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It certainly wasn’t a perfect period, but around City Hall things were somehow more productive in the 1970s than they are now. This bit of nostalgia is prompted not just by the prospect of Monday’s unhappy business with the present mayor. The mayor then was David Crombie (right) and he was speaking in Hamilton last night. Crombie, a Conservative, is 77 now and his topic was the future of cities. It recalls Crombie’s most notable achievement in six years as mayor (1972-78). He was able to stop out-of-control apartment builders and give them a framework of rules that both saved neighborhoods and fostered good development. There was money, unlike now, and so Toronto financed the Bloor Street subway line. But the seeds were also planted for a Streetcars Forever state of mind at the TTC. It was a folly that made this 19th century concept synonymous with rapid transit. In Hamilton, Mr. Crombie said there is no template for the perfect municipal future. In the end, the people have to choose good politicians, he said. Amen.
It may be worth mentioning that all this was pre-amalgamation. Suburbia was on its own and Toronto could behave like a city.