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- Metro Toronto reports on the efforts of Daniel Rotsztain to explore Toronto through overnight Airbnb stays in different neighbourhoods.
- blogTO reports that the famous (infamous?) Coffee Time at Dupont and Lansdowne has closed down! More tomorrow, I think.
- The Museum of Contemporary Art on Sterling Road, in the Junction, is scheduled for a May 26 opening. NOW Toronto reports.
- Apparently some people are protesting the King Street transit project by playing street hockey in front of the streetcars. blogTO reports.
- Global News notes that Medieval Times, the Toronto theme restaurant, is going to have a ruling queen this year instead of a king.
- This Fatima Syed interview with Navaseelan Navaratnam, brother of suspected McArthur victim Skandaraj Navaratnam missing since 2010, is terribly sad. The Toronto Star has it.
- While it may be too late for Eliot's Books, I do hope that Toronto City Council can arrange some kind of functional tax arrangement for the businesses which survive on Yonge. The Toronto Star reports.
- blogTO notes how a stray tweet from Toronto Hits 93 started an Internet flamewar between fans of two different K-Pop boy bands.
- Ben Spurr notes how some transit advocates have decided to help out King Street by eating at area restaurants, over at the Toronto Star.
- Global News reports on how the Ontario Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of Vadim Kazenelson on charges of criminal negligence stemming from an incident where four workers he was supervising died in a scaffolding collapse.
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- This Fatima Syed interview with Navaseelan Navaratnam, brother of suspected McArthur victim Skandaraj Navaratnam missing since 2010, is terribly sad. The Toronto Star has it.
- While it may be too late for Eliot's Books, I do hope that Toronto City Council can arrange some kind of functional tax arrangement for the businesses which survive on Yonge. The Toronto Star reports.
- blogTO notes how a stray tweet from Toronto Hits 93 started an Internet flamewar between fans of two different K-Pop boy bands.
- Ben Spurr notes how some transit advocates have decided to help out King Street by eating at area restaurants, over at the Toronto Star.
- Global News reports on how the Ontario Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of Vadim Kazenelson on charges of criminal negligence stemming from an incident where four workers he was supervising died in a scaffolding collapse.
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- Transit Toronto celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Spadina Line, western leg of Line 1.
- The Globe and Mail hosts an article suggesting ways to make the King Street transit experiment work better.
- David Rider notes that Toronto is becoming a major international tourism destination, attracting sizable contingents of visitors from around the world, over at the Toronto Star.
- Over at NOW Toronto, Toronto comedian Andrew Johnton explains why, given the collapse of the (English Canadian) media ecosystem, if he has have a chance of earning a living from his career he has to go to the United States.
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- Transit Toronto shares a list of planned partial shutdowns for the Toronto subway in 2018, and makes the point this is good: This way, they can much-needed maintenance.
- blogTO shares a future map of Toronto transit links, this one by the TTC highlighting its own dreams and hopes, many of which are planned and even funded already. I like this one.
- Steve Munro at Torontoist considers whether or not the TTC can meet its goal of increased ridership, given (among other things) bottlenecks in service.
- Ben Spurr notes the hope of the TTC that the King Street pilot project can be replicated elsewhere in Toronto, over at the Toronto Star. Queen Street seems one likely corridor for this to me.
- Ben Spurr and Alanna Rizza report that Metrolinx, of all agencies, was apparently recently subjected to a cyberattack from North Korea. The Toronto Star has the report.
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- I am amused by these dioramas of tiny homes put together by Toronto artist Anita Bonfini. blogTO shares them.
- This Torontoist article by Erin Davis examining the threads uniting the Bentway underneath the Gardiner with the Stackt warehouse at Front and Bathurst and King Street is exciting.
- blogTO reports on the much-needed upgrade and expansion of the Perth-Dupont library to the west of my home, from narrow storefront to something larger and condo-based.
- Victoria Gibson reports on the denials of York Region police that they overlook the sale of counterfeit goods at the Pacific Mall, over at the Toronto Star.
- Ben Spurr notes the desire of Transportation Minister Kathryn McGarry to boost GO Transit use in her Cambridge riding, even though there are low rates of use there, over at the Toronto Star.
- The story of Toronto's "Crane Girl", photographed stuck on a crane high above Wellesley Street, has come to an end with an absolute discharge. The National Post reports.
- Alternative Thinking is unique among the stores once sheltered around Honest Ed's in continuing to hang on. The Toronto Star reports.
- Toronto has desperate need of affordable rental housing for the masses. Torontoist takes a look at the NIMBYs opposing one much-needed project.
