Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn
Toronto is building the North American equivalent of São Paulo and while there has been a major escalation in home prices over the past decade and a half, it's not a bubble in the traditional sense as there is demand to fill these units. This is through a number of unique factors:
1) Strong regional growth
2) Protective greenbelt and regional planning standards encouraging increasing density
3) lack of vintage multi-family housing. Toronto was not a large city until the post war period and the older city was heavily influenced by Victorian British culture; namely few apartment buildings in the pre-war city as apartments were looked down upon. The 50s-80s saw a wave of apartment construction in slab towers, mostly in more suburban parts of city. While some slabs have been updated, many do not appeal to the tastes of current buyers.
4) Significant investment in transit infrastructure with very pro growth TOD policy. TOD in Toronto can often mean a 40-50 story condo tower on transit, even in the suburbs beyond the city boundary. A 61 story condo tower was just proposed in Vaughn near a recent subway extension.
5) Home price escalation has made single family homes out of reach for many, thus condos are the way forward for attaining home ownership.
On a recent visit in the fall, I counted 110 cranes in a two day period, with about a dozen beyond the city boundary. It's a high-rise boomtown of epic proportions and short of an economic collapse, there is much more to come, including Toronto's first true supertall
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And to add to that. (1) it is a growing financial center (it may passed Chicago in importance and size already). (2) It has a booming tech sector. (3) For decades now affluent Chinese fleeing Hong Kong settle there bringing their money and skills with them and also making it one of the most diverse cities on the planet. (4) It is a huge entertainment hub. It's the cultural capital of Canada. It has a respectable the media, art and at one time (20 plus years ago) had a growing fashion presence in N.A. It surpassed Chicago as the third largest city in N.A. last year.
With all of Toronto's assets I believe Chicago has the advantage, when it comes to people visiting, being blown away or impressed, and staying on the minds of visitors long after they have left. Architecturally, Toronto falls way behind Chicago and many other cities in N.A. This is why I have come to believe that while supertalls are great to have they don't make great, unforgettable cities. A walk down Michigan Avenue simply blow most people away. Our Lakefront and LSD have the same effect on visitors and residents too.