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Overdue idea: Heated sidewalks in downtown T.O. (for starters)

Has the time come for Toronto?

THE ISSUE: A late afternoon snowfall has the city lookinglike a postcard, so you decide to hoof it to the subway aboveground, like a real Canadian.

The shops on Yonge are a nice change from the underground PATH, but your handsome urban boots could use snow tires on the slippery sidewalk.

You stumble-skate to the corner and nearly get run over by a sidewalk plow that dishes a fresh helping of salted slush onto your ankles.

You step into a store to collect yourself and wipe ice chunks on to the filthy cardboard that serves as a doormat. The shopkeep meets your eye and shrugs in resignation. You can’t get back underground fast enough.

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THE VICTIMS: I’m all for the Economist naming Toronto the best city to live in the world, but I’m thinking they probably didn’t do their assessment during the winter. Places like Montreal (and most of Europe) really pop during winter, but Toronto really just doesn’t. For whatever reason, it’s a summer city, and snow-crusted sidewalks just don’t make for a summer outing.

When the PATH was created way back when, Toronto was basically saying ‘abandon ship’ until March.

But this is supposed to be the walkable city, the city of iconic streets. Queen, Bloor, Front. Heck, we still pretend Yonge is the longest street on earth (sorry, it isn’t). Time to make them walkable year-round.

THE FIX: If we were ambitious, we’d look into putting one of those big inflatable tennis-court domes over the downtown. But sunlight and exhaust, yadda yadda…

So if we can’t de-winter the sky, maybe we can de-winter the ground.

Imagine doing your Christmas shopping on clean, dry streets, your rubber soles gripping the pavement confidently, your feet dry. No tracking snow and salt indoors, no stomping and constant floor mopping. You could put your bag down to readjust your gloves without worrying about it soaking through. You could even use that Segway you stashed in the shed in November.

This isn’t that nuts. Restaurants in hot climates often have misters that basically air-condition the outdoors. And heated seats in cars are ubiquitous. It’s the same principle!

Sure, it would take energy and work. But Reykjavik already does it, and there’s a city in Michigan that pipes waste heat under its sidewalks.

To me, this screams public private partnership. Downtown developers built the bulk of the PATH. This could be the same deal. Let the big banks pay for a chunk of it. Or the retailers on Bloor that would get a big upsurge in street traffic. Or on Queen West, where the buskers would have an easier time. Queens Quay’s already a mess, so they might as well stick them in now. We could heat the sand at Sugar Beach while we’re at it.

I’m picturing a tourist brochure with a Tom Brady-esque guy and model girlfriend, walking hand in hand in the falling snow on dry sidewalks. Where is this wondrous place?

It could be here. All it takes is some pipes and a bit of will. And let’s not pretend it’s all about energy. We’ve got millions of square feet of office space that’s heated all night while people sleep. There’s hot air blowing all around the core. We just need to redirect it.