A solid piece on challenges to Ontario's Greenbelt, which also hints at the real solution to sprawl: 🧵 thestar.com/news/gta/2022/…

The Greenbelt, which protects agricultural and rural land around Toronto, with only part of the picture. Intensification was the other half. Here’s the problem.

The natural place for real intensification is Toronto, with the biggest job cluster, best transit, best public amenities, and 100’s of km2 of low density housing

But the province hasn’t forced that to happen in the right qualities. Population targets remain much too low. The city of Toronto has refused to update its planning in a comprehensive way.

The biggest problem has been political pushback from Toronto homeowners. One of the planning experts cited in the piece has actively opposed intensification in his neighbourhood.

The city has forced development into a handful of areas and the results are now seen as overdevelopment. There’s always a explanation for why this is “too much” or “overdevelopment.”thestar.com/opinion/contri…

These explanations are basically all bogus.

The upshot: in local politics, there’s a perception that Toronto is taking all the growth it can handle. This is wildly incorrect. And the housing Toronto doesn’t build is going up in suburban London or Barrie instead.