- Steve Munro at Torontoist takes an extended look at the data from the King Street pilot streetcar project. Some metrics seem encouraging, but more data--and a longer period of testing--is needed.
- I look forward to seeing the various public art projects which will be decorating the stations of the Eglinton Crosstown line. The Toronto Star reports.
- The suggestion of Peter Apswoude at NOW Toronto that Etobicoke is trending towards more denser development, including an actual downtown, is encouraging for the evolution of that Toronto area.
- CBC's Matthew Braga takes a look at the implications of the involvement of Sidewalk Labs, of Google, in the development of Quayside for privacy rights. How much data will be given up, exactly?
- Muriel Draaisma talks at CBC about the art installations selected for this year's iteration of Winter Stations, including a "Pussy Hut".
- The City of Toronto has, unaccountably, decided not to allocate all the money needed to repair the Toronto Islands after last year's flooding. CBC reports.
- Mayor John Tory talks about the various plans--some new, some I think old--to bring more people to King Street during the transit experiment, over at the Toronto Star.
- This Toronto Star article about changes to taxation that will let downtown arts centres, like 401 Richmond, not get priced out of their homes is older but still quite important.
- blogTO notes local upset in Corso Italia that the local Starbucks, at Dufferin and St. Clair (not far from me!) is set to close. (I've never been there, which I suppose helps clear up any mystery around the closing.)
- Sean Marshall notes that businesses complaining about the effects of the transit experiment on King Street need to remember why they are in such a central location in the first place, over at his blog.
- blogTO identifies five Toronto neighbourhoods set for a higher profile in 2018.
- Alanna Rizza takes a look at some other cold snaps in the past of Toronto, over at the Toronto Star.
- Torontoist celebrates the Bentway, the new skating rink underneath the Gardiner Expressway. (Is it an answer to the High Line? I wonder.)
- Edward Keenan quite likes the humanizing effect of the Bentway on the spaces around the Gardiner Expressway, and says so at the Toronto Star.
- Janice Bradbeer at the Toronto Star tells the story of how the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy came to be, thanks to American immigrant writer Judith Merril and Rochdale.
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- Transit Toronto takes a look at the different Toronto bus routes changed, added, or deleted altogether following the subway extension to Vaughan.
- The decision of York Region to make New Year's Day a working day for retail is unappealing. The Toronto Star reports.
- The subsidies to King Street businesses while the pilot project is ongoing evoke similar structures on St. Clair during streetcar line construction. The Toronto Star reports.
- Justin Ling at MacLean's reports on the discontent in Church and Wellesley regarding the police response to the string of disappearances and deaths in the area.
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- Edward Keenan bids farewell to the CLRV streetcars of the TTC, over at the Toronto Star.
- Ainslie Cruickshank notes data suggesting just under 58% of TTC users are women, over at the Toronto Star.
- John Rieti notes that the King Street pilot project, prioritizing mass transit downtown, does seem to have led to improvements in timing, over at CBC.
- Muriel Draaisma notes the tentative acknowledgement, by Toronto police, of missteps in relating to Church and Wellesley and LGBTQ people following a series of disappearances and deaths, over at CBC.
- Toronto Life tells the story of Sarah Phillips, a Canadian expatriate who moved to Toronto's Seaton Village with her family following the election of Trump.
- Steve Munro takes a look at early statistics on the King Street transit experiments.
- CBC notes how some neighbourhood residents in Regal Heights used leaves and chalk to redesign the flow of traffic at an intersection.
- blogTO shares impressive photos of the deep mine-like excavations made for some of the Eglinton LRT stations.
- NOW Toronto talks about the efforts to revamp the Toronto Coach Terminal, a lovely old building downtown, in an era of changing transit flows.
- At Torontoist, Jake Tobin Garrett suggests how condo construction can be made to pay for a Rail Deck Park.
- Christopher Hume notes how the King Street transit pilot represents a huge shift in thinking in Toronto, over at the Toronto Star.
- At NOW Toronto, Hamish Wilson suggests that the bike lanes on Bloor are but a fragment of the network that could have been built city-wide.
- Rob Ferguson notes plans at the level of the Ontario provincial government to do better planning for GTA transit, over at the Toronto Star.
- Should, as the Toronto Region Board of Trade suggests, the province take over GTA transit? Certainly the province is capable of greater scope than any one city can provide, but is it responsive enough? The Toronto Star reports.
- blogTO notes that Kodak Building 9 has been moved, to serve as part of the Mount Dennis station on the Eglinton line.
