Urban areas outside of Toronto are booming while growth in the city is slowing, according to the latest census data. There's even a pocket in Toronto that's seen a decline in population over the past five years, but this doesn't signify the death of the city, says one University of Toronto professor.
Milton, for example, is Canada's fastest growing city (at 56.5 per cent growth between 2006 and 2011), while the political riding of Davenport situated just northwest of Toronto's downtown core experienced a population decrease of 2.2 per cent. "This is not necessarily a bad thing," Dr. Shauna Brail, urban studies professor at the university, told Toronto Community News Wednesday, Feb. 8. Statistics Canada released the population data Wednesday morning. Its findings indicated that some areas in the southern parts of the city - particularly Trinity-Spadina (25.5 per cent growth) grew substantially - while ridings such as Davenport shrunk in population by a couple of percentage points. Toronto has experienced "tremendous" growth in previous years, clarified Brail, however, not as quickly over the past five years."There's very little underdeveloped land and also the real estate is fairly expensive," she said as to why the city could have slowed in growth over the past half-decade. "Where there are houses, people are living. The decrease does not signify the death of the city. Toronto is very healthy."What attracts people to a city in the first place, said the professor, are jobs and opportunity.We are in a post-industrial economy, says Brail. Most of our production is related to knowledge and therefore, a large group of workers are flexible and able to make choices about where they'd like to live - it is no longer about finding the job that pays the most money. Choosing a place to live these days is determined by what amenities are offered, like park space, or child-care facilities.Davenport City Councillor Ana Bailao doesn't find it unusual that her neighbourhood has experienced a dip in population. "One of the reasons is, we have smaller families nowadays," she said. "The area was home to recent immigrants years ago and now, those children have grown and are getting married and moving out."Bailao anticipates seeing an increase in the number of people living in Davenport over the next few years. In part because the area is seeing more development, specifically in the Queen West triangle, for example. There are others, including the condo project slated for Dupont Street and Lansdowne Avenue. Meanwhile, the community is a popular one for young families, said Bailao. "I've also seen a lot of young professionals, couples who work downtown," she added.