Random thoughts from a unique character of arcane proportions

Friday, April 13, 2007

A Problem of Space

Both the old world (Europe and Asia) and the new world (North America) have a problem of space. Old world, not enough in the cities; too much in the new. This over and under densification has lead both world in divergent directions. New world towards oblivion and the old world towards ingenuity.

Canada especially has greatly suffered due to the abundance of space. In Canada, every Tom, Dick, Harry & Sally have to have a backyard the size of what only royalty could afford back when that was “de riguer”. With which, I do not have a problem. There is a lot of cheap land out there, upon which cheap and affordable homes are constructed. But for good reason, there are no amenities.

Now this country has a long history of wanting to own and inhabit every square inch of land from Point Pele to the North Pole and from Vancouver to Halifax. That’s a lot of space to cover. “Thankfully”, we have the people to do it too, all 31.6 million of us. Here we are, the biggest country in the world with one of the lowest densities (not confirmed) per square km. More than 1/3rd of the country’s population lives in the largest province (geographically and by population). A further 5 million (approximately) live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). 1/8th of the Canadian population lives in 1 city and its surroundings!

Unfortunately, this city, Toronto, suffers from the same problem as the rest of Canada, it is pressed out and is very, very low and flat. So that means that people covering greater distances have to share the burden of the infrastructure costs, or for a smaller area, those costs are higher. So that means that because the areas are less dense, less businesses will open up because there is not enough traffic to generate income, or the prices have to be much higher to compensate. All this translates into less vibrant communities.

Now the official city boundaries are very spread out over a diameter of approximately 25 kms across (E-W) and 20 kms N-S. That is an immense burden for one city council and its small Canadian population to handle.

Compounding the problem are the other 1 million people that flood into the city in the morning and flee at 5 p.m. leaving the city a virtual desert and their property tax dollars – the only real form of revenue for cities – with another municipal government, but the expense of maintaining the infrastructure with Toronto.

A further thorn in the side is the fact that a city resident’s income tax dollars subsidizes the infrastructure costs to develop smaller communities surrounding the city, elsewhere in the province, and elsewhere in the country. This is called Federalism – share the wealth – I get it, I agree with it, but it has been implemented so poorly that is had long ago set in motion a series of events that will soon cripple the ability of the city’s residents and council to support themselves. Once that happens, how will the rest of the country survive?

The last nail in the coffin is how Canadians all over despise this city. I am one of them, but not because I hate this city, but because I despise Canadians. All of you outside the city walls are the cause of the destruction of what was once a city with great potential.

I am hoping to flee one day. Hopefully it will happen sooner than later. The reason, I don’t want to be around when this city and thus this country collapses under the pressure of its own ignorance.

Additional fun facts I didn’t mention:
Although Toronto, the city itself, has 1/10th the country’s population, it has very little representation federally and provincially in proportion to it’s population.
Due to the lower densities outside the city, it costs $1.40 per person to build infrastructure outside the city, where it is only $1 within the city walls. But those outside the city do not pay $1.40, they pay less than $1 because the income tax gathered by senior levels of government from the city of Toronto, defray the costs.

So when you drive on a paved road, which has been cleared in the winter, you can thank Toronto, when you go to a hospital in your region, you can thank Toronto.

But you wont; you hate Toronto and Torontonians. But that’s what I expected; it’s the Canadian way. So it wasn’t really space that was the problem was it.

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