[PHOTO] Enduring mist, Yonge and Eglinton

There was heavy fog yesterday all along Yonge Street, from the downtown to the midtown. Even in afternoon, tall towers like these were cloaked.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• blogTO notes a photo series celebrating the corner stores of Toronto and reports on massive condo towers planned for Yonge and College.


• Centauri Dreams notes the antimatter sail as a potential future propulsion technology.


• D-Brief notes the beginning of a search for an Earth-like planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A or B.


• Joe. My. God. notes that it is Ecuador that disrupted Assange's Internet connection.


• Language Hat looks at distinctions between fiction and non-fiction in different literatures.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how Republicans are concerned for the future of the US Supreme Court and links to Matt Taibbi's article suggesting that Trump might reinforce the existing American system.


• Maximos62 links to his new audiobook of tales from Asia and the Pacific.


• The Planetary Society Blog looks at the relationship between rapidly rotating regular satellite and their tides.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that language shift among the Kalmyks to Russia has not weakened their ethnic identity, and shares arguments that Tatarstan and Bashkortostan must be brought back into line in with Russia's national government.

[URBAN NOTE] "Why Toronto Should Further Explore a Bid for Expo 2025"

Torontoist hosts a guest opinion by former mayor David Crombie that, frankly, leaves me unconvinced.

The Waterfront/Port Lands site, unique among proposed World Expo sites, would be reborn, transformed by the catalyst of the Expo project, with hard and fast deadlines for needed infrastructure, housing, transit, and flood protection. We can agree that these things must be accomplished before any major re-development can occur in this area regardless of what or how we build.

Note that flood proofing alone is critical to the mayor’s SmartTrack initiative and for the premier’s Regional Express Rail station; it is needed for the future Port Lands re-development that Council wants implemented and that it unanimously supported in 2012.

The benefits of an Expo 2025 Canada go well beyond infrastructure and development.

A few years ago, former provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara completed a comprehensive report on tourism in the province titled “Discovering Ontario: A report on the future of tourism,” calling for a doubling of the tourism revenues by the early 2020s.

[. . .]

We also do not have to re-invent the wheel: much prior work has already been done for our Expo 2015 bid, including studies, financial analyses, budgeting, revenue projections, attendance, site issues, community consultation, organizational framework, and budgeting. The economic studies showed clearly that an Expo 2025 would be a key economic driver. Expo 2025 is winnable. There is no single leading contender. There has been no Expo in North America since Expo ’86 in Vancouver, and the Bureau International des Expositions would like to return to North America.

[URBAN NOTE] "Don Valley gets corporate help for green makeover"

The Toronto Star's David Rider reports on a new municipal initiative to create a better park in the Don Valley that leaves me a bit concerned.

The sprawling Don Valley ravine is getting a boost from private-sector donors to help transform it into more inviting and accessible parkland for Torontonians.

Mayor John Tory and Evergreen, the charity that turned a former brick factory into the valley’s environmental and educational showpiece, will reveal at 11 a.m. Tuesday the donors who have pledged millions of dollars toward the project.

Tory’s office said Tuesday the city has, since 2012, spent $18 million to help turn the Lower Don Trail into “a signature parkland at the centre of the city stretching from Corktown Common to Pottery Road.”

Improvements have included new entry points to the ravine, widened trails, the Belleville underpass, Pottery Rd. bridge, Bayview multi-use trail and art installations. Next spring, the city will add “way-finding signage” to help people navigate the valley.

In 2014, city council told parks staff to work with Evergreen to raise third-party funding for more improvements and community engagement. Tory will announce the results of those efforts.

[LINK] "Overlooked First Nations war heroes recognized 2 centuries later"

CBC News' Havard Gould reports on a new, belated memorial to John Brant, a First Nations leader who played an important if neglected role in Upper Canada's defense in the War of 1812.

More than 200 years after a courageous group of First Nations warriors and war captains saved the day at the Battle of Queenston Heights during the War of 1812 between the Americans and the British, their accomplishments are finally getting large-scale recognition.

A massive memorial, Landscape of Nations, is being dedicated and opened to the public on the site where the battle against the American invaders, who were trying to capture territory on the Canadian side of the Niagara River, was fought.

[. . .]

"It's almost the missing piece," said Niagara Parks Commission chair Janice Thomson. "We need to fill in that piece of history."

The project is supported by the federal, Ontario and local governments, the Six Nations Legacy Consortium and many donors.

