Gleaner

Serving Toronto's most liveable community with the Annex Gleaner

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: A report card on our parks – part 2 (Sept. 2024)

November 8th, 2024 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: A report card on our parks – part 2 (Sept. 2024)

Our annual review of Annex greenspaces continues

Each year the Annex Gleaner reviews the many parks and parkettes in our coverage area using a variety of criteria. While there is no decisive “winner” of the grading, letter grades are assigned to convey the quality of the parks, considering aspects such as upkeep, design, and amenities. The reviews accompanying the grades also let the reader know what makes each space unique. This is the second instalment of reviews for 2024.

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Tags: Annex · Life

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: A report card on our parks (Summer 2024)

October 15th, 2024 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: A report card on our parks (Summer 2024)

A plethora of Annex-area parks under scrutiny

Each year the Annex Gleaner reviews the many parks and parkettes in our coverage area using a variety of criteria. While there is no decisive “winner” of the grading, letter grades are assigned to convey the quality of the parks, considering aspects such as upkeep, design, and amenities. The reviews accompanying the grades also let the reader know what makes each space unique. This is the first instalment of reviews for 2024.

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Tags: Annex · Life

Grading our greenspace (Feb. 2024)

April 6th, 2024 · Comments Off on Grading our greenspace (Feb. 2024)

A plethora of parks in the Annex get judged

Compiled by Mia Keskinen

Each year the Annex Gleaner reviews the abundance of parks in our coverage area using a variety of criteria. 

While there is no decisive “winner” of the grading, letter grades are assigned to convey the quality of the parks considering aspects such as upkeep, design, and amenities. 

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Tags: General

LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Dec. 2022)

December 13th, 2022 · Comments Off on LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Dec. 2022)

Re: Grading our Greenspaces – Margaret Fairley Park

I always enjoy getting the Annex Gleaner and have appreciated your Grading our Greenspace for many years…good for the neighbourhood and good for the parks department.

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Tags: Annex · Opinion

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Nov. 2022)

November 22nd, 2022 · Comments Off on LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Nov. 2022)

RE: Grading our Greenspace (Aug. 2022)

Grading Our Greenspace (by Fox Oliver, Annex Gleaner, August 2022) is most interesting but rather cruel to The Doctors’ Parkette which rates it as Grade C and describes it as “easily missed” and  “doesn’t particularly stand out or offer any unique amenities,” with no mention of the Major Street Parkette, or its kidnapped erratic.

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Tags: Annex · Opinion

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Third and final instalment (Oct. 2022)

October 19th, 2022 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Third and final instalment (Oct. 2022)

Part 3 of the Gleaner’s greenspace reviews

Compiled by Marisa Kelly, photos by Hailey Alexander

Continuing from the August & September editions we review area parks and assign a letter grade. Park amenities, tree coverage, seating and waste management all go into the evaluations each year.

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Tags: Annex · Life

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Appraising Annex parks (Sept. 2022)

September 27th, 2022 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Appraising Annex parks (Sept. 2022)

Part 2 of the Gleaner’s greenspace reviews

Compiled and photos by Marisa Kelly

Continuing from the August edition we review area parks and assign a letter grade. Park amenities, tree coverage, seating and waste management all go into the evaluations each year.

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Tags: Annex · News · Life

ON THE COVER: Greenspaces graded (Fall 2021)

November 11th, 2021 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER: Greenspaces graded (Fall 2021)

A man sits at the edge of Jesse Ketchum Park on one of the many stone benches facing the public school of the same name. Find out how Annex parks have fared in the second summer of the pandemic in our annual park reviews, part two. MADELINE SMART/GLEANER NEWS

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Tags: Annex · News

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE (July 2021)

August 16th, 2021 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE (July 2021)

Part 1 of our annual Grading our Greenspace feature includes Christie Pits Park.

Compiled and photos by Madeline Smart

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Tags: Annex · Life

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Park it here (August 2019)

September 2nd, 2019 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Park it here (August 2019)

The best and the worst of our greenspaces

In this final instalment of this year’s Gleaner’s park evaluation once again Christie Pits score an A+ for its design, maintenance, and the sheer volume of activities and facilities there. Paul Martel Mark on Madison Avenue just north of Bloor can fall no further on our scale. It got an F because of the City’s utter neglect of the site.

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Tags: Annex · Life

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Open spaces in the heart of the Annex (Summer 2019)

July 16th, 2019 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Open spaces in the heart of the Annex (Summer 2019)

Lots of places for ambling with a dog, playing sports, or watching the world go by

This is our first set of park reviews for 2019. The Annex and its surroundings are blessed with a rich array of green space — much of it under the umbrella of city parks. We grade them here, every year using many parameters. Many a venue to run your dog, laze away a day, grab a seat in the sunshine, or shade, push a child on the swing set, the Annex has it all.

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Tags: Annex · Life

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: More attention to green spaces means parks are improving (July 2018)

July 18th, 2018 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: More attention to green spaces means parks are improving (July 2018)

Tall trees provide lots of shade for the University of Toronto faculty and students who often congregate at Bloor-Bedford Parkette. Easily accessible from St. George station or the parking lot behind the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the park also features paved walkways and several benches. AHMED-ZAKI HAGAR/GLEANER NEWS

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Tags: Annex · General · Life

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE (JULY 2017): Open spaces in the heart of the Annex

August 1st, 2017 · Comments Off on GRADING OUR GREENSPACE (JULY 2017): Open spaces in the heart of the Annex

Lots of places for ambling with a dog, playing sports, or watching the world go by

PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: There’s lots for kids to do at the recently renovated Margaret Fairley Park, where the installation of a new wading pool and seating area is almost complete. The revitalized park has a determined Muskoka feel to it that might strike some as a bit too sterile.

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Tags: Annex · Life