Apparently, Markham and other Toronto suburbs are stealing downtown’s “mojo”

The Grid has some upsetting news for all the latte-sipping, bicycle-riding, downtown pinkos who are pining for more “urbanist” policies: Markham is looking better and better. The weekly reports that Toronto suburbs are adopting policies and tackling projects that would make Jane Jacobs proud—like networks of bike lanes and improved rapid transit. Even more interesting, though, is that while these sorts of civic initiatives may seem sacrilegious to Rob Ford, they’re being undertaken by a Markham mayor who’s simultaneously slashing spending and cutting staff. Which makes us wish the politicians in the clamshell would focus more on the possibility of progress and less on service cuts and regressive policies (even with a fiscal conservative at the helm)—because, seriously, it’s kind of embarrassing when Markham is kicking your ass. Read the entire story [The Grid] »