British army officer Maj-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock was killed in action at Queenston Heights on Oct. 13, 1812. His memorial, a soaring column, overlooks the battleground and is a popular tourist attraction. It is actually the second monument to Brock on the site; the first was damaged by an explosion.

But until now, much less has been done to acknowledge the efforts of the First Nations in the battle, efforts most historians believe were decisive.

[URBAN NOTE] "The Case for Diversifying Development"

At Torontoist, Chris Spoke makes a compelling argument for densification in lower-density neighbourhods. This makes perfect sense to me: A diverse city needs diverse housing.

Though Toronto continues to add housing at a rapid pace compared to many of its counterparts, it might not surprise you that new development is largely concentrated in the form of high-rise condominiums.

Our downtown in particular has seen a remarkable transformation as new housing and new residents have brought new life to districts that were once desolate and boring.

However, we haven’t seen as much of a change in lower-density neighbourhoods, where new low-rise housing completions have declined from 32,000 in 2001 to 12,000 last year. As a result, the average price for a detached home now stands at $1.2 million, up over 18 per cent from last year alone.

This has led to a lot of discussion among city builders about the “missing middle” of infill townhouse, stacked townhouse, and mid-rise development that could provide Toronto with so-called gentle density and added stock of family-oriented housing.

Many point to City Hall generally and City Planning in particular for impeding this form of development while scolding condo developers for not including a sufficient amount of three-bedroom “family-sized” units in their high-rise projects.

Just last week, the City of Toronto refused an application [PDF] by a local developer to build six three-storey townhouses and one detached home in a North York neighbourhood, arguing that the built form would not be appropriate for the site.

In a rapidly growing, dynamic city like Toronto, decisions like this one are ridiculous, and they’re pricing young families out of the market.

[URBAN NOTE] "New mortgage rules mean raising babies in apartments, financial planner says"

CBC News' Muriel Draaisma shares a warning from a financial planner that, to be honest, does not sound like much of a warning. What's wrong with raising children in apartments, so long as their neighbourhoods are adequately developed to support them?

New mortgage rules that took effect on Monday will likely mean many millennials will have to raise infants in apartments, says a Toronto financial planner.

Shannon Lee Simmons, a certified financial planner at the New School of Finance in Toronto, told CBC's Metro Morning on Monday that many millennials hoping to buy their first homes may have to rent for a little longer, maybe even three to five years.

"We are all going to be raising babies in apartments. That's what it's going to come down to," Simmons said.

Her advice to millennials, of which she is one, is accept their plight, don't overdo it on rent, stay in an apartment with affordable rent for three to five years, start your family, pay for day care and come out the other side with savings.

"Accept your fate a little bit," she said.

[URBAN NOTE] On how the housing price crunch might chase young workers out of Toronto

CBC News' Chris Glover reports on a recent roundtable that surprised some Toronto employers with the news that high real estate prices might drive their workforces out of the city.

[26 year old Wattpad employee Sarah Robinson] shares her 400-square-foot condo in the St Lawrence Market neighbourhood with her boyfriend, but she's looked at places throughout the GTA and said she may need to widen her search outside the GTA, especially once she is ready to start a family.

"It's not insurmountable, but it`s definitely a real fear for bosses," she said, about possibly having to relocate outside driving distance to her downtown firm's office. "And the bosses lose out on young talent and we have a lot to offer."

That was a concern echoed by a couple of young people who spoke at the housing roundtable, which was chaired by Mayor John Tory. It was part of a three-city initiative, with roundtables held Monday in Vancouver and Edmonton as well..

Wattpad co-founder and CEO Allen Lau said it was "a real-eye opener" and he can't help but fear the possibility of an exodus of young talent that his business thrives on.

"It's becoming increasingly concerning," Lau said. "If people have to move out of the city they might not be able to work at my company anymore, or they may have to spend hours and hours in commutes because they just can`t afford to live in the city."

[VIDEO] "Introducing Prestissimo"

Via blogTO's Amy Grief shares some Toronto transit humour.

In YouTuber sweetsingin's latest video, he introduces Toronto to the Prestissimo card, "which automatically adjusts your transit fare in Toronto based on poor-quality service."

With this newly imagined card, riders would a reduced fair (or even money back) if their train/bus/streetcar was late or lacked basic amenities, like air conditioning on a hot day.

"What if we gave a damn, and actually tried to get you to the places you need to go, quickly, reliably, and affordably?" asks the video.

"Introducing Prestissimo" (Watch on YouTube)

I laugh, and yet.