Archives /// May, 2012
June 26th, 2005
WELCOME TO THE SPACING WIRE
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Welcome to the Spacing Wire. This new feature on spacing.ca is designed to act as a hub for news, articles, events, websites, projects, and ideas about public space issues in Toronto and from around the world. We believe that for any of us to fully understand whose space is public space, we must know the current events that help shape our cities, for better or for worse.
In order for this feature to be successful we will need your help -- please forward us information about articles and sites and events that you think we should highlight. We ...
June 27th, 2005
Public Art in Vancouver Alleys
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
A group called Space Agency has organized a temporary public art project for alleyways in Gastown for a weekend in August.
http://www.spaceagency.ca/event.htm
Designing Toronto’s Streets
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The city of Toronto is currently engaged in setting design standards for new local residential streets in Toronto (not main streets). They are conducting public consultations, including a web-based survey (note - you may need to read the background info first before completing the survey).
The standards will have a powerful effect on the amount of public space in the city. For example, they will set the size of the Right-0f-Way (ROW), which is the amount of public space between private lots on the street - the space for sidewalks, trees and road. The development industry is ...
June 30th, 2005
The Halftone Conspiracy
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Halftone Conspiracy is a collaborative poster project. Monthly, the co-conspirators gather, with posters they've created in hand, to transform a pre-determined location. The posters can be of any size, shape or method that the conspirator chooses. The only rule is that the conspirator must create their poster based on the selected theme.
The first theme is "My Latest & Greatest Invention"
Check out the web site here .
In no way removed
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
While parks are recreational spaces where an individual or group can take a break from the urban environment, the parkette's natural environmental features are often negligible. There is rarely enough room to throw a Frisbee without it flying into oncoming traffic, and there is nothing essentially restful about a bench on seven square feet of grass along side a major city artery. The parkette is a marginal island of green in the midst of a sea of asphalt and concrete.
Parkette: In no way removed is an interesting public art intervention that is worth checking ...
July 2nd, 2005
Vienna goes ad-free
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
All the signs in a popular Vienna shopping district have been swathed in bright yellow fabric as part of an art project designed to spark debate about excess advertising. All advertising signs, slogans, pictograms, company names and logos — everything from the Starbucks coffee chain symbol to the signage for a bank — have been covered as part of the two-week project entitled "Delete!" by artists Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf.
Go to CBC Arts to read the article.
July 4th, 2005
Dufferin Grove + Little Malta
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing editor and flaneur Shawn Micallef wrote the City article for Eye this week.
And a nice little piece on Dufferin Grove in the "Wandering Eye" feature.
Toronto Trolls
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Toronto Troll project is currently running at Mercer Union. They're going to do art stuff in the city at night to remind us that the city still belongs to us, at night. Go to the website and see what they're up to. If you already feel you're in touch with Toronto at night, you should go down and let them know. I think they're looking for research subjects.
From the website:
This June, the French Collective Atelier Wundershà¶n Peplum (AWP) will transform the front gallery at Mercer Union into an alternative mobility hub for Toronto "nighttimers" through an engaging schedule ...
Make your own Toronto brand
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
In response to the dreadful and much-maligned new Toronto Brand, the Globe and Mail is offering to publish alternative branding ideas. "Send in your ideas for how you'd promote the TDot [sic] (slogans, campaigns, ads, random observations). We'll publish a selection of the best."
Send your suggestions to globetoronto@globeandmail.ca
July 5th, 2005
European talking about walking fest
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Swiss are hosting the 6th International Conference on Walking in the 21st Century, on the theme of "Everyday Walking Culture."
"The conference aims to increase recognition, in the opinion of public representatives, experts and policy-makers, of the positive contribution that walking makes to everyday city activities."
Check out in particular the "Walkshops."
July 6th, 2005
Lakeside
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Our very smart friends over the Toronto Environmental Alliance are getting into the cultural game with the opening on their art show Lakeside. The event is a collaboration between the environment and art communities on the question: Can our beaches thrive?
Opening night info:
When: July 7th, 2005 (7 - 10:00 p.m) at Gallery 1313
1313 Queen West, 2 blocks east of Lansdowne
Features a performance by artist Ilona Staples. Refreshments. Cash Bar.
The exhibit runs from July 6 - 24, 2005.
Artists: Catherine Lathwell; Dyan Marie; Fedora Romita; Freddie Towe; Ilona Staples; Katharine Harvey; ...
July 7th, 2005
Dundas Square – worst of both worlds
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto has agreed to start paying the operating costs of Dundas Square - including those security guards - but the space is still controlled by a private board. So now we have the worst of both worlds - the public pays for it, but it's not public space.
Howard Moscoe sums up the absurdity nicely:
"The square is very, very tightly controlled," he says. "City vendors, who are licensed by the city, can't even touch it. [The board] has all its rules, they've got all the power, and yet the city's picking up the bill — for one of ...
July 9th, 2005
Flying the Blue Flag
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In the last two weeks, both Eye and NOW have covered the Blue Flag project going on at some of Toronto's beaches. Spacing editor Dale Duncan also covered the flag waving situation in Spacing issue 3 (Dec. 2004). We think Eye's coverage is closer to the reality of the situation.
For Nicole Cohen's piece in Eye click here.
For NOW's Insight feature click here.
July 10th, 2005
Urbanism
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Chris Hardwicke runs a wonderful wesbite called urbanism.org which is a portal to the planning and architecture world. It functions in a similar fashion to the Spacing Wire. Chris also has contributed to Spacing, most recently in the Spring/Summer 2005 issue with is futuristic proposal for elevated bike network around Toronto. Check out his site.
Also, Shin-pei Tsay, of the Project for Public Spaces, keeps a great blog called Bird to the North about NYC urban design issues. Worth checking out.
July 11th, 2005
Team Recess
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Team Recess, a company "all about fun events for grown up Torontonians. Nothing too athletic and nothing too brainy, just a good time running around with friends" is starting to do things in our city.
So far they've organized a photographic scavenger hunt in Toronto. They've got sponsors too.
Full details here.
URBAN SCREENS 2005
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
An international conference on the potential for those huge TVs that proliferate our cities will be held in Amsterdam this September. Similar to the piece I wrote in the most recent issue of Spacing on the P2P interactive billboard project at the Drake Hotel, these folks are interested in what we could do with these screens other than just run endless loops of advertisements.
URBAN SCREENS 2005 is an international conference ranging from critical theory to project experiences by researchers and practitioners in the field of Art, Architecture, Urban Studies and Digital Culture. ...
July 12th, 2005
These street are not made for walking
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hume wrote an excellent column yesterday in the Toronto Star about the state of walking in this city. Check it out here.
SPACING PHOTOBLOG
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you haven't already seen it, Spacing has launched our own photoblog, SpacingPhotos. Every weekday a new image related to a theme will be posted from one of the city's numerous photobloggers. For the month of July, we are showcasing "History" in Toronto's public realm. Bookmark it and visit daily.
July 13th, 2005
40-storey ROM condo
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Royal Ontario Museum wants to build a 40-storey condominium tower on the current site of the McLaughlin Planetarium, and says it expects the development to generate controversy.
The tower, Mr. Thorsell said, will have "very high, very beautiful apartments. It's going to be the most beautiful residential building in the city -- and the most expensive, I would think."
The Globe and Mail suggests the tower plan is neccessary to pay for the ROM's shiny new addition.
Water Wars: From Durban to Toronto
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Toronto Environmental Alliance, in collaboration with Gallery 1313, present:
Water Wars: From Durban to Toronto
A Public Forum with:
Shelley Petrie, Executive Director, Toronto Environmental Alliance
Patrick Bond, Director, The Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Tony Clarke, Director, Polaris Institute, Ottawa
Thursday, July 21st 7- 9pm
Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre, 220 Cowan Ave.
Reception to follow at Gallery 1313
Sponsored by:
Toronto Environmental Alliance, Gallery 1313, York University International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School, and the Socialist Project.
Great idea, wrong funding model
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Could this be a Toronto bus stop? (image is from London's transit system)
Howard Moscoe, TTC Chair, has put forth a great idea -- install a display for bus arrival times along suburban routes. But with any good idea in Toronto comes a caveat -- the only way for the TTC to pay for it is to sell space to advertisers. The City of Toronto has recently received hundreds of millions of dollars for TTC-related projects, yet we have to turn to advertisers to pay for every new feature? Opposition to the subway video ...
July 14th, 2005
Viva York Region
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Close to home:
Viva - York Region's new rapid transit system - is making the TTC look silly. Their busstops have ticket vending machines, electronic ticket validators, and a real-time display that tells you exactly when to expect the next bus. Check out the other features to speed up bus transit at their website:
Viva
The whole system looks great. If only York Region had the density and street grid to support tranist.
Extreme Subway Makeovers
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Could drab, functional Museum station one day feel like an extension of the Royal Ontario Museum, with Greek columns in the place of its current yellow-tile pillars?
The Globe and Mail reports that architect Jack Diamond and the TTC are proposing artistic themed renovations to some subway stations. No images yet but, personally, I'd go for 50's tile over fake Greek columns anyday. The interactive video sounds cool though.
Bikes and feet
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hume had an outpouring of response to his recent column on the state of walking in Toronto. He mainly focused his derision on drivers, but many readers wrote in and complained about reckless cyclists. While riding on sidewalks is dangerous, I think people have to understand that cyclists are continuously in danger on the road -- especially when cars use bike lanes as their personal parking spot. This city is perfect for cycling (relatively flat) yet our infrastructure discourages it in so many ways. Sadly, a sidewalk is the safest place for cyclists some times.
Here's the column.
July 15th, 2005
Get to know the city this weekend
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This weekend there are a number of excellent public space related events that are worth checking out.
1. Sorauren Park Summer Festival. Saturday. Spacing is test-running Stories In Toronto, where a number of people share their true tales of life in public space. We will begin our own event in August. Lots of things to do from 1-11pm. More on their website.
2. Art exhibit at King Station. Starts Saturday. For his exhibit Wednesday January 5, 2005, artist Michael Brown collected a total of 69 individual transfers on a 10-hour trip on the TTC ...
July 16th, 2005
Generating An Alternative Night-Time Mobility
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Saturday, July 16th @ 10:00PM
Meeting points @ Mercer Union (37 Lisgar Street) and Front Street, in front of Union Station
Explore Toronto's public space by night with the Toronto Trolls. A night migration from Queen West to Regent Park and the Don Valley Ravine. Buses will drive participants from outdoor urban art performances, to hidden retreats in the Don Valley Ravine.
www.mercerunion.org
www.torontotroll.ca
Lost Space on Church
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Bert Archer has a new smart blog. He recently posted about the closing of the venerable Second Cup at Church and Wellesley - until recently home to the famous "Steps" - but the building owners didn't like all the people hanging out, so they bricked up the Steps, effectively killing the defacto public space they oversaw. Bert had this to say about the Second Cup closing:
Serves them right.
It's rare that you see direct repercussions from businesses doing bad things. The market seems to have a way of taking care of the evil-doers. Which makes this For Lease sign a ...
July 17th, 2005
Sinister Paradise of Dubai
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Dubai, the Las Vegas of the Middle East, has a distinctive and inviolable criterion when it comes to development in its city: everything must be "world class," which means number one in The Guinness Book of Records. Thus Dubai is building the world's largest theme park, the biggest mall, the highest building, and the first sunken hotel among other firsts.
But the building of this city is rife with stories of modern-day slavery and organized crime. Mike Davis, the author of important books like Dead Cities and City of Quartz, wrote a great piece posted on ...
July 18th, 2005
The Beautiful City Billboard Fee
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Them.ca, a Toronto-based non-profit street art organization, announced today the launch of a new project called The Beautiful City Billboard Fee (BCBF). The BCBF proposes that billboard companies pay an annual fee with the proceeds used to commission public art. The BCBF could fund the renewal and celebration of local communities through creative expression.
Also annouced by Them.ca, a poll conducted by Pollara found that 66% of Canadians support the BCBF initiative. The results were identical in Toronto. This is all very encouraging news for those concerned about ad encroachment ...
Coke wants billboard removed
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
An interesting battle is going down in India between Coca-Cola and photogrpaher Sharad Haksar. He has been using a billboard space for three years to focus on Indian social issues. His current billboard (image above) is a commentary on how the country is experiencing water shortages yet Coke is widely available in the country. Activists also claim water shortages usually accompany the arrival of a Coca-Cola bottling factory. The billboard has "inflicted incalculable damage to the goodwill and brand of Coke," says one of their lawyers. The soft drink ...
July 19th, 2005
Live Action Scotland Yard (L.A.S.Y.)
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Joel Friesen runs a transit tag game on the TTC. Live Action Scotland Yard (L.A.S.Y.) is a giant game of hide and seek. One guy tries to hide by using the subway system while three or four other people have to find out where he is by the clues he leaves and the dispatchers phoned in instructions.
NEXT GAME: Saturday, July 23rd, 2005
More info here...
The Beaches Guardian Angel
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It is not often that a newspaper does an obituary on a street person, but the Toronto Star did so this past weekend on The Beaches' Steve Whale. He'd carry bags of groceries home for eldery women, watch unlocked bikes, sold Outreach, tended to the dogs of shoppers, and became a hard-working and welcome fixture in the community.
Check out the story here. (registration required to enter site)
July 20th, 2005
Toronto 1966
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Cyberia, "The Urban Planning Portal", has a forum section where somebody posted some hot pictures from the top of the TD Centre in 1966, when it was being built. They're huge pictures, and will sprawl right off your computer, but it's so much fun to look at Toronto back then. City Hall was even more striking and space age surrounded by old straight Toronto the Good - and some kind of radio tower where the Sheraton is now. It's like a snapshot of Toronto coming of age and beginning to loosen up: ...
Get Lost
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Village Voice reviews A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit.
We live in an increasingly standardized environment, bouncing from one branch of Starbucks to another, and it's almost impossible to get truly lost thanks to technology. Solnit believes that our fear of not knowing where we are is partly due to our inability to read the language of nature. "There's an art to attending to the weather, to the route you take, to the landmarks along the way. . . . And there's another art of being at home in the ...
July 21st, 2005
A Summer’s walk along Concord & Delaware
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Architectural Conservancy presents A Summer's Walk down verdant Concord & Delaware Avenues on Sunday July 24th at 2PM. Why these streets? "Some of the architecture is quite ambitious, some is work-a-day, but nearly all is vibrant," so says their website. All the info is over here..
Does Toronto need a design review panel?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
John Sewell wrote a column in Eye this week on Toronto's desire to implement a design review panel for architecture and urban design. There are many people pressing the city to move forward quickly with this, but there are others who think the city's needs to set better urban planning guidelines, something that is missing from the Toronto's Official Plan. Read it now.
Garbage on our streets
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Christopher Hume trashes Eucan's Monster Garbage cans in today's Toronto Star:
The path to civic greatness is littered with wannabe cities. The ones that make it are those that grasp the fact that every element of the urban landscape is important and that all are connected. This includes everything from the biggest elements, buildings and roads, to the smallest, like garbage bins and telephone poles.
Read article in The Star.
If you oppose these things, get involved here.
What to do with Scarborough RT
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There is some real concern about what is going to happen to the aging Scarborough Rapid Transit line. It was built with unique and not-widely used technology that is hard to replace. Check out Councillor Brian Ashton's concerns in The Star today.
Funky retro image from the Transit Toronto website.
July 22nd, 2005
Scared of heights
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Two articles in today's Globe and Mail have contrasting arguments about tall buildings in Toronto and their relationship to public space.
John Bentley Mays addresses Toronto's fear of heights while Stephen Teeple and Khaldoon Ahmad defend medium density.
Unfortunately neither of the articles address the relationship between real estate values and height which would take some of the mystery out of why developers continue to propose tall buildings in the face of neighbourhood criticism.
July 24th, 2005
Center for the Study of Pedestrian Culture
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
"The Center for the Study of Pedestrian Culture is a portal for place-based research and creative projects, focused primarily on the humble and revolutionary act of walking. Artists, writers, composers, psychogeographers, historians, architects, general walkers, and anyone interested in issues of place are welcome to contribute articles, reviews, news, bibliographic entries, projects, artist statments, syllabi, etc."
July 26th, 2005
Slow Street Movement
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Toronto Star has two articles about pedestrians today. Slow streets, safer driving? looks at Eric Dumbaugh's study: "Safe Streets, Livable Streets" (small pdf) which shows that roads with wide sidewalks and streetscape treatments such as trees are safer because the busy street scene causes drivers to slow down. The response from City staff quoted in the Star seems defensive.
Lawsuits cost city $49 million reveals the City's Lawsuit settlement history. It turns out that about half the settlements — $24.3 million — were agreed to by the City's ...
July 28th, 2005
Get out of the city in the city
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing managing editor Dale Duncan wrote the cover story for Eye Weekly this week, "Urban Escape: how to get away from the concrete grind without leaving Toronto." And Spacing associate editor and [murmur] mastermind Shawn Micallef also wrote about the Toronto Islands as our very own Brighton Beach.
Trashing EUCAN bins
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Toronto Star columnist Slinger wrote a great piece ripping apart the EUCAN monster garbage bins. And he didn't stop the blame game there -- he took city councillors to task for the idiocy of even going ahead with this pilot project. He asks, "how many councillors does it take to make the city uglier?"
Read all about it here (The Star needs registration).
NOW takes on smog
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Last week NOW ran an article on the top 10 things Toronto can do to fight smog in the city. The ideas may be unrealistic in the current political climate, but they are the right things to do. This week, Mayor David Miller responds to each item.
July 29th, 2005
TTC to test two-hour tranfer system
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The TTC is embarking on a new initiative that will be piloted on St Clair Ave. for the next 18 months. Passengers will be able to request a 'time transfer' that will allow a rider to enter and exit the streetcar for up to 2 hours using a transfer that you request from the driver. This will allow you to hop on and off the streetcar, all on one ticket.
The pilot will start in September and continue until the end of the St Clair right-of-way streetcar track re-construction.
Book launch tonight!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee are presenting a book launch tonight starting at 7:30pm at the Victory Cafe (on Markham, a block west of Bathurst and a block south of Bloor). Come and join the editors of Belltown Paradise / Making Their Own Plans for a presentation of their new double book. Yes, a double book! Editors Brett Bloom and Ava Bromberg will present their work, share stories, and answer questions.
Belltown Paradise / Making Their Own Plans tells inspiring stories of urban renewal through the eyes of the artists, environmental visionaries, and local ...
