A good summary of several recent disappointing votes at Council that have made it feel like we're constantly defending the little that we have. The article names some disappointing Old City progressive councillors. I want to add comments about the suburbs as we head to election next year.

I was gifted a copy of Watson's book "The Double Helix." There are many strange sections, including one where he suggests Franklin manipulated Wilkins. Written in 1968, post-Nobel, I'm not sure if he was attempting to discredit her, but her request seems reasonable when Watson did take her work!

lol why put it this way

The province just lowered its housing forecast again in the Fall Economic Statement (FES). There will be 17,000 fewer homes by 2028, leaving Ontario 390,000 homes short of its goal. The crisis isn’t slowing. It’s accelerating because all levels of gov still can't act with cohesion or conviction.

Update: had another meeting today with the councillor's office about the Church St pedestrianization plan & things are moving along! We’re aiming for Dundonald to Alexander during Summer 2026, possibly rolled into an extended Pride ped’ztn or FIFA activation! Transpo staff & the BIA are onboard!

“We need candidates […] who will clearly state their vision for Toronto and how they’ll get there. They also need to […] have the backbone to weather a flurry of opposition rather than caving to people who loathe what puts our neighbourhoods and city on the map.” #topoli

I wrote an op-ed on what I think about the fight for local neighbourhood retail (and the grousing about Badiali's) means for the urban vision of Toronto. Gift link here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

I only wish @picardonhealth.bsky.social mentioned: 1) Researchers filled this information believing it was private & for statistical purposes, 2) DEI info of apps was not shared with review committee (though app’s names are listed ) B/c some of the comments are pretty uninformed.

well I for one am shocked that "every aspect of your life gets worse forever and also look at my marble bathroom" did not turn out to be a winning election strategy

Felt inspired

I get that no one wants to remember the pandemic — for good reason! — but in 2020 the city installed 24 km of bikeways basically overnight. Faster things are possible! www.toronto.ca/explore-enjo...

Budgets are often big clunky documents, but the City of Toronto's budget is unnecessarily murky. Some ways they could help the public understand what money goes where 👇

It's nice that some cities support Neighbourhood Retail.

You all posted so good and I'm proud of you. Here are the ones that kept me going through these dark times

Hats off to the councillor for trying to explain reality to people. I wish that more councillors would make a go of doing this, but you can also see here what a thankless task it is. If you ask "How should we use our public space?" few people's first answer would be "parking," and yet.

Just a note that I will not be accepting clock change opinions from anyone living below 40 degrees North latitude (unless you are also below 40 degrees South). Sorry not sorry to most of California but not everything is about you.

Time for the World Series of urbanism: the Montreal municipal elections. Good guys also underdogs in this one.

The oldest that I have ever been, yelling at the most clouds that I have ever yelled at. On top of the fact that a phrase is not a word, you cannot announce the word-of-the-year in October. You just can't.

It's Halloween. Everyone post your scariest neighbourhood photos. A coffee shop across from a house. 😱

It's more impressive that Trump time-travelled to help the guy win a prize for work from 1985. Also very funny to announce this three weeks after the Nobel committee and make clear that you had no clue about it until now.

This is the most anti-Jane Jacobs amendment (if the City Solicitor says they can do it). Allow retail but only in the most expensive possible location: new builds on Major Streets. This misses the entire point of being able to start somewhere old and small and cheap.

As always, watering down the proposal before consultations does not actually help it go over better. It never works and yet we keep trying to appease the unappeasable. You can make the change infinitesimal and some RAs will still pretend it's apocalyptic, spreading misinfo to their mailing list.

People talking about all of the problems that they have with their neighbourhood under the current rules, then going on to say that's a reason why they support the status quo and don't want the rules to change. Very confusing.

When people agree with the RA position, they are obviously correct and Toronto should do as they say (do nothing). When people taking the survey don't agree with the RA position, people must have been too stupid to understand the questions. So we must have more consultation (and do nothing).

