I don't mean to sound pedantic, but it's not accurate to say that a park is not planned to be built for 30 years until "all the condos are built". I was at the public meeting tonight and it was plainly stated that parks would be constructed in each phase. In phase one, you'll notice a dark...

But all private sector developments are planned in the sense of the word that you are employing. McMasions and EFIS-covered stacked townhouses are planned. Where does that leave us? Development is generally undertaken in a rational (i.e. means-ends) manner? And given that she's not clearly...

Not a full shut down like they do in NY or used to do here, but between Aug 17 and Sep 16, Yonge will be reduced to one lane, each direction, between Queen and Gerrard. The website isn't fully up yet, but should be soon.

I don't mean to sound pedantic, but the province requires municipalities to update their Official Plan every five years from the date of approval. So Toronto's current OP was actually written around 2002, but wasn't approved until 2006 by the OMB. The City is undertaking a review of the OP...

Don't forget that First Gulf - sister corporation to Great Gulf - undertakes office developments. I wouldn't necessarily count some office use out entirely.

I agree that it should be unnecessary - I don't understand how drivers don't see streetcar stops and a streetcar stopped at them and draw logical conclusions. Given that people do blow past streetcars at stops when people are getting on and off seems to indicate that some new "unmistakeable...

If the idea is that cars should not pass a streetcar when it is at a stop, the city should do something like paint a box in the curbside lane the length of the streetcar - something that signals "do not move your car into this area"

I wrongfully took your original post as a "Toronto is the centre of the universe" claim. That being said, you're definition of "national metropolis" seems to be based on a hierarchy that I think is far more permeable. I think that there is a network of national metropolises within Canada in...

That seems insufficient and based on an unhelpful assumption. A more precise argument would be that Toronto is one of many large metropolises in Canada, and as such the conduct of the leadership of its police service matters to people in other large metropolises insofar as a lack of obvert...

Homeless people? I was sure he was talking about Toronto's huge population of lepers, or maybe the Dalit, both of whom are known to salivate (if they still have the necessary glands in the former case) over any mention of new public space. I say we just privatize everything so our lives are no...

At a quick glance, the most ridiculous items of this proposal include: the 13 - 17 storey "base building" that looks like a bunch of tower in the park buildings glued together without the park; the canyon created on Princess street on the east side of the site; what appears to be an...

I think Taal is correct in stating that residential condo buildings hardly ever get redeveloped. I'm open to being corrected, but I can't think of a single condo building in Toronto that has been redeveloped. I have heard of a case in Vancouver, although generally it is hard to accomplish due to...

What I'm saying is that it's possible to both like the retail component and height (as I do), and dislike the architectural execution/design details (as I do). To respond to criticisms about architectural execution/design details with comments on how much retail it has or how tall it is is to...

IIRC, you haven't been touting Aura's architectural elegance, but I just wanted to point out that all of the reasons you've listed for liking Aura have nothing to do with the architectural critiques of Aura by other form members. I think this furthers my point that the former and latter views...

What I think is interesting is that a lot of the comments in favour of Aura applaud that it's bringing "more life", new retail, and new urban spaces to Yonge. That it is the tallest residential building in Canada is another point that is brought up frequently in its favour. All of these positive...

There's two important statements here. 1) Rob Ford has made remarks about AIDS being "pretty much" a gay disease. 2) Rob Ford has consistently voted against all AIDS-prevention money If one believes that there is a disease that only impacts a particular community, voting against programs that...

Sure there are lot's of other cities with better things than Toronto, nevertheless, there are lots of things that Toronto does well. In every thread you comment on it seems like you're either reminding people that Toronto isn't as great as somewhere else or your admonishing people for having...

Essentially what you are arguing is that historical preservation limits the supply of new housing, and that this limited supply coupled with high demand pushes up housing prices and reducing housing affordability. However, I think the role of historical preservation in this is overstated. Take...

I wasn't aware of Port Weller so I stand corrected on that front. However, all of the other port facilities you list seem to be operation/plant specific; that is, the port was presumably constructed for the specific operation/plant located at that site. I think this underlines my point that all...

One of the main reasons that industry has moved to the periphery of urban areas is because of the shift to just-in-time delivery in the logistics chain. This type of delivery is truck-based and thus access to highways is privileged in location decisions. That being said, not all inputs in the...