The Bridge
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Shadowland, a neat theatre company located on our Toronto Islands, has some festvities planned for tonight called "The Bridge" on Ward's Island marking the 25th anniversary of the undestruction of their homes.
The Bridge begins at the Ward's Island Clubhouse with a special viewing of Matthew Ferguson's short film The Day at the Bridge - and continues with their annual Fire Parade and theatrical reenactment of the Islanders victory.
It all starts at 7pm tonight. More info here.
This just in: Gridlock is Bad
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
John Tory just announced the Ontario Conservative initiative to solve our Gridlock problem. They've set up this website, as a place where you can tell them what you think about Gridlock, and also share your ideas with the Tory trafficologists.
We don't want to be cynical and pre-judge something from the party most festooned with SUVs, so we'll assume this is Tory doing what the opposition party should do. So, we should all go to site and contribute and counteract the people who will say more lanes on the DVP are the solution. Tell them you ...
July 30th, 2005
Public space Saturday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Globe and Mail had a bunch of interesting articles today. The first article was about the number of stray cats running around in our alleys. Some say there are 500,000 homeless kitties, while others contest there are only 250,000. The second article focused on the plans being put forward to reclaim the middle lane of Jarvis Street and turn it into a median. The project would also widen the sidewalks and include other streetscaping niceties. The third article talks about the business opportunities, and changing dynamics, on Toronto's only clothing ...
July 31st, 2005
Transmedia 29:59 Launch in Dundas Square
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
TRANSMEDIA :29:59
A project by Year Zero One
Curated by Michael Alstad and Michelle Kasprzak
This Wednesday, August 3rd, a programme of one minute videos by artists will be launched on the pedestrian-level billboard in Dundas Square. Two videos will play each hour, on the 29th and 59th minutes. Launching on August 3rd on the 29th minute of each hour is "Movie Stars" by Manu Luksch, and on the 59th minute, "Screen Kiss" by Jillian McDonald. These two artists will have their videos broadcast on the 29th and 59th minutes of every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days ...
August 1st, 2005
Should Canadian cities install security cameras on streets?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Globe and Mail runs daily opinion polls, and the question posed the other day was: "Most of London is monitored by police cameras. Should Canadian cities follow suit?" Of nearly 14,000 votes, 61% said yes, and 39% said no. We are shocked to see these kind of numbers. If anyone one can explain this to us, please email us with an answer. We'll post some responses.
August 2nd, 2005
Parking Lot of Dreams
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Toronto Star has a good story today dispelling myths about public space in the burbs. The dance troupe Rated Inc. reclaims a Jane and Finch area parking lot for night time practice - animating public space and drawing onlookers.
Public Office Space
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Globe and Mail has a rare article about the increased demand for better office space including bicycle amenities, better food and public-private space. Unfortunately the article doesn't link these amenities to adjacent public space. The good news is that the employees are putting the pressure on the companies and thus the landlords to provide better space for everyone.
[murmur] wants your Spadina Stories!
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
[murmur] is happy to announce we have started on our biggest project yet: Toronto's Spadina Avenue. We are currently searching for and recording stories that have occurred along the street, from Bloor to Queens Quay.
We want you to tell us your stories: short tales and anecdotes that are located, at least in part, somewhere on Spadina. They could have happened last week or 50 years ago. Also, we're interested in the stories you know about - the history and events you tell people about when you walk down the street with them. If it means ...
Reading Toronto Spits
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Guest writer Chris Thomaidis has put up a series of posts on the Reading Toronto blog about the Leslie Street Spit/Tommy Thompson Park. He talks about the birds, the weird "art" one can find there and the constant truck activity during the day. Some nice pictures too.
It complements the article Trevor Haldenby wrote about the Spit in the current issue of Spacing which, as they say, is available on newstands now.
August 3rd, 2005
Spacing goes national!
By Spacing // No Comments
This image was captured by a Spacing reader in Halifax outside the city's seminal newsstand Atlantic News. Why is a store in Halifax carrying our mag? Well, Spacing now has national distribution. Sixty-eight stores across the country now carry the magazine, including twenty-four outlets here in Toronto. We just received the list of stores from our distro people, Magazines Canada, so we hope to have each and every location up on the site very soon. If you live in Canada and want Spacing at a store near you, all you have to ...
Spying on Gated Communities
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
A group called Heavy Trash has installed "viewing platforms" on the edges of gated communities in Los Angeles.
Heavy Trash is "an anonymous arts organization of architects, designers and urban planners". Their blog extensively documents their viewing platform project, which aims to stimulate dialogue about urban issues. Their blog also has some excellent information about gated communities, and instructions on how to build your own viewing platform.
Via archinect, and Space and Culture.
August 4th, 2005
Best Public Spaces in the World
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Project for Public Spaces, a non-profit out of NYC that helps communities and cities build smart public spaces, has an interesting feature on their website called Great Public Spaces. It focuses on markets, parks, streets, buildings, and neighbourhoods. Their August newsletter added 10 new highly-touted public spaces (Vancouver's Stanley Park was the only Canadian entry).
Also check out two other features: Five of the World's Most Overrated Places, and the list of Five Endangered Public Spaces.
Saturday: De-Fencing in the Annex!
By Dave Meslin // No Comments
On Saturday August the 6th, the Downtown De-Fence Project will be liberating eight houses from the strangulation of their rusting, isolating chain link fences.
Join them -- all you need is your hands (although if you have any pliers, garden clippers, wire cutters, power grinders, etc., you should bring those too). Get a free workout and beautify the city at the same time!
Click here for locations, photos & more info.
Comments on police cameras in public space
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A few days ago we asked for your comments on The Globe and Mail's opinion poll question: "Most of London is monitored by police cameras. Should Canadian cities follow suit?" (results were: 61% yes, 39% no). Here is what we received:
------------
My impression is that people who live outside Toronto have a very different impression of public space than we do here. I have friends and family in Cambridge, Waterloo, Whitby, etc. And, being suburbia, these cities are not designed for pedestrians - so when pedestrians are sighted, they are sinister. People never venture outside their homes... The ...
Halftone Conspiracy this weekend
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Halftone Conspiracy is a collaborative poster project open to anyone. Monthly, the co-conspirators gather, with posters they've created in hand, to transform a pre-determined location. The posters can be of any size, shape or method that the conspirator chooses. The only rule is that the conspirator must create their poster based on the selected theme.
THEME: is "My Latest & Greatest Invention"
MEET DATE/TIME: Saturday August 6th, 1:00 PM
MEET LOCATION: South-East corner of Bloor & Brunswick (Look for the conspirator with the staple gun and a bunch of posters)
August 5th, 2005
The outdoors helps your brain, kids!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A decent article from Orion on kids who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and how green spaces can help their affliction. It seems that after spending time in green space or near nature (even just looking through a window at it), kids had better attention and were less irritable. The article theorizes that maybe anxiety and irritability are really symptoms of what they call 'Nature deficit disorder'.
A flâneur manifesto
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Shawn Micallef reveals in Eye this week the key to Toronto's hidden beauty through walking:
We're told, over and over, that Toronto is not Paris, New York, London or Tokyo. We're trained to be underwhelmed. Will Alsop told The Globe and Mail earlier this year that when he first came to Toronto he found it "unbelievably ugly." He's sort of right. Toronto seems to exist without design or reason. We don't expect to turn the corner and see beauty or to be amazed. Why then, are so many people amazed about being Torontonian right now?
Neighbourhood walks in west Toronto
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Architectural/social historian Alec Keefer, President of Architectural Conservancy Toronto, is leading a series of walks in Parkdale, High Park and the Liberty areas on Sunday afternoons during the summer and fall, rain or shine. (All proceeds support Parkdale Community Information Centre).
The next one is this Sunday:
Living South of King — August 7, 2005
"This walk features residential architecture of the highest quality in the area from Dunn Avenue east to Tyndal Avenue. You will trace the evolution of the design of turn-of the 20th century housing as well as the growth and development of apartment buildings between 1910 and 1970. ...
Subway to Nowhere
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
German artist Martin Kippenberger envisioned a sort of global underground system, with stations as far apart as Greece and Germany, and in his art projects inspired by this concept, installed many entrances to the imagined global subway system, most of which lead to nowhere.
Kippenberger has been dead for eight years. The Canadian iteration in this work is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Dawson City, Yukon. It's the first and only "subway" in the Yukon. The subway entrance was built by his friend, Reinald Nohal. The project is playful, suggesting that the entrances to ...
August 6th, 2005
Terror and the TTC
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star reports on the 10-year anniversary of the subway accident just north of Dupont station which killed three people and injured 140. According to most transit observers, that fatal crash changed everything at the TTC. Read it here.
The Globe and Mail ran a small first-person article today about the writer's experience with a "missing backpack" found on a streetcar and all the paranoia that came with it. I have conflicting thoughts about terror in Toronto: I'd like to think Canada/this city are not very important to terrorists, but I also think 'why not ...
Street signs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you haven't noticed, over the last few months the city has been installing new street signs to replace some of the rusting and aging wayfinders (the image above is the older designs being replaced). Some say they are cheap looking while others boast of their readability. Read all about it in the Toronto Star today.
image by Hans Boldt & Sylvana Grisonich-Boldt
Home Tours with Darren O’Donnell
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As part of the Summerworks festival, Darren O'Donnell's theatre company brings you Home Tours. Darren will take an audience around the neighbourhood, knock on random doors and see who will give a tour of their home. Maybe they will give you some food.
When: Monday, August 8, 2005, 2:00PM
Where: Meet at Factory Theatre Courtyard, Bathurst and Adelaide
Why: Ideal entertainment for the end of the world
August 8th, 2005
Fallen Fruit
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A community group out of LA is trying to convince people to lobby their cities to plant fruit trees. They declare: "Our cities are planted with frivolous and ugly landscaping, sad shrubs, and neglected trees, whereas they should burst with ripe produce. Great sums of money are spent on young trees, water and maintenance. While these trees are beautiful, they could be healthy, fruitful and beautiful."
Check it out here.
Suburban homelessness
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In the Toronto Star today: "As houses sprout like dandelions in new subdivisions all over the suburban GTA, the regions around Toronto have the look of an upwardly mobile, middle-class paradise. But the large houses and swimming pools that dot the landscapes of Durham, York, Peel and Halton regions mask a quieter and related trend: families losing their homes and winding up in shelters." read article here.
Reading Toronto podcasts
By Spacing // No Comments
The Reading Toronto blog has a new podcast feature up on their site. There is an interview with Matt Blackett of Spacing, and two other interviews with [murmur], and the Toronto Psychogeopgraphy Society. To check them out click here.
Sim City comes to life
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From Boy Reporter Ron Nurwisah:
Remember Sim City, the wildly popular game that let you be your own Robert Moses (or Jane Jacobs), constructing cities, mapping out highways, waterworks, public transit and other amenities?
The gamers were onto something. An article in the Boston Globe (registration required, or use this site to get around it) looks at how a few cities in the US are using software like Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to involve the public in planning decisions that would've been cost-prohibitive and time consuming just a few years ago. The software ...
August 9th, 2005
Pedestrian death and transit safety
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The TTC and Toronto Police are launching a safety campaign that targets aggressive drivers, impatient cyclists, and pedestrians running into traffic to catch a streetcar or bus. It comes a day too late as a 26-year old woman was struck by a car yesterday when she was rushing to catch a bus in the Steeles and Kennedy area in Scarborough. Read all about it.
Accidental Cyclists
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
A group of concerned cyclists has started a project called Ghostcycle in Seattle. The group gathered data about local bicycle collisions and then chained up 40 white bicycle memorials (password) around the city. Maybe Toronto needs a similar reminder.
Meanwhile Planet Ark reports that Americans purchased more bicycles than new cars and trucks combined in the past year -- and all without employee discounts or zero-percent financing.
August 10th, 2005
Transit geeks can make their kids transit geeks
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you have a little one on a school vacation and want to start your pro-transit brainwashing (which we encourage) you should check out this event taking place Thursday by the fine people at GO Transit.
The City as a Playground
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Back in Spacing #3 (Work & Play issue, Dec. 2004) we profiled parkour and urban games. The Star and the Globe have recently caught on to these events. The Star article focused on Manhunt, Capture the Flag, Scotland Yard. The Globe did their part by profiling the art of buildering.
Oh Wente
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I avoid Margaret Wente's column generally, because by doing so I remember that the Globe is a good paper with columnists who actually do some research. Yesterday she wrote about her SUV, and strangely, freedom. And how freedom is linked to her right to drive her SUV. It's mostly a cranky rant designed to enrage - the way my dad tells me to eat meat though I'm a vegetarian. It's a blog-worthy level of discourse (ahem) - not sure how this stuff makes it into Canada's Standard-Bearer of the news. This part was particularly stupid:
It's no accident that bus ...
Big Brother is Broke
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Globe and Mail reports that the Feds would love to put video cameras in all public transit but they don't have the cash right at the moment. Transportation Minister Jean Lapierre isn't scared though:
"According to all the security reports I read, there are no immediate threats to Canada; however, it's one of the countries targeted by the terrorists."
Although I doubt he takes public transit often.
The Globe doesn't mention any privacy concerns. Perhaps the Feds should be looking for funding to put video cameras in all private vehicles as well? ...
Meeting on the fate of the Gardiner & Street Design
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Thursday August 11, 2005 starting at 6:30
Location: 115 the Esplanade (near Church St.)
East meeting room, ring bell
6:30pm: street design
7:30pm: the future of the Gardiner & smog reduction efforts
At 6:30 pm there will be a discussion on the characteristics for future arterial streets or boulevards in Toronto with Stephanie Tencer, a city planner specializing in streets and urban design. This is a meeting of Feet On The Street, in association with Rocket Riders.
FOTS is working on a plan to reduce car use and smog in the central area of Toronto (& perhaps other areas). Plans to ...
August 11th, 2005
Graffiti Is Art
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Graffiti Education: A seminar, from the Artist's perspective
History, significance, appreciation, culture, style, future?
Next Seminar: Tuesday August 16th ~ FREE
Scadding Court Community Centre (corner of Dundas & Bathurst)
Room #1, 7pm to 9pm
contact: graffitiseminar@yahoo.ca
For more info on graffiti seminars, murals and events in Toronto check out their website.
What are we scared of?
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
We love Christopher Hume. He is a valiant defender of the public realm. Sometimes he gets so excited about his cause that his writing becomes frenetic. Today he has a particularly sloppy rant about risk aversion in public space design in the Toronto Star.
For more thoughtful reading on the subject try this excellent publication: What are we scared of? (pdf link). Via
From CABE a great resource for research about public space, planning and architecture in the UK. ...
Spacing featured in New Statesman
By Spacing // No Comments
This week, the New Statesman and the Australian Financial Review are running edited versions of an article called "The future of the human race depends on public space" that originally appeared in Ode magazine. The article, penned by former Utne editor Jay Walljasper, talks about Copenhagen, Barcelona, Cape Town, and Toronto (focusing on Spacing). Check it out.
Alley Jaunt
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you need an art fix this weekend, Alley Jaunt is your poison. This Saturday and Sunday, the back alley garages surrounding Trinity Bellwoods Park are transformed into art exhibits, installations, performance, and film/video venues. This year Alley Jaunt presents over forty local artists and invites the public to explore their work through the city's less traveled passage ways. Follow the path of chalk drawings and flags to guide you to the participating garages and join the local community in turning these private spaces into public gathering areas.
August 12th, 2005
Cutting trees to save trees
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Approximately 7,000 trees will be cut down in Toronto and Vaughan in an attempt to stop the ongoing Asian long-horned beetle infestation. The massive felling, which follows the removal of more than 16,000 trees over the past two years, is set to start Aug. 22 in three areas in Vaughan and one in Toronto. Read all about it in the Toronto Star today.
Urban Oases
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The amazing Jeff Chapman has a wonderful website called Urban Oases that chronicles his, uh, times spent in Toronto fountains. He writes:
"What is it about Canada that inspires Canadians to build so many wonderful fountains? I think Canadians are just excited by the idea of water that isn't frozen, and more impressed with the novelty of seeing water move."
August 13th, 2005
Changing tides of Chinatown
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From the Toronto Star today: "Community leaders believe two seemingly contradictory goals — clinging to tradition and more savvy marketing — will help the neighbourhood stay vibrant in the face of fierce competition from slick Chinese-style malls in the suburbs. That may entail everything from street events like this weekend's Chinatown Festival to courting U.S. tourists or holding a clean-up-the-neighbourhood campaign." Read it here.
August 14th, 2005
Community garden in Kensington
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A mystery washing machine, filled with dirt and flowers, has appeared on sidewalks around Kensington over the last few weeks. Spacing intern Liz Worth reports on the search for the responsible parties in this week's Wandering Eye feature in Eye Weekly.
Finding the soul of Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing's friend Pier Girogio DiCicco, Toronto's poet laureate, wrote an emotional piece in the Star about Toronto and the city's search for a soul. DiCicco and other Torontonians were sent by City officials on a mission to London, Barcelona, and Berlin to understand what gives each city a buzz. He comes to some interesting conclusions is his uniquely eloquent way. Check it out here.
August 15th, 2005
Dark News
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
In the Toronto Star today:
Christopher Hume sees the dark and supports the cause for annual blackout day. Meanwhile renegade senior citizens fight graffiti with sunny graffiti.
Billboards we like
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A group of young anti-war activists liberated a billboard in Los Angeles to make their voices heard. You can watch the Quick Time video by clicking here.
Report Card on monster bins
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee have released a report card on the city's monster garbage bin pilot project -- the Megabin's parents are not going to be pleased. If you have seen these trash cans and wish to give the City of Toronto your opinion then fill out their survey. Your feedback will help shape the outcome of this horrible experiment.
August 16th, 2005
Ride the Rocket subway party
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On Tuesday, August 16th, you are invited to join a subway party for a night of cosmic proportions. Bring: costumes, instruments, bubbles, decorations, cameras, space toys, glowsticks, moon boots or just a friend to the end of the southbound platform of Downsview station at 11:22 PM. Your destination: alpha centauri! You blast off with enough time to catch the last rocket back to Earth.
For more info go here.
Reducing emissions in the GTA
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Environment columnist Cameron Smith asks, "Can the progress achieved by the Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto be expanded to the much larger GTA? The answer to this question is probably yes, but the yes comes with a very big 'if'." Read on.
