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Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

theguardian.com

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Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#21

Post by neom »

akamaka wrote: post #19
rubyist5eva wrote: post #14

As someone that lives in Toronto and is moving out in the middle of the month to go back home near family. The idea that Toronto is going to focus on "affordability" is laughable. It's one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world, and the incompetent city council, mayor and all the way up to the provincial government are doing absolutely everything they can to keep it that way - mostly without even realiz…

Are you from r/canada? For those not familiar, this is a typical example of the angry reddit posts on the topic of housing prices that get produced daily. I was going to post a rebuttal, but you can go there to see this same debate repeated a thousand times over.

I don't think it's just a Canadian thing, I do live in Toronto and I do hear this rant all the time - however, I also heard this exact same rant when I lived in NYC, Seoul, Edinburgh.

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#22

Post by david-gpu »

neom wrote: post #18
rohannair wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 million people live in Toronto. This is like asking if you can get into politics in Chicago and change things.

Somebody who is frustrated shouldn't bother to get into politics or try to change things in big cities because..a lot of people live in them?? huh??

Becoming actively involved in politics is a quixotic endeavour with a high personal cost and very low chances of success. Moving out has much lower cost and much higher chances of solving your problem.

Thank goodness some people get into politics anyway, but it is not a rational choice for a utility-maximizing actor.

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#23

Post by belval »

akamaka wrote: post #19
rubyist5eva wrote: post #14

As someone that lives in Toronto and is moving out in the middle of the month to go back home near family. The idea that Toronto is going to focus on "affordability" is laughable. It's one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world, and the incompetent city council, mayor and all the way up to the provincial government are doing absolutely everything they can to keep it that way - mostly without even realiz…

Are you from r/canada? For those not familiar, this is a typical example of the angry reddit posts on the topic of housing prices that get produced daily. I was going to post a rebuttal, but you can go there to see this same debate repeated a thousand times over.

This is not a very constructive reply, how about you give us the rebuttal?

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#24

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

rohannair wrote: post #17
neom wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of moving out, couldn't you get involved with politics and try to change things?

3 million people live in Toronto. This is like asking if you can get into politics in Chicago and change things.

Of 3 million residents, maybe a few thousand - at most - will be full-time politically committed and active.

The problem isn't the numbers, it's breaking into the patronage and power networks. That's not a numbers game. It's a relationship, influence, and networking game. And some elements will be corrupt, while others will be about carefully cultivated appearance management.

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#25

Post by akamaka »

belval wrote: post #23
akamaka wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you from r/canada? For those not familiar, this is a typical example of the angry reddit posts on the topic of housing prices that get produced daily. I was going to post a rebuttal, but you can go there to see this same debate repeated a thousand times over.

This is not a very constructive reply, how about you give us the rebuttal?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=personalfinancecanada+house+p...

There are literally thousands of threads that repeat the same arguments over and over. The original poster may as well be quoting any of them without any new insight into the economics behind it.

Once you’ve been on reddit for a while, you realize how pointless it is to engage in these discussions since people only bring in their emotions and not much data.

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#27

Post by hourislate »

rubyist5eva wrote: post #14

As someone that lives in Toronto and is moving out in the middle of the month to go back home near family. The idea that Toronto is going to focus on "affordability" is laughable. It's one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world, and the incompetent city council, mayor and all the way up to the provincial government are doing absolutely everything they can to keep it that way - mostly without even realiz…

The Fed Gov and BoC have no choice but to keep interest rates at zero and continue to play with numbers to keep the ponzi going so the whole Country doesn't collapse. You also have to take into consideration that there is no where else to find any work but in the big cities.

The whole damn situation is a mess with no way out. Feel sorry for the kids who finish a degree in STEM from Waterloo or UoT and end up working for 40k a year. They will never be able to afford a house and now all of Southern Ontario is getting pricey. Even houses in Barrie (an hour outside of Toronto) are over 500k.

Article

A down payment on a Toronto house should take 24 years to accumulate

https://nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/toronto-real-estate-afforda...

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#28

Post by jimmaswell »

Politicians like these are why innovation is so slow. Google was primed and ready to try something new but it was just too different for these people to handle. I don't even like every aspect of the Google city plan but it would have been an invaluable experiment.

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#29

Post by foobiekr »

rubyist5eva wrote: post #14

As someone that lives in Toronto and is moving out in the middle of the month to go back home near family. The idea that Toronto is going to focus on "affordability" is laughable. It's one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world, and the incompetent city council, mayor and all the way up to the provincial government are doing absolutely everything they can to keep it that way - mostly without even realiz…

I would like to learn more about this. What are some sources I could look into?

Re: Toronto swaps Google-backed, not-so-smart city plans for people-centred vision

#30

Post by ocdtrekkie »

jimmaswell wrote: post #28

Politicians like these are why innovation is so slow. Google was primed and ready to try something new but it was just too different for these people to handle. I don't even like every aspect of the Google city plan but it would have been an invaluable experiment.

It's not that it was "too different", it's that it was "too evil". Google was trying to use public resources to build a Google-owned neighborhood where they controlled the lives of everyone within, and were interested in being able to levy their own taxes and exempt themselves from existing laws.
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