The mayor trounced her conservative challenger, Brad Bradford, to win re-election by almost 130,000 votes.
asserted
mayor → trounce → votes
Ms. Chow promised optimism and a handful of day-to-day improvements for vulnerable citizens.
asserted
Chow → promise → citizens
School food programs, transit fare caps – these promises lack the power to stir the blood.
asserted
promises → lack → blood
Ms. Chow, who now has four years and considerable political capital, must build a progressive blueprint for Toronto.
asserted
who → have → Toronto
That must include a clear idea of how Toronto will evolve – and a clear strategy for the physical city.
asserted
Toronto → include → city
Toronto is now a metropolis of 3.3 million, the centre of a region that tops seven million.
asserted
that → top → million
It will continue to grow.
asserted
It → continue → ?
These numbers have specific implications for the physical environment.
asserted
numbers → have → environment
Toronto must rely less on cars, and more on public transit, walking and cycling.
asserted
Toronto → rely → transit
Some parts of the city will get new buildings and add many more residents.
asserted
parts → get → residents
Many public spaces and amenities will get built or rebuilt.
asserted
spaces → build → ?
Ms. Chow has displayed few strong positions on these matters.
asserted
Chow → display → matters
On transportation, she supports bike lanes.
asserted
she → support → lanes
But she also boasted about getting the provincial government to help reopen the Gardiner Expressway.
asserted
government → boast → Expressway
Under her watch, the city has largely failed to rebalance some of its 5,500 kilometres of roadway from vehicles to pedestrians, as dozens of cities around the world have now done, improving quality of life, reducing air pollution and improving the visitor experience.
asserted
dozens → fail → experience
On Oct. 26 in London, England, Mayor Sadiq Khan permanently closed a kilometre of busy Oxford Street.
asserted
Khan → close → Street
Ms. Chow could bring to life the pedestrianization of downtown Yonge Street, now stalled, and of John Street – which has been in the works for 17 years.
uncertain
which → bring → years
On housing, Ms. Chow has advocated for more new homes and created the city’s public Toronto Builds.
asserted
Chow → advocate → Builds
But that is a boutique operation that will generate a few thousand homes a year, at best, while relying almost completely on federal funding.
asserted
that → generate → funding
Most housing will continue to be delivered by private builders.
asserted
housing → continue → builders
And reforming the city’s sclerotic planning system, a massive job, has only just begun.
asserted
reforming → reform → job
Recent policy tweaks to serve small-scale development are positive.
asserted
tweaks → serve → development
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says it doesn't matter who voted for her, she'll be mayor for everyone in Toronto, and will work with the new council and other levels of government to addr…
Still, a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. analysis suggests Toronto’s housing construction needs to double from its 2019 highs in order to moderate affordability.
uncertain
construction → say → affordability
City government also reshapes Toronto in its own right, and key aspects of its capital program go largely unscrutinized.
asserted
aspects → reshape → program
How many councillors even know what is in that budget, or how it was shaped?
asserted
it → know → budget
How do those projects build community?
asserted
projects → build → community
Are pool-and-gym megacomplexes, costing nearly $150-million apiece, actually going to bring people together?
asserted
megacomplexes → cost → people
All these things are intertwined: Where people live and work, how they get around, and where and why they come together.
asserted
they → intertwine → ?
And the uncomfortable fact is that Toronto’s government has no coherent vision for the physical city.
asserted
government → have → city
Since it was amalgamated in 1998, Toronto has lurched along without articulating what kind of a place it is, or wants to be.
asserted
it → amalgamate → place
Does it want to be a metropolis, open to all, vibrant and dynamic?
asserted
it → want → all
In Ms. Chow’s redoubt of the old City of Toronto, one can avoid that question.
asserted
one → avoid → question
But those zones are emptying out, getting richer and older.
asserted
zones → empty → ?
They have not stayed the same.
asserted
They → stay → ?
A city never does.
asserted
city → do → ?
It changes, and it needs someone to lead it into the future.
asserted
it → change → future
The Aporia
