Part of the problem, as far as I can tell, is that the City of Toronto has no legal authority to mandate such things. As long as municipalities are creations of (and subservient to) the Province, nothing will change.
Another factor is that hard retail (as opposed to online) has been in decline for some time, and covid has only exacerbated that trend. There is less demand for retail locations, not more.
If the City of Toronto, or any other city in Canada, were working at full steam, that might be true. However, these are not normal times and all guesses are out the window.
Too bad there's not a vomit emoji, as this definitely calls for it! And whoever mentioned that many of the new TCHC buildings, including Regent Park, are far superior...ABSOLUTELY!!