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Well, some of his platform sounds good, as long as he doesn't drift too far right, he might make a good mayor.

Lord knows just about anyone is an improvement from Mel Lastman...

   

I stayed home last night.

Smitherman's campaign was mute, his ideas bland, it was really just more of the same, which to be honest isn't terrible. I like Toronto. My neighborhood is safe, I feel the city is safe, generally clean, plenty of development going on etc. Housing isn't cheap, or pretty, but it's both cheaper and in a better condition than most North American cities this size. This cannot really be disputed.

I don't often use public transport, but when I do I'm disgusted at its state. It could use an improvement.

Also I'd say it's not fair so many non Toronto municipal tax paying Suburbanites use the city's resources and complain of Toronto's liberal "wasteful" spending. Fuck off, hypocrites.

Ford has some decent ideas, but if he veers too much into the right, he could end up bankrupting this city. If he cuts taxes, he needs to cut services. What services will be cut?

Interesting times ahead.

   

To summarize your commentary...

   

A Harvard grad wasn't on the table for you this time. You had a career politician who had no postsecondary degree and "made life miserable for more than his share of adversaries, not to mention members of his own staff"....or the redneck boorish guy who you now think is linked to the Toronto elite, because of some failed American politician.

   

Exactly.....

   

I 2nd that!

   

Sock wrote:

"Also I'd say it's not fair so many non Toronto municipal tax paying Suburbanites use the city's resources and complain of Toronto's liberal "wasteful" spending. Fuck off, hypocrites."



And there in a nutshell is why Toronto is hated.

   

Twas ever thus - not just in TO. Then they'll drive their cars to the city and complain there's no parking and the roads are too crowded. Suburbs are just leeches on a city.

   

I know Montreal suburbs complain for the same reasons.
Leads me to believe that pretty much every big city is hated by its suburbs.

   

Funny how the lefties can be so discriminatory with anybody who dare live a block or so away from them.
All pigs are equal eh? Where’s the love? Or is it reserved just for Toronto dwellers?

So much for community spirit. Petty and pathetic but not unexpected.

   

Suburbs don't make much for community spirit, certainly not in the city. Suburbanites just plug up the roads and leave the city after work except to come for cultural events. They use what the city has to offer without paying their fair share for it - as I said leeches. They don't live in the neighborhoods and aren't invested in their wellbeing, just race thru the side streets trying to avoid the traffic tie ups they create on the main roads. Meanwhile, back in burbland (often), there are no sidewalks. People drive everywhere, don't interact except with their immediate neighbors - it can feel like such a wasteland in burbland. At least developers are learning to make some suburbs more people friendly, but it's a long way to go.

   

You could say the same about Cottage Country and Toronto types, or Niagara on the Lake, Stratford, Niagara Falls or anywhere that Toronto people go.

It's a very narrow and petty view of the world andy.

   

No, suburbs are a reaction to the cities.

People move to suburbs to escape the monolithic oligarchies of big city politics and the abhorrent tax rates imposed by jackass liberals who think their actions take place in a vacuum. That's the bottom line here is that people don't have to suffer domineering liberalism in a relatively free country. They can move away in droves, as has taken place to the extreme in Detroit, or they can also replace the abusive and unresponsive government as has now taken place in Toronto.

The fact of the matter is that cities have to compete in the free market with other cities and suburbs. If Toronto wants to capture more tax revenue to use to build a better city, it must be an attractive place for people who earn money as opposed to a place that looks down on revenue generators and instead elevates those who consume.

   

It's a fair criticism as far as I see it.

Edmonton has a similar problem. The metro area is about 1.2 million people, but Edmonton itself is only about 730,000 people. Guess where many of those other 500,000 work? For example, they drive on our roads, but pay zero taxes to the city to do so. The arteries coming in from Spruce Grove, St. Albert and Sherwood Park are all highly congested, but how much do those municipalities pay for their upkeep? ZERO. So guess who pays for them? Edmonton and its taxpayers - although occasionally the province kicks in funds too. For example, Edmonton just spent tens of millions of dollars on a pair of overpasses to make access to/from St.Albert easier (widening one at the Yellowhead and building a brand new on 137th Ave/142 street). As far as I've heard, St. Albert didn't pay one cent for either.

Edmonton is even planning on running LRT (subway) lines out to several suburban cities in the future, but so far, not one of them has stepped up to offer a penny for them, so odds are Edmonton taxpayers will pay for them.

I definitely understand where Torontonians are coming from in that regard.

Unfortunately, this problem is one that no one has come up with a good answer for in decades...and anyways, whoever said life was fair?

   

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