As someone who’s recently moved away from Toronto, and started this whole thing with the original focus on Toronto, I thought it would be fun to do an episode more focused on someone who is relatively new to the city, but actively chose to relocate and make Toronto home. So I picked on Arthur Smith, because I met him partly through doing this series in the first place. He also knows a few things about cities, and plays a role in helping people get around them in new ways.
Arthur’s Journey to Toronto
“I’ve been coming to Ontario pretty much my whole life... I have family that’s in Toronto, and so I would always visit them every summer for probably 20, 25 years.” Moving here was deliberate: “I didn’t feel like [the US] was such an alignment with my values and the kind of society that I want to live in... and so in about 2022, my wife and I agreed we wanted to live internationally.”
We should celebrate stories like this more, because for how easy it is to critique and complain, and yes, I am absolutely guilty as charged, there are awesome people demonstrating that places like Toronto have a pull factor too. In a world that is becoming, to put it politely, more interesting, being able to draw in talent is a critical superpower.
Toronto’s Transit Strengths and Flaws
Naturally, it didn’t take us long to get into transportation either. And again, we pulled up a subject that can be a little divisive in Toronto’s streetcars. While the more car minded will cite them as a bit of a nuisance, the transit types will be weirded out that they don’t get right of way like other cities in Europe. To Arthur, they’re a fantastic feature of the city not particularly present in the US.
“I really love the streetcar system. Yes, it could be improved, but having the ability to just walk out of your door and then get on what is the equivalent of an on-street train that can take you to different neighbourhoods... is extremely valuable.” Yet, he acknowledges himself that “It could be improved,” especially by reducing car interference and turning streets over to streetcars, bikes and pedestrians, particularly like Queen and the Fashion District.
Quietness as a Competitive Advantage
One observation Arthur made is something that a lot of people perhaps overlook about such a big city, I kinda had at least. But Toronto isn’t particularly loud compared to other big urban centres, perhaps like London, New York or Los Angeles.
“During rush hour... it’s really not that loud. There’s not so many cars versus other cities I’ve lived in the U.S. where during rush hour, it’s like a highway in the city.” Arthur attributes this to Toronto’s transit and walkability efforts, for despite the congestion, the roads are relatively small, relatively low speed and you don’t have big highways cutting across the city. For as much as we might cite the Gardiner as a bit of an eyesore, it’s somewhat out of the way and relatively lacking in intrusiveness.
Waterfront Potential
Which brings us neatly to the waterfront where the US equivalent might have the highway much closer. Arthur admires Toronto in this way: “In the U.S., the Gardiner would be literally on the water ... The fact that you can bike from Trillium Park all the way to Tommy Thompson Park along the water with virtually no interruption is incredible to me.”
We all see the potential in the waterfront, and it’s one of those things where it’s really rather good. But it could be even better! Arthur points out how while lots of cities are on bodies of water, being next to a big open shoreline is less common, so how can we make better use of this? Frequently in our conversation we reference Lisbon, not just for the trams and pedestrian streets but for utilising the waterfront as an attraction.
Our conversation got into what you can do more with in Toronto, such as creating better opportunities for vendors, reducing the regulatory burden of taking on a retail outlet, encouraging street vendors and making the use of the public space when the weather allows.
“Toronto actually has, in my opinion, an even better setup [than Lisbon] because it has this really flat, very slightly sloping waterfront where you could have more restaurants and cafes, and you could really make it for people only. More and more people would come because you can walk along the waterfront, stay at a hotel there, go to the restaurants and bars... I just wish the city council would realise the potential there. …
… Imagine if you could have a pedestrian-only walkway from Union Station to Kensington, St. Lawrence Market, and then down to the water. People would spend the whole day by the waterfront, listening to music, visiting food stands and supporting local businesses.”
Micro-Mobility Integration
It would be a miss to not talk a little about micro-mobility with someone working for one of the world’s biggest operators of dockless bikes and scooters too. Toronto isn’t really there yet with those products, however Arthur does praise the city bike share as something improving all the time.
He shared, “I think ultimately, it comes down to the infrastructure that's put in place for it. If I'm going to Union Station and I know that there is a bike path to get there where it's pretty uninterrupted and it's safe, and I can get there maybe in five minutes biking when it would take 20 minutes walking, everyone’s going to choose to bike because it's more fun, it's enjoyable … and the bike share is improving and expanding all the time.”
We highlighted the importance of infrastructure where a big issue with cycling is that the Dutch understand bike parking, but in Toronto we’re still chaining bikes to fences and hoping they’re there when we get back. I liked his ideas for utilising on-street parking for the use of personal or shared bikes and scooters, to maximise the chances of people not driving, and then opening up the street for other uses.
Supporting Small Businesses
This connects into the small and local business benefits too. I liked how Arthur put it “Cars don’t shop, people do. If you take away some of the space we’ve given to cars and give it to people instead, you’ll see more small businesses thrive because people will actually be out walking, biking and exploring the neighbourhood.”
Micro-mobility and walkable streets are huge for small businesses in that people on bikes or scooters stop more often than people in cars. They notice a new café, a shop or a food stand because they’re moving slower and they’re part of the environment, not just passing through it.
While when I moved to Toronto from New York, I thought the proliferation of chains felt stronger, coming from other US cities the localism is something that really stands out … “The variety of local businesses here is incredible, but I think the challenge is the cost and the process of getting started. If you could make it easier for someone to set up a food stand, a craft stall or a pop-up, you’d see so much more vibrancy. People want to support local businesses, they just need the city to help make it possible.”
Arthur cited Drew’s Creations as an example: “They started out with a little stand outside of a house selling Jamaican patties every night, and now they’re in BlogTO with a growing following.” He emphasised, “If you give people the space and opportunity, they’ll bring so much energy and creativity.”
Arthur suggested flexible vendor spaces, turning parking lots into weekend markets, and pop-up stands in public areas to keep neighbourhoods vibrant. “You eliminate the need for parking, and suddenly, that space can be used for small businesses. If you replace six parking spaces with an extended sidewalk and put up tables for three restaurants, now you have 50 people eating, shopping and spending money where before there were just cars doing nothing.”
We talk about how something similar happened in Montreal’s Plateau, where local politicians received, in extreme cases, death threats for making streets one-way, widening sidewalks and then … four years later, won reelection with a larger majority. Arthur and I both hope to see similar bravery in Toronto.
A Bold Vision for Toronto
I really enjoyed this conversation, for we always stayed on the positive and even better if of Toronto, recognising what might fit from other places to be applied to the relevant context. And it led us nicely to the magic want question that is becoming less outrageous and more rather doable with the right courage and mindset.
“Toronto does a really good job of creating areas where people are not dependent on a car ... but there’s more that needs to be done and realising of that potential.” Arthur’s ambition: “If I could wave a magic wand, I would pedestrianise a huge part of downtown Toronto. King, Queen, Front, make them pedestrian only with bike lanes and transit access. Fill them with small businesses, patios, street vendors and green spaces. Once people experience that, they’ll never want to go back.”
I think most of us could get behind that right?
To being Challengers.
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