Sheldon Levy may be the best mayor Toronto never had. While city hall has been consumed by ideological backbiting, Levy has used his two terms as president of Ryerson University to remake the school’s neigbourhood. New facilities have opened, major construction projects have broken ground, and—at least by Ryerson’s reckoning—more than 95 per cent of the university’s grads continue to find work within two years of graduation. In a perfect world, Levy’s administrative competence would be normal—but in Toronto, at this moment in time, he has a record that any public official would kill for: he said he was going to build things, and most of them actually got built.
Last week, Ryerson announced that Levy will step down in 2015 (though not to run for mayor). Here, we look at the most significant ways Levy has changed the downtown core during his eight years in office.
NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY
Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.