Letter to the next Toronto Mayor
I have lived in Toronto my whole life and always thought it was a great city with lots to do and safe. In the past 5 years I no longer feel the same way about this city.
When I had a car I used to be able to choose between driving downtown and taking public transit depending on whether I had to go to multiple places or pick up goods or people or if I was going to go to one place and back during rush hour.
I no longer can afford a car and pay rent so I have to rely on transit. In the last 5 years the Yonge subway was closed on the northern portion of Yonge street because of the LRT construction forcing me to stay home more than I would have chosen to go downtown to enjoy events. The TTC fares have gone up and the service has gone down. Before the pandemic the volume of ttc riders was over capacity most of the day, especially during rush hour and delays which were frequent during peak hours.
Over the past year the riders have been returning to the TTC even though they say ridership is down. It's down because people moved out of the city because it's impossible to afford to live here and people prefer to work from home now that it's been shown it is possible for many jobs.
I used to go out all the time and now I dread going downtown to my office because I have to think about other ttc riders instability and sometimes I can't get a seat so I have to adjust my travel times. As a female I have to make choices to when I ride the TTC to lower my risk of harassment. I have travelled on TTC for over 50 years and I never worried about attacks until recently.
The TTC has become a shelter system and a toilet. People sleep on the trains all day and walk up and down begging for money. I have to be acutely aware of my surroundings at all time and there has rarely been trips that haven't had someone that has visible mental health challenges that I have to be aware of.
The travel times are getting longer. I tried to go to the Distillery District and the wait for a bus/streetcar forced me to walk half of the way because of all the detours and short turns etc.
I would like to see fare evasion addressed and special Constables with Mental Health training available to high risk transit routes more often and let the regular police handle other issues.
Construction and congestion in the city. Many business have closed down because people have a difficult time getting to them. I myself chose to skip a second day at a film festival because of the difficulty and cost of getting there when the streetcar route was closed with no notice.
Congestion in the city. All the new Condos are funneling ridership on public transit and in vehicles into a small mostly under construction area of downtown forcing everyone to be frustrated.
People should be able to afford to live close to where they work or if there job is possible to work remotely that should be encouraged. Support your local area and then make things easier to get around so that people can socialize throughout the city. This is good for neighbourhoods and the environment.
Encampments in parks. This didn't exist 10 years ago the way it does now. One person tried to help by building structures but the city tore them down and then muscled their way to push people out of encampments with not enough places to go. If you are going to move them they need to have a safe place to go for everyone. Parks should be parks but people have lost jobs, homes and hope. They have addiction and mental health or health problems that need special services to assist them.
Help the vulnerable people get services they need so that they don't reach their limits and resort to violence and destruction. I knew a person who was on disability who was evicted and didn't get social service support. It took a go fund me campaign to get him housing.
The amount of people visiting food banks isn't sustainable anymore. It has doubled/tripled since before the pandemic. A lot of people getting food from food banks have jobs and making choices to skip meals and kids going without food sometimes. This is shameful in a city with so much food. More community gardens need to be accessible but with condos going up and less and less green space this isn't even possible. Any new Condo build should require a green roof or space allotted for a community garden for it's residents so that if they have struggles at anytime making ends meet they will still have access to food.
The design of the Transit infrastructure needed to be sorted out years ago before all the condo development was approved. A system along the lakeshore connecting things like the CNE and the Distillery district are a good idea to get cars off the road and make it easier to get to these large destinations but it must be properly consulted and working around other construction projects.
The Sheppard line 4 needs to be extended to the ZOO. It also needs to extend west to Sheppard West Station and further so that it loops when there are delays there are options. Or a FINCH or Steeles crosstown could also reduce a lot of cars on the road and make it easier and quicker to get around.
Renters in apartments. I currently rent an apartment and because I was able to move into a rent controlled building I was able to stay here during the pandemic. My rent is going up 2.5 percent but my income only goes up 1%. Food has gone up 8% and more. TTC went up. The cost of entertainment has increased. While income stays the same everything else goes up leaving less and less money to spend on other things. I have been cutting and coloring my own hair for the past few years to save money. I haven't been able to go to the dentist because my benefits don't cover enough of the costs. I haven't had a vacation since 2011.
I am a few years away from retirement and haven't even saved a years worth of my salary forcing me to have to keep working until I won't be able to.
The nursing homes are a disaster. The cost and treatment are horrendous.
