Missing the point maybe, when analyzing the suburbs

Suburban subdivision, Markham, Ontario (Toronto region).

Yesterday, the Toronto Globe & Mail started a four-part series on the transformation of Canadian suburbs into more demographically diverse places. This shouldn't be a surprise. Canada is changing demographically.

What I think is more interesting is how the Canadian suburbs remain undiverse in terms of land use and development paradigms (automobile-centric, deconcentrated, zones of single use places).

Plus, Canada's major urban areas--Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver--have not experienced the scale of massive disinvestment and depopulation experienced by U.S. cities. Canadian cities are still the engines of the regional economies. And these Canadian cities are great places to be from an urban design and walkability standpoint too.

Part 1: " Suburban myths demolished" subtitled "JILL MAHONEY looks at how rapid growth, high immigration and rising poverty have begun to blur the differences between city cores and the outer fringes."

Part 2: "Greying fringes" subtitled "The original 'burbs were built for young families. The children are older now -- and so are their parents. INGRID PERITZ looks at the aging of the suburbs."

Index Keywords: sprawl