Scientific Art
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Ontario Science Centre has a new website showing the shortlist of pubilc artworks for its Grand Hall. There are some provocative and interesting works, most of which are interactive or kineteic. They are looking for public feedback. Check it out.
Ad share
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Guardian has a story about the rapid succes of Vélo'v which is reportedly the largest bike share organization in the world.
Vélo'v uses computerized racks with prepaid cards to distribute its 1500 bikes around Lyon. It operates more like Toronto's Autoshare than Bikeshare with a sprinkle of Eucan's funding model. It seems Vélo'v is run by a billboard multinational, which agreed to launch and operate the bike scheme in part-exchange for the right to sell advertising space on the city's bus and tram ...
August 17th, 2005
Ride classic streetcars Aug 20th!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A tip from our friends at the Transit Toronto blog: The TTC will be pressing its fleet of classic streetcars into service on Saturday, August 20, on the 509 Harbourfront route, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The move is in celebration of the opening of the Canadian National Exhibition. This will be a rare opportunity to ride the TTC's two restored PCCs (4500 and 4549) and its Peter Witt (2766) in regular service at regular fares. (Photo taken from Transit Toronto site as well).
August 18th, 2005
Philosopher’s Walk & talking TTC buses
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In the Toronto Star today, columnist Christopher Hume talks about the plans to fix up University of Toronto's Philosopher's Walk. And next month the TTC plans to roll out their automated bus stop announcement system on the Bayview 11 route, a six-month pilot project, and hopefully expand it to the entire system. The Globe and Mail did a similar story but focused instead on the blind lawyer who has been fighting the TTC to immediately implement this system.
The Other Way
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
For those of you who are considering submitting something for The Better Way exhibition, take a look at this Metro Arts and Architecture website insitisting that subways need not be boring or dreary! Packed with great examples from other cities.
GO Transit email alerts
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
GO Transit patrons may benefit from a new service offered by the agency: a free e-mail subscription service that lets passengers sign up for timely, customized news about the GO service they use. To register, passengers can visit this site to subscribe to the service. Customers who register for GO's E-News will receive e-mail alerts about service improvements, new schedules, any major delays, construction notices, and other news and information.
August 19th, 2005
Mayor doesn’t need more power
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing thinks the most public of public spaces in Toronto should be City Hall. It is where the beacon of local democracy should fly highest. There are many discussions currently underway that focus on how our local democracy can work better, with an emphasis on the power of the mayor, city council, and community councils. One of Spacing's favourite councillors, Joe Mihevc, wrote an opinion piece in the Toronto Star today rejecting the need to give more power to the mayor's office. More power in the mayor's office is great with Miller at the helm, he ...
A new bike rack painter
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
They say imitation is form of flattery, so the City Beautification Ensemble should be pleased that they are spawning copycats. The CBE, known around the city for painting Toronto's "ring and post" bike racks and bringing colour therapy to our streets, has a fan in an anonymous man (shown above) who has spent the better part of the summer painting bike racks and utility poles along Roncesvalles Ave. in the Parkdale area. Many thanks to Adam Krawesky of www.inconduit.com (and Spacing contributor) for alerting us and use of the image.
We Heart Dufferin Grove Park
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing editor Dale Duncan, writes in Eye this week: "From the bus stop outside Dufferin Mall, Dufferin Grove seems like many of the other 1,460 parks in the city of Toronto. But the 5.75-hectare park, which runs along Dufferin Street...is not your ordinary park. The Zamboni garage also functions as a kitchen. Park staff bake cookies in the rink house. Neighbours gather for healthy $6 dinners every Friday night. You can make pizza in the outdoor ovens, start a garden, and buy organic food."
August 20th, 2005
Parks Canada temporarily suspends Geocaching
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Parks Canada has temporarily suspended Geocaching (featured in Spacing's "Work and Play" issue) in national parks because of a variety of concerns about its impact on the parks. They are consulting with the Geocaching community to find a way to resolve these concerns.
See the Parks Canada website for more information.
Spacing on AM 640
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing will be featured on AM 640 Sunday afternoon from 2:30-3:00pm here in Toronto. You can also catch a spot on [murmur] earlier in the day at 12:15 on the same station. Tune in if you can.
August 21st, 2005
Subways make underwater reefs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Not sure how many of you know this (we just found out, too): since 2001, a slew of New York City subway cars have been dumped into the ocean up and down the east coast of the US to help create artifical reefs. Good Humor trucks have even been used. This seems insane to us, and some states have decided to stop this weird practise. Read about it here or read about unwated toilets in a similar experiment on the west coast.
Paris artists need your help
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
We know this happens all over the world but we still wanted to bring your attention to it: A group of artists in Paris have taken over a big, abandoned ministry of education building which has sat empty for 10 years. The artists cleaned it up, renamed it La Générale, and now it is home to studios, a gallery, musical and drama practice spaces, a theatre and a public cafeteria. The artists have reached out to local youth, schools, businesses. The mayor of the district supports the artists' reclamation of the building. But the ministry of education ...
August 22nd, 2005
Recycled Trash Bins
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
ArchitectureChicago PLUS reports on the finalists for a Chicago's Young Architect's Forum's competition for a recycling receptacle in Chicago. The bins are strange, quirky, fun and a little weird. My favorite is the green ball that sits on existing trash bins. It reuses the existing bin which is what recycling is all about.
Strange they don't seem to have giant ads on them either.
The Streets Are Alive cinema series
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee are starting a monthly fundraising event called The Streets Are Alive that features six independent films about the cities we live in, the spaces we share, the obstacles we face, and the people who are trying to make a difference. All films are at the Bloor Cinema (Bloor and Bathurst). Each screening is followed by a Q & A with guest speakers. The first film night is Tuesday August 23 featuring "City Space: Power, art and public space" (2004).
For more info on films, dates, and times check out the ...
Banksy graffiti on Israel’s wall
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The British "guerrilla graffiti" artist Banksy has created a series of graffiti on the security wall that Israel is building through the West Bank - often through the midst of Palestinian communities. The images of freedom and long views he has created subtly highlight the the way the wall in fact restricts movement and sightlines for Palestinians.
He also concedes that the enormous height and length of the wall "makes it the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers."
Find out more from the Guardian, including the interesting ...
Spadina tree pits in bloom
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Someone has been planting lush, beautiful gardens in the pits around trees on both sides of Spadina south of Sullivan. Possibly, in order to do so, they have been removing the hideous concrete lids which normally cover tree pits.
It is a wonderful initiative. The trees along that part of Spadina are particularly sad, dying regularly in their shallow, concrete-covered pits. The concrete lids, which are supposedly needed so that no-one treads on the roots, prevent rainwater from getting into the soil, exacerbating the watering problems of these trees. ...
August 23rd, 2005
Watching the highways
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
We at Spacing hate to see traffic jams. Only bad things comes from auto congestion: pollution, idling, missed dinners, flared tempers, etc. For those of you that need to take the highway regularly, you will appreciate this website: the City of Toronto lets you look at the flow of traffic along the Gardiner Expressway, Lake Shore Boulevard, and the Don Valley Parkway from any camera that you wish. The image above, just outside the SkyDome, is being updated as the day goes on.
Another feature on the City's website is the ...
iPod subway maps
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
An inventive web designer by the name of William Bright is making us transit geeks get all excited. He has developed a site where you can download images of the subway maps of 12 major subway cities from around the world and place them on your iPod. There is a photo feature that comes with your iPod that allows you to display an image of your choice (instead of always staring at the song listing). The maps you can download are: Berlin, Bilbao, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Lyon France, Melbourne, Montreal, ...
August 24th, 2005
TTC Rider needs tips
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The TTC Subway Rider Efficiency Guide [ ttcrider.ca ] is putting out a call for Unorthodox Tips for Riding the TTC. They are looking for complicated and simple tips that people can use when riding the TTC. Some examples:
(1) when crossing from the University/Spadina subway line to the Bloor subway line, the options are to do this at either Spadina station or St. George station. It's much quicker to do this at St. George station
(2) if you hear a subway pulling into the station while you are walking down the stairs ...
How would you make Toronto a better city?
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The final results of the “Think Outside the Box†initiative—a month-long chance to vote for the top priority among a list of issues are in. According to the survey Torontonians see many opportunities for civic improvement (pdf), especially in the areas of the environment, transit, roads, architecture and the arts.
The top three categories for improvement were:
Environment (less waste, cleaner water and air etc.) — 25%
Getting Around (transit accessibility, improved roads, bike facilities) — 17%
City Appearance (architecture, street aesthetics) — ...
Vital Images
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Calling all Toronto photographers.
Another intiative by the Toronto Community Foundation is a call for submissions for vital images. They are seeking images that portray quality of life in Toronto and citizens working to improve quality of life in the community. Selected images will be reproduced on a special page in the 2005 edition of Toronto's Vital Signs, TCF's annual report on quality of life in Toronto. More info here (pdf).
Finch Avenue does the collapse
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The wicked storm that passed through Toronto on the weekend did some serious damage. Spacing is lucky enough to have been forwarded photos from a resident who lives just beside the road collapse on Finch Avenue, near York University. Follow this link to see 9 photos of the roadway slowly succumbing to the heavy flow of Black Creek.
August 26th, 2005
Torn posters of Sydeny
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Sean Gannan, a Torontonian transplanted to Sydney, has been avidly photographing hoardings and walls where generations of posters and handbills have been glued down and then partially torn away: "Heavily postered sites which have been stripped are becoming a new obsession for me. The stunning intersections create stunning art that only needs my lens to frame it." (from Boing Boing).
Tree Pit Gardening Angels come forward
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The gardening angels responsible for the Spadina tree pits in bloom have come forward - it's urbanspace Property Group, who are responsible for the marvellous renovation of 401 Richmond. They were inspired by another neighbour - and let's hope they inspire others in turn. It's not that hard, and does wonders for the street - and the trees. If there's a neglected tree in a concrete-covered pit outside your property, try it yourself!
Urbanspace says it best themselves:
"We're not shy! As the owners and operators of 215 Spadina Avenue (urbanspace Property ...
Death of an Urban Explorer
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Jeff Chapman, a.k.a. Ninjalicious, the creator of the urban exploration zine Infiltration, died this week at the age of 31. Many moving tributes to him have been written, including ones on Urban Exploration Resources and on Torontoist.
Spacing was lucky enough to have Jeff write an article for us in Spacing #3 (Winter 2005) called The City as a Playground.
The newspaper box question
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Do newspaper boxes clutter, enhance or privatize public space? Read all about it: Spacing's own Dale Duncan has analyzed the newspaper box question in all its many angles for Eye.
The city is currently considering a bylaw to, finally, regulate the boxes. In response, a coalition of media companies is working on a scheme for multi-newspaper "superboxes" at key intersections.
Walking LA
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
A woman named Lisa Salem is trying to walk all over Los Angeles, without going back home, with only a camera-fitted baby stroller sparsely packed with a cellphone, sunglasses, bottled water and Kleenex, relying on friends and the kindness of strangers met through chance encounters. She has been doing it since May (though she's had to return home occasionally), and recording her experiences in a blog.
She explained to the LA Times: "We're all living such different experiences of this town, and yet when we say 'Los Angeles' we tend to presume ...
August 28th, 2005
Toronto Psychogeography Society
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Toronto Psychogeography Society likes to walk around Toronto (and other places too). Sometimes we post our city-wandering thoughts to our collaborative blog. Take a peek at it, or sign up for the RSS feed.
Recently Laura wrote about a psychedelic cul-de-sac she found near Christie and Davenport. Dylan wrote about a linear walk from Queen and Spadina to Parkdale and there's also a picture of some of the debris that washed up on the Toronto Island (see Finch post below). It was no Katrina, but it was still somethin'.
August 29th, 2005
Graffiti film at the Bloor Cinema
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Bloor Cinema • 7pm • $9
Our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee begin their public space cinema series The Streets Are Alive on Tuesday. The first film is City Space, a documentary exposing the conflicts and contradictions surrounding graffiti in Vancouver. Each month a different film about a public space issue will be presented. More info on the film series here.
The sights and sounds of the TTC
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Toronto Star writer Joe Fiorito seems to be able to capture the pulse of this city in his columns. His latest piece deals with ad-covered subway cars and the mandatory station announcements. A notable passage in his column:
Mr. Ducharme may be over a barrel; in order to do his job fully, he has to bring forward all the lame ideas brought to his attention, for the consideration of his masters. But when I told him that ad-wrapped trains cheapened the look of the system, and cheapened the look of the city, he said, "I don't disagree ...
Study of cycling in Canada
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Victoria Transport Policy Institute has issued an interesting study comparing cycling in six major Canadian cities. Despite Toronto's many cycling initiatives, it has the lowest number of cyclists as a percentage of work trips of any major (over half a million inhabitants) city in Canada - way behind the other large cities of Montreal and Vancouver, and behind even Hamilton. To be fair, this statistic is for the GTA - it's somewhat better in the City of Toronto - but we clearly still have much work to do.
Read the full report (PDF format).
An interesting ...
August 30th, 2005
Two new visions for the TTC
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Vision #1: TTC commissioners will be debating on Wednesday whether Fleet Street should be home to the city's next streetcar right-of-way (it would run between Bathurst and Strachan just north of Lake Shore Blvd). The ROW would be used by the Bathurst and Harbourfront streetcars. The area will soon be a hub of residential life with condos going up all around the 'hood. The construction of a dedicated transit line before a neighbourhood is built makes a lot of sense.
Vision #2: As the Spacing Wire posted on July 14, ...
August 31st, 2005
Plant seeds not bullets
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Toronto Star has a good news story about urban farming in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood. Run by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority the urban farm gives youth a productive outlet as well as a tranquil place in a devalued suburban area.
For another perspective on curbing gun violence check out Smart City Radio's mp3 podcast interview with Dr. Gary Slutkin, founding director of CeaseFire, a Chicago-based organization that is having remarkable success in slashing the number of killings in targeted neighbourhoods.
A Toronto Poster Project
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Artist Jackie Kriekle has put up a bunch of posters around Toronto neighbourhoods that invite people to explore and possibly comment on those areas.
This work consists of a series of posters mounted in several overlapping downtown Toronto neighbourhoods. The posters are hung on the lamp posts and the billboards of the community, there to be discovered as one moves through the city. They depict idiosyncratic moments in construction and community which are shared by the individuals who live in and pass through these neighbourhoods. If a passerby's interest is piqued, the posters provide minimal directions that will lead them to ...
Documentary on Urban Exploration
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
A new documentary called "Echoes of Forgotten Places" about Urban Exploration:
On the fringes of every city lie the relics of our industrial past. Swept aside to make way for condos and shopping malls or left to decay in silence: these huge structures stand as a testament to the acomplishments of the industrial age.
I haven't seen it yet, but have been told 90% of it was shot in Toronto locations like the Hearn Power Plant, the Wychwood carbarns, the Don Valley Brickworks, some old factories in the Liberty Street area and in some storm drains.
More info here.
September 2nd, 2005
Street art from around the world
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If a wide range of graffiti and street art excites you, then you should bookmark the site Streetsy. The site is updated daily with most of the images being fed by a multitude of Flickr photo streams and tags (no pun intended) from Toyko, NYC, and Paris.
image courtesy of this site. Tip comes from the TTC Rider's Sean Lerner.
September 3rd, 2005
No to TVs in subway cars
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On Wednesday, TTC commissioners voted 4 to 3 against a pilot project that would place TV screens with endless commercial loops in our subway cars. Hats off to councillors Adam Giambrone, Olivia Chow, Joe Mihevc, and Howard Moscoe for doing the right thing. If you'd like to know more about the debate surrounding TV ads on the TTC then go to this web site.
We at Spacing think this is a smart move because it reflects the public's weariness of ad encroachment. Canadians see or hear over 3,000 advertisements a day (about one every 20 ...
September 4th, 2005
York Region’s VIVA
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star had some great coverage of York Region's new VIVA transit system in the Saturday paper. Reading it online is fine, but the two page layout and photographs will give you a better understanding of what is being unveiled. This is a very important step for the suburbs to be making. The health and fortune of this region depend on these types of initiatives working. Christopher Hume does a good job explaining why.
Sewell on street signs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
John Sewell writes in Eye this week about the erection of the re-designed street signs. Over the past year he has had a very difficult time getting City staff to answer some of his questions about the process and implementation of the street monikers. One of his central beefs with the signs is the lack of sophistication and elegance they possess. Also, the arrival of the new signs represent the removal of visual landmarks that remind us of our proud pre-amalgamated past.
See The Wire's post on August 6th, 2005 about the new street ...
Slipping through the CNE’s spectacle
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing associate editor Shawn Micallef wrote about the CNE in this week's Eye. In keeping with his psychogeographic ways, Shawn wanders through the spectacle and stumbles upon the charming intricacies that make up the world of The Ex. My favourite passage is:
There are other signs around that read, "If you ate today, thank a farmer," along with nice pictures of the kings and queens from various county fairs. It's like the Ontario hinterland comes to Toronto. I'm all for it, and I love the connection to the rest of the province. Toronto should ...
September 5th, 2005
Life in the Bike Lane
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Offthemapgallery is moving to a new location and celebrating the move with a Green Bike Convoy and an exhibition called Life in the Bike Lane curated by Rupen.
The Green Bike Convoy will be taking place Sunday September 11th starting at 1:30pm at 80 Spadina (OTMG's old location) and go to 712 Lansdowne Avenue (OTMG'S new location) to open the reception for the Life in the Bike Lane exhibition.
More info here.
September 6th, 2005
Road construction halted
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Last month, housing developers unearthed a native burial ground while widening a road north of Canada's Wonderland. What is worse, York Region failed to consult native groups when it conducted an environmental assessment for the work to be done on Teston Rd., an environmental lawyer says. Early estimates pegged the number of bodies interred at the site at more than 100, but that number has now climbed to well over 200. The Toronto Star writes about it today.
Israel security wall art
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As Dylan Reid posted on the Wire August 22, 2005, the security wall Israel is building in the West Bank is being used as a public canvas for artists and locals to express their feelings on the barrier. British stencil graffiti artist Banksy has erected some pieces, and now a group called Health & Wall is promoting an art exhibit inspired by the wall to raise awareness for the health risks, both mental and physical, associoated with the wall's construction. (photo by Miki Kratsman).
Guerilla gardening goes mainstream
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Mainstream gardening writers are finally catching on to the guerilla gardening phenomena. We've seen articles on GG this summer in the Globe and Mail, National Post, on CP24, and this week the Toronto Star's garden specialist Kathy Renwald writes about a Hamilton GGer and what we can learn from this green urban intervention. You can learn first-hand about guerilla gardening over here.
