For years, Torontonians have been told that our city — and the region as a whole — is a house divided. The downtown-suburban split is supposed to be a defining attribute of our city. We’re told that residents from these two sides of the city have fundamentally different values and interests, which constantly put them at odds with each other.

Increasingly, it seems that this view does not reflect reality.

The latest piece of evidence to chip away at this narrative is a new report from the Royal Bank of Canada and the Pembina Institute. The report outlines the results of a survey looking at what homebuyers want in the Greater Toronto Area.

Their headline finding? That 81 per cent of people across the GTA — be they downtowners or suburbanites — want to live in a walkable, transit-friendly neighbourhood, assuming they could afford a home there. In fact, they’d be willing to live in a smaller home or townhouse so they could be part of a walkable community served by rapid transit.

That finding is true for homebuyers both in the city centre and in outlying communities. For Torontonians across the city, the quality of our neighbourhoods matters just as much as the houses we inhabit.

That’s why the city’s official plan, which guides Toronto’s growth for the coming decades, places so much emphasis on creating what we call complete communities. Complete communities are places where you can live, work and play all within a short walk or transit trip. They offer a variety of affordable housing choices for people in all stages of their lives. And, according to this most recent report, they are just what this city needs.

One of the ways we are building complete communities is through the development of our “avenues.” These are wide, underdeveloped transportation corridors like Sheppard Ave., Wilson Ave. or parts of Eglinton Ave. that can support new mid-rise housing and job opportunities as the city continues to grow. They have good access to transit, and new development will put jobs, services and retail within walking distance of existing neighbourhoods while protecting and maintaining their neighbourhood character.

A prime example where this is happening is the Eglinton corridor, where the investment in 19 kilometres of light-rail transit has created an opportunity to transform that street through thoughtful injections of increased density at key locations, as well as improvements to the streetscape and the construction of a cycle track.

The process to develop this plan is called Eglinton Connects, and it has engaged thousands of people who support this new vision for Eglinton. We’ve heard that residents see some increases in density along Eglinton as positive — a sentiment supported by the RBC-Pembina report, which shows that Torontonians are prioritizing vibrant, walkable neighbourhoods. Many Torontonians are even willing to make a trade-off in home size; walkable neighbourhoods are that important to their quality of life.

Building complete communities means that development needs to include a significant number of multi-unit, family-friendly homes such as stacked townhouses and mid-rise buildings.

This approach to walkability extends far beyond Eglinton. Toronto’s official plan identifies avenues in Etobicoke, Scarborough and North York as key locations to direct growth in the coming years. Over time, this will build up across the city the types of “sidewalk culture” neighbourhoods that you can typically only find downtown.

Higher-order transit — which includes LRT — will lead to higher density neighbourhoods while also delivering on the promise of a higher quality of life. For Eglinton, the transit investment has already been made. In other areas of the city, we must deliver on transit if these neighbourhoods are to provide movement choice.

This approach is also essential to adapt to future demographic trends. According to the RBC-Pembina survey, the preference for walkable, transit-accessible homes is strongest among homebuyers under 35 and those over 60.

As the report notes, that older group is the fastest-growing age demographic in Ontario. The baby boomers are entering their golden years and they’re increasingly interested in moving to more manageable and walkable homes.

That same preference is strong for a demographic group at the other end of the age spectrum, echo boomers — those between the ages of 18 and 34. These residents are the future of our city. Shouldn’t we be planning it for them?

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Our city is less divided than we sometimes think. The evidence shows that we all want neighbourhoods where we can live, work, walk and play comfortably. Let’s get to work creating them together.