Cautious optimism greets Westbank proposal By Annemarie Brissenden Annex residents could be forgiven for thinking that creative, civic-minded developers are as rare as hen’s teeth. Long accustomed to property owners whose large and imposing concrete monstrosities loom over the area, they arrive at planning meetings prepared to fight. But what happens when the field of […]

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Community guaranteed free access to track during off-school hours By Annemarie Brissenden The field at Central Technical School may be fallow no more. It’s been almost 18 months since the field at Central Tech was fenced off due to contamination in the soil while local residents’ associations and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) battled […]

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For the second year in a row, University of Toronto Schools (UTS) will once again celebrate International Day of Pink on Apr. 8, at 1:30 p.m., in Matt Cohen Park at the corner of Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue. Led by UTS guidance counsellor Catherine Kaiser, the 45-minute outdoor event is designed to engage the […]

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Toronto Police responded to a call about a man with a knife near 140 Spadina Rd., just south of Dupont Avenue, at approximately 9 p.m. on Feb. 18. The armed man was shot when an exchange resulted between him and the officers shortly after they arrived at the scene. The man, David Andrew Doucette, 49, […]

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New system for counting crimes skews data By Claire Kilpatrick and Brian Burchell Area thefts are on the rise according to a new statisical system called Versadex instituted by the Toronto Police Service (TPS). In fact, a summary provided by the police shows that crime appears to be up according to almost all major indicators […]

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Amenities matter in city intensification By Joe Cressy I’m proud to live in downtown Toronto. I was born downtown, raised on Walmer Road, and my wife and I live in the Annex, near Bathurst and Bloor streets. Downtown Toronto is a great place to live, but we have much to do to make sure we […]

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The recent unveiling of plans to redevelop the Honest Ed’s site and adjoining Mirvish Village left a largely local audience in awe. At the opening curtain on the proposed plan, yet to be submitted to the City for approval, Westbank Corp. of Vancouver displayed an innovative plan of multiple residential towers, “small-grain” retail, open public […]

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Provincial proposal aims to give residents greater say By Han Dong Recently, I attended an event at the Fort York Foundation Visitors’ Centre with the Hon. Ted McMeekin, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, where he announced that the Government of Ontario is proposing reforms to the Planning Act and the Development Charges Act.  These […]

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HVRA lane-naming project leads to The Postman By Annemarie Brissenden There are nearly 500 miles between Miliford, Del. and St. Catharines, Ont. These days, it would take approximately 10 hours to drive a highway that meanders through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and then New York, before finally reaching Ontario. One hundred and seventy-five years ago, it […]

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Residents of the Bathurst and Ulster streets area awoke to sirens early in the morning of Mar. 16 as a two-alarm blaze demolished a garage and did damage to the side of a house on Ulster Street. Vehicles parked in front of the garage suffered serious damage as well but no injuries were reported. The […]

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Infrastructure is the key to Green By Terri Chu, I ran into many neighbours at a recent community consultation for the Honest Ed’s redevelopment project. Westbank unveiled its plans, which consist entirely of rental units with a strong emphasis on the key buzzword of the day, “microretail”. I heard barely any complaints about the rental-focused […]

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Use whatever you have in the pantry for crust By Susan Oppenheim Who didn’t grow up 50-odd years ago with something that was totally special, totally yummy, and very, very easy to make? Ask my mother, a daughter of an amazing baker, about her cooking skills, and she will make a joke. She admits openly […]

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