Downtown Life for Families

[dewline]

So rfmcdpei pointed out this article in the Toronto Star tonight.

Summed up: Toronto's deputy mayor Doug Holyday got into a bit of a scrap with Councillor Adam Vaughan about the suitability of downtown cores as a place to raise families.

Here's what I told Randy:

One of the things I've noticed about Ottawa is that there are still parts of the downtown where people are raising their kids. It may not be a choice I'd make if I were a parent, but there's been arrangements made to make such things reasonably close to safe enough. I like the fact that our city's been making those efforts, however imperfect they may be in fact or perception.

And that's my imperfectly polite response to Holyday's opinion.

And that response stands.

Comments

[liabrown]

I didn't quite grow up in downtown Toronto, but did grow up in the midtown (within easy walking distance of the downtown core). It was all I knew, and liked it just fine. Now that I live in a smaller community, I see what I missed out on, but also see what I had that people in other places didn't. I will say that living in an apartment/condo probably isn't an ideal place for a child -- but strangely people like Holyday don't seem to have a problem with low-income families raising their kids in apartments (if they did they would make affordable houses a greater priority). And even suburban Toronto has these depressing alleys of giant apartment buildings, so it isn't solely a downtown issue.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

In my case, it was smaller towns and - where city life was deemed unavoidable by my parents - suburban communities all the way.

I'd also noticed that Holyday seems to have certain blinkers on there. We're likely not alone in noticing.

[orleans.livejournal.com]

I don't see what the fuss is about. His main point is valid ... downtown Toronto in condo alley isn't a good place to raise children. Which doesn't mean you can't do it.

Children aren't miniature adults. They don't want/need access to theatre and nightclubs and trendy shopping and tapas or sushi. They want friends to play with and quiet streets to ride their bikes.

And before someone gets started on Manhattan ... very few families live there. It's mainly young singles. Families live in places like Park Slope if they are wealthy or Staten Island if they aren't.

Of course, this doesn't mean I think soulless car-oriented suburbs are better. A place like Glebe or Westboro is probably the best for families.