During the recent heat wave, Millicent Asamoah said she heard from clients who couldn’t afford an air conditioner, let alone pay for the electricity to keep it running.Asamoah, a counsellor who has worked at the Rexdale Women’s Centre for 10 years, sees daily how unaffordable this city can be for many.“It’s very hard for them to take good care of themselves,” she said.Who this city is affordable for and what can be done about the growing inequality are questions city council members have been asking at budget time for the last four years, that advocates have been demanding city council do more to address, and, according to a recent Forum poll, are top of mind for Toronto residents.The Star has partnered with Forum ahead of the Oct. 22 election to look at the issues that matter most to Torontonians, and to take those concerns to the candidates.As daycare becomes an extravagant expense for many, rents push youth out of the city and away from jobs that are hard to come by, and families are forced to make impossible choices, the poll results say overall affordability is the most pressing issue facing the city.Out a broad list of topics, a quarter (26 per cent) of the more than 2,500 people surveyed said affordability is the biggest problem. Just six per cent said property taxes were of top concern and 19 per cent said traffic gridlock. Other topics on the list were public transit (18 per cent), social housing (13 per cent), traffic safety (seven per cent) and privatization of services (four per cent). Six per cent said “something else” was their biggest concern.The telephone survey of randomly selected Torontonians over the age of 18 was conducted June 29-30 using interactive voice response. It is considered accurate plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.Affordability was among the top issues for residents in all four corners of the city. It was the biggest concern in the former City of Toronto, North York, York a ...
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