Taylor Swift needed a city that can host her fans. That means plenty of hotels and attractions to entertain people between shows. It means safe streets and places to gather. Fans react during the opening of Swift's performance in Toronto on Nov. 14.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
As Taylor Swift wraps up the last of six concerts in Toronto this weekend, local businesses are gleefully tallying the amount of money her fans pumped into the economy. Down at City Hall, though, joy at the attention showered on Toronto has been tempered by some grousing about the cost of managing logistics related to the concerts.
For whatever reason, politicians haven’t been raising this concern in Vancouver, where Ms. Swift finishes her tour early next month. Toronto’s leaders should take note. Because while they’re narrowly right – security and transportation costs have indeed put a tiny dent in the city’s bottom line – in a broader sense, they’re wrong.
To explain that seeming contradiction, you have to think about what a city is. You have to consider why Ms. Swift chose to play in Toronto and how the attributes that drew her there help make the city successful, driving its dizzying real estate valuations and pumping billions of dollars of property taxes into municipal coffers.
Yes, Canadian cities are still strapped for cash. Responsibilities have been downloaded without associated taxing powers. The places where most of Canadians live have to plead for largesse from higher levels of government. Begging-bowl federalism is no way to run a country.
But cities are also one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Clusters of people coming together for protection and commerce grew and achieved critical mass, sparking breakthroughs in art, business, philosophy and political thought.
The rivalry and mutual inspiration of 14th-century painters in Siena helped launch the Italian Renaissance. Traders meeting at Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop in 17th-century London figured out a way to share the risk of lost ships, leading to the insurance behemoth Lloyd’s of London. The technology that powers our modern era came out of hubs of innovation like Silicon Valley.
This is why all the “cities are dead” rhetoric thrown around four years ago didn’t translate into plunging real estate values in Canada’s big downtowns. Even though a few companies went all-digital, and some workers can do their jobs as well from a distance, the value proposition of proximity remains.
Imagine a person who buys a house in central Toronto. It’s a modest size, attached on one side, in a desirable but not posh neighbourhood. Cost? About $2-million, which doesn’t make sense. You could get a palace for that in a lot of Canadian communities. But it makes perfect sense because of what Toronto offers that homeowner.
They have access to an incredible density of jobs. The house is walking distance from public transit. Not far away are shops and restaurants. There are museums and galleries, pro sports teams and underground clubs. They can meet up with friends, have a nodding acquaintance with semi-strangers or enjoy the unique urban pleasure of being alone together: part of a crowd but doing their own thing.
How does this apply to Taylor Swift?
She is a hardheaded businesswoman, dubbed by Forbes the first artist to become a billionaire primarily on the basis of her music. That success means she could play anywhere.
She picked Toronto and Vancouver for her Canadian appearances because they have the attributes she needed. The obvious ones are a venue big enough for her shows, an international airport and millions of people within a reasonable radius. But she also needs a city that can host her fans. That means plenty of hotels and attractions to entertain people between shows. It means safe streets and places to gather.
What makes all that possible? Lots of people. It’s a positive feedback loop: a big enough population supports jobs and amenities that attract new people who in turn buttress the city’s appeal. City Hall’s bottom line has benefitted greatly from Toronto being a desirable place to live, to work and to visit – all those restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues pay a lot in taxes.
What is the role of municipal leaders in furthering this? At its core, it’s about making the city both functional and enjoyable. That has a cost. The police are the biggest line item in Toronto’s budget. And no one expects parks to turn a profit.
So city leaders concerned about the costs associated with Taylor Swift should take off the blinkers and consider the bigger picture. There’s a worse alternative to them plumping up support for her concerts. They could run a city where she wouldn’t want to perform.