Shrinking middle class makes Toronto a city of socioeconomic extremes

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

Toronto is becoming a city of stark economic extremes as its middle class is hollowed out and replaced by a bipolar city of the rich and poor – one whose lines are drawn neighbourhood by neighbourhood.

New numbers indicate a 35-year trend toward economic polarization is growing more pronounced: The country’s economic engine, which has long claimed to be one of the most diverse cities in the world, is increasingly comprised of downtown-centred high-income residents – most living near subway lines – and a concentration of low-income families in less dense, service- and transit-starved inner suburbs.

... Toronto, a predominantly middle-class metropolis just three decades ago, is increasingly dominated by two opposite populations – one with an average income of $88,400, and another of $26,900.

These two groups live in different neighbourhoods, work in different sectors, send their children to different schools and have divergent and unequal access to city services and public transit. Even the 905-area suburbs outside of Toronto are seeing a dramatic drop in the proportion of middle-income earners in their population, the report finds.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/shrinking-middle-class-makes-toronto-a-city-of-socioeconomic-extremes/article1838176/

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This type of analysis probably would hold true for most U.S. cities as well.

[raccoon]

1. As goes Toronto, go lots of other cities. In fact, the whole US. Rec'd. nt

[SidDithers]

2. K&R...

As one of the 905'ers in the Toronto suburbs, I've watched it happening over the years. Part of the problem is the cost of housing in the Toronto area. In-town house prices have exploded over the last decade, while public transit from the 'burbs has improved, making it convenient for the "middle class" to live outside of the city and work in it.

Sid