- Steve Munro looks at the latest TTC quarterly report on crowding.
- Urban Toronto looks at the new expansion to Robarts Library.
- Urban Toronto looks at 2221 Yonge Street, latest tower to rise at Yonge and Eglinton.
- Urban Toronto looks at a new condo development taking advantage of the Line 1 extension into Vaughan.
- The subletting of apartments has become key for Toronto renters who want to keep their affordable housing while also being mobile. The Toronto Star reports.
- National Observer notes how, in Toronto, hundreds of anti-racist protesters blocked a far-right group.
- A $C 100 million donation has recently been made to the University of Toronto, to fund artificial intelligence research. CBC reports.
- Harm reduction activists want TTC operators to be trained in the usage of naloxone kits, to aid overdose victims. CBC reports.
- Transit Toronto notes its new Family of Services concept, intended to help Wheel-Trans users access wider city transit.
- Samantha Edwards writes at NOW Toronto about how Airbnb is worsening the living experiences of permanent residents in condo developments, by encouraging a more transient crowd less invested in local communities.
- r/toronto notes, via blogTO, that the old HMV at Yonge and Dundas is set to become a cannabis dispensary.
- The University of Toronto is being criticized by students for its handling of recent suicides and its mental health policies generally. CBC reports.
- blogTO notes that the Ralph Thornton Community Centre in Riverside will be throwing a Game of Thrones-themed festival in May.
- New changes to the regulation of secondary suites may make things easier in the Toronto rental market. CBC reports.
- Urban Toronto reports on two ambitious plans to densify Scarborough Centre.
- After a fire last night, the homeless encampments underneath the Gardiner Expressway have been cleared. Global News reports.
- blogTO reports on a terribly depressing unit offered for rent in East York at $C 1250.
- blogTO notes that a new pedestrian sky bridge is scheduled to be built in Exhibition Place.
- Urban Toronto notes that the steel skeleton has been put in place for the new extension to Robarts Library.
- blogTO reports on moves to place Ontario Place under heritage protection, sparing it redevelopment.
- George Popper writes at Spacing against new city development protocols for Toronto neighbourhoods.
- The state of 650 Parliament Street, now slated to be reopened in August of this year, is appalling. The Toronto Star reports.
- Narcity reports that the 27-story Designers Walk condo tower in Yorkville is going to be a green vertical forest.
- The owners of the Hearn generating station are upset the building has received heritage protection from the City of Toronto. The Toronto Star reports.
- David Rider at the Toronto Star notes a new study suggesting there is substantial leeway for Toronto to increase property taxes.
- The Varsity notes that the University of Toronto now receives more funding from international students' tuition than from the Ontario provincial government.
- The tenants of 394 Dovercourt Road fear they might face renoviction from their affordable homes. The Toronto Star reports.
- Is the culture of the Canadian navy that much of an obstacle to the retention of personnel? Global News reports.
- That Chemi Lhamo, a Tibetan-Canadian student who was elected student president of the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus, has come under attacks coordinated through Chinese social media on account of her heritage is disturbing. CBC reports.
- A successful Nova Scotia chocolatier founded by Syrian refugees is set to take on new refugee hires. The National Post reports.
- Pankaj Mishra writing at The New York Times is, perhaps unkind but not wrong, in suggesting that the bad habits of Britain's imperial elites are finally rebounding on Britain in this mismanaged Brexit.
- Andrew Gallagher writes at Slugger O'Toole about the impossibility of Ireland ever having good boundaries through any imaginable partition.
- Because of a lack of support from the University of Toronto, Ten Editions Bookstore on Spadina Avenue between College and Bloor has closed down permanently. blogTO reports.
- Statler's on Church Street, a popular Village bar known for its performance spaces, closed down suddenly on account of massive rent increases. blogTO reports.
- The famed Coffee Time restaurant at Coxwell and Gerrard, subject of a documentary that looks at this affordable coffee place's connections to locals, has closed down permanently. blogTO reports.
