Thursday, June 11, 2009

Redraw the midtown Toronto electoral map

Click here for a Google map of Yonge & Eglinton. It opens in a new window because you're going to have to keep referring to it to follow along this post.

See the cluster of highrises? (If you're having trouble seeing the cluster of highrises, click on Satellite and remove the checkbox from Show Labels to see more clearly.) The vast majority of the highrises are residential. As of this posting, there are at least six more completed and inhabited highrises that aren't shown in the several-years-old satellite imagery, and at least three more under construction. There are a wide variety of shops, restaurants, services and amenities at street level on Yonge St. and on Eglinton Ave., and there's a subway station right at the intersection of Yonge & Eg. When they first built the subway this was the terminus, so it's been a transit hub for over 50 years and has developed accordingly. The result is a high-density, walkable, transit-centric, safe, convenient neighbourhood. As you can see, the highrise cluster is surrounded by houses, but since each highrise contains at least 200 units, we far outnumber the house people.

The highrise people define the culture of the neighbourhood - are the culture of the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is safe and convenient and walkable and high-density because of us, and we sought it out because it's safe and convenient and walkable and high-density. It's solidly yuppie but nowhere near posh because of us, and we sought it out because it's solidly yuppie but nowhere near posh. If you remember the Three Cities income polarization study, you might have been wondering what's up with that tiny island of middle-income smack dab in the middle of Toronto, surrounded by a sea of higher income. If you remember Poverty by Postal Code, you might have been wondering what's up with that tiny island of moderate poverty smack dab in the middle of Toronto, surrounded by a sea of low poverty. That's us. We are distinct from the surrounding communities by virtue of differences in income and lifestyle.

However, our political boundaries do not reflect this.

Our little community falls on the intersection of three different electoral ridings. Refer back to the Google Map, and turn labels back on if you turned them off earlier. Everything west of Yonge and north of Eglinton is in the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence. Everything east of Yonge and north of Broadway (i.e. two blocks north of Eg) is in the riding of Don Valley West. Everything south of Eg west of Yonge and south of Broadway east of Yonge is in the riding of St. Paul's. (All these riding names link to Elections Canada maps. I can't seem to find a Google Map of riding boundaries and don't know how to make one myself - if you know of one, please leave a link in the comments.) We are in a distant corner of each riding, and in each riding we are outnumbered by house people. We are a larger high-density cluster than any other within the boundaries of any of those three ridings, but because we're carved up into three pieces we are a negligible demographic within each riding.

This isn't a huge problem at the federal and provincial levels. I've never felt inappropriately represented by my MP or my MPP, and I do feel like I fit in well with the general demographics of my riding. However, it is something of a problem at the local level, because when it comes to issues under local jurisdiction, house people and highrise people have different needs and priorities, car people and transit people have different needs and priorities, and people tend to prefer the kind of density that they have chosen to live in.

And that's the thing about Yonge & Eg - if you're here, you're here by choice. While it isn't nearly as rich as the surrounding houses, it's not the cheapest of neighbourhoods. It's not trendy, but it is a desirable location and priced accordingly. If you prioritize living in a house, you could get a house in outer 905 for the same money. If you prioritize a living arrangement that is convenient for driving, you can live somewhere further from the subway where parking can be had significantly cheaper. If you don't like density, you can live somewhere lower density at a significantly lower cost. If you're living in a highrise at Yonge & Eg, that means that you want a high density neighbourhood, you want a walkable transit-convenient car-optional lifestyle, and you either want a highrise or you're willing to accept a highrise in exchange for the high density car-optional neighbourhood.

But because we're divided among three different wards, we are outnumbered in each of our wards by people in a significantly higher income bracket who have chosen a different kind of neighbourhood and a different lifestyle. They're into houses and cars and lower-density residential neighbourhoods. They might live in Lawrence Park or Forest Hill or Bridle Path. They might care about lawns. They might not care if the grocery store is within walking distance. They might consider it a good thing that their street isn't busy. They're not after the same thing we're after, because if they were they'd choose to live in our hood.

However, because they outnumber us within each ward, they sway our city councillors on municipal issues. This puts us in the weird position of living in a highrise at Yonge & Eg and being represented by a city councillor who is opposed to building highrises at Yonge & Eg. We might have moved here deliberately to live carfree, only to find ourselves represented by a councillor whose first thought on any development is "but how will it affect traffic?" We sought out and rejoice in the benefits of our high-density neighbourhood, only to hear our councillor say "density" like it's a dirty word. We're cheering over the Eglinton Crosstown line, but might be represented by a councillor who is hesitant about it.

We are a community with shared needs and priorities, and, when it comes to issues under the jurisdiction of the local government, our shared needs and priorities are different from those of the surrounding communities. The entire highrise cluster should fall within the same ward so our community and its unique needs can be suitably represented at the one level of government where our unique needs are in fact relevant.

4 comments:

Paul said...

Excellent commentary, could have used more people like you when the City was developing its Yonge-Eglinton Plan.

Fluevogs are my fav too.

laura k said...

I wonder if you've considered trying to talk to the City of Toronto about this. Or would that be an exercise in futility and frustration?

impudent strumpet said...

I'm trying to figure out which level of government is responsible for the Toronto ward boundaries corresponding with the federal riding boundaries. I don't know if it was legislated somewhere or if they just decided to do it this way.

Although it does occur to me that the federal and provincial governments wouldn't care, because we aren't a cultural or linguistic community or an identifiable group like the gaybourhood - we're just a bunch of people who happen to live in apartments. And our local politicians might not much like the idea because at least two of the three councillors are more anti-density, and probably wouldn't like giving electoral weight to a demographic who would vote them out.

Anonymous said...

The writer of impstrump.blogspot.com has written a superior article. I got your point and there is nothing to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not disagree with: Progress cannot be achieved without suffering. I will be back.