Life Issues in Toronto

In Toronto, neighborhood residents have long banded together in residents associations.

In the postwar era they have resisted the pressure—created by rapid growth—to redevelop the central city and build expressways.

The residents elected politicians who were committed to preserving the old housing stock in the city. These politicians also started housing projects that mixed middle-class and low-income people. Streetcars remained on many streets.

Although high-rise office buildings shot up in the downtown, as did many apartment blocks in older residential areas, restrictions on marginal development have maintained high population densities in the inner city.

Toronto’s strong public transit system has also helped inner-city residents of all income levels to continue living where they prefer.

The quality of life in the inner city is thus higher than in most American cities.