September 7th, 2005
Transit: York subway, new TTC initiatives, and VIVA’s growing pains
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It's only a matter of time before the TTC gets the green light to build its long-awaited subway to York University, says Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara in the Toronto Star today. Also, York Region's VIVA transit system is experiencing some growing pains. Read about it here. And the TTC has launched a bunch of new initiatives this month. Check them out at this web site.
September 8th, 2005
Gas tax cometh
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It seems like there has been a lot of transit-type news lately. So here's another one, this time from today's Toronto Star.
"Nothing grabs attention quite like the sight of a tall, blond mayor stalking the city's streets and subway system carrying a giant cheque for $24.45 million. Wearing a grin and toting the cheque, Miller hopped the subway to carry the symbolic payment from the federal government back to his office at Toronto City Hall after a news conference at Union Station.
Read about the gas tax money flowing into Toronto.
September 9th, 2005
Toronto City Hall is turning 40
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Saturday, September 17, 2005
8:30 - 10 pm
The September 1965 opening of the newly designed City Hall marked an era of architectural experimentation. Finnish Architect Viljo Revell gave Toronto one of the world's most distinctive civic symbols and helped to create an instantly recognizable and attractive cityscape.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square will be transformed into an open air theatre of music, dance and pyrotechnics. The evening also kicks off Toronto's Live with Culture -- a major 16-month celebration of ...
Walk in Leslieville
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Saturday September 10th • 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Join Todd Irvine, a professional arborist from LEAF and his guest, City Councillor Paula Fletcher, for a guided tour of the many interesting trees that grace the streets, parks and hidden alleys of Leslieville. Todd is an active member of Toronto's public space reclamation movement -- he is a founding member of Spacing and The Toronto Psychogeography Society, and is an important cog in the Toronto Public Space Committee.
Meet at the southeast entrance to Leslie Grove Park, at the intersection of Jones Avenue and Queen ...
September 10th, 2005
12 Lessons from 12 Cities
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Globe and Mail's Tralee Pearce offers Mayor Miller some tips from other cities ranging from free wireless networks, public events, wind powered transit, diverse street food, green roofs, sexier subways, public art and better waterfronts.
She must be reading Spacing.
September 12th, 2005
Wild Capitalism Hunting Games in Calgary
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I'm in Calgary for the Art City festival. We've set up three [murmur] sites out here. Calgary isn't the place I thought it was. Very car oriented and in that sense private -- not a lot of places to bump into other people. But when I have, the people I've met here have changed what I thought about this place. Lots of good things going on, like this Art City with lots of pieces of public-ish art stuff.
ATSA (Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable), the group from Montreal who set up the bombed out SUV ...
Enemies of the Ordinary photo exhibit
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Opening Night: Wednesday, September 14, 2005
"Enemies of the Ordinary"
A photographic exhibit by The Toronto Urban Exploration and Adventure Group
Explore the world as revealed by the Toronto Urban Exploration and Adventure Group Photographic Exhibition. Varied passions and photographic styles provide an opportunity to view the world from a new perspective. Re-discover the wonders that surround us.
Where: Charlotte Room, 19 Charlotte St. (Spadina & Adelaide area), Toronto. Look at map here.
When: 7pm - 10pm, free for everyone.
September 13th, 2005
Spacing sponsors photoblog presentation
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing is sponsoring a presentation on Toronto-area photoblogs this coming Sunday at the Yorkdale Apple Store. Some of the city's most shutter-happy photobloggers will be talking about their work, inspirations, methodology, and technical know-how. Spacing's Creative Director Matthew Blackett will talk about SpacingPhotos, the Wire's sister daily feature. All other info can be found here.
Spacing has been an enthusiastic supporter of the city's photoblogging community for a few years now. When we started planning the magazine in 2002 it was imperative for us to use strong visual imagery. Our search took us ...
September 14th, 2005
Metro Art
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
John MacFarlane writes about the art of the Montreal Metro in the Gazette:
At $2.50 for a cash ticket, Montreal's metro system is probably the cheapest art museum in town.
More inspiration for the The Better Way. Deadline for submissions is: October 31st 2005.
September 15th, 2005
The High Cost of Free Parking
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Terrence Belford writes a rather one-sided article about Toronto's impending parking crisis in the Globe. What is bad news to the Globe:
That is the spectre of Ontario cities, especially Toronto, not having surface parking lots at all and the impact that would have on all forms of commercial tenancies.
Sounds like good news to me. It means that real estate values downtown are getting to the point that it's more profitable to build a building that run a parking lot. That is a sign of a healthy downtown. Who wants surface parking ...
Community transformation examples
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Sierra Club has an interesting feature on its website which allows you to flip through images of reimagined intersections in suburban sprawl areas. The feature highlights step-by-step what a neighbourhood could look like if you widen sidewalks, add some trees to the streetscape, and increase building density. While the examples are American cities, they could just as easily be in Richmond Hill, Mississauga, or Whitby.
September 16th, 2005
Eco-Feedback
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Environmental effects are not always as dramatic as Katrina. Often we forget about our affect on the ecosystem as it is slow to change or even invisible to the eye. An interesting project from Denmark is working on prototypes for visualizing air quality in public space:
The Indicator is to be placed in the city to make existing information on air quality and pollution levels accessible and give information that is specific to the location in which it is placed.
Check out the prototypes here.
The Barren Poles of Calgary
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
There's a lot of cultural stuff going on Calgary -- it isn't all cows and oil -- but you would hardly know it walking down the street. When I arrived last Tuesday, I spent a few hours walking around the city in the late afternoon and then later at night. I was struck at how bare the poles are. Many have "Post no bills" written on them. There are only a few places to poster. They have these panels that rise out of bike posts. People in Calgary post neatly. Everybody seems to make uniform posters. And ...
September 17th, 2005
Union on two wheels?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Today's Globe and Mail has an interesting article on the drive to unionize Toronto's bike couriers. As it stands, most couriers earn about $15,000 a year and have no benefits. They face serious health risks working in the middle of heavy downtown congestion, nevermind the constant threat of car-on-courier accidents. But there are a mix of emotions surrounding the Canadian Union of Postal Workers' attempt to bring the radical side of parcel delivery on side.
From an outsider's point of view, a union for the hoof and pedal clan seems like a perfect match. ...
September 18th, 2005
Toronto photobloggers at Apple Store tonight
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing is sponsoring a presentation on Toronto-area photoblogs tonight at the Yorkdale Apple Store. Some of the city's most shutter-happy photobloggers will be talking about their work, inspirations, methodology, and technical know-how. Spacing's Creative Director Matthew Blackett will talk about SpacingPhotos, the Wire's sister daily feature. Other Spacing contributors presenting will be: Matt O'Sullivan, Gayla Trail, Adam Krawesky, and Rannie Turingan.
More info can be found here.
September 19th, 2005
Skyscrapers of the world
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Toronto is a weird place when it comes to tall buildings. We have the CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure in the world. But we're also home to Jane Jacobs, who believes in low-rise and human-scale development. Our Official Plan, which is still not "official," does not set out guidlines for developers when it comes to the height of structures they wish to erect -- that will come once the Official Plan is ratified. In the meantime, we have silly disputes like the plans for One Bedford (right across from Varsity Stadium). ...
Guerrilla Gardening in the Star (again)
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Yes, it was only two weeks ago when the Toronto Star did a feature on Guerrilla Gardening, but Christopher Hume looks at the act of vandalizing with nature in today's paper. He talks to the friendly Dave Meslin of the TPSC for insight.
How the streets get cleaned
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
It's easy to forget how much work it takes to keep our public spaces clean. This weekend, the Globe and Mail featured a great story in its weekend Toronto section comparing the two street-cleaning methods Toronto uses -- man with broom and bag, and motorized garbage sucker -- and profiling two of the workers who make them happen.
It's interesting to note that, when all costs are added up, the non-polluting human is only marginally more expensive per kilometre cleaned than the polluting, somewhat obnoxious machine.
Pedestrian posters
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto recently launched a new set of posters aimed at making drivers more aware of pedestrians.
The posters feature cars being damaged when they hit pedestrians, with the tag line "If only."
They are part of the City's twice-a-year pedestrian safety campaign.
It's good to see the City being dramatic about the dangers cars cause to pedestrians - although pedestrians are only involved in about 3.5% of traffic accidents, they account for about half the fatalities from traffic accidents in the city.
Patchwork soccer
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Spacing's "Work and Play" issue discussed the importance of play in public space, both as a way of asserting public use of space, and as a way of bringing citizens together. A recent article in the Star highlighted a fine example of this issue. Newcomers and locals have taken over a scrap of unused ground beside a temporary residence for newly arrived refugees, and use it for a regular game of pickup soccer mixing together Canadians and refugees in a common language of sport.
Adding insult to injury
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
It's not enough that the City has allowed Astral Media to put up massive billboards in our parks disguised as bogus "information pillars" -- in defiance of the supposed policy banning advertising in city parks. It's not enough that they insult our intelligence by only providing "information" in the form of a generic map whose only customization is a red star for "you are here" (in Montreal, the equivalent at least provides a detailed local map). It's not enough that none of these pillars actually ...
September 20th, 2005
Viacom’s breaking all the rules
By Dave Meslin // No Comments
The Toronto Public Space Committee has researched the contract that Viacom has with the City of Toronto for ads on transit shelters and has found that many of their current ad campaigns violate the conditions. The TPSC is calling for the immediate removal of the iPod ads on streetcar shelters, the nine foot tall Listerine bottles on bus shelters, and the Herbal Essence shelter wraps. Words from the TPSC's website:
The iPod ads have been the target of unprecedented vandalism. As soon as they were installed, people began ripping them down. While the TPSC does ...
September 22nd, 2005
Bumvertising
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I was up the other night watching the Daily Show when they did a report on Bumvertising. Benjamin Rogovy, a 22-year-old "entrepreneur", as news reports call him, wanted to drive web traffic to his site, so he convinced a few panhandlers to attach sponsorship signs to their pleas for change or food. This is so bad on so many levels. The worst thing? It has been done before -- check it out here. Here's a full desrciption:
Bumvertisingâ„¢, or the use of sign holding vagrants to advertise, is a development of PokerFaceBook.com's ...
SPACING EVENT: City Club of Toronto?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The City Club of Toronto? Ideas and Experiences from Portland
Spacing invites you out to an event we are helping promote.
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005 • Innis Town Hall • 7pm, free
Imagine meeting regularly with Torontonians who are passionate about civic issues. What if these citizens worked together in an organization devoted to nonpartisan education and research, community service, public affairs, and leadership development. And, what if there were regular events and forums, citizen-based research initiatives and reports, special programs, and issue committees, all dealing with issues of importance to our city, our region, our ...
Today is CarFree Day
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Without the financial support of City Hall, Torontonians are holding their own Car Free Day.
Thursday, September 22nd is World CarFree Day and they're partying in 1544 cities in 40 countries. We don't want to be left behind so we're throwing a parade!
Thursday, September 22nd:
4:00 -- Meet at Bellevue Square Park in Kensington Market for preparations and tea (Bring your own tea).
5:30 -- Take back the streets! We will depart en masse on foot, on stilts, on bikes, on trikes, on boats, on floats, playing music, and dressed for the occasion...doing ...
September 23rd, 2005
The Health Impacts of Sprawl
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Our friends at the Ontario Smart Growth Network present a great little event that connects urban sprawl with the increasing obesity of North American society. The discussion is called "Health Impacts of Sprawl and How Smart Growth Can Solve Them" and takes place here in Toronto on Wednesday, October 5, 2005.
According to public opinion polls, healthcare has been the number one issue in Ontario for most of the last decade. Unfortunately, trends indicate that obesity, heart attacks, colon cancer, osteoporosis, respiratory and mental health ailments are all on the rise. Mounting ...
Who’s Driving the City?
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
While London is installing solar powered lighting in its busstops and New York is putting thousands of new bus shelters, newsstands and, public washrooms on its streets, Toronto is more worried about the width of the seats on its busses (due to national obesity rates rising).
Meanwhile on Car Free day, Toronto City Councillors showed their leadership by driving to work:
"Tell them I drove. I never supported the thing in the first place," said Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, through her mouthpiece and assistant Jim Burnett. Notwithstanding ...
September 24th, 2005
Keeping Segways off sidewalks
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Following a resolution by the Toronto Pedestrian Committee in April against allowing Segway scooters on sidewalks, the local distributor started a publicity campaign to persuade the City allow these contraptions on the sidewalks (including for the purpose of advertising).
An article in the Bloor West Villager discusses the subsequent events and discussions.
The basic message of all pedestrian activists has been, these are great vehicles, let's put them on the road where all motorized vehicles belong, not on sidewalks. They would need to be modified to be road-worthy, but Segway is already developing various ...
September 25th, 2005
Spacing at Word on the Street
By Spacing // No Comments
Sunday Septemtber 25, 2005 • 11am-6pm
Spacing will take part in our second Word On The Street event. We are very excited to be able to meet such a large swath of the city's avid readers. We will be selling all of our issues published to date, plus subscriptions and the ever popular Toronto subway station buttons. The 2004 WOTS was eye-opening for the Spacing staff -- we met everyone from soccer moms to anarchists who shared like-minded goals and aspirartions for the city.
Spacing will also be presenting a panel at the WOTS called ...
September 26th, 2005
Word on the Street wrap-up
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Word on the Street was fun for us at Spacing. Though it looked like it may rain at any minute, it held off until late Sunday evening, long after we had all packed our boxes and gone home. A couple of highlights: the panel Blogging Toronto presented by Spacing was held in an overflowing Beyond the Page tent (panelist Sam Javanrouh has posted a pic); NDP leader Jack Layton bought a button for each station in his home riding and wore them for the rest of the day on his ...
PEDAL POWER! ~ Film night at the Bloor Cinema
By Dave Meslin // No Comments
PEDAL POWER! A night of two-wheeled films
Tuesday September 27 @ THE BLOOR CINEMA, 7pm, $9
featuring:
"Return of the Scorcher" (1992) & "We aren't Blocking Traffic...We ARE Traffic" (1999)
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion about the state of cycling in Toronto. Panelists are: Adam Giambrone (City Councillor), Darren Stehr (torontocranks.com), Derek Chadbourne (bikestore owner), Maogosha Pyjor (Community Bicycle Network), Martino Reis (ARC), Wayne Scott (Hoof & Cycle).
More info at www.publicspace.ca
City Secretly Supports Car Free Day
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
It seemed fitting that I got a parking ticket on the eve of Car Free Day last week - the holiday the City chose not to support this year, inspiring councillor Michael Walker to wax poetic about his Hot Rod Lincoln. I have a little hand-me-down car that usually sits on the streets and collects leaves unless it's needed for some utilitarian purpose that a bike can't handle. Whenever I drive it I remember why I rarely drive, and wonder how people do this everyday. Returning home, I drove all around my neighbourhood looking for a ...
September 27th, 2005
SPACING EVENT: City Club of Toronto?
By Spacing // No Comments
The City Club of Toronto? Ideas and Experiences from Portland
Spacing invites you out to an event we are helping organize promote.
TONIGHT! • Innis Town Hall • 7pm, free
Imagine meeting regularly with Torontonians who are passionate about civic issues. What if these citizens worked together in an organization devoted to nonpartisan education and research, community service, public affairs, and leadership development. And, what if there were regular events and forums, citizen-based research initiatives and reports, special programs, and issue committees, all dealing with issues of importance to our city, our region, our province and ...
September 28th, 2005
Hot St. Lawrence Design Porn
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The good folks at the City of Toronto Planning Department have released a wonderful document on Urban Design Guidelines in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood. It's good. It uses hot language and phrases like "Intimate spaces like the Sculpture Garden are a unique characteristic of the neighbourhood" and "Pedestrian-oriented cafes on The Esplanade" and "Consistent scale and high quality architecture blends new and old buildings on King Street East." You can download it by clicking here -- but don't let your mother see it, unless she's one of those moms that let you watch the late night ...
Map Porn
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Radical Cartography has an amazing collection of analytical maps. My personal favorite is a scale comparison of all North American Transit systems arranged more or less geographically.
For world subway systems to scale check out fakeisthenewreal.
City Council this week
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There are some interesting things going down at September's meeting of City Council. Here's a primer:
1. Video screens on the Gardiner: As the Toronto Star reports today, Cineplex Galaxy on The Queensway at Islington in Etobicoke wants to put up twin high-definition video screens at the back of its building, next to the Gardiner. One screen would face southeast and the other southwest. Etobicoke's community council approved the screens, but Spacing's favourite City councillor, Joe Mihevc, is urging council to block the decision. Les Kelman, director of the City's traffic management centre, said in the ...
Toronto Walks in October, apparently
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Apparently, the City of Toronto is going to designate October as "Toronto Walks Month." A lovely idea, but it's hard to find out what exactly this means -- the only information on the City website is a press release about the opening ceremony. The ceremony will take place for half an hour in Dundas Square on Friday, Sept. 30, from 1:15 to 1:45, including a proclamation by the Mayor. The press release assures us that more details about the program will be available at this launch.
The event is part of a campaign to get Toronto to be ...
September 29th, 2005
Capture the Flag
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
CAPTURE THE FLAG! Bay Street
Friday, September 30th // 8:30 PM // meet at King & Bay
Capture the Flag, the massive urban game where teams hit the pavement of Toronto, takes place this Friday. Run around the streets of Toronto's Financial District, land of towering skyscrapers of steel and glass. Ride subways, streetcars, busses & escalators to the enemy base, hide underground in the PATH system. Defend your concrete turf by tagging trespassers and sending them back to their side. Rain or shine. For more info, directions, rules & maps, check out ...
Big blooming bunny art
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing's next issue, due out in early November, is all about street and public art, so we are becoming increasingly aware of the controversy installations can cause. Case in point is the giant bunny that can be found on a hillside in Italy erected by the artist group Gelitin. In this linked article, you can also find a number of other curious giant public art installations.
Public Toilet summit
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Yes, there is a conference for every possible topic or vocation out there. The World Toilet Summit is wrapping up today in Belfast, Ireland. One of the goals of the summit is to bring attention to all levels of government around the world about the poor state of public toilets. I think we all have experienced an insanely gross loo in our days. As one person from the summit said, "This affects our quality of life."
Some of the choice objectives of the coference, found on the WTS website: 1. To introduce a ...