Injection sites. I worked in the building beside the downtown injection site and in the 2 years I was there the number of people on each corner of Yonge and Dundas increased everyday. Everytime I would leave the office I would have to dodge young people who were high and begging for money.
Last week I was trying to eat a hot doc on University Ave and someone came up to me and asked me for money for a hot dog and then stated can't you give me money for a hot dog. I had half an hour for lunch and wanted to quickly eat a hot dog and get a coffee before going back to work without being harassed for money. I do not feel comfortable taking my wallet out and giving people cash because it's not safe and that doesn't stop the practice of begging everyday.
Back to housing. People are moving further and further out of the city to afford a place to live and commuting longer and longer while the downtown has turned into a homeless person taking up a corner with their possessions and scaring people walking by. There needs to be supportive housing that is segmented with social services for the issues that they need to get assistance for. Mental health supports separated from drug addictions and health challenges and financial challenges. They should not all be lumped into one large shelter where people are attacked, robbed and get bed bugs. They don't need large spaces but temporary shelter small home spaces with social supports and washroom facilities and job supports. Buying a house. A small house in Toronto is over a Million dollars. How many salaries are over a million dollars a year? Housing should be a third to a quarter of your salary. I pay 50 percent of my salary for rent and will have nothing invested in equity. People can't afford to save money for a home between the low availability to the high land transfer and taxes. People will get educated her and then leave to find a place to live that they can afford.
Back to downtown. I used to go downtown a lot but now less and less because it's depressing. I went to Bloor and Bathurst and someone has taken up space beside the box office at the Bloor Cinema. That is not a space to live it's a space that should be for movie goers. I walked by 3 cannabis shops and people openly smoking on the street. I know it's legal but should children be exposed to that? Queen Street has 3 Cannabis shops on every block and so many restaurants have closed.
There's nowhere to grab food and sit outside to have a meal on the go because of the issues with CAFE TO. It's all large condos, no greenspace and nothing affordable to do.
I prefer to watch movies online to going to the theatres because I don't have to deal with the commute time, rude patrons and the high cost of theatre tickets, eating out and concessions.
The broken window story has turned into the broken City story. A broken window that doesn't get fixed leads to more windows and things that get neglected and then turns into an un useable space. Toronto is broken and needs a big fix.
The Gardiner Expressway is a disaster waiting to happen. It won't change until some large disaster happens because of the crumbling infrastructure.
Accessibility in the City. The older I get the more I see how the city is less and less accessible for people with disabilities and seniors. My mother after having a heart attack years ago said it was too hard for her to take the stairs on the subway. I am finding it more and more difficult as I get older because elevators don't work and there is nowhere for seniors to sit to rest if needed. There isn't access for many people with wheelchairs or assisted devices to be able to access the subway as well.
The construction on the streets isn't safe for pedestrians trying to walk down the streets.
Bike lanes. While it is healthier to ride bikes not everyone is able to do that. I live uptown and don't want to have to haul a bike on the subway to be able to ride downtown and it's impossible to ride all the way downtown. I have friends that use bikes as their transportation and they have to organize their routes depending on construction and bike lanes.
We used to be able to drive a car, walk, ride a bike and take public transit downtown all at the same time. Now it's transit or a bike and the fight from each of them. I think the city needs to be designed better to accommodate all forms of transportation and for pedestrians to be safe.
I am not even getting into child care and education. I will leave that to people that it affects more than it does for me.
Back to public safety. Organized crime has gone up. The increase of vehicle thefts is out of control. I experienced the theft of my vehicle from my driveway way before this became a common thing. Now there are neighbourhood groups that inform people of break ins and thefts online.
The court system. People get arrested and then let out and re offend and keep going through the system. Organized crime gets young people to do the crimes so that they don't get shut down and the young people get a slap on the rist which they don't think will affect their future because most are desperate to get money and don't have a vision or hope for their future.
I was also affected by phone scammers posing as Government officers and the Government office said they were aware there was a problem but couldn't do anything about it. There are no protections for these scams and innocent people are losing their savings on top of everything else. I spent 3 years of staying home to save money to have it be lost on a scam that I was manipulated into.
Police. I do not agree to defund the police. There are many great officers that bust organized crimes and other issues. Police need to be able to police crime and not mental health issues. More Police in high risk areas and more specially trained Mental health teams to address those issues and including safety on the TTC.
As you can see I can go on and on about the current issues of Broken Toronto. A city that used to be vibrant, moving and exciting is now dark, depressing and scary.
I want my Toronto the Good to come back. Please make smart choices to make it happen and keep people in homes living a decent life.
