Building diverse and sustainable cities

By Mike Layton

Our city is changing. In some Toronto neighbourhoods, the pace of change is difficult to manage, and even more difficult to get ahead of, because it is so rapid.  Read more

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Process to designate Kensington Market underway

By Geremy Bordonaro

After a year of study and consultation, the city is going ahead with the process to designate Kensington Market a Heritage Conservation District (HCD). The decision was announced at a community consultation meeting last month.  Read more

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Nearly one hundred bar and restaurant staff from Kensington Market participated in a free workshop on how to deal with drug overdoses on Feb. 27. Organized by the Kensington Market BIA and Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), the workshop taught participants how to recognize and respond to an overdose. Queen West Central Toronto Community Health Centre led the technical aspects of the training and explained how Naloxone counter-acts the effects of opioids. Bar and restaurant owners also received overdose response kits.  Read more

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Community, city closer to approving Mirvish Village development

PHOTO COURTESY WESTBANK PROJECTS CORP.

By Geremy Bordonaro  Read more

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Not just buildings

By Joe Cressy

If you’ve ever made your way to a development meeting in Ward 20, you’ve heard me talk about the need to build community as we grow and change. With almost one quarter of all proposed development in the entire city occurring in our ward, we’d be leading ourselves astray without this focus. This has been my primary focus in the review of the Mirvish Village redevelopment proposal, which continues to evolve after three iterations.  Read more

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PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: Dragon City Mall on Spadina Avenue was crowded wall-to-wall for the Chinatown BIA’s celebration of the Lunar New Year on Jan. 28. Representatives from the Toronto Police Service’s 14 Division joined councillors Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina), Adam Vaughan (MP, Spadina Fort York), and Han Dong (MPP, Trinity-Spadina) for a day of jubilation featuring a traditional dragon dance and inking of the dragon’s eyes.

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Canadian cities receive only 10 cents for each tax dollar they pay

By Mike Layton

With all the talk about tolls and taxes, I feel I need to admit something: I don’t mind paying taxes.  Read more

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Should infill take precedence over upward building?

By Brian Burchell

With affordable housing at a premium in Toronto, two councillors are proposing to open up the city’s 2,400 laneways to infill development.  Read more

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Landlord shuts Pacifico Life storefront

PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: Pacifico Life’s Bloor Street West location remains boarded up. Landlord Yong Jo gave Tamara Hirsh three hours to move her marijuana dispensary out of the building shortly before Christmas.

By Geremy Bordonaro  Read more

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Recommendations for mandating community participation

PHOTO CREDIT BY BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS: Planned by the OMB: College Street is rife with developments denied by the city, only to have been approved on appeal by the provincial agency.

By Annemarie Brissenden  Read more

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Protecting heritage doesn’t mean freezing areas in time

By Joe Cressy

As is often said, Rome wasn’t built in a day. In comparison, Toronto may be a relatively young city, but that doesn’t mean we have no history to speak of — far from it. Preserving our city’s heritage is critical. It tells us something about who we are, who we were, and how we got here.  Read more

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Residents decry loss of green space and heritage impacts

PHOTO BY BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANE NEWS: Uno Prii designed 666 Spadina Ave., which is listed on the city’s inventory of Heritage Properties. The property owner wants to add an 11-storey building and eight stacked townhouses on the site.

By Brian Burchell  Read more

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Phase one to include removal of fence

COURTESY MATTHEW SWEIG/FOREST AND FIELD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE INC.: The proposed plan for converting the unused schoolyard into a green oasis includes planters, an amphitheatre, and a path for crossing the site.

By Annemarie Brissenden  Read more

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