September 30th, 2005
Human River on Garrison Creek
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Human River -- a walk along the hidden Garrison Creek
Sunday October 2nd 2005, with different starting points along route
The Garrison Creek still flows beneath our city. As it rushes hidden under homes, stores, roads and parks, we find signs of this lost river in tilting houses, dips in the streets, buried bridges and a string of green valleys. Join the Toronto Public Space Committee and hundreds of local residents as they trace the water's winding path through bustling neighbourhoods and quiet green spaces. With everyone wearing blue, you will be part of a human ...
October 1st, 2005
Take the Tooker
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
With the price of gas rising, pollution increasing, obesity growing, parking diminishing, & congestion clogging, you would expect government to take action. The humble bike offers a time-tested 100-year old solution that is cheap, accessible, light, quiet, small, personal and pollution-free.
Cars have highways, streetcars have tracks, pedestrians have sidewalks. It's about time that the bike gets the infrastructure it deserves.
The Take the Tooker campaign is a great start: a proposal to make just one continuous east-west bike lane atop the ...
October 2nd, 2005
Billboards and art in Halifax
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Whenever I see a billboard or ad that has little or no information on it, I suspect a sneaky but clever ad campaign. Contact, the photo festival that takes place each May, uses outdoor billboards and bus shelters that challenge us to examine the use of advertising space in a whole new context.
And this is what they are doing in Halifax -- Billboards is a public art project (pictured above) curated and organized by Eye Level Gallery. Located on the exterior wall of 2128 Gottingen Street, this off-site initiative ...
October 3rd, 2005
NYC & SF transit don’t like iPod subway maps
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In late August, the Spacing Wire reported on the wonderful website iPod Subway Maps. Designer William Bright created images of 12 cities' subway maps so you can download them on to your iPod for display (seems there is a neat function on the big iPods that is similar to desktop wallpaper designs). Sadly, the tall foreheads at New York's and San Francisco's transit authorities want him to stop distributing these images. He has received cease-and-desist letters, or in NYC's case, they are willing to lisence the map to him for $500. ...
Spacing reports from Winnipeg
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I'm out in Winnipeg leading a workshop on magazine design for Spacing's national distributor Magazines Canada. I've only been here a short time but here are some initial thoughts about this city:
THE GOOD:
• Along Winnipeg's fabled street of Portage, the city has turned the metallic traffic signal boxes into street-side art installations (pictured above). I've seen eight of them so far and each uniquely portrays an aspect of Winnipeg's history and culture. This type of work is happening in Toronto too, both unofficially (along Spadina similar boxes have been wallpapered) and officially (Joe Pantelone's office ...
October 4th, 2005
Wireless Toronto in St. Lawrence Market
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Wireless Toronto is partnering with the South Market Tenants Association and the St. Lawrence Market Complex to bring free wireless Internet access to the historic neigbourhood. This joint initiative is a fresh way of re-imagining how technology, community groups, the arts sector, and businesses can come together to re-vitalize Toronto's public spaces. You can check out the launch of this initiative which takes place Friday, October 7, between 5 PM — 7 PM in the West Mezzanine of the South St. Lawrence Market.
Wireless Toronto is a volunteer-based, not-for-profit community group committed to encouraging ...
Infiltrations’s book Access All Areas
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Even though Ninjalicous, the creative force behind Infiltration, passed away in late August he is still helping us go to places where we are told not to go. His new book, Access All Areas, is for sale through mail order and PayPal on the Infilpress website. There will be a launch party on Thursday, October 20 at the Gibsone Jessop Gallery in the Distillery District.
October 6th, 2005
Go Leafs
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
On this last of the hot and sticky evenings I was riding down Yonge to the YMCA, thinking it was unusually quiet. I had the streets to myself -- or at least it seemed that way. Even a slight reduction in traffic makes this city seem empty(er). It had been a frustrating day of bike riding. I yelled at a woman in a Cabriolet doing a U turn in the middle of King St. today. I called her a menace, and she heard me. It felt good to stay on message in times of ...
Eglinton Station Gets Arty
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Toronto's Live With Culture campaign is taking artwork and performance out of the galleries and theatres and bringing it to where people live, work and commute. Eglinton subway station has been transformed into a "culture station" featuring visual arts, film and in-station performances for the month of October. Ten "Culture Cars" are also travelling the city featuring in-car entertainment, ranging from poetry readings to musical performances.
The art has taken over all of Eglinton Station, including a photographic mural of Yonge Street from the waterfront to Finch Avenue and a synthetic forest populated by tree-like forms and armor ...
October 7th, 2005
SPACING: subway buttons receive award
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The American graphic design magazine HOW Design named Spacing's Toronto subway station button collection the third best wearable item in their 2005 Self-Promotion Annual. We think this is pretty cool.
Sidewalk art in Ward 19
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
City Councillor Joe Pantelone's office (ward 19) have a neat pilot project going on: they have convinced Bell to let them hire local artists to paint the metal boxes that dot the streetscape. The above image, by Norman Yeung, is a before and after shot. It's located at Markham and College, beside Andy Poolhall. The image below is by Trevor Goodwin and appears on Halton Ave., just west of Trinity Bellwoods Park.
This is a great project idea and we hope Mr. Pantelone's office pushes the City to adopt and expand such a programme. I ...
October 8th, 2005
Squabble on the waterfront
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As usual, whenever there is talk about Toronto's waterfront, sniping and mixed messages are sure to follow. In the Toronto Star today, Christopher Hume seems a tad disappointed in Mayor David Miller's handling of his first meeting as a member of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation board. The Globe and Mail also outline what some of the squabbling is about.
Remaking the face of public space
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you have a copy of today's Globe and Mail you should flip to page A16 for a feature on our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee and their fight to curb the visual pollution that mars Toronto's city streetscape. We'll provide you a link to the Globe's site, but it is subscriber protected. You can also check it out here, which is not password protected. Also, read about Reading Toronto's Robert Ouelette experience on CityTV with Dave Meslin of the TPSC and Ouelette's comments on the Globe article.
Writing in Public
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Since 1999, Found magazine has been collecting messages found in public areas and sharing them with the world. This week, the Toronto Star published an interesting profile of its founder, Davy Rothbart, on the occasion of his visit to Toronto.
This is the anonymous note featured in the story that I wish I had written to someone:
"I want to buy you a lot of pretty things and shyly offer them to you one at a time"
I hope the intended recipient read the note before it made its way into the public realm.
ProJet Montréal
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
It's kind of nice that, at least officially, party politics is not a lynchpin of Canadian municipal elections. Watching the post-Katrina terror unfold down south, and the way things seemed to somehow follow party lines -- in the feds-vs-local-vs-state level he-said-she-said stuff that went on -- it might be a very good thing.
But in Montreal a party called "ProJet Montréal" might change that. They're a "municipal political party" -- which could be an altogether different thing.
Projet Montréal proposes that Montrealers who deeply love their city rally around an energetic project of equitable and durable urban development aiming ...
October 10th, 2005
Skyways and Ice Houses
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Every other Wednesday, Salon.com is featuring The Big Idea: a look at architecture and design ideas to build a future around. Their recent posting led me to the book Skyways & Ice Houses by photographer Catherine Opie. Since the late 1980s, Opie's interest in the motif of the visual road trip has resulted in photographs that simultaneously document and question the self-constructed identities of the people and places that characterize America. Opie's American cities series explores the historical specificity of architectures that are often taken for granted. Her take on the Twin Cities' ...
Butter Jam
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The butter billboard campaign may be clever, but this jam of the campaign (on Spadina north of Queen) is even better, turning an ad into a sci-fi creature-feature standoff.
The character appears to be part of some kind of street art campaign and also appears elsewhere in Toronto, and in some other cities.
October 11th, 2005
Saving St. Clair? Judge rules today
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Somthing to watch for today: a court decision on whether to let construction of the St. Clair Right of Way to continue. In the Star today they sum it up like this:
A three-judge panel decision expected today will either allow the TTC to start as scheduled tomorrow to dig up parts of the road, or send city lawyers and councillors scrambling to find some way to save their much-touted $65 million project.
Opponents argued before a Divisional Court panel that the City of Toronto violated the provincial Planning Act by not amending its official plan ...
Skate Furniture
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
We-make-money-not-art reports on a Tom Hawes project that helps skateboarders find their place in public space:
Skateable Furniture is a range of benches that encourage skateboarding as a positive activity for youth to regenerate public spaces. The seven benches fit together in many different combinations, and the low back and fortified steel edges allow for many possibilities in terms of "skate-ability". The benches draw on the visual language of London and are designed to blend into both traditional and modern spaces.
October 12th, 2005
St. Clair streetcar construction stopped by judges
By Spacing // No Comments
A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the TTC must stop construction on the St. Clair dedicated streetcar lanes. The group Save Our St. Clair (SOS), who oppose the right-of-way, challenged the TTC and the City of Toronto in a game of semantics. You can read the reasons for it in this Toronto Star article .
Margaret Smith, the local resident who galvanized opposition and formed SOS, was rather proud:
"People should take heart. You can believe in something and you can fight for something you believe in and you can fight on principle. I really ...
More on Montreal Civic Politics
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
If you're not busy planning your St. Clair boycott, let your mind wander up the 401 again. In response to my post about Projet Montreal below, and the idea of municipal level parties, Carl Wilson wrote in and shed some light on how things work up there:
Actually, Montreal city politics has been a contest between municipal parties for decades and decades. ProJet is nothing new, just the latest. The Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) is the most storied of the parties, now defunct. The current mayor's party is something called the Montreal Island Citizens Union, the prev. mayor was ...
More on St. Clair
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Some folks are writing letters and calling up the SOS group to voice their displeasure in the way they've stopped City building. They list their contact info on their website:
saveourstclair@sympatico.ca, 416.658.4632
Give them a call, and tell them what you think, and if you email, cc your councillor, or heck, Royson James, [ his email is rjames@thestar.ca ]who is somehow getting a kick out of the loophole SOS used and saying hyperbolic things like "the tyranny of city hall." Here's a few excerpts from letters people have already written:
Dear SOS Group,
I have recently heard of your ...
October 13th, 2005
The Bubble Project
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The bubble project is a great idea for tagging advertising in public space:
Our communal spaces are being overrun with ads. Train stations, streets, squares, busses, and subways now scream one message after another at us. The bubble project is the counterattack.
Start your own bubble campain today.
Miller, City react to St. Clair stoppage
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Here are a few more links to give you an idea of what is going on with the St. Clair right-of-way battle. The City of Toronto has 15 days to appeal the decision, but are still waiting for the written statments from the judges. An answer will pave the way for the TTC and City to move forward on this. Mayor Miller and chief city planner Ted Tyndorf have said they will amend the Official Plan in that is what it takes to get the project back on course. Check out the articles in the Globe and Mail and ...
Private money in public infrastructure
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hume, in the Star today, writes about the need for the private sector to invest in building Toronto's future infrastructure. I'm very wary of this, but Hume makes a point of how uncomfortable Ontarians are about P3 models, highlighting the ownership debacle of the 407 highway. At least he is smart enough to point out the pitfalls of this type of development.
God knows infrastructure investment makes sense in Toronto, and Ontario. According to the government's own figures, the province will need to spend $100 billion over the next 30 years to keep ...
No way, Segway!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The City of Toronto did the smart thing yesterday by rejecting the idea of a pilot project that would allow Segways on to our sidewalks. Robyn Reisler, president of Segway Ontario, said in an interview he was shocked that the City is unwilling to allow even a trial period. Shocked? The Segway is a great toy, but does not belong on our sidewalks (Spacing wrote about it in our Spring/Summer 2005 issue). If we cannot legally ride our bikes on sidewalks, a motorized vehicle does not belong there either. We allow motorized scooters for folks ...
October 14th, 2005
The value of public space in dollars
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There is no real way to express the value of the public realm of a city. But we can certainly measure its importance to our consumer-driven economy as expressed in outdoor advertising rates. We know that a single billboard along the Gardiner Expressway can cost $16,000 to $39,000 for four weeks, generating $200,000 to $500,000 a year. Clear Channel Outdoor, the largest outdoor advertising company in the U.S., is going on the stock market, and hopes to raise $350 million right off the bat. In 2004, they had a revenue of $2.4 billion. I think ...
Metropass Affinity Program
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
File this under: WHY ISN'T THE TTC COMING UP WITH THESE IDEAS?
The Metropass Affinity Program (MAP) is an initiative by the Sierra Club of Canada that is just being launched and needs public input. The MAP could vastly increase transit usage by rewarding people for a good action (choosing transit over private automobile), rather than punishing people for a bad action (choosing their car over transit). The main thrust of the plan is to have participating businesses give discounts/incentives to anyone that shows a current and valid Metropass. It gives people more incentive to buy ...
October 15th, 2005
Urban Leadership Awards
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Canadian Urban Institute, the nation's leader in progressive civic policy development, annually recognizes people and organizations with their Urban Leadership Award. The nominations are open from now until December 8, 2005. The categories to consider are: City Renewal, City Initiatives, City Livability, City Youth, City Soul, and Local Heroes. There are many people and groups in this city that are deserving, so try to nominate them all! Former Toronto mayor, and CUI President, David Crombie sums it up best:
"The quality of urban life is rooted deeply in the quality and strength ...
The Toronto Effect
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
According to the Star today:
Toronto is becoming more architecturally diverse and denser which is helping some people give up their cars with the added incentive of rising gas prices.
Ode to the Bollard
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The simple bollard: a punctuation mark in a mature urban environment; a marker of mediation between conflicting modes of transportation; a tiny totem of civilization:
Bollards -- chances are you don't care about them or even know what they are. Sadly, I do. And I'm about to tell you all about them. But this is exactly what Internet self-publishing is for, right? Two-thousand words on bollards.
October 16th, 2005
The Cold War Against St. Clair
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
How is your St. Clair boycott going? Mine is going just fine -- I even (mostly) shut my eyes yesterday as I crossed the pariah avenue while out for an evening run up Spadina Road (there are less traffic lights in Forest Hill) -- out of sight, out of mind. It was nice to see the editorial in today's Toronto Star come out against the Save Our St. Clair group, and even Royson James, in his own way, is talking about the bad omen this all sends.
Triumphant in the courts, opponents of a streetcar right-of-way down St. Clair ...
October 17th, 2005
Toronto’s Bike Plan gets the gears
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing managing editor Dale Duncan wrote in Eye Weely about Toronto's Bike Plan, and the bike lane proposal that would stretch across Bloor and the Danforth.
With increased concern over Toronto's growing number of smog days, global warming and the drastic rise in gas prices, one would think providing infrastructure to encourage cycling would be a growing priority at city hall. City-wide surveys have found that 85 per cent of cyclists feel bike lanes make the streets safer. Less than 20 per cent reported feeling comfortable cycling on major roads without marked lanes ...
Thank you, John Sewell
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
John Sewell, the former mayor of Toronto from 1979-81, has been writing about city issues for Globe and Mail, Eye Weekly and NOW for 18 years. This week, his final column appeared in Eye, and he took the opportunity to encourage us young folks to try and inject some new blood into City Council. He complains that too many councillors have made a career out of public service, with their eye tightly focused on re-election rather than the public's good. Hear hear! I will certainly miss his willingness to ...
October 18th, 2005
Tar Babies
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Last weekend I visited the ancestral suburban split-level homestead in dear Windsor, Ontario for Thanksgiving. There is no public transportation there, and walking is only for the foolish and poor. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was generally assumed that those dudes who rode around the city on their 10-speeds did so because they had been busted for drunk driving -- the car culture in Windsor was that crazy. When I lived there I was in constant fear that my old beater Honda Accord would break down yet again, leaving me stranded in the almost-country.
So, ...
October 19th, 2005
[murmur] Launches on Spadina!
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Please join us tomorrow (Thursday Oct 20th) at Grossman's Tavern (379 Spadina Avenue at Cecil) from 6-9pm for a (free) reception celebrating the launch of the [murmur] Spadina project with 50 new sites and nearly 150 new stories along the street.
[murmur] has been recording Torontonians over the past few months telling parts of Spadina's story in their own words. Some of the stories are anecdotal, other times historic, but always heartfelt. Find one of the familiar green [murmur] signs on Spadina, call the number on it with your mobile phone, and listen to a tale ...
The city’s tax straightjacket
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Royson James wrote an interesting explanation of Toronto's confusing property tax system today, as property owners across the city received their latest property value assessment.
The odd thing about property taxes is that the total amount the city receives from existing properties does not go up or down with property values - rather, it is a set amount that simply gets re-distributed among property owners. The city does not receive more money if overall property values go up (or less if they go down). So, if your property value goes up less than the average property in ...
October 20th, 2005
Capture The Flag! U of T
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Friday October 21st 2005 • 100 St. George Street • 8:30 PM
Gargoyles, peacocks and beavers, oh my! Newmindspace invites you to join them for a game of Capture the Flag on the entire downtown campus of Canada's oldest university. Defend your territory by tagging trespassers and sending them back to their side. Utilize seven subway stations, two streetcar routes and three buses to get to the enemy flag, outmaneuver their flag keepers and dash to Queen's Park for a point in this fast-paced, heart-pumping urban game. Meet on the steps of Sydney Smith at ...
Access All Areas book launch tonight
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Even though Ninjalicous, the creative force behind Infiltration, passed away in late August he is still helping us go to places where we are told not to go. His new book, Access All Areas, is for sale through mail order and PayPal on the Infilpress website. The launch party is tonight at the Gibsone Jessop Gallery in the Distillery District starting at 7pm.
Before heading out to Access All Areas launch, don't forget to check out the [murmur] launch party for the Spadina installation of their cell ...
Welcome In My Back Yard
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Catherine Porter considers the power of Nimbyism in today's Toronto Star.
It's about time Toronto learned to love itself and the complexities of urban life. Change is good, diversity is good, neighbours are good.
For another perspective on neighbourhood protection versus the good of the larger community check out the WIMBY project from the Netherlands. WIMBY is a concept developed by the architectural historians Crimson as an alternative to Nimbyism. Here is an excerpt from their manifesto [flash]:
We believe that each town ...
More St. Clair ROW stuff
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Globe and Mail wrote about the City of Toronto's plan to challenge the three-panel judges decision to stop construction of the St. Clair right-of-way. The City seems to be using similar tactic to the Save Our St. Clair group -- find some kind of technicality and hope it works out. Petty games of semantics being played out in court is fine for the lawyers, but local residents and businesses need a transit system that works. Check out the Star's report, too.
