Downtown Toronto has grown and its hospitals are struggling to keep up with growing demand for their services.
In Toronto, hospitals are serving more people, which is stretching their resources thin. "As downtown Toronto’s population has skyrocketed in the past decade, tens of thousands of patients have streamed out of their new condos and into the hospitals on their collective doorstep," according to a story by Kelly Grant in the Globe and Mail.
This demand is not just coming from a condo boom but also an influx of people coming to the city center to work. Grant reports, "Annual emergency department visits increased by 43 percent at the Hospital for Sick Children, 45 percent at Mount Sinai Hospital and 59 percent at Toronto General Hospital, which is also part of the University Health Network." Hospital officials expressed concern about how this increase in patients could affect all the healthcare services the facilities provide, from surgeries to emergency medicine.
FULL STORY: State of emergency
Editorial: Toronto’s Snow Clearing Plan Isn’t Fair
The city’s plan for dealing with snow and ice on sidewalks this winter doesn't address past problems and won't meet the needs of residents, say critics.
In Toronto, Urban Amenities Lag Behind Condo Boom
Since it began in 1999, Toronto's condo boom has added 120,000 units to the city and, in the process, transformed its urban landscape. City leaders are just now beginning to address how to accommodate these new residents.
Despite NIMBY Opposition, Density is the Only Option for a Prosperous Toronto
Christopher Hume delivers a forceful argument for why density is necessary for maintaining a prosperous Toronto in the decades ahead, and why the alternative, sprawl, is environmentally unsustainable and economically ruinous.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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ULI Northwest Arkansas
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
