Quote:
Originally Posted by Build.It
"White collar jobs downtown" is an old-fashioned way of thinking, and the data doesn't back up that position either. From 2018 to 2023 Downtown Toronto gained 6.3% more jobs, while Toronto CMA grew by more than 10% during that timeframe. This would suggest that more jobs went to the suburbs.
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The
data does back that up (
Original G&M article for those who have subscriptions).
Also, think of the jobs that were formed downtown vs. in the suburbs. Downtown jobs are msotly well-paid, professional FIRE type jobs. Suburban job growth was mostly from warehouse and fulfillment centre workers getting paid $20/hour.
Of course there are more white collar jobs in the suburbs than downtown, but there is no net growth in these types of jobs in the suburbs. Just look at commercial real estate forecasts for suburban office parks.
Anyway, my point is that you can't solve the GTA's housing issues by removing the greenbelt and building sprawl. You're always presenting that as some kind of panacea.
I'll agree with you that we are not building enough freehold ground-oriented housing to meet true demand (not some "would you prefer a SFH over a condo?" straw poll question that doesn't present the added costs and other trade-offs). But in a region like Toronto, which is growing by 200k/year; where the average household size is 2.4 and shrinking; where a 50% drop in prices (like FL in 2008) would still leave SFH costing over $600,000; where the cost of building a stick frame home is probably north of $200/ft2 and where the construction industry has pivoted over the past twenty years to a labour force that's oriented around building reinforced concrete highrises, I really don't think that building sprawl is going to solve enough of the housing crisis to make up for its costs.