Deconstruction

A common point between Toronto and Chicago, besides the facts that they have been both settled by french speakers, is that they are built on the shore of a great lake. The difference is that in Toronto you cannot see the lake, not even on Front street which was the shoreline of lake Ontario back in the days of Fort Rouillé. Actually, you can see the lake from a condo in a high-rise unit. Which is ironic given the fact that it is precisely because of the wild development of these condos that you cannot see the lake. Wild development does not mean a lot of construction. It means construction without any understandable logic. Except one. Private property. It is simple: if you own land, you apparently can do anything you want on it. Whatever the consequences on your neighbours, your city and your environment may be. Even on the few remaining parts of the city that are not private, like the street for exemple, anyone that owns anything anywhere in the city can do whatever he wants. Like hydro companies, or gaz companies or cable companies endlessly scarring the asphalt. Like restaurants, transforming the sidewalk in big smokers patios. Like cars using the few bike lanes available as parking space. And obviously, no-one is inclined to show their private parts. And this is how a lake disappears.