Three years ago, the province made unilateral changes to Toronto’s downtown core plan…

Councillor Joe Cressy’s twitter thread:https://twitter.com/joe_cressy/status/1136752491989819392Toronto’s Chief Planner has just provided an initial detailed memo on the Provincial Government’s unilateral changes to our downtown master plan: TOCore. The details are nothing short of devastating. A thread…Requirements for parks, childcare & community centres – gone. Restrictions on additional shadow on parks – gone. Wider sidewalks to accommodate growth – gone. Measures to protect & enhance health services along University Ave – gone. Requirements for family-sized units – gone.We spent 7 years developing a 25 year plan for downtown to ensure that it remains liveable as it grows. Downtown has the fastest growing neighbourhoods in North America, with a population projected to double to 500k over the next 25 years. The notion this is about supply is BS.Every single unilateral change imposed by the Province on our downtown is transparently about one thing – more money for a few condo developers. Full stop. It has nothing to do with liveability, long-term prosperity, or affordability.Downtown already generates 51% of Toronto’s GDP, 1/4 of our taxes, and contains 1/3 of our jobs. Our downtown plan was developed to sustain that growth and ensure it was viable long-term. The Province is putting that long-term prosperity at risk.As a downtown City Councillor I don’t know how I can honestly tell my constituents that going forward downtown will be a better place than it is today. These unilateral changes truly put downtown’s future as a liveable and prosperous core at risk.The contempt this Provincial Government is demonstrating towards the City of Toronto is atrocious. If Premier Ford wants to be the Mayor of Toronto he should run for the job. His relentless infatuation with Canada’s economic engine, Toronto, is doing severe harm to our future.One final comment. It is time for people from all sectors to speak out: developers, business leaders, city builders. Irreparable harm is being done to the future of our city, and in turn, our Province’s prosperity. It is time to stand up and be counted. ENDKeep that in mind when Ford and the provincial government try to tell you that the current housing situation is a “supply problem.” It’s not. We have too many people holding units as investments instead of housing. via /r/toronto https://ift.tt/KjIBxsm