- Toronto police are now fining drivers on King Street who are not respecting new transit-friendly policies there. The Toronto Star reports.
- A new study estimates that the proposed Rail Deck Park would cost the city of Toronto 1.6 billion dollars. (I think it's worth it.) Global News reports.
- blogTO reports on plans for a massive new park at Ontario Place, Celebration Commons, some twenty acres in size.
- Steve Munro notes the appallingly bad official presentation of ridership data on the Union-Pearson Express.
- Edward Keenan notes that, though external funding news is good, Toronto needs to somehow find four billion dollars on its own. Where?
- Ben Spurr notes that the new King Street plan prioritizing transit will make exceptions for taxis at some times.
- Martin Regg Cohn notes that Metrolinx desperately needs to be insulated from political interference.
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- Steve Munro shares some vintage photos of TTC streetcars from Canada's centennial in 1967.
- Spacing Toronto's Chris Bateman describes how the Toronto Islands became a test-bed for architectural modernism.
- Global News notes the proposal for a hovercraft service across Lake Ontario, connecting Toronto with Niagara.
- The Toronto Star's Emily Mathieu notes that a Kensington Market apartment complex made into a ghost hotel has been temporarily shut down by Airbnb.
- NOW Toronto's Paul Salvatori has a touching photo essay on the Palace Arms, a soon-to-be-gone rooming house at King and Strachan.
- blogTO notes the ridiculous costs associated with Presto installation on TTC vehicles. Why are we using it?
- The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr notes that the Ontario government is subsidizing the Union-Pearson Express to the tune of $C 11 per passenger. (This is an improvement.)
- Steve Munro reports on the causes of and dynamics of noise generation on the 514 Cherry streetcar route.
- CP24 notes that the City of Toronto has lost $C 5 million so far thanks to the flooding on the Toronto Islands, mostly from lost ferry revenue.
- Alex Bozikovic notes in The Globe and Mail that the Toronto waterfront is going to receive more than a billion dollars in funding for flood protection.
- Andrea Houston at Torontoist argues that anger is a perfectly appropriate response to the suffering and death of the homeless of Toronto.
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- Lisa Coxon of Toronto Life shares eleven photos tracking Toronto's queer history back more than a century.
- Michelle McQuigge reports for the Toronto Star that the Luminous Veil does save lives. I would add that it is also beautiful.
- In The Globe and Mail, Marcus Gee thinks it makes perfect sense for there to be a dedicated streetcar corridor on King Street.
- Ben Spurr describes a new plan for a new GO Transit bus station across from Union Station.
- Emily Mathieu reported in the Toronto Star on how some Kensington Market tenants seem to have been pushed out for an Airbnb hostel.
- In The Globe and Mail, Irish-born John Doyle explores the new Robert Grassett Park, built in honour of the doctor who died trying to save Irish refugees in 1847.
Justin Ling in VICE tells the story of three gay men who went missing without a trace in Toronto just a few years ago. What happened?
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- Orville Lloyd Douglas is critical of Black Lives Matter on Pride, calling it out for being self-appointed representatives of black Canadians.
- Alex McKeen writes in the Toronto Star about First Nations groups holding ongoing ceremonies in Queen's Park.
- Betsy Powell, also in the Star, notes new restrictions and licensing Toronto is set to impose on Airbnb locally.
- CBC notes that King Street is slated to become a street where transit, particularly streetcars, will have priority over other traffic.
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The Globe and Mail's Alex Bozikovic looks at the import of the proposals for a revamped King Street, as a portent of the future of the city meant not only for cars.
Who is a street for? For people in cars, or for everyone?
That’s the question at the heart of the City of Toronto project to remake King Street. The three options for the bold pilot project, revealed at a packed public meeting this week, would each give priority to streetcars and pedestrians at the expense of private vehicles.
Each would save untold hours for the 65,000 people who crawl along on the King streetcar each weekday; each would shift some of the space along the street from its current arrangement, in which the 16 per cent of users in cars occupy 64 per cent of the space. Any of these schemes would make King Street safer. They make sense.
So get ready for an endless opera of complaint. Whether City Council can tough out the inevitable car-centric whining, and defend a more just and sensible approach to the streets, will be an important indicator for the future of the city.
In Toronto, it’s not traditional to think about road users as equals. The primacy of the car is still unquestioned in city politics. Just look at the recent decision, championed by Mayor John Tory, to spend nearly an extra $1-billion to rebuild the eastern Gardiner as an expressway, to save a few minutes a day for 3 per cent of downtown commuters. You could add a lot of transit service for that kind of money.
