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After 20 years of planning and dithering, shovels are finally ready to go into the ground on redeveloping the West Donlands precinct. On March 31, demolition of several disused industrial buildings began, marking the beginning of the redevelopment of the area. Several development proposals for this area, the most famous being Ataratiri in the late 1980s, have come and gone, largely due to the exorbitant cost of financing redevelopment. The West Donlands are former industrial lands, and as such, are in need of remediation, a price that is often cumbersome for developers to carry. This time around however, the provincial government has ponied up money for this, as well as building a berm adjacent to the Don River to protect the area from flooding.

The conceptual sketches seem to suggest that this will be a pleasant mixed-use community that is organized around transit, in the shape of a new Queen's Quay East LRT, a new streetcar route along Cheery Street, and the reintroduction of the Parliament streetcar, which would be extended to the waterfront. Densities are modest - 5,800 people are expected to inhabit the area, although Ataratiri was planned for 11,000. Rumour has it that developers are now lining up, hoping to be involved in perhaps the most significant project along the Waterfront that Toronto has seen. While the quality of the development is not seriously in question, the wisdom of it should be.

The reuse of derelict lands is always favourable compared to greenfield development, converting them to residential uses is not always the best answer. The answer to why is quite simple: industrial lands bring in higher property taxes than any other class. The financial health of cities is based on creating a healthy mix between different land uses, and not just going with the flavour of the moment. With the flight of office commercial tenants to the 905 belt, it is more important than ever that the city devise a strategy for retaining industrial uses and if possible, attracting new ones to the city. Otherwise the city risks further financial hardship, as it becomes more and more residential at the expense of more lucrative property tax classes. The West Donlands would actually be a good place to start; there is an existing harbour adjacent to the area, and highway access via the Don Valley Parkway, and a rail connection to enable ease of shipment and goods movements.

The other risk involved in allowing the West Donlands and other such areas to be converted from industrial uses is that the inner city is beginning to lose some of its diversity, and in several different ways. I recently discussed this project with a planner from Chicago, who pointed out that a solid industrial base also provides opportunities for social mobility in a city. As a city of immigrants, Toronto should be sensitive to providing opportunities for immigrants to move up the social ladder, and industrial jobs have historically been one of those opportunities. Industrial jobs pay well, and often provide the means for the next generation to obtain higher education, or for family members to come to Canada. Without these jobs, many immigrants are forced to take several low paying jobs to earn decent amounts of money.

Finally, by converting so many different land uses to residential, we are only encouraging the decay of the inner city. This decay may not take the form of crumbling infrastructure necessarily. In fact, it often appears to be quite the opposite, but just as deadening. By making everything a condo project, the city is quickly devolving into a middle-class ghetto. With property values constantly moving upwards, and industrial areas being converted into high-end lofts, the city is being robbed of diversity in the form of uses that will attract different people at different times. As a result, neighbourhood main streets like Roncesvalles and Queen Street West (and increasingly East) are gradually morphing into indistinguishable "shopping districts" that bear little in the way of local flavour or diversity of uses. Downtown Toronto is already risking becoming nothing more than the 905's weekend playground. We hardly need to hasten it.

Finally, if we are going to redevelop these areas, it is vital to do it with some sensitivity and creativity. On the surface, it often appears that redevelopment projects like Liberty Village, or the gentrification afoot in Parkdale. However, little mentioned is generally made of displaced communities. In the case of both the communities mentioned, it has not just been the usual suspects: renters, the homeless or the poor. Displacement in both these instances has also meant artists and others engaged in creative work. While this may seem trivial, it is important to remember that the economy and culture of a city rests on creativity. Condos have become so widespread, they not only threaten that diversity by displacing communities in the restless search for the next hip place, but by giving the displaced uses nowhere to go. Unless we want all of our recently-arrived immigrants, poor people and creative types living in non-descript corners of the 416 and 905, then we need to rethink our land use policies in this city.