Quote, unquote: Getting Toronto's groove back

"Toronto has many admirable qualities, as John Lorinc acknowledges in the introduction to his article “How Toronto Lost Its Groove.” No city in the world has as successfully absorbed so many nationalities and religions. And it continues to be one of the safest big cities on the planet. But it is no longer the city Robert Fulford celebrated in his 1997 book, Accidental City, which argued that without meaning to Toronto had evolved into one of North America’s most livable urban environments. The intervening years have not been kind to Canada’s largest municipality, which now finds itself cash strapped, poorly governed, seriously congested, economically polarized, and generally falling apart. Toronto is a mess, but this is no accident. The city finds itself in this fix due to a litany of bad decisions by politicians, planners, and voters."

-- John Macfarlane, editor of The Walrus, in his November 2011 editor's note