Mapping Toronto's Class Divide

Richard Florida plots the geography of class on a map of Toronto to show the deep economic divisions at work in an almost "completely post industrial," city.

1 minute read

August 28, 2010, 11:00 AM PDT

By George Haugh


"Higher-paying, higher skill creative class jobs are concentrated in a T-shape radiating out of the downtown core of the city." Lower wage and skill jobs surround this formation and spread to the outskirts of the city, where they mix with just a couple of neighborhoods where working class jobs are still dominant.

Florida believes the location of these jobs helps to understand the increasingly class-polarized politics and current mayor's race.

He advises that "Toronto needs to come to grips with its growing class divide, and to develop strategies that can begin to address it if it wants to retain the tolerance, social cohesion, and commitments to social justice which have so long been its hallmarks."

Friday, August 27, 2010 in Creative Class

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