Toronto Star architecture critic Christopher Hume writes that a recent controversy in the city over a proposed waterfront sports complex highlights why Toronto will never be a great city.
"The plot revolves around a proposed sports complex on the Lower Don Lands, yet its significance goes well beyond the waterfront. In its own way, it is an allegory of a city where expediency beats excellence every time.
The story goes back a decade with the formation of Waterfront Toronto. Created by the three levels of government, its mandate was to revitalize the former industrial lands along the shores of Lake Ontario. To that purpose, design competitions were organized and plans drawn up. That process continues, but remaking the waterfront will take 20 or 30 years."
Even some planners involved in the process are unhappy with plans for the sports complex, which they say is a poor use of the waterfront land.
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