Canada Socks It to the USA Again
November 28, 2017
The US loves making fun of Canada and Canadians take it in stride. While Canadians brush off the teasing, they feel a smug sense of superiority, especially when they get something the US does not. These include a less embarrassing national leader, the metric system, and now the city of the future. The San Francisco Gate reports that “Larry Page’s Urban Innovation Unit Picks Toronto For First Digital Neighborhood.”
This does not come as a surprise, especially if you work in the technology or entertainment industries. Along with other advantages, Canada rewards technology innovations and film crews with tax incentives and other cost-saving laws. Toronto is Canada’s biggest city and Larry Page talked the city officials into building the city of the future along Lake Ontario’s shore. Alphabet Inc. and Waterfront Toronto are working side by side to develop a high-tech community that includes green technologies, self-driving transport, and construction techniques that will lower housing costs.
Unknown to many, Toronto is home to a thriving startup boom and the deal has been in talks for a decade:
Sidewalk Toronto will dedicate $50 million to planning the project, which will begin with a new neighborhood called Quayside and eventually extend into the Eastern Waterfront, more than 800 acres in one of North America’s largest undeveloped urban parcels. Google’s Canadian headquarters will relocate to the development from the west end to support the project.
It is hard to imagine a US city doing something similar to Toronto. Most city governments would want to be paid, instead of giving money to this big of a project.
Whitney Grace, November 28, 2017
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