The wonderful people at Eye Weekly wrote a great editorial about the ...
October 21st, 2005
While we’re talking about streetcars…
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
We've been talking about the crappy side of streetcars for the last week. Here's something that might cheer up the transit geek in you: On Monday, October 24th, from noon until 5pm, the next generation of Toronto streetcars (possibly) will be on display at the Toronto Hummingbird Centre (1 Front Street East). The event is free, open to the public, and there's door prizes.
The five-hour public display by Bombardier highlighting what could be sliding along the streets of Toronto within the next decade. The TTC is in the process of considering what vehicle will replace ...
Planning for bikes
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Yesterday in Toronto, the Bikeway Planning and Development Workshop was held at Ontario Place gathering 30 municipal planners and transportation planners from southern Ontario. The keynote speaker was Marc Jolicoeur, chief research analyst from Vélo Québec. So why is a bike activist from Quebec advising us on bike infrastructure? Because Quebec recently announced a $5.4 million investment to complete 4,300 kilometres of bikeways through the province, largely through the creation of bike lanes on most secondary highways. Sadly, Toronto is four years behind on its 10-year Bike Plan, and the only agency that ...
October 22nd, 2005
Pimp my subway ride
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If the new streetcar designs that we posted about yesterday weren't enough to get you hot, check out what the TTC is considering to replace their aging subway cars. A bunch of designs were presented during Wednesday's TTC Commissioners meeting. The feature on the new cars that would be most different for us Torontonians is a continuous, open-concept subway train that would extend from front to rear (above image, right). TTC Commissioner Howard Moscoe says the new trains would have benches instead of individual seats, which would aleviate ...
The Big Pipe and parks for dogs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Eye Weekly had two interesting bits in this week's edition: First, Enviro columnist Gord Perks writes about the Big Pipe in York Region (the collection of cities and towns north of Toronto) and how the municipality is messing with the ground water and rivers that flow into Toronto. Also, St. Andrew's Park, located west of Spadina and south of Richmond, is going through the final stages of its renovation, having been remade into a local playground and family park (look for a feature on the park in the upcoming issue of Spacing). But dogs run ...
Trash Talking
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
While Toronto is testing Monster Garbage Cans that look like multiplex theatres, Berlin is installing cute (ad-free, orange, solar-powered) talking trash cans:
Agency spokesman Thomas Klockner told CNN the bins are becoming increasingly popular -- although sometimes people are surprised to hear the bin talk.
"It is a surprise because you don't expect a waste bin to talk. If you put something inside and it says, 'thank you' or 'welcome to Berlin,' you are amazed," he said.
"But then you start talking with your friends about it, 'Hey, I passed by a waste bin ...
October 23rd, 2005
Expo 2015 Consultation
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
"Once every five years a city gets the opportunity to step onto the world stage and become a focal point of international attention and achievement. In 2015, that city could be Toronto. Early in 2006, Toronto City Council will decide whether to submit a bid to host a World Expo in 2015." (from the Expo 2015 Public Consultation website)
Hosting the Expo is a huge undertaking that will undoubtedly change the face of Toronto. Even the preparation of a bid will draw resources and inspire both darts and laurels by proposing dramatic changes. John Sewell spoke out in Eye ...
October 24th, 2005
Behind the billboards
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A fine arts student in Poznan, Poland has created a wonderful public art installation that I have wanted to do for years, but had no idea where to start. Thankfully, Kasia Kesicka has done it and done it very well. The project entails using billboards to display the objects (buildings, trees, etc.) that the advertising infrastructure is blocking. Kesicka chose both dilapidated and commercial areas to display her work. I wonder if Viacom or Pattison would allow an artist or group to do something like this in Toronto? Or it ...
October 25th, 2005
Rivers vs. Highways
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
A friend pointed me towards David Byrne's October 17th Journal Entry where he wonders why we think natural things are beautiful before we think human-made things are.
Is it more interesting to look at a river than a highway? (A highway with cars passing on it, I mean.) Is a colorful paint spill on a sidewalk as beautiful as a sunset? ... Is it a cultural prejudice? Over the millennium have we grown accustomed to gazing at rivers and viewing the works of man as impressive, but not as moving and beautiful as a river? ...
The spin on monster garbage bins
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Only a few days left to complete the public survey of the monster garbage bins. If you are unfamiliar with this subject go to this site to find out more. Then come back and read the silliness below.
In a press release today by EUCAN -- creators of the monster garbage can — the company tries to spin the Megabin as an agent of energy savings. This contention is flawed, if not dishonest.
The release identifies the project's environmental benefits: six bins have solar panels to supplement the grid-supplied power ...
Call for Submissions: Public Space Invaders Film Night
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing is looking for submissions for our second Public Space Invaders film night. Last January, on a bitterly cold night, 200 people packed the Drake Hotel's Underground Bar to watch a varied collection of films that celebrated and critiqued the public realm. We are primarily looking for films that deal with public spaces in Toronto. They can be fun, arty, serious, very serious, beautiful or even ugly. Student films are fine too — we want to show Toronto from a variety of angles. Archival films are also great — tell us if you have some great shots ...
Queen West Heritage District Study
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto is embarking on a Heritage District study for Queen Street West between University and Bathurst. The study will create an inventory of buildings along Queen, identify key buildings of historical interest, seek to identify the essential character of the street, and provide specific recommendations both for preserving existing heritage buildings and shaping the construction of new developments in order to maintain this character. It is the first heritage district study of a commercial area in Toronto -- the others so far have been residential areas (although commerical areas have been designated heritage districts in other ...
October 26th, 2005
Car Free Kids
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Gideon Forman writes about raising kids without a car in the city in today's Toronto Star. The story is personal and a bit sappy but his emphasis on the social, physical and tactile interaction with his children is right on.
(Ironically, the datadriven web-ads on the side of the webpage are for cars.)
First Skate Plaza
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The city of Kettering, Ohio, has built the first skateboarding plaza -- that is, a skate park based on the real-life street structures that skateboarders are compulsively drawn to, such as stairs and railings, rather than artificial structures such as bowls. The design of the park was inspired by actual locations in North American cities that have consistently attracted skateboarders. An attractive aspect is the extensive greenery and decorative details in the features, a contrast with the plain concrete of most skate parks. More info.
October 27th, 2005
NOW and Eye are good to us
By Spacing // No Comments
Today is full of good little announcements. Both of Toronto's weeklies have great things in them relating to Spacing and our extended family. First off, NOW named our good friends over at the Toronto Public Space Committee the "Activist Group of the Year" for all of their work defending our public spaces. Congrats, people! They also gave Spacing two secondary nods -- In the Best Blog category, Torontoist.com took top honours, but our very own SpacingPhotos was a worthy runner-up. The Toronto Free Gallery took Best New Gallery honours, which ...
October 28th, 2005
Public Security
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Although Toronto is more worried about shootings than car bombs. Worldwide, urban security is an increasing concern. Before we start making our cities look like battlements take a look at this project by Rogers Marvel Architects.
They have developed some designs that make better public space while protecting buildings from attack.
TTC Ridership on the Up-and-Up
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
We've been hearing for so long about the decline in public transportation, from ridership to funding, so it's especially nice when it seems like things are turning around. Some good news about TTC ridership from a news release:
TORONTO, Oct. 27 /CNW/ - TTC ridership is up almost 3 percent over the same period last year.
TTC expects to carry at least 427 million riders by year end ... a 9 percent increase over ridership in 1999 when the TTC carried 393 million.
October saw record sales of Metropasses - 202,000 passes in one month, a 50 percent ...
October 29th, 2005
EVENT: Spacing at Canzine
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Sunday, October 30, 2005
The Gladstone Hotel • 1214 Queen St. West (Queen just East of Dufferin)
Spacing will be at Canzine 2005 here in Toronto. We will have a table selling our magazines, subway station buttons, subscriptions, and chatting it up with the wonderful people who pack the event each year. Last year we did a soft-launch of our buttons -- becuz of your enthusiastic acceptance, we decided to go big-time with the buttons, and it paid off! Hope to see you Sunday.
The Veins of the City
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Stephen Wickens writes about Toronto's hidden rivers in today's Globe and Mail highlighting the long fight to restore our urban watersystems. Prompted by the HumanRiver project, the article features Brown + Storey architects, LostRivers, and our friends the Toronto Public Space Committee, and the Guerrilla Gardeners.
October 31st, 2005
Watering
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing editor Dale posted recently on the Eye Weekly blog about the goodness of Toronto's water, and a recent proposal to bottle it to make the point that our water is clean and good -- and often better than the bottled stuff we get. It reminded me of a friend of mine who would react violently when offered Brita filtered water, shouting The Water's Fine Damn It! I think it must be the convenience thing -- water bottles are the perfect size to carry around, and certainly better than those terrible hippy Nalogen bottles that ...
Scarborough subway dreams
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
City councillors from Scarborough were out yesterday on the RT handing out flyers to get local residents on-side in transforming the aging transit line into a full fledged subway line. The grumblings about what to do with the RT started a while back, and first posted on the Wire on July 21, 2005. Read about it in the Globe and Mail today, or read the story that first appeared in the summer in the Toronto Star.
November 1st, 2005
Bike accident
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I spent the last few days moving into my new place in Parkdale, so I was traveling by cargo van or car half the time. On Monday, I headed north on Dufferin and made a left west on to Queen. My girlfriend noticed that Gladstone and Queen to the east was blocked off by police tape. She could also see a bike under a truck. In the evening, she heard a streetcar driver talking glibly to a passenger about a "schmuck who slid under a truck and went splat. Dead."
Spacing editor Shawn Micallef passed the ...
Segway Won’t Go Away
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Since this spring, the local Segway company has been trying to get its motorized electric scooters allowed on Toronto's sidewalks. It has managed to persuade Councillor Bill Saundercook to be its spokesman on the Toronto Pedestrian Committee, and on City Council.
When the company's idea was voted down in the Pedestrian Committee, it went to the Works Committee. It was voted down again. Furthermore, the City Solicitor prepared a report stating that Segways on sidewalks would be illegal not only according to City by-laws, but also according to provincial law. Then the Toronto Star wrote an ...
November 2nd, 2005
City for Sale (a real fixer-upper)
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The City of Toronto must be on the verge of bankrupcy. Witness the absurd idea of selling the naming rights of the civic centre of the City: Nathan Phillips Square in order to pay for its renovation.
The Square is named after Nathan Phillips, who was mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. He was the mayor that got the City Hall built in the first place and was dubbed the "mayor of all the people." Not "mayor of all the corporations."
Transmedia :29:59 November: Webcam Art
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
Year Zero One has just released November's new content as part of TRANSMEDIA :29:59, a year long exhibition on the pedestrian level video billboard at Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. Launched August 1st 2005, TRANSMEDIA :29:59 features one minute video works 24/7 every half hour on the 29th and 59th minutes.
This month, on the 29th minute: Cheryl Sourkes - Live from the Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. And on the 59th minute: BlueScreen - streamScape.
Cheryl Sourkes' Live from the Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas is a series of videos made by animating stills captured from a remote ...
November 3rd, 2005
SPACING EVENT: Repair Club comes to Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Repair Club comes to Toronto
Tuesday, November 8th, 2005 • 7pm, free
Innis College Town Hall (off St. George, just north of Harbord on U of T campus)
Come take part in this Spacing sponsored event! There will be a discussion by the leaders of the City Repair Club of Portland on how to change your urban environment with creativity in collaboration with the powers at City Hall (a weird combo, for sure!).
City Repair was formed in 1996 by citizen activists who wanted ...
November 4th, 2005
Keep on Walking
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Walking man escapes in Gotham.
More fun with walk signs.
This just in from Etobicoke…
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The other day, we reported on Doug Holyday's proposal to sell Nathan Phillips Square naming rights to make some money. Our Etobicoke correspondent, cdl42, has discovered secret documents that describe Holyday's plans to sell off the rights to his own name. Holyday couldn't be reached for comment, but we figure it's a simple case of "anything for a buck."
By categorizing this post in "Ad Creep", Spacing Magazine is in no way implying Holyday is an Ad Creep. Ad Creep is a public space phenomenon. Doug Holyday is a politician from Etobicoke. Totally different things.
Interactive 05
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Interactive 05, a celebration of interactive culture in public space, is on until Monday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre down on Front Street. It's part of the Toronto International Art Fair and is a free event. Until Monday, you can roam the public spaces of the Convention Centre and interact with a variety of electronic-ish art projects. The exhibits are all in the south building -- the first is a sound installation on the bridge south over the train tracks. If you haven't been to the convention centre, it's the south building located ...
November 5th, 2005
Bendale: About Place
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
In the Globe and Mail's Real Estate section yesterday, Dave LeBlanc, the Architourist, wrote a piece about the Virtual Museum of Canada exhibit called "Bendale: About Place." The exhibit was produced by the City of Toronto's Scarborough Historical Museum located in Thomson Park (both are hidden gems in our city). It's an oral history project with lots of photographic archives -- it's very much history from the perspective of Bendale residents themselves. You can poke around the exhibit here.
I worked on this project last year and got to sit in so many ...
The end of walking?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing Wire reader Simon Bryan recently emailed us and said he enjoyed our links and commentary on the possibility of the Segway hitting Toronto sidewalks (you can read our posts by clicking here).
Bryan said the only point we hadn't covered was the intentions of Segway's inventor Dean Kamen. Kamen has said from the beginning that his invention is intended to replace walking, not wheeled transportation. Bryan writes, "Kamen feels walking is so medieval he created his anti-walking device to take the drudgery out of perambulating. No wonder the well-heeled lobbyists so covet our sidewalks! Competing ...
Still We Ride
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Check out the screening of the film Still We Ride documenting the politics of the critical mass ride in NYC. The film highlights the ongoing struggle to maintain democracy and human rights in our streets. Trailer [.mp4]
On Friday August 27, 2004 just days before the start of the Republican National Convention, a massive police operation was underway. By the end of the night 264 people were arrested. It marked one of the largest mass arrests in New York City's history -- and the arrested had done nothing illegal.
Friday, November ...
November 6th, 2005
Design for the Cold
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Toronto is a winter city, but we often don't like to admit it, and as a result, our public spaces are often designed so that they're only attractive for the warm half of the year. So it is refreshing to hear that the Design Exchange is presenting “Design for the Cold,†an exhibit organized to raise awareness about how Canadians experience winter, showcasing design solutions which focus on taking the chill out of winter environments.
"For the show, which runs through November 25, 16 designers, educators, and health sciences researchers will present ...
November 7th, 2005
Memorial for killed cyclist
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Candlelight Memorial for cyclist Ryan Carriere
When: Monday November 7th, 2005; 7:00 p.m.
Where: Queen and Gladstone
Toronto cyclists were saddened to learn that 31-year-old Ryan Carriere was killed last Monday, October 31, at the intersection of Queen St W. and Gladstone Avenue (read the SpacingWire posts the following day). Ryan was headed home on his bicycle to help prepare for Halloween, to be shared with his wife and two daughters.
Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) along with Ryan's many friends and family will be holding a candlelight memorial for him at the ...
Random Act of Pole Art
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
People complain when utility poles are decorated with posters, but I doubt anyone complained when these utility poles at the corner of Cross and Beaconsfield were decorated with painted vines and flowers. Kudos to whoever put up these random acts of pole art (rumour has it local comic artist Fiona Smith decorated these poles a few years ago).
TTC wants some pizzazz (and other transit stuff)
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A few items on The Better Way
1. The TTC is running a contest called Pizzazz Me! They are using TTC Chair Howard Moscoe as the face of the campaign, decking him out in some sort of Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test wardrobe. Anyway, the contest asks riders to submit their best ideas for “livening†up the TTC. You can check out their web page over here, or you can email them your ideas directly. Contest ends November 25. If we could help you with a suggestion: ask the TTC to sell ...
Urban Pillow Fight
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Feathers fly and teddies soar as you converge on Dundas Square for a massive urban pillow fight! Swing and whack as you evade pillow-wielding foe. This one comes straight out of London. Bring a (concealed) pillow to the middle of the square at 2 PM and wait for the signal. Pillow fight!
2 PM, Sunday, November 13, 2005
Dundas Square, Yonge & Dundas
November 8th, 2005
Plan – What Plan?
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Bike Toronto has the low-down on the Bike Budget. A report to council [pdf] is recommending the proposed 2006 bike plan budget (red line) would have no increase above the 2005 budget. The result would be a budget that is almost 1/3 of what the original bike plan (green line) recommeneded: "In order to comply with the corporate affordability guidelines issued by Finance."
This short sighted recommendation is blind to the sustainable economics of cycling. Cycling reduces traffic, smog, parking space, fatal collisions, obesity, and noise. All ...
Contested Streets
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock is a full length documentary film that explores the rich diversity of New York City street life before the introduction of automobiles -- and then goes on to show how New York can follow the example of other modern cities that have reclaimed their streets as vibrant public spaces.
Trailer (5 minute) [Quicktime]
Cyclist memorial
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This is an image captured at the memorial for Ryan Carriere, who was killed last Monday, October 31, at the intersection of Queen Street W. and Gladstone Avenue when he was hit by a transport truck. Thanks to Benjamin Jordan for sharing his images.
St. Clair ROW, Nathan Phillips Square, & the ROM condos
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star had a few articles today that directly relate to some of the issues we've been covering here lately on the Spacing Wire.
1. St. Clair ROW: Since the case about the St. Clair ROW is going to be heard again, the group that is fighting the dedicated streetcar line, Save Our St. Clair (SOS), is worried that the City would use a long drawn-out legal fight to bankrupt their movement. They had raised about $60,000 for their legal challenge. To quote Margaret Smith, head of SOS, "We are a group of citizens. ...
REMINDER: Spacing presents City Repair tonight at U of T
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Repair Club comes to Toronto
TONIGHT! • 7pm, free
Innis College Town Hall (off St. George, just north of Harbord on U of T campus)
Come take part in this Spacing sponsored event! There will be a discussion by the leaders of the City Repair Club of Portland on how to change your urban environment with creativity in collaboration with the powers at City Hall (a weird combo, for sure!). For more info click here.
November 9th, 2005
Does the Bike Plan have legs?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As of late, we have been bemoaning the lack of action by the City on its own Bike Plan (for background click here and here). The Toronto Star reports today that the slash in funding that happened last week (down to $2.2 million from $3 million) from the Finance Committee, may be restored today by the Works Committee. Read about here.
