A tower of cubbyholes built to yesterday’s standards By Terri Chu I have to admit, I’m not particularly fond of the development proposal at 316 Bloor St. W. First off, one has to ask what is the point of an 18-metre height restriction when developers think a 132-metre building proposal is fine and dandy. However, […]

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Ride-along reveals unique perspective on policing in Toronto By Cole Burchell At the start of every shift, each member of the Toronto Police Service straps on a bulletproof vest before hitting the streets for a night that could bring anything. It isn’t often that the ranks of the service approve a member of the public […]

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Make cycling safer in Toronto By Joe Cressy and Albert Koehl Many people fear change, even when research suggests they should welcome it. The same is true in Toronto where projects like bike lanes that promise benefits to our health, air, businesses, climate, and traffic circulation are nonetheless treated with some suspicion. This is part […]

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Four island airport expansion studies underway By Annemarie Brissenden Torontonians attending an open house on Mar. 31 got their first look at what changes could result if jets were to begin flying in and out of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (BBTCA). PortsToronto (formerly the Toronto Port Authority) hosted the meeting to report on […]

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The City of Toronto’s Official Plan, enacted as of June 2006, is an all-encompassing document providing a roadmap for how, where, and when the city should develop. Its sections set out heritage policies, identify areas best suited for intensification, define the unique characteristics of individual neighbourhoods, and limit height and density where necessary. In short, […]

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By Annemarie Brissenden In apartheid South Africa, Black Beauty was banned from bookshelves. With the words “black” and “beauty” in the title, it was seen as some kind of anti-government propaganda, even though “there are no black people in the book.” Set in nineteenth-century England “it is actually about a horse,” writes Ismé Bennie in […]

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A man believed to have babysat children in the Spadina Road and Lowther Avenue during the late 1970s was arrested Mar. 25 for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl from the time she was five until she was eight years old. Police, who are withholding the name of the now 43-year-old victim, believe there may be […]

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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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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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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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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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