It's not anything big that Toronto has done that could necessarily be replicated in other cities as a "cure" for decline. It's more that the people here, city government, government workers, and the citizens as a whole take a lot of pride in our city and we're constantly ragging on about keeping the streets clean and keeping graffiti away and Toronto is now one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world because we welcome people from all over and we enjoy and participate in their various cultures with festivals throughout the city celebrating Italians, Greeks, the Caribbean, etc. We're also pretty open minded and accepting of gays and the gay culture with one of the world's largest populations and pride weeks. I guess we're a pretty open and accepting city and if newcomers bring their prejudices and homeland fights with them, we quickly tell them it's not acceptible here. And out city government supports all of these cultural and ethnic activities with grants and public service supports as part of having a vibrant community.
We've got problems with black youth crime and gangs, and drug trade problems like most big cities, but we don't just accept it - we work hard to contain it. We have special police divisions that patrol areas on foot, working with these communities to try to help root out the trouble makers. We recently had a very large police action, over 1,000 officers plus fire, paramedics, ambulances, etc. attend one social housing apartment building and raid the whole building, rounding up the drug pushers, gang-bangers, etc., confiscating illegal guns, drugs, etc. and the law abiding residents of the building were really happy it happened and it made their lives easier at least for a little while - there's no guarantee the gangs and criminals won't try to find a way back, but the residents will be watching and trying to make sure it doesn't happen.
The Mayor is out every year collecting garbage one day, painting over graffiti another, painting park benches and picnic tables, bringing the community together to keep the city clean and liveable. Setting an example and the business community gives their workers time off to participate in these kinds of things to give back to the city.
These are just small examples of being diligent and keeping a lid on problems before they fester. There are some run-down places in Toronto but nothing like most big cities and there aren't what I'd call ghetto neighborhoods where people just exist rather than live.
Detroit's gone way to far for any of this now - I said on a thread about Detroit a long time ago that the State of Michigan should pass legislation that confiscates any abandoned property in the City of Detroit and razes it to the ground and replaces it with grass/parkland. Remove the blight that meets the eye in so many corners of the city and then let those properties be purchased or give them away to people willing to come in and develop them with new homes and businesses and provide incentives to get people in. Give city workers incentives to actually live in the city that pays them through these types of programs so that they can keep money they spend in the city as part of their tax base. But it's going to take hundreds of billions of dollars over many, many years to get Detroit moving forward again - but I think it could and should be worth the effort.