Shadow games
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
When a new development is proposed in Toronto, the developer has to conduct "shadow studies" to make sure that it will not cast unreasonable shadow on important public space -- such as streets and parks -- or on private properties.
The problem is, these studies generally use as their benchmark the equinox -- March and September 21. If it allows sunlight on a location on that day, a new building is deemed not to cast a shadow. In fact, what this means is that the building may well cast a shadow over public space for half the year.
Consider this new ...
November 10th, 2005
T.O. to BE
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
There are so many proposed and under-construction projects in Toronto that it's hard to get a grasp on what it all means to the city at large, and how it all might change Toronto. A member of the Toronto Urban Forum decided to take a panormama of the city (taken from that cluster of new condos on the Etobicoke Waterfront west of the Humber) and place the renderings of each of those individual projects in the existing skyline. While it's possible that a number of these projects may never happen (think of the way ...
People for St. Clair
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Before Toronto got into the silly situation about the dedicated streetcar lane up on St. Clair, there was a great group doing community work to bring about consensus in the neighbourhoods along the 512 route. SCRIPT (St Clair Right-of-way Initiative for Public Transit) has got itself back into action and explains in good detail why the ROW is the best option for all of us.
Pedestrian lighting
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
One way to make streets more friendly to pedestrians at night is to incorporate pedestrian-scale streetlights over the sidewalk. The Harbord BIA has recently sponsored the installation of such lights along Harbord west of Spadina.
Of course, once upon a time there was no street lighting at all. We easily forget how pervasive street lighting is in the city, and it's hard to imagine what a street was like without any lighting at all. However, you can get some idea of what it was like by walking along Palmerston south of Harbord at night. ...
November 11th, 2005
Abandoned Art
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Montreal Gazette reports on Champ Libre's art festival in abandoned urban spaces. Champ Libre holds an international festival of video and electronic arts every two years. The nomadic celebration moves around the city, taking over abandoned and marginal sites close to downtown. The festival's unique combination of architecture, contemporary art and new media technologies brings out the beauty and promise of these neglected spaces.
November 12th, 2005
To Scarborough or York U?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star has a a good report today about the aging Scarborough RT and the possible extention of the subway to York University. The Globe and Mail also wrote about it. Residents of Scarberia were gathered together this week to discuss what to do with the RT as it hurtles towards its expiry date of 2015. Bus lanes? A new light rail line? Streetcars? It also became clear that participants were not concerning themselves with the University-Spadina line. As one resident at the meeting said, "I don't really care about that." ...
November 13th, 2005
uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
In today Ideas section of the Toronto Star, the first essay from uTOpia has been reprinted. uTOpia is a new book from Coach House being released next Sunday at a big day-long event at the Gladstone Hotel. Quite a few Spacing Magazine editors and contributors have pieces in this collection "featuring passionate, visionary essays by thirty-four different journalists, artists, thinkers, architects and activists, uTOpia is a compendium of ideas, opinions and strategies. The anthology explores plans to redevelop the Island airport into a Ward's Island-style community; how the Zeidler family is energizing ...
November 14th, 2005
Transit sites to check out
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There are two sites worth checking out if you are a transit fan. The first one is The Yet Better Way by Leif Harmsen who decided to envision the way Toronto's subway and transit system should look like. He has added subway lines to Eglinton, Queen, and one out to the Zoo. You can download the PDFs -- there is one for the east and west side of the city.
The other site is Metro Bits, which has a great collection of art in transit stations from around the world. Toronto's Sheppard line ...
November 15th, 2005
Goodbye, Dear Riverdale?
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
One of the things I love most about Toronto is the way our modern structures sometimes seem to rise straight out of the wilderness of our ravines and parks -- and it's partly what I write about in my uTOpia essay Pssst. Modern Toronto Just Wants Some Respect. A perfect example of this, one I don't talk about in the essay, but very much at risk this week, is Riverdale Hospital.
Stand on the top of the hill just south of the Riverdale Zoo and look east across the Don Valley and check out how beautiful ...
So long and thanks for all the fish
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Toronto Star reports about how the City of Toronto lost the controversial Aquarium proposal for Exhibition Place due to, among other things, lack of transit connection. Regardless of the ethics or value of Aquaria this story highlights the issue of having public places like the Ex and Ontario Place that are cut off from the city. As well it demonstrates how profitable institutions realize the value of urban proximity or good transit connection.
Why do you want to kill me?
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
I can help you my friend. I know the cure. What is it? The same thing that cured me. Ride your bike to work. It's instant, it's complete. Your world will open up and display its beauty all around you, you will be happy to be alive and enjoy each day, and you will become a part of humanity once again.
Housing Projects and Public Space
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
An important dimension of the recent two-week bout of rioting in France, one that a few people have noted, is the shape and use of public space.
According the the Globe and Mail, the trigger for the riots was local residents calling the police when they saw a group of visible-minority youths crossing a public park (perfectly legally). Two youths died by accident after fleeing from the police, which proved to be the catalyst for the riots. Which raises the question, is public space truly public if it is not equally open to everyone, regardless of appearance?...
November 16th, 2005
Pillow Fight!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you missed the wonderful public space intervention Pillow Fight last week at Dundas Square -- staged by newmindspace -- you should check the sites of Sam Javnrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery (and a constant Spacing contributor) for some great images. Here are links to his images on Flickr, and his daily photoblog.
Union Station Precinct Meeting
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
As part of the planned renovation of Union Station, the city is holding a "precinct study" to look at how to renovate the area around the station -- one of the most heavily used pedestrian areas in the city, but one whose decrepit state does not reflect its importance to the city.
Two public meetings are scheduled to enable the public to provide input into this process:
The second in a series of public forums that are part of an ongoing Union Station precinct study will be held on Tuesday, December 13 from 6 p.m. to ...
November 17th, 2005
The Push-bike Architecture Treasure Hunt
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Our lives are very busy. And if they're not, they certainly should be. But for all of us, especially those who cycle, there are breaks in our daily routines, which we can use to disconnect from the personal and reconnect with our surroundings.
The Push-bike Architecture Treasure Hunt is a great project from London, UK that helps people appreciate the hidden details of the architecture that frames their daily lives.
TPSC on the cover of Eye Weekly
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
That smiling face , and wall of activists, that adorn the cover of Eye Weekly this week are the Toronto Public Space Committee. Spacing was born out that group, but we've since moved on to independence. There's a nice interview with Dave Meslin, the TPSC's co-ordinator about the group's history and how it has built a movement around public space issues here in the city.
New issue of Spacing Nov. 24th!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
SPACING #5 WINTER 2006: The New Beautiful City
RELEASE PARTY: Thursday November 24 2005
Arts & Letters Club • 8pm • $10
Spacing's fifth issue will hit the streets in late November. The cover section for this issue is called The New Beautiful City. Our contributors explore Toronto's public art and how thousands of people use the public realm as a canvas. What a better way to welcome Spacing's foray into full colour! Please click here to find out which stores carry copies of Spacing.
To help celebrate this fine issue, ...
November 18th, 2005
Montreal’s big tent
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing contributor Leah Sandals has a piece in our upcoming issue about politics in public art. One of the artist groups she focuses on is Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable (ATSA) who are repsonsible for the burnt-out SUV that sat in Dundas Square this past summer. Next week in Montreal, ATSA kicks off Etat D'urgence '05, a huge tent in the middle of the city where they will feed, clothe, and entertain the homeless. You can watch a video from last year's event [French audio track].
uTOpia reminder
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Don't forget to come to the uTOpia launch this Sunday at the Gladstone Hotel. Come by during the day and bring the kids or at night only with kids who have fake IDs. Spacing is sponsoring a panel on public space at 2pm, and advance copies of our new issue on public art will be on sale, a whole 4 days before our launch at the Arts and Letters club. It's also a chance to pick up a [murmur] map (by Marlena Zuber who also did one of the uTOpia maps). This ...
November 19th, 2005
Development issues are hot
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you haven't already noticed, Spacing managing editor Dale Duncan has taken on the City beat for Eye Weekly. The topic that has been turning her crank recently are the myriad issues surrounding development and planning in Toronto neighbourhoods. She recently posted a few observations on the Eye Blog about: the Harry Stinson 90-storey Sapphire tower; the work of Active 18 in the Queen Street West area near the Gladstone Hotel; and why grid layouts are good (except in Portland, Oregon). She has some other ...
November 20th, 2005
Spacing release party Nov 24th!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
SPACING #5 WINTER 2006: The New Beautiful City
RELEASE PARTY: Thursday November 24 2005
Arts & Letters Club • 8pm • $10
To help celebrate this fine issue, Spacing invites you to come out to the release party on Thursday November 24th at the Arts & Letters Club. Things get going at 8pm. The cover price is $10 which gets you a magazine and some good times. Come experience the historic Arts & Letters Club, one of the finest spaces in the city. It is located at 14 Elm Street -- two blocks ...
November 21st, 2005
A moving canvas
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
SpacingWire reader Paul Bowser pointed us towards an art project called Moving Canvas from Berlin that excites and scares the hell out of me -- a video projector is attached to the side of a subway train and projects images onto the walls of the tunnels [Quick Time movie]. It is a great idea and wonderfully executed, but will probably be used in the near future for advertising purposes. It doesn't have to be this way -- if the TTC wanted to really add some pizzazz to our transit system, something like ...
Decision by the lake
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hume writes in the Toronto Star today: "Sometime [Tuesday] at city hall, the much discussed East Bayfront Precinct Plan will finally go before the policy and finance committee. This is the first step in a process that could result in the transformation of downtown Toronto. If the committee accepts the plan, which it should, the next step is council, which has the final say. The plan, two years in the making, proposes a vision of the waterfront as a place where people live, play and work. The newly formed neighbourhood would accommodate 8,000 ...
November 22nd, 2005
Student transit in Scarborough
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Varsity, the University of Toronto student newspaper, has an interesting story in today's issue about the difficulties facing students taking transit to the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus. While the campus is significantly increasing the number of students it takes in, TTC service has not been expanded to catch up. The story also points out that Scarborough is competing with York University for scarce funds for subway expansion -- in Scarborough's case, to replace the aging Scarborough light transit line.
The case for expanded transit to the Scarborough campus is complicated, because the current ...
November 23rd, 2005
Reminder! Spacing release party Thursday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
SPACING #5 WINTER 2006: The New Beautiful City
RELEASE PARTY: Thursday November 24 2005
Arts & Letters Club • 8pm • $10
This is just a reminder for all of you that Spacing is having a release party for our new issue on Thursday. Come out for a few drinks, chat with city-caring people, and dance to the selected tunes of DJ Tyler Clark Burke (of the Santa Cruz parties and Three Gut record fame).
Bring your friends down to the Arts & Letters Club. Things get going at 8pm. The cover price is ...
November 24th, 2005
Complete the set (subway buttons, that is)
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
For those of you brave enough to come out to the Spacing Winter 2006 release party tonight, you will have first dibs on the new Sheppard and Scarborough RT station buttons (pictured above). There are six buttons for the RT, and five for the Sheppard line. These buttons are now part of the entire system package. The buttons will go on sale this weekend through our website and in stores during the first week of December.
Also, if you show up tonight you'll be able to buy copies of uTOpia published by ...
November 25th, 2005
The Urbs 2005
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Gridskipper is asking for nominations for The Urbs 2005. Urban blogging awards. They define an urban blog as a regularly updated blog site with over half of its content focused on a city, cities in general, city living, urban lifestyles, urban travel, or something of the sort.
I can think of a few Toronto blogs that should be represented:
Toronotist
Spacing Wire
Spacing Photos
Reading Toronto
Urbanism
If you have some favorite urban blogs nominate one today. Deadline is Wednesday, December 7.
First snowfall
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Toronto photoblogger Jay Morrison captured the city's first snowfall while exploring the east end yesterday. Check out his photo essay.
GTA Carpool registry online
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Smart Commute Association yesterday launched Carpool Zone [smartcommute.ca], the first Internet carpool service to help commuters in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton find people to share a ride with. The association is a new partnership between the cities and regions around Toronto and Hamilton and its objective is to provide and encourage commuting options such as working from home, transit and cycling. The goal is to have 10,000 users by the spring with a minimum of 5,000 car pools. This would result in 2,500 less cars on the road. Read more about ...
November 26th, 2005
Nathan Phillips Sq. and a GTA transit authority
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Two items from the Saturday edition of the Toronto Star:
1. Nathan Phillips Square renovations: In the words of city councillor, and vice chair of the city's budget committee, Joe Mihevc, "We can decide to fix the leaks, and put cement in the cracks and just tread water with what we have. Or we'll decide to rethink our front yard with a new vision. We can decide to swim." City council has decided to fund $16 million worth of fixes to the square, and hope to get another $24 million to help re-think the entire plaza ...
November 27th, 2005
Canadian Blog Awards
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It seems the SpacingWire has been nominated for Best Culture Blog in the Canadian Blog Awards. That's pretty cool. Also nominated in the Best Photo Blog category are Spacing contributors Sam Javanrouh, Gayla Trail, and Rannie Turingan. If you want to cast a vote, go to the CBA website. You have until Wednesday, November 30th. And then there may be another round of voting for the finalists.
November 28th, 2005
New York trash for sale
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Artist Justin Gignac collects trash from the streets of New York City and carefully packages the litter into a plastic cube. He sells each unique collection online, boasting that it makes the perfect gift "for anyone who wants their own piece of the NYC landscape." Check out NYCgarbage.com.
Secret Swing goes missing!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The blog Ryantowne is reporting that the Secret Swing, found between two buildings off of Graffiti Alley, has sustained serious damage. The chains have been cut, and the seat is missing.
photo from Photojunkie.
Kingston Road LRT
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The TTC is proposing a new dedicated streetcar line in Scarborough along Kingston Road to Eglinton and then west to Kennedy station. They are asking for money to begin an environmental assessment, and if all goes well it could be up and running as early as 2009.
Toronto’s Governance
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
There has been much talk recently that the City of Toronto's governing structure needs to be reformed, and earlier this year the City appointed a three-member panel to review its governance and propose reforms.
The panel released its report on Nov. 23, 2005, to mixed reviews. As expected, it proposed strengthening the office of the Mayor -- something that many pundits have been calling for. It also paid attention to increasing citizen involvement and the role of the four community councils, and proposed some modest reforms in that direction as well. These reflected ...
November 29th, 2005
Community Gardening 101
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
Yes, the ground is verging on frozen right now, but the people at the Toronto Community Garden Network and Foodshare want to put their winter to good use and inspire a new batch of community gardeners. There are all kinds of places you can start a community garden —- in a city park, on an abandoned plot of land, on a rooftop, outside your apartment building, or at your school. These two organizations are a great resource if you are interested in starting one up.
Starting in January, Foodshare and the TCGN are presenting ...
Subway station revitalization unveiled
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Today, the Toronto Community Foundation unveiled its proposal to redesign three subway stations along the University Avenue subway line. Their main goal, according to the press release, is to boost cultural tourism and public transit in Toronto. The designs are already causing a variety of opinions and reactions that are worth checking out. Here's an article from the Star, too.
Personally, I am not too enamoured with the designs. We'd have to walk around each station first to really get a proper feel, but I ...
November 30th, 2005
DIPS and other fun at City Hall
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
New local street standards for Toronto
A joint committee of Works and Planning today considered the "DIPS" report from staff which sets standards for future new local streets in Toronto.
Although there was an extensive consultation process, which clearly sent the message that citizens want streets to be pedestrian-friendly, few of the citizen or pedestrian recommendations made it into the final report. Some of the key problems are:
-- The road widths proposed are very wide -- a minimum of 8.0 meters, up to 8.5 meters. This is much wider than existing streets in the older parts ...
December 1st, 2005
The mayor has a challenger
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It's election season, but the focus for Spacing this week is not on the shenanigans of Ottawa politicians, but on the upcoming city elections just under a year away. City Councillor Jane Pitfield announced she is going to run for mayor of Toronto in the 2006 municipal elections. This makes us at Spacing quite happy. Why? Well, Spacing is planning for a mayoral debate, and a viable candidate to challenge Mayor Miller makes the debate worthwhile. And this is as good of a time as any to announce that the Spacing Fall 2006 issue will ...
December 2nd, 2005
Fembots and The City
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Saturday December 3rd 2005
at the Royal Cinema (606 College St., just west of Clinton). All ages show.
Doors at 7pm, show starts at 8pm. Tickets $12 at Soundscapes and Rotate This.
The Fembots, one of Toronto's best indie bands, have released a CD called The City, which is a homage to the unknown stories of Toronto. It is one of my fave releases of the year. Spacing is lucky enough to have been asked by the Fembots to provide images from our staff of photographers (and photoblog) to be projected on to ...
December 3rd, 2005
Mazda wants employees to walk to work
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Without an ounce of irony, Japanese automaker Mazda announced it is encouraging its employees to walk to work. The program is eloquently called the "Eco-walk commutation allowance" -- employees will be paid 1,500 Yen ($12 Cdn) if they travel four kilometres (roundtrip) at least 15 days a month. Each of the country's 20,000 workers are eligible. Competitor Yamaha introduced a similar program over a year ago.
Vancouver cracks down on public heroin use
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Police in Vancouver say they plan to start arresting drug addicts who shoot up in public, an uncontroversial idea in some cities but not in Vancouver. The police say they want to get drug use out of the streets and doorways of the Downtown Eastside and into the city's supervised injection site. Dr. Anita Palepu, who treats drug users from Vancouver's streets, says addicts going through withdrawal can't wait in lineups at the site and she fears the crackdown will prevent them from being treated for communicable diseases.
It is worth reading up on Toronto's plans ...
Cycling calendar by CBN
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you don't know about the Community Bicycle Network, you should visit their web site. They are the ones trying to convince City Hall to make this city more bike-friendly by doing simple things like implementing the City's very own Bike Plan . To raise funds for their organization, CBN has produced a beautiful full-colour art calendar, featuring 12 original images from the winners of the 2005 Women & Cycling poster project. It's gorgeous, and it's packed with locally relevant cycling and environmentally-friendly dates. The calendar was produced ...
December 4th, 2005
Dying to walk
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer recently ran an article linking pedestrian deaths to an individual's socio-economic standing. The article even points out that ethnicity is playing a part in who walks and who drives. Hispanic people die in pedestrian-vehicle accidents at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group in every Southern state except Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee, where only blacks die at a higher rate (according to 2002 data reported by states to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Nearly two out of every five pedestrian-vehicle deaths in the U.S. occur in ...
