This week we speak about the problem of not enough density next to transit stations. More specifically, we spoke about Toronto’s low-rise residential neighborhoods, which are colored yellow in the city’s Official Plan. Well, as many of you know, the city is, in fact, working… Read More
This compare-and-contrast tweet between Toronto’s High Park and New York’s Central Park was not meant to suggest that New York is a perfect comparable to appropriate (Toronto is not New York), or that foliage isn’t important in our urban environments. Instead, it was meant to… Read More
I have a friend visiting from Detroit this weekend. We went to architecture school together at Penn. But unlike me, he decided to become a full fledged architect. Not surprisingly, he wants to see some new Toronto architecture while he’s here. I say new because… Read More
Last week the Ryerson City Building Institute published a terrific report on Toronto’s Great Streets. It profiles five streets in the city that have been “redesigned for greatness.” They are: Harbord Street (continuous bike lanes) Roncesvalles Avenue (placemaking and people) St. Clair Avenue West (dedicated streetcar… Read More
Over a year ago I wrote about a Kickstarter campaign that wanted to make a documentary to celebrate “the golden era of Canadian graphic design.” And after I wrote about it, my friend Dave Wex – who, like me, is a lover of all things Canada… Read More
“A building has at least two lives – the one imagined by its maker and the life it lives afterward – and they are never the same.” -Rem Koolhaas Tonight I went with a developer friend to see the documentary REM at the Hot Docs Cinema on… Read More
“Toronto is probably the world’s most diverse city.” That is how a new interactive documentary called The World in Ten Blocks starts. Produced by Lost Time Media and hosted at theglobeandmail.com, the documentary examines a ten block stretch of Toronto’s Bloorcourt neighborhood and tells the story… Read More
One June 13, 2016 from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, the City of Toronto will be hosting a community consultation meeting for the proposed redevelopment of Honest Ed’s / Mirvish Village. The meeting will be held at the Bickford Centre Auditorium at 777 Bloor Street West… Read More
Recently a good friend of mine told me that I had conflicting views in the world of politics. She more or less said to me: I know you’re a real estate developer and obviously a capitalist (read: right of center), but you also support what… Read More
Toronto can’t make up its mind right now as to whether it would like to invest in additional cycling infrastructure. Of course, we have a history of vacillating on topics like this. And I think it’s because we’re at a tricky inflection point. We are… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 