Build high
it
With its rapidly rising skyline, thriving economy and top liveability rankings, Toronto is on the up – not that it would shout about it, says Jenny Southan
E
ven with headphones on, the roar of the rotor blades is deafening. After taking
off from the island airport of Billy Bishop, metres from Lake Ontario, our helicopter is drawing a gentle curve around the 553-metre- high CN Tower. Built as a tourist attraction in 1976, it was the tallest freestanding structure in the world until Dubai’s Burj Khalifa surpassed it in 2007. The concrete spire still has a certain modernist majesty, the high-rise blocks of Downtown clustering around it like an army. Cranes are everywhere you look –
Toronto has more of them than any other city in North America. “There are more than 130 skyscrapers under construction here,” says Jason Kucherawy, owner and operator of Tour Guys (
tourguys.ca). “Everything in that blueish glass has been built in the past five years – we refer to it as Vancouver Style.” Compared with 2005, when there were only 13 buildings taller than 150 metres, today there are more than 40. You might say that infrastructure development is propelling this Canadian city to new heights. Toronto Pearson International Airport now sees flag carrier Air Canada operating the Dreamliner to several European and Asian destinations, and is working on
Visit
www.businesstraveller.asia
becoming one of the world’s top ten airport hubs. (It has been the fastest-growing airport in North America for the past four years.) Last year it handled 38.6 million passengers but, by 2030, it intends to grow this to 64 million. In June, the new UP Express train (upexpress. com) began shuttling travellers between the airport 23km away and Union station in Downtown, the journey taking 25 minutes. Over at Billy Bishop, a long-
awaited pedestrian tunnel also opened in the summer, linking the airport with the mainland (previously passengers had to wait for a ferry), allowing easy access for those travelling throughout Canada and the US to board flights with regional airline Porter (
flyporter.com), as well as Heli Tours (
helitours.ca). Serving 24 destinations including
New York, Chicago and Montréal, Porter had been hoping for an expansion of the airport and the delivery of 12 new Bombardier CS100 “whisper jets” for longer routes. However, transport minister Marc Garneau announced on Twitter in November that these plans had been ditched. Given how close the aircraft fly to the city – you can see them swooping in over the water – it’s no surprise that the move would have been unpopular with many residents.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 23
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