Utilitarian canvases
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Spacing Wire posted back on October 7th, 2005 about the work Joe Pantalone's office is doing with local graffiti artists and Bell utility boxes. Spacing contributor Liz Worth wrote this week in Eye Weekly about Ward 19's newest reinvented boxes at the corner of Hallem and Shaw (above image before and after). The work has won Pantalone's office a Clean and Beautiful City Award. They expect to have a total of 12 Bell utility boxes painted by Spring 2006, with hopes that the initiative will spread across the city. Something similar ...
Gentrify this!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Gentrification is a hot topic in all cities, and the neighbourhoods surrounding Toronto's downtown core are no exception. Much of the West Queen West area has been changing at a fair clip over the last decade. When Starbucks moves in, which is currently happening at Dovercourt and Queen West, you know the debate about gentrification will certainly arise, as one commentator has already made his/her point with spray paint (image on right). Go to the Torontoist.com post about this graffiti to read the variety of opinions on the new Starbucks, and the influence the Drake ...
December 5th, 2005
Scottish Stickum
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I've been wandering around Edinburgh for the last seven days. It's a tangle of old streets, volcanic rock, super green grass, bone-chilling dampness, nice suit and tie combinations, and dusk that starts at about 2:30 p.m. It's a bit hard to walk on all the cobblestones, and the "newer" flat paving stones are a bit slippery, but the sound of footsteps on European sidewalks is nice and they echo differently than they do in Toronto (more wood buildings, maybe).
There is not very much postering in the city centre. Out in Leith, the port area (and Trainspotting ...
Solid and Memorable Edinburgh
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
It's hard not to compare Edinburgh and Toronto while here —- it's problematic though because it's easy to be knocked over by street after street of fairy-tale landscape (somebody I was chatting with referred to it as "shrink-wrapped perfection") and then get down on Toronto for not having the visual consistency this place does. In a few different conversations, people have mentioned that the history here is a constant presence, and that it's hard to get out of its shadow and do something new, echoing the sentiments expressed by Eric Rutherford in his uTOpia essay. There ...
December 6th, 2005
Greening Toronto’s roofs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing Wire reader Brendan Stewart sent this along:
The City of Toronto is currently in the middle of a process to develop a policy that will encourage green roof development in the city. The city commissioned a discussion paper that was presented to the Roundtable on the Environment, that is partly based on an academic study, which you can read here.
Although green roofs are usually installed in private space, they are relevant to public space issues because of the number of benefits that contribute to the quality of life of city dwellers. ...
New Orleans Installs Free Public Wi-Fi
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of New Orleans is installing free public Wi-Fi (wireless internet connection) throughout the city, by hanging simple, cheap, shoebox-sized boxes from lampposts. The system will be accessible to anyone with a wireless connection on their computer. The system will also save the city money by enabling city employees such as building inspectors and police to quickly file and process paperwork on-location (through a secure network).
The new system is, in part, a response to the recent devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Because a Wi-Fi ...
December 7th, 2005
Bus Shelters of Mellieha
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing Associate Editor Shawn Micallef is in Europe during December and is posting sporadically throughout the month. -- The Editors
I arrived in Malta last night and went for a walk in my temporary neighbourhood today. Mellieha is a town on the north side of the Island, with a large sandy beach that's usually packed with people in the summer. Today it was grey and empty, but nice. The public transportation here is pretty good -- a fairly robust bus network. There are new air conditioned coaches, and then these really old things that belch black smoke (I ...
Paul Dotey’s “Bridge”
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Local artist Paul Dotey handed me a copy of his six-page zine at the release party of Spacing's current issue. I had it on my "must read soon" list but didn't look at it until today. The little thing is a beauty. It depicts the Bloor Viaduct at three stages in time -- its current state, the aftermath of some kind of disaster (above image), and the very far future. No words, just sparse drawings that leaves the meaning of the story up to the reader. Personally, I like end-of-the-world imagery (more in the Don ...
December 8th, 2005
TONIGHT: Ecobunk Awards
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Do you ever get upset when you see blatantly misleading advertisements? So does the Toronto Environmental Alliance. Each year they host Ecobunk, a fundraising show that highlights ads that confuse and muddle environmental issues. It is usually a side-splitting affair that pokes fun at the most outrageous corporate green advertising of 2005. So go to the Plaza Flamingo (423 College Street) tonight and help raise a few bucks for TEA, one of the best organizations in the city. Things kick off at 8pm, but the event usually sells out, so show up early. ...
TONIGHT: Graffiti Art Show
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
THEM, a graffiti art organization which works to find employment for young urban artists, is hosting an art show tonight at It's Not A Deli (986 Queen W.). Lots of Toronto graffiti artists will have work on display.
Mural art by Case
Mellieha Redux
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I recieved an email from Rebecca Cefai here in Malta -- she read the post about the bus shelters and had some nice user experience to recount, which sounds a lot like the complaints levelled against Toronto's glass shelters:
I just thought you would like to know that the Maltese text on the bus shelters is a poem by Oliver Friggieri called "Jekk" ("If") and it basically says that if you do all there is to be done in this life, then you destroy it, because "Life is a question gathered in a thousand whys/and becomes for ...
Go go Google Transit (and subway party)!
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
I'm fond of GoogleMaps as a way figure out where I'm going, mostly because of the "satellite view" feature. But now even more mapping fun is on the way. Google has just launched GoogleTransit, a feature that allows you to search a city's transit system. The Trip Planner allows you to enter the specifics of your trip, and then uses all available public transportation schedules and information to plot out the most efficient possible step-by-step itinerary. According to their FAQ page, you can even compare the cost of ...
December 9th, 2005
GIFT GUIDE: name a BikeShare bike
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Over the next week or two the contributors to the Spacing Wire are going to suggest some random gift ideas for the coming holidays. The first idea I'd like to share was brought to my attention by Spacing Biz Manager Holland Gidney. For $75, you can name one of BikeShare's yellow bikes. You can be vain by naming it after yourself and humble because the program is run by the wonderful Community Bicycle Network.
In defense of Sprawl
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Torontoist's Ron Nurwisah sent this along to us:
Sprawl is the arch-nemesis of progressive urban planning. North America's love affair with the car and the suburbs has created unsustainable, unlivable and homogenous neighbourhoods. Suburbs from California to Vancouver, from Miami to Toronto have led to gridlock, the destruction of green spaces and the collapse of once vibrant inner city areas.
Or have they? In the cheekily titled Sprawl: A Compact History, Chicago-based art history professor Robert Bruegmann argues that sprawl isn't a 20th century North American phenomenon spurred on by ...
In defense of Proximity
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Closer to home the Globe and Mail has several stories about dense urban life. John Bently Mays talks about the importance of mid-rises in the future of Toronto Avenues. Derek Raymaker talks about creating housing close to transit nodes in the suburbs highlighting the importance of integrated local and regional transit. And Dave LeBlanc summarizes one of our favourite new books uTOpia.
Discuss uTOpia here.
Union Station Precinct
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto is planning to revamp the precinct around Union Station -- one of the most central and busy but also most neglected parts of Toronto. It has already held a forum to get the public's ideas about this area, and it will be holding another next week:
The second public forum will be held on Tuesday, December 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Metro Hall Rotunda, 55 John Street and will include a presentation at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, in the Toronto Star today, Christopher Hume discusses some of the ...
Sprawl Malta Euro Mega-Remix
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing Associate Editor Shawn Micallef is in Europe during December and is posting sporadically throughout the month. -- The Editors
Just to add to the sprawl debate, it certainly isn't a North American phenomenon. Here in Malta, the same thing is happening. This is one of the densest places on the planet —- it's a tiny island nation that could fit inside of Toronto. Since I was a kid, it was Malta's urban form that I found most interesting. It looked so deep in pictures, like a labyrinth of houses and buildings that were much more ...
December 10th, 2005
GIFT GUIDE: Spacing’s 4-issue Gift Pack
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing is happy to announce a special holiday promotion: the Spacing 4-issue Gift Pack. To save you time, we have conveniently wrapped all of our available issues in a TTC route map and put them on sale exclusively at Pages Books & Magazines (256 Queen Street West, Toronto). For $18, you have the best possible holiday gift for the urban enthusiast in your family or circle of friends. (Sorry, issue 1 is sold out.)
If you haven't already heard about the promotion, it's probably because you are not part of Spacing's mailing list. You can hear about ...
December 11th, 2005
Countryside Shelter
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing Associate Editor Shawn Micallef is in Europe during December and is posting sporadically throughout the month. — The Editors
There was a request to see some of the old bus shelters I mentioned about in my first post about Malta -- so yesterday I went out and found these, near Marfa. Marfa located on what I call "the tail of the fish" because we always said Malta was shaped like a chubby fish. These are made out of what most everything in Malta is built with: limestone, which gives better protection against the ...
The Art of Psychogeography
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
The Ideas section of today's Toronto Star has a feature on psychogeography. The article notes a growing interest in psychogeography among artists, architects, and urban planners, and checks out the Glowlab: Open Lab festival and exhibition that wraps up today at Art Interactive in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Through a series of public events, the artists participating in the nine week event explored the effects of the urban environment on people's emotions and behaviours.
The piece also looks at some Toronto psychogeographic happenings: local artist Jessica Thompson is interviewed about her Soundbike project, and ...
Subverting graffiti
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hutsul has an interesting piece in the Toronto Star today about a Sony graffiti promotion in NYC and San Francisco:
Graffiti purists are rankled by the recent appearance of spray-painted advertisements for Sony's Playstation Portable in several American cities. Although this isn't the first time a corporation has borrowed a street-art aesthetic in an effort to appeal to young, urban audiences, this campaign has been seen by some as an attempt to mimic authentic graffiti, thereby marginalizing the subculture.
"The ads were meant to appear as if they were done by artists, that they were an ...
The posters of climate change
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Yvonne Bambrick, one of the organizers behind Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, sent along a photo of some of the street art that lined the streets of Montreal this past week (The UN Climate Change Conference has been taking place in Montreal since Nov. 28th). For a larger version of the image click here. Coincidentally, the new theme on Spacing Photos is street art.
December 12th, 2005
Hybrid taxis in NYC
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On November 10, 2005 the first hybrid taxi fleet was launched in New York City. The vehicle runs on a combination of gas and electricity and generally emits no exhaust when travelling under 25 mph. These hybrid taxis are indeed a step in the right direction for a city that has over 12,000 taxis. The switch to hybrid vehicles is a result of the "Clean Air Taxis Act" which implemented some new regulations this past summer giving taxi drivers the option to choose their vehicle from seven gas-electric hybrid models. I do find it ...
Development developments
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Today the Ontario government proposed new legislation that would give councils and citizens more power to determine what developments go ahead, and influence the architecture and design of proposed new buildings. It would also restrict powers of the Ontario Municipal Board, the independent tribunal that rules on land use complaints, by scaling back on its current duties as decision-maker to merely hearing appeals on local planning matters. Read the whole article here.
Christopher Hume's column in the Toronto Star, which appeared before the legislation was announced today, explains what this means to residents of Toronto.
December 13th, 2005
Is Toronto ready to grow up?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
(all links go to the Toronto Star)
Is Toronto ready to grow up? Christopher Hume ponders this qestion in his column today regarding the potential overhaul of the OMB. Mayor Miller weighs in on his hope for a reformed OMB. The new controls the City may receive could help Toronto raise the quality of design, architecture, and sustainability in development projects.
The St. Clair Right-Of-Way is back in the news, this time with the rising costs of the the dedicated streetcar line. What should be of note to SpacingWire readers is the legal costs ...
Vanity Fair and Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Looks like Vanity Fair has a thing for Toronto. On VanityFair.com, Tepper Anderson visits our fair city and discovers the vibrancy of Toronto's literary scene. What is of interest to Spacing is Anderson's experience on the city streets, especially his take on the [murmur] project (which is run by Spacing Associate Editor Shawn Micallef). Also of note is the list of Toronto literary links that includes one to Spacing.
BMX park along the waterfont?
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Tomorrow evening (Wednesday, December 14) Councillor Sylvia Watson is holding a community meeting to discuss the idea of building a BMX course at Marilyn Bell Park along the waterfront. It's an intriguing proposal -- the course would be cheap to install, and would provide a alternative way to engage people, especially youth, in the use of our public spaces.
An inspiring Parks and Rec employee (who shall, for now, remain nameless due to a perplexing little rule the City has about it's employees talking to the media) recently told me, ...
Light pollution
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Above is a real-time image of the northeast of North America. At night, it clearly demonstrates the amount of light pollution our continent creates (that's Lake Ontario in the middle, with Toronto and the GTA on the left side of the lake). I have a telescope that I like to pull out once and a while, but stargazing in the city is a tad difficult, to say the least. Check out this site for all types of views of Earth and the moon.
Dreams of Front Street
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Union Station precinct study (led by various architects and consultants) held a public meeting tonight to discuss options for re-shaping Front Street in front of the station. The overall direction is very positive -- the primary goal is to expand the pedestrian realm, and create a spectacularly attractive space welcoming people to the city.
The study cited some remarkable statistics: pedestrians outnumber vehicles by 10 to 1 on this part of Front St. (and 20%-30% of those vehicles are taxis). As well, currently during rush hour traffic is effectively travelling in one ...
December 14th, 2005
Light poles disappearing in Baltimore
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
No one is sure why 130 light poles in Baltimore have disappeared.
The city revisits the expressway
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
Like so many roadways of the 1950s and '60s, Seattle's I-5 freeway cut through the city and destroyed pedestrian connections between neighbourhoods. In an effort to undo some of this damage, the city has decided to create a park under the elevated freeway. The 7.5 acre strip of park space includes a picnic area, a mountain bike trail, and a dog park. As well, residents are encouraged to take part in the creation of other sections of the park. Read more about it here.
While nothing is underway yet, there is talk of ...
December 15th, 2005
Citizen TTC Commissioners
By Spacing // No Comments
Eye Weekly was inspired by a suggestion by Ed Drass, the transit columnist of the daily commuter paper Metro, that the two seats currently open on the TTC should be filled by non-politicians. Since 1990, all of the seats on the Commission have been filled by city councillors, so this move would be a break with tradition. But as Drass pointed out, services as important as the police have non-elected citizen commissioners. Eye's editorial this week has some suggestions about who would best fill the two available slots: Steve Munro, a TTC actvist; James ...
Roadwitches
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The BBC reports on a campain in Britain to lower speed limits to 20mph in urban areas which highlights some DIY traffic-calming happenings that are described by their creator as "roadwitches". Inspired by the artist Damien Hirst these traffic calming art installations have included an 11-feet high rabbit, a big bed (for a sleeping policeman), a Casualty-style fake crash scene for Halloween and the setting up of a living room in the middle of the road.
December 16th, 2005
PARK(ing)
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The San Francisco based group Rebar created their own roadwitching by renting a parking space for a temporary park. 70% of public land is devoted to the car in San Francisco (as in most major cities) leaving little for green space. If people can rent valuable public space to temporarily store their cars - why not rent the space for other activities like picnics, barbecues, croquet or a public park?
Malta Markings
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
There's some neat graffiti here in Malta — but it's the old fashion kind, with little messages left here and there about love and often hate. Like a time-warp to the 1950s (and backward -- to the etchings on latrine walls of roman times). There are a few places where the mural type graffiti is up, but I'm less interested in that because I can never understand the font they use and it looks just like the stuff in North America (I'm sure it's different to the connoisseur, but I'm not) — where as this stuff seems particularly Maltese ...
December 17th, 2005
Roadwitching, Toronto-style
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Chris Hardwicke posted on the Spacing Wire the last two days about Roadwitching in London and San Francisco. We received the above image from Martin Reis who is active in road reclamation projects here in Toronto. This photo was taken in Kensington yesterday where they dropped change into a parking metre, and filled in the parking space with snow and pylons. Streets Are For People holds events throughout the year that plug parking spots with people, bikes, and furniture.
The other side of the OMB
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In the Toronto Star today, Christopher Hume writes about the other side of the OMB -- when they make decisions that are actually good for Toronto, such as the development of Two Roxborough at Yonge and Roxborough. Hume writes:
Clearly, the board, that much-maligned quasi-judicial body that has final say on development in this province, has done a few things right, even by the city's account. Over and over, people have complained that the OMB is "undemocratic" and its members unelected. That, of course, is exactly the point. That's why it can make the ...
December 18th, 2005
Winter election fun!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Who said a winter election can't be fun? Spacing contributor and photoblogger-about-town Adam Krawesky [ www.inconduit.com ] captured people in Trinity Bellwoods Park on Friday improvising with an Olivia Chow election sign as a toboggan.
New Press Pause show
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There is a great graffiti art show that is currently underway, curated by the Press Pause collective, that features the work of Elicser, the artist whose handiwork adorns the cover of the new issue of Spacing. The Second Best Gallery is located at 53 Niagara Street. The show runs until January 16.
Press Pause artists are also responsible for the work in Rush Lane -- the graffiti alley that runs along the south side of Queen St. W., between Spadina and Bathurst. They also are providing their skills to the downtown Bell utility ...
Secret swing back in action!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The secret swing is back action. The swing, found between two converging buildings just off of the graffiti alley behind Queen West stores, had its seat and chains cut off in late November [ read the SpacingWire post about it ]. Two kind people named Vince and Kai replaced it on December 13th. Read more about Corwyn Lund's fantastic installation. Photo and tip from Sean Galbraith
UPDATE: Sean also sent along the above photo. The seat now bears a date, signatures, and has writing on it: "The Secret Swing belongs to the people ...
December 19th, 2005
SPACING: Monday’s new articles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As we announced in our monthly newsletter, Spacing will post new articles every Monday. This week we have three pieces for you:
• Spacing contributor Jaime Jacques reports from Accra, Ghana on the contrasting perspectives of African versus North American public spaces.
• David Fontaine profiles Piazza Jonny Lombardi at College and Grace in Toronto's Little Italy.
• We make available The Flaneur column by Shawn Micallef from our Summer 2005 issue.
GIFT GUIDE: Spacing 4-issue gift pack at Pages
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing is happy to announce a special holiday promotion: the Spacing 4-issue Gift Pack. To save you time, we have conveniently wrapped all of our available issues in a TTC route map and put them on sale exclusively at Pages Books & Magazines (256 Queen Street West, Toronto). For $18, you have the best possible holiday gift for the urban enthusiast in your family or circle of friends. (Sorry, issue 1