- Gilbert Ngabo at the Toronto Star reports on how Torontonians now have now choice but to use the Presto card. My experiences reflect others' in that things have been working out for me, so far.
- GO Transit's connections directly to York University have ceased in the wake of the subway extension, as promised. Many who depended on the direct link are unhappy that it is no longer being sustained. Global News reports.
- This Toronto Sun article shares the call of a brother of a victim who died by suicide at a TTC station for more action to prevent such unfortunate events.
- Steve Munro reports on the different challenges facing the TTC board in 2019.
- Enzo DiMatteo at NOW Toronto makes the case that Toronto needs to continue to address gun violence as a public health issue if it is to control this plague.
- A tall and skinny home in Riverdale that has gone on sale for $C 3 million has as many detractors as supporters. Global News reports.
- CBC Toronto notes that the new nickname of the Economist for Toronto and its tech sector, "Maple Valley", is not catching on with locals.
- Marco Chown Oved at the Toronto Star shares the story of Don Sampson, a long-time resident of the Toronto Islands who faces losing the family home there because he cannot inherit the property from his brother.
- The cast of the venerable Global Television drama Train 48, filmed on a GO Transit Lakeshore West train in 2003-2005, recently reunited. Global News reports.
- NOW Toronto shares photos from a Hallowe'en dress party held this weekend at the Toronto Reference Library.
- CBC Toronto highlights an exhibit at the Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto looking at monsters, De Monstris.
- The Crux takes a look at different Hallowe'en traditions around the world.
- JSTOR Daily takes a look at whether or not homeowners looking to sell their property have to inform buyers if the house is haunted.
- Jamie Bradburn takes a look back in time, at Toronto's Hallowe'en in 1978 as reported in the papers.
- Gerald Walton at The Conversation writes about fear, and about constructive ways to harness fear to engender positive change.
- Toronto has been unified around John Tory, May Warren argues at the Toronto Star, largely because of Doug Ford.
- Urban Toronto notes an exciting University of Toronto proposal for a new planetarium downtown. I would definitely go for that!
- Urban Toronto notes that excavation has begun for Panda Condominiums, at the former site of the World's Biggest Book Store.
- blgoTO notes a Liberty Village intersection with massive new projects on every corner.
- Jamie Bradburn looks at the scant traces of King Edward VIII in Toronto, at Yonge and Eglinton and at Exhibition Place.
- Jamie Bradburn took a look back at one weekend in 1908, as revealed in the pages of the Toronto World.
- blogTO looks at the surprising controversy surrounding the creation of the first apartment towers in Toronto, on College Street near the University of Toronto.
- blogTO shares a collection of photos examining the dynamic, suffering Toronto of the 1930s.
- Vice shares an amusing feature listing just some of the passenger stereotypes the average TTC user might encounter on the subway.
- Aparita Bhandani at The Discourse takes a look at how residents of Scarborough feel about the often unflattering stereotypes directed at their part of Toronto.
- Brian Budd at The Conversation argues that the strong showing of Faith Goldy shows not only her particular threat, but that her expertise in social media and mobilizing support is something other alt-right people can learn from.
- Michael Coren at NOW Toronto argues that the attempt of Conrad Black to soft-pedal the racism and fascism of Faith Goldy is part of a broader effort by some people on the right to make Goldy and her views more acceptable.
- Anastasia Pitcher at The Varsity takes a look at Faith Goldy from her perspective of a U of T student, someone sharing in the traditions that Goldy has taken for her own in her alt-right career.
- Rob Salerno at Daily Xtra suggests that the confusion about progressives in Toronto about the sort of city they want, about the material ways they would make the lives of Torotonians better, will contribute to their continued defeats.
- Could rookie members on Toronto City Council hold the balance of power? The Toronto Star reports.
It had been too long since I had strolled up or down Philosopher's Walk. Early Wednesday evening, I chose to walk north, from Harbord to Bloor.




















- I believe I have been to this Turkish-Canadian restaurant in the west end of Toronto. CBC reports on Anatolia Restaurant.
