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Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse
I've even heard the argument that Toronto's traffic problems and lack of faster transit connections between downtown and large swaths of the outer metro area has contributed to the push toward centralization making more people want to live in or near downtown since it would be so hard to reliably access otherwise. This would make sense given that when it comes to supply and demand, how high the demand gets for something partially depends on the presence of substitutes.
In other words, if there's high demand for transportation but the road access isn't expanded then people can use transit like subway or commuter rail as a substitute (or vice versa). But if there's high demand for access to downtown and there's no significant expansion to transportation supply then people can use a closer domicile as a substitute.
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High-rises are being built all over Toronto though. In Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, outside the city too, not just downtown.
I don't have much problem getting to downtown Toronto from Mississauga, especially since the improvements to the Lakeshore line. A downtown Toronto that is better connected by transit would make it an even more attractive and in-demand place, not less. Imagine with Downtown Relief Line and more all day GO train service, how much freedom downtown dwellers would have.
Extra road capacity is different because that would mean extra parking space needed downtown, so of course that would mean less space to build housing. A downtown Toronto full of parking lots would not be an attractive place to live in either.