Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso
The idea that Canada can only have 1 such city is odd. Another bizarre mindset is that in order for one city to prosper, another must fail. Not only can Canada produce lots of alpha cities going forward but it's in our national interest that this happen. And on a side note, Toronto is big enough to compete globally with any city. You don't need 20 million people to do that.
|
I think this attitude seems sort of plausible from an Ontario-centric perspective but it looks much stranger from the other side. A lot of Canada is far away from Ontario and there are often local impediments to economic success that barely register at the national level and have nothing to do with Ontario.
One small regional economic development example I can think of is urban infill in the Halifax region. The developers tend to be immigrants and their descendants (
Globe and Mail article about Lebanese developers in Halifax), and in a lot of cases the successful buildings they constructed (high-end rentals) were new to the region. Without these immigrants I doubt the city would have developed as nicely in recent years. None of that significantly impacts Toronto or is significantly impacted by Toronto. In fact Ontario-based builders tend not to take on projects in Atlantic Canada much, and barely touched the Halifax market until recently. Local immigrants really paved the way in the industry, seizing opportunities that might have otherwise been ignored.
Threaded Mode