Here is an interesting housing chart from Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research (CUR) using data from CMHC: What it shows is (1) the number of new housing using created through the addition of secondary suites, such as basement apartments and laneway suites; (2) the… Read More
Toronto’s new garden suite (accessory dwelling unit) policies are headed to Planning and Housing Committee this week for approval. If you’d like to leave a supportive comment, you can do that over here by clicking “submit comments” at the top of the page. I just… Read More
I have written, many times over the years, about small-scale commercial uses in residential neighborhoods. Here in Toronto, they are generally not permitted. The small convenience stores and bodegas that remain are often legal non-conforming uses. Today I came across a great example from Calgary.… Read More
I love change. In fact, a big part of what I do for a living is imagining what things could be in the future. However, the bias that humans have toward the status quo has been well documented by people like Seth Godin, as well… Read More
I tweeted this out last night: blogTO then picked it up and it got quite a bit of engagement. Some people, okay a lot of people, used it as an opportunity to be tongue in cheek and respond with things like: cheaply built condos, boarded… Read More
Last night as I was walking home, I came across the recently completed Yonge + Rich condominiums at Richmond and Victoria (I think they won awards for this name back in the day). I stopped to look up because I was curious about one particular… Read More
This week Globizen announced a collection of new city tees. Each t-shirt comes with a custom hand-drawn logo and playful colors that are intended to reflect the spirit of each place. The first three cities are Toronto, Paris, and Park City (Utah). And the goal… Read More
We knew it was coming. But it’s important and worth mentioning again. This week, Toronto City Council adopted new Zoning Bylaw Amendments that will remove most parking minimums across the city. We now join many other cities across North America who have done similar things… Read More
This week the team submitted a rezoning application for the southwest corner of Yonge & St. Clair (1 St. Clair Avenue West). More of the details can be found over here on Urban Toronto, but so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive. People seem… Read More
Alex Bozikovic of the Globe and Mail recently made a good point in one of his articles about how challenging it is to properly “placemake” when it comes to large-scale masterplanned projects. This blog post is not at all intended as a commentary on any… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 