The future of the Annex Family Festival is up in the air after most of its funds were cut by the Bloor Annex BIA at its annual general meeting on January 9. The organization’s board of directors presented the annual budget, which included funding for the festival, for approval by the general members. Barry Alper […]

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The Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area (BIA) met this month to discuss the upcoming, and much anticipated, Bloor Street revitalization plan due in 2019. Spanning Madison Avenue to Bathurst Street, the BIA intends to replace the tree planter boxes with new trees that will be level with the sidewalk. A proprietary root system has been […]

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Merchants need to look to themselves By Albert Koehl What if Bloor Street merchants — especially those who believe the bike lane is bad for business — could magically create a new supply of parking spots for their motoring customers? A recent report commissioned by the local BIAs (Bloor Annex and Koreatown) and the City […]

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When confronted with the question of whether or not to support the city’s pilot bike lanes on Bloor Street, the Bloor Annex and Korea Town Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) commissioned a study on the economic impact of the bike lanes. The comprehensive evaluation yielded clear results and also found a discrepancy between the attitudes of […]

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Over 20,000 attendees and 120 craft and unique food vendors are expected to descend on Bloor Street between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street on June 11 for the 21st running of the Annex Family Festival. The festival will once again feature a street parade with marching bands, and a main stage music venue at Bloor […]

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The Toronto and East York Community Council unanimously endorsed a planning staff recommendation to approve Westbank Projects Corp.’s application to redevelop the southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst streets on April 4. It’s a significant milestone that comes after three years of community consultations and collaborative work between the Vancouver-based developer, planning staff, and community […]

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Preliminary data on the Bloor Street Bike Lane Pilot was released in February. Separated bike lanes were installed along Bloor Street from Avenue Road to Shaw Street last August. The city has released preliminary transportation data, including a traffic volume count and a travel time study along with a public opinion poll. Data collection was done both before and after […]

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Creating a spot to gather By Geremy Bordonaro Humans have been moving stones to create monuments since at least prehistoric times, an act that is taking on a very local incarnation, thanks to the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area, which is installing four parkettes along Bloor Street between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street. Placed at […]

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By Annemarie Brissenden The city has responded to a developer’s application to build what many have termed a “vertical rooming house” at 316 Bloor St. W. with a development of its own: the Bloor Corridor/Annex Block Study. “Two applications led us to believe that there is a certain amount of development pressure in the Annex,” […]

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The Annex’s cycling community celebrated the unveiling of the Bloor Street pilot bike lane project on Aug. 12. Speaking at the unveiling, Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) noted that talks of a Bloor Street bike lane date to 40 years ago, when cyclists were taking to the streets even though the city had no bike […]

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By Brian Burchell Spurred on by a recent spike in drug overdose deaths, Toronto City Council voted 36 to 3 on July 14 to establish three Supervised Injection Sites (SIS) throughout the city. Typically run through public health clinics, such sites provide a space for clients to self-administer drugs — which they supply themselves — […]

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