Quote:
Originally Posted by rousseau
but the increasing density of downtown and the associated price of entry are creating a greater economic and socio-cultural gulf between Toronto and the rest of Canada than there used to be (whereas, by contrast, it's always been there for major world cities).
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This is dubious when you compare Toronto to different cities around the country.
I would argue that Vancouver and Calgary have both changed more during the past 30 years than Toronto has. To use one concrete example of how this has played out, Vancouver didn't have any rapid transit in 1985, and now people have arguments about whether or not it has the most expansive rapid transit system in Canada. Today, Vancouver's real estate is also more expensive than Toronto's. I think housing pressure is actually much worse here than it is in metro Toronto. I wouldn't be surprised if more people are forced into multi-unit buildings and smaller spaces here.
The big stories in Canada lately have been the economic shift from rural to urban areas and immigration (the proportion of immigrants heading to Toronto has actually declined a bit as more and more head to other cities), not so much centralization of economic activity in Toronto at the expense of the rest of Canada.