{"id":34560,"date":"2012-11-05T08:30:25","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T13:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=34560"},"modified":"2012-11-04T23:44:25","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T04:44:25","slug":"lorinc-doubling-down-on-torontos-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2012\/11\/05\/lorinc-doubling-down-on-torontos-future\/","title":{"rendered":"LORINC: Doubling Down on Toronto\u2019s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It was difficult not to think about the nature of civic leadership last week, what with New York mayor Mike Bloomberg serving as the face of a metropolis enduring a calamity of unprecedented proportion. Politicians in those situations are always surrounded by their top officials. But they are nonetheless called upon to lead the response, make tough calls (e.g., cancelling the N.Y. Marathon), and reassure the public in circumstances that can be exceedingly challenging.<\/p>\n

It is impossible to imagine Mayor Rob Ford \u2014 who spent last week torching the few remaining crumbs<\/a> of his populist brand \u2014 rising to such an occasion; we can only hope he will never have to do what Bloomberg did this week. Yet the calamity serves a reminder that mayors, at times, are expected to do far more than cut taxes, search for rounding-error waste, and coach football teams.<\/p>\n

How much more? Have a look at the terrific interview<\/a> with Bloomberg published in this month\u2019s Atlantic<\/em>. In many ways, he is just the sort of entrepreneur the brothers Ford profess to admire: sidelined at Salomon Bros. early in his career, he invented an electronic information service for traders. As Bloomberg terminals become ubiquitous on Wall Street and elsewhere, his company revolutionized both the stock market and business journalism. He made a fortune (over $25 billion<\/a>) and could have retired to the Hamptons for a cosseted life of yachts and golf.<\/p>\n

Yet Bloomberg decided to pay it forward, and turned his attention to the city that he loves without reservation, first through philanthropy<\/a> and then via politics. In Bloomberg, writes The Atlantic\u2019s<\/em> James Bennet, one sees \u201ca guy\u2026who thinks for himself, but not only of himself\u201d \u2014 \u201cthink\u201d being the operative word here.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg is the anti-Ford. Both his style and his record, to my mind, set the standard for what Torontonians must demand<\/em> from their next mayor (more on this in a moment). After the reality show<\/a> of the Ford mayoralty, nothing less will suffice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First, style: As he did on Wall Street, Bloomberg has sought maximum transparency, sitting at a desk without walls in the middle of an open space full of his officials. He rides the subway. He talks to the media constantly. Though he is not a glad-hander, he unreservedly embraces his city\u2019s diversity. And he speaks his mind. After the Denver massacre, he alone called for tougher gun laws, a career-limiting move for a sort-of Republican. After last week\u2019s hurricane, he endorsed President Barack Obama because of his position on climate change, of all things.<\/p>\n

His record in office is extensive and bold, and includes dramatic changes in public space and environmental policies, as well as controversial moves to restrict salt, fat and sugar in New York restaurants. Indeed, Bloomberg has poured tens of millions of dollars into public health initiatives and research; I think it would be reasonable to conclude that he doesn\u2019t regard the NYC\u2019s public health department as a warren of socialist entitlement led by over-paid bureaucrats.<\/p>\n

But from where I sit, Bloomberg\u2019s most singular achievement is the Applied Sciences Initiative<\/a> by New York\u2019s Economic Development Corp. The Big Apple has long lacked a world-class engineering and technical university, so Bloomberg two years ago launched a fascinating experiment to not only fill the void but also kick-start the city\u2019s tech sector on a grand scale. Bloomberg\u2019s plan was to offer $100 million and city land (Roosevelt Island and two other sites) to universities or consortia of research institutions prepared to invest big bucks in a top-notch campus\/incubator capable of challenging Stanford\/Silicon Valley and MIT\/Boston.<\/p>\n

The competition attracted 18 international bidding groups, and NYEDC unveiled the winner last spring: a $2 billion proposal from Cornell, in partnership with Israel\u2019s Technion, renowned for technology commercialization. But the city also decided to back a second project for Brooklyn, proposed by a group that includes NYU, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Toronto. The Centre for Urban Science and Progress<\/a> has a mandate to investigate the \u201cscience of cities\u201d and develop technologies designed to sustainably accommodate the world\u2019s increasingly urbanized population. According to Bloomberg\u2019s economic development officials, \u201cnew research and technologies developed at the Center\u00a0are expected to generate $5.5 billion in overall economic impact and 7,700 jobs over the next three decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now contrast this to the Ford administration\u2019s flagship economic development scheme: a casino multiplex, likely to be located either on the Metro Toronto Convention Centre lands or at the CNE. As a staff report<\/a> coming to today\u2019s Executive Committee session claims, the project could create somewhere between 2,700 to 5,600 new ongoing jobs and additional revenues of $76 to $195 million.<\/p>\n

There it is, writ large: thinking very big, and thinking very small.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a croupier or an addiction counselor, the city\u2019s future looks bright. Talented scientists and entrepreneurs, however, should probably look elsewhere.<\/p>\n

In a recent Toronto Life essay<\/a> on the need for renewed urban leadership for the city, Richard Florida unsparingly sets out the long-term risks of pursuing Ford\u2019s \u201canti-urban\u201d agenda. But he told me last week his warnings have fallen on deaf ears, with barely a peep by way of response from Bay Street and the corporate elites.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Torontonians\u00a0including our business leadership claim to want Toronto to be a great global city like London or New York,\u201d Florida said in an email. \u201cBut they say nothing about the casino, nothing about the mayor. They just want it to somehow `happen.\u2019 I cannot understand the failure of the business community to speak out. The mayor is ruinous to them \u2013 he and his policies hinder and hamper their ability to attract talent. How do they not see this? \u00a0Why don’t they speak out? Why do they acquiesce?\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe they, too, missed the bus.<\/p>\n

photo courtesy of the Prime Minister’s Office Flickr<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was difficult not to think about the nature of civic leadership last week, what with New York mayor Mike Bloomberg serving as the face of a metropolis enduring a calamity of unprecedented proportion. Politicians in those situations are always surrounded by their top officials. But they are nonetheless called upon to lead the response,Continue reading “LORINC: Doubling Down on Toronto\u2019s Future”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21392,10172,5715,499,21396,21395,998,16647,1240,696,5134,16543,568,21391,359,426,16431,17252,469,21394,17738,475,1500,2712,227,6894,21393,5576,21397,21398,19,2311,270,391],"class_list":["post-34560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-addiction-counselor","tag-barack-obama","tag-bloomberg","tag-boston","tag-carnegie-mellon","tag-centre-for-urban-science-and-progress","tag-coach","tag-cornell","tag-denver","tag-entrepreneur","tag-executive-committee","tag-ford-administration","tag-israel","tag-james-bennet","tag-london","tag-mayor","tag-mike-bloomberg","tag-mit","tag-new-york","tag-new-yorks-economic-development-corp","tag-nyu","tag-president","tag-prime-minister","tag-richard-florida","tag-rob-ford","tag-roosevelt-island","tag-salomon-bros","tag-stanford","tag-technion","tag-technology-commercialization","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-life","tag-university-of-toronto","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLORINC: Doubling Down on Toronto\u2019s Future - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2012\/11\/05\/lorinc-doubling-down-on-torontos-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LORINC: Doubling Down on Toronto\u2019s Future - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was difficult not to think about the nature of civic leadership last week, what with New York mayor Mike Bloomberg serving as the face of a metropolis enduring a calamity of unprecedented proportion. 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