I was in Barcelona at about the same time and thought exactly the same thing! But it's really apples and oranges because University Ave. is what it is... 9-5 workers, government buildings, hospitals and large corporate buildings. Versus lively Las Ramblas full of people, retail shops...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/books/amazons-kindle-to-make-library-e-books-available.html Agree 100% with Admiral Beez and reflects my experience as well. The above is an article describing the current trend about libraries (in the US, Canada will follow suit). e-Books are going to...

I'm talking all taxes on all things, including double taxation taxes on taxes and taxes disguised as fees, and the more you dig the more you see. I'm sick of it, and given Ford's message and landslide election, I can't be alone. That I'm supposedly paying a slightly less municipal tax rate...

Not sure if it's that simple. My understanding is that licence taxes, plate taxes, tire taxes, fuel taxes, vehicle green taxes, the hated vehicle registration taxes, and other taxes vehicle owners pay, all went into the general revenue stream. So if you unbundle and specifically tie them to...

Wow, looks like everything is boarded up! Are other parts of the mall like this, or just sections of the mall?

Thanks! This article is dated May 2010, so it appears there's no new news. They're still listed in all the directories including the phone number. I'm tempted to call that number to see who owns it. I tried a google search and found an interesting blog from back in 2006 that explains some of...

If this is the Yung Sing on Baldwin, what the heck ever happened to them?

Given our high taxes, I wouldn't mind a little irrationality once in a while. ;-)

Not sure why no one has started a thread since Mr. Layton has been synonymous with Toronto politics for so long. Best wishes to his family, Olivia in particular. Thank you Mr. Layton for providing the inspiration and teaching us all the true meaning of persistence. May you forever RIP.

It's all well and good and so warm and fuzzy... let there be as many library branches as Tim Horton's... but who's going to pay for all this? We're told by the City that we'll be spending more than we take in and now we want to spend even more? Have you guys forgotten about the 2008 recession...

I don't visit this board often so missed this one. I agree that you never make any deals with door-to-door sales people and don't ever let them in your house to see your water heater, furnace or anything else. Someone may be able to confirm this but I think there's a 10-day cooling off grace...

Hmmm... 2 new board members and their first and only post in both cases is in a thread about this amazing restaurant... Shilling much? Kultura is a decent restaurant with mediocre food in tapas small plate style (at least the last time I went) to be shared with the table. It's decent for...

That French food is better in MTL and Asian food is better in TOR makes sense just based on the demographics. BYOB in Montreal is only allowed if the restaurant is not licensed. BYO in Toronto has not failed miserably. I do it all the time. As a wine collector intimate with wine prices, I...

I checked a long time ago, it's quite superficial (less than what you'd get in a corporate annual report) and not sufficient to make a meaningful decision on library closure on a branch-by-branch basis.

I don't see Ford as immature as much as I see him pushing his agenda through because he knows he has the authority to do so and you don't and we all know it. He's managing the City as a hard nose Executive would in a corporation and I've seen worse in a corporation. If this is immaturity, then...

The cycling lane issue is a strawman to this discussion, not touching that with a 10-ft pole. If a branch is so busy that people are waiting 30 min to use a computer, it's not going to be a candidate for closure. But are all 98 branches so busy? Maybe not. Probably not. I'm not saying...

FYI, a new "gourmet" Pizza restaurant in the same class as Pizzeria Libretto just recently opened in the midtown area on Mt. Pleasant called Viva Napoli. Haven't been yet but just glad this is opened in the area since Pizzeria Libretto is too far.

The OP asked a simple question and your patronizing, if not vitriol, responses don't really help. You could have just informed him that there's work on the tracks and that's causing the delays. Obviously the TTC did not do a good enough job informing the OP or else he wouldn't have to post...

The point of closing some library branches is to look for savings so that we can be fiscally responsible. If the population is growing then presumably more people to pay taxes increasing revenues thus offsetting increasing expeditures needed to open new branches, then I'm all for it. However...

I do get the sense that this 22-hour (or whatever) marathon public session is just a charade and Ford and his deputy brother are going to do what they're going to do. However, having said that, fiscal responsibility is not a vision but a requirement.