I dunno. I think things are looking up. In the last five years, off the top of my head:
- The Distillery District has not only survived an early rocky start, it is beginning to come into its own. When there are festivals, the place is packed. In between, there is still quite a bit to see, and finally a few restaurants that are actually worth eating at. I think its now a "must see" on the Toronto tourist circuit, and it opens up the downtown east to more tourism.
- The ROM Crystal has finally opened. Love it or hate it, you can't miss it, and it sure is a conversation piece.
- The Four Season's theatre opened, a vast improvement on the parking lot that was there before.
- The Toronto Film Festival building is now under construction at King and John. It'll be a few years, but it will be a sharp improvement over, yes, yet another parking lot.
- Progress is slowly starting on the Waterfront. H2O finally opened, which alone isn't much, but it's something. The east Donlands have been razed, there's construction fencing around it, and some appearance of progress. The waterfront revitalization will take years and decades, but it is happening.
- Dundas Square. Less than a decade ago that area was a complete shit hole, frankly. It was scary, filled with loomy dank buildings and creepy people lurking in doorways. Again, love it or hate it, you can't argue that the square is a much better place now than it was when it was dominated by "The World's Biggest Jean Store". The giant movie theater monstrosity is finally going to open soon on the north-east corner, too, and even though it will be ugly, it will at least bring the square to completion and make it a proper destination. The Ryerson building at Dundas and Bay is done, and they'll soon be taking over the old Sam's location: yes, I loved Sam's too, but this will be good for the area.
- The AGO work is not too far off completion now. Again, love or hate the new design, it can't be worse than the old 1970s-era concrete bunker that has been there since I was in elementary school. Just south of there, the new OCAD building is also a must-see; a lot of people hated it when the concept drawings first came out (myself included) but I hear a lot less grumbling about it now.
- The St. Lawrence North Market is slated for a total rebuild soon. It will be a few years, but I can imagine that with a nice, large modern building there it the area will be able to host even more tourist-oriented events and festivals. The immediate area has seen some rejuvenation, too, with new TD and Royal Bank branches, and upscale businesses stretching along King East.
And many, many more things, I'm sure. I'm about as negative as it comes, but to infer that Toronto is doing nothing to improve itself is ridiculous. But change doesn't come overnight, and we can't stick up a new CN tower every two years.