Talking about the ever-so-hot subject of "Affordability" (in Toronto and other Ontario (/Canadian/International communities in the western world), Rick Salutin said in the Toronto Star Aug 30 that there isn't an affordability crises at all, rather there is a "class"conflict. I agree to a point. He went on to say the solution is "a redistribution of wealth...not (a redistribution) of population (to Belleville (Ontario) e.g.)" as a colleague had written about recently.
Well, that's only part of the consideration.
An aggressive, multi stakeholder (governments and businesses) initiative to redistribute (i.e."decentralize") population and jobs would solve a bunch of problems. Cheaper land and therefore living prices, would be one a beneficial outcome.
More deeply, a better life style and humanity would be enabled.
The growing and debilitating stress that so many people are under (see G Wayne Miller's article in the Star the same day), could be lessened. The data referred to by Miller documenting the seriousness of the rise in stress didn't identify where the folks surveyed lived or what they did for a living...
So I'll posit with some confidence that the stress epidemic is largely a BIG URBAN BOX (BUB) caused phenomenon. Whilst big cities certainly have a VIBE you just can't just shove more and more people into a BIG URBAN BOX without causing a host of problems. And we are witnessing them. And we can't deal with them; affordability, class differentiation, homelessness and toxic stress. Just can't keeping doing the same thing...doesn't work. One big box, all kinds of sweating, stressed people running around to stay the same, terrible traffic and commutes, frustration, violence, stress, gangs, drugs, pollution, destructed infrastructure and de-humanization.
Time for a new vision. If we are to Keep On, we need to Get On... with a new vision. Let's move the jobs, let the people follow and beat the life-inhibiting epidemic we face.
No comments:
Post a Comment