs for at-risk populations, especially disaffected youth prone to crime.
Second, development of Toronto's waterfront is vital, but progress has been slow. Plans call for building clean, green neighbourhoods on more than 800 hectares of underused space and industrial wasteland. Grand parks are planned, as well as 40,000 homes. And existing parks, which have been become increasingly neglected, need greening up.
Third, the city's population of 2.5 million is expected to grow by almost 400,000 over the next 15 years. To avoid permanent gridlock, and help reduce choking smog, Toronto must provide practical alternatives to using cars. Plans have been developed for a $6 billion light rail network, using new electric streetcars, serving virtually every neighbourhood. Also needed is a new subway line to York University and York Region, aggressive GO Transit expansion.
Fourth, more job and recreational opportunities and school support must be provided for at-risk youth, especially in high-crime areas.
Fifth, the city must adopt an aggressive recycling program.
None of this will happen without more money from the federal and provincial governments. Toronto City Council must provide more effective leadership and better services. And residents should do their share by accepting the higher costs necessary to transform their city.
Toronto has the potential to serve as a model for 21st-century urban development. It could become a place where most people can leave their cars at home and walk or ride to where they want to go; where the sting of poverty is eased; violence abated, and where green space and energy-efficient areas set a standard for the rest of Canada to emulate.
When that happens, this city will be worthy of the name it once had.
It could again become Toronto the Good.
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