Today, readers are responding to news that The Ontario government is poised to allow taller buildings over a larger area in Toronto’s midtown neighbourhood, overriding the city’s own plans.
The province’s rewriting of the plans comes amid a controversy over municipal funding cuts, and after Mr. Ford unilaterally chopped the number of Toronto city councillors almost in half last summer.Marta Iwanek/ The Globe and Mail
Different government, same mistake. The one sure thing we don't need is many more people living in Toronto. Just as we wonder at Romans with their lead pipes, our grandchildren will ask why no-one considered a province with many vibrant cities, connected by frequent rail services. That would address the housing costs, congestion, pollution, and lead to healthy communities across the province.
"The changes would make the plan more flexible, and remove ‘prescriptive process requirements’ such as access to sunlight" Lack of sunlight, creates a shortage of vitamin D. Vitamin D is a vital requirement for adequate brain scaffolding function…. Toronto's pressing need in a downtown that has gone straight from Victorian industrial to residential glass towers (which are about as environmentally sound as the tar sands on a hot summer day) is more open space. More parks. More sunlight. If you make the place so unpleasant, so unlivable that properly values start falling, then you have defeated your own purpose. And, please, can we stop pretending this is about “affordable housing”? This is about making developers rich and cramming more million-dollar condos on top of each other.
Finally! Toronto's development has been stunted by rampant NIMBYism, the city councilors are looking out for the voters of today, not the potential voters a developer may bring. "He said his revised plan would allow towers 20 to 35 storeys tall at that site, which is near the city’s wealthy, low-rise Leaside neighbourhood. He also said the province’s plans to allow “inclusionary zoning” near transit stations would reserve some of these units for affordable housing." No surprise its meeting stiff resistance... Toronto's affordability crisis is mostly self-inflicted; huge swaths of the city on key transit lines remain underdeveloped. The cognitive dissonance from some is galling. Claiming to care about the environment and the less privileged yet advocating for policies that will encourage sprawl and grueling commutes. Toronto needs to grow up.
Again, Doug Ford (mostly missing in action when at City Hall) is sticking his nose into the development of a city of which he has no understanding. Toronto didn't elect him as mayor because we knew who he was. The rest of the province is learning fast but maybe not fast enough. He should stop messing with things he does not understand: the building of successful communities.
The Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs just lost my future vote and my donations! This is the most incomprehensible abuse of their powers!
The affordable housing component is sure to be minimal. Make it 35% of units and I’ll believe they’re serious about housing affordability. Hopefully Toronto’s aging water infrastructure can support the planned density increase.
Toronto’s underground infrastructure needs a major restructuring as its 100-year-old sewer system wasn’t designed to take the load of the current population. Without that overhaul adding more people and more buildings will only make the current flooding problems we see after every major rainstorm just that much worse.
What about the Danforth strip, with its long-standing subway stations, and NIMBYs restricting development?
Ford has to stop being the Mayor of Toronto and be the Premier of the province. I understand the necessity for local government and government agencies to rein in expenses that makes sense but this personal vendetta against Toronto has got to stop. He cannot undo 15 years of LIberal mismanagement in one year. He needs to be reined in by his party. He is headed to be a one term leader as long as he keeps this up.
How is this decision democratic? We have City Councillors to decide these issues. We don't need Ford Nation.
AdamGrant42 in response:
City councillors represent the citizens who vote most, so homeowners are over-represented. What's needed now is a sustained push to reduce property values until they're affordable, which no city counsellor is going to be able to deliver.
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