When people agree with the RA position, they are obviously correct and Toronto should do as they say (do nothing). When people taking the survey don't agree with the RA position, people must have been too stupid to understand the questions. So we must have more consultation (and do nothing).

The first (and until today only) time Alberta invoked the notwithstanding clause - in 1998 - the public outcry was so great that Premier Ralph Klein reversed his decision in less than 24 hours. FWIW.

On the new 10% tax on Americans who buy stuff from Canada: "The powers he would be using are the Emergency Powers Act. The Emergency Powers Act both says nothing about tariffs and requires a national emergency. And the president having his feelings hurt is by no means a national emergency. "

I have been periodically checking in on the homicide rate in the city and it's been tracking over 50% lower all year. And yet it's the first time where my parents asked me what I thought about some random stabbings multiple times. It's going to be a long year. www.thestar.com/news/gta/cri...

CARNEY: "In fact, we have free trade agreements with 15 jurisdictions around the world, two-thirds of global trade. Now, some of those free trade agreements operate a little more predictably than others. No prize for guessing which ones."

Minister Flack says that the Ontario government will not be moving forward on changes to Ontario's tenancy lease framework regarding month-to-month leases. More to look at in the bill but thank you to everyone who called, emailed and spoke up.

Game 1 blowout for the Blue Jays, just like Ronald Reagan predicted.

Of course that's what Ford is actually looking for - this won't unlock thousands of empty rental units, it will unlock thousands of units that are currently occupied but with below-market rate tenants. Where does he expect them to go?

The Housing Action Plan item I'm most annoyed at (probably) losing is right at the top of the list: simplified and modernized low rise residential zones. I wrote the following in June 2024, and they not only did nothing in the fall, it looks like the entire item is being quietly buried.

Doug Ford ministry's analysis of "impact" of letting landlords opt out of paying compensation for no-fault "own use" evictions: - no new regulatory burdens on landlords, might relieve them of a financial burden! Impact on tenants? Not worth mentioning.

I appreciate his suggestion that the United States Supreme Court will be unduly swayed by an ad from Ontario. Shows just how highly he regards them and their ability to decide cases.

Starting to think that this Ford fella might not care that much about the little guy.

From today: The Ford government gave millions of tax dollars through the Skills Development Fund to a company with a PC Party vice-president, and another group run by an unsuccessful PC candidate. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

I love it when my councillor tells me that my condo, and others like it, have no community. Lily Cheng only sees single family homeowners as "real" residents of Willowdale. The rest of us rabble can get bent, apparently #willowdale #Toronto #housing

Genuinely dismays me that the Carney government is impressed by Disnified, factually incorrect AI slop version of history, written by tech bros whose next step is to ask government for subsidies x.com/ddebow/statu...

Edmonton's infill election is over, and Edmontonians overwhelmingly voted for a pro-infill council. The predicted backlash never came. Now, it's time to build. And what better place to start than near our LRT stations. Read our op-ed 👇 #yeg #yegcc edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

Tying this GO station to a development application was incredibly stupid. We spent years trying to get housing to pay for everything under the sun and now we're paying the price. www.thestar.com/news/gta/met...

This video clip says that the Transportation Minister said that the province will cover the costs for municipalities to implement alternative road safety measures near schools. Bookmarking for reasons.

Councillors will put in black and white that they are requesting a heritage study in response to intensification and new housing. And then heritage staff will tell you to your face that heritage doesn't prevent development.

This is like when that German newspaper called Rob Ford a skandalburgermeister. The beauty of language.

It's time to play: Sportsball or municipal election results post?

poutine for every body

Local official delighted to inform populace that they can both have their cake AND eat it.

I did a gif search for "exasperated" but none of them looked exasperated enough.

I don't know if people care about relative versus absolute numbers but, since The Star is going to do multiple stories on this study and not report absolute numbers, I decided to look them up. E-scooter injuries went from 4 to 28. E-bikes from 15 to 51. www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...