- The missing Bach and Beethoven windows of Massey Hall have been recovered, safely boxed away in a basement. The Toronto Star reports.
- I quite liked this article about this athlete, T.J. Atwood, practising his surfing off of the Scarborough Bluffs. The Toronto Star reports.
- Drew Rowsome reports on the upcoming Inside Out LGBT film festival here in Toronto, here.
- A 14-story wooden tower at the University of Toronto would certainly be an eye-catching addition to the downtown skyline. The Toronto Star reports.
Yeesterday evening just before sunset I dashed down to the University of Toronto campus to see the sakura sheltered to the west of Robarts Library, on the University of Toronto campus. I wanted to see what they would look like under different light. I was pleasantly surprised by the effect of the late hour, pale pink blossoms in front of a periwinkle sky.


























- The Toronto Police Service was claiming as recently as four months ago that, contrary to community concern, there was no serial killer at work in the Village. How are they to believed, especially when police chief Saunders lies about people not approaching the police with their concerns? Why should it be marching during Pride this year? The Ottawa Citizen preserves the truth.
- Tess Kalinowski suggests that the impending departure of Bombardier from Downsview Park might lead to the regeneration of that neighbourhood, over at the Toronto Star.
- That the Harbourfront Centre, despite its prominence, is apparently unable to pay $C 1.4 million in rent and back taxes to the City of Toronto is alarming. The Toronto Star reports.
- The rejection by University of Toronto students, in a very recent vote, of a subsidized U-Pass for the TTC surprises me. I suppose if they live downtown and don't want access to the rest of the city that might be a partial explanation, but still. The Toronto Star reports.
- Justine Torres writes at NOW Toronto about the importance of the Jollibee opening for her, as someone of Filipino background.
- Christopher Hume's sarcastic "praise" of the TTC as the better way since it gives people plenty of time to sit and do nothing, over at the Toronto Star, is notable.
- Steve Munro takes a look at service on the 501L bus route on Queen west to Long Branch.
- John Lorinc writes at the Toronto Star about the discovery of Ontario's first parliament beneath a car lot at Front and Parliament, and what people are doing to publicize knowledge of this site.
- The TTC will be putting up a gate at the Queens Quay subway tunnel after yet another driver drove their vehicle into the streetcar route.
- Vinay Menon's extended take in the Toronto Star on Jordan Peterson is weirdly compelling. What will Peterson do next?
- The universities of Toronto--U of T, Ryerson, York--turn out to provide some of the best university-based incubators of high-tech business in the world. CBC reports.
- blogTO notes that a new condo development at Bloor and Dufferin, in Bloordale just where it meets Bloorcourt, is being criticized for excessive density and a lack of community facilities.
- Edward Keenan notes that Patrick Brown was right in talking about real estate affordability in Toronto as a problem. Why aren't other people following him (in this, at least)? The Toronto Star has it.
- Royson James reports on how a Seventh-Day Adventist church in western Toronto not only helped integrate immigrants from the Caribbean, but set a model for others. The Toronto Star has it.
- Dave Leblanc writes about how Rosedale was introduced to the International Style by the 1944 Hobbs Sun House, over at The Globe and Mail.
- Steve Munro finds much wrong with the idea of transit fare integration across the GTA through Metrolinx, over at his blog.
- blogTO notes the possibility of a new Apple store, this one at Yonge and Bloor.
- Christopher Hume notes that 2018 is going to be a year of many transitions for Toronto, over at the Toronto Star.
- An ancient First Nations arrowhead found at Fort York eighty years ago has been turned over to the city by the woman who found it. The Toronto Star reports.
- Alex Bozikovic quite likes the architecture of the University of Toronto's downtown campus, over at The Globe and Mail.
- I have been talking about the trend of converting old church buildings in downtown Toronto into condominiums for years, even sharing photos of conversions. Why not do this? The Globe and Mail describes this trend.