Last weekend I went by Sidewalk Toronto’s “experimental workspace” at 307 Lake Shore Blvd East. It is open to the public every Sunday from 11am to 5pm if you’d like to drop in. This week they had their #BuildingRaincoat on display, which is an adjustable… Read More
All posts tagged “city building”
Director, Real Estate
The University of Toronto is looking for a Director, Real Estate to manage their tri-campus portfolio of income producing real estate, as well as the development opportunities that they have on and adjacent to their three campuses. The downtown campus alone is over 120 buildings… Read More
Sidewalk Toronto releases draft site plan for Quayside
Yesterday Sidewalk Toronto released its draft site plan for Quayside. Here’s what it looks like: There’s a big emphasis on people-first streets and on the public realm. I like the idea of a waterfront plaza at the tip of the Parliament slip and of a… Read More
Red streetcar tracks
A few months ago when I wrote about “Toronto’s great streets” I mentioned that Queens Quay West – while magnificent – has had its share of issues. Cyclists and pedestrians often find themselves battling for space. And drivers are consistently driving in the wrong places.… Read More
Five year anniversary
Today is the five year anniversary of this daily blog. That’s over 1800 posts. It’s almost hard to believe that it has been that long. It seems like just yesterday I was on year 2 or 3. But at the same time, it’s almost hard… Read More
Preliminary design ideas for Toronto’s Quayside
Last week Sidewalk Toronto held a roundtable discussion here in the city and released some preliminary design ideas and strategies for Quayside. (That’s why Dan Doctoroff was talking on BNN Bloomberg.) I went through the full presentation this morning and below are a bunch of… Read More
The biggest challenge in revitalizing the Rust Belt
Jason Segedy, who is the Director of Planning and Urban Development for the city of Akron, Ohio, recently penned a two-part series in the American Conservative about urban revitalization in the Rust Belt. Part two is specifically about the importance of new housing in “cities left… Read More
Letter from Toronto on Google’s city of the future
Politico Magazine recently published this article about Sidewalk Toronto. It’s called: Google Is Building a City of the Future in Toronto. Would Anyone Want to Live There? If you’re familiar with what Sidewalk Toronto is up to, the first bit will likely cover things you… Read More
Toronto: 2000 vs. 2025
Last week, Joe Berridge, Partner at Urban Strategies, gave a presentation at the Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance titled, Toronto: The Accidental Metropolis. I’ve seen Joe give similar presentations to this one before, and I always thoroughly enjoy his focus on Toronto’s position as… Read More
Toronto Community Council voted unanimously in favor of laneway suites
It happened. Today, Toronto and East York Community Council voted unanimously in favor of adopting a planning framework that would allow laneway suites on lands within the Toronto and East York District that are designated as “Neighbourhoods.” If you’d like to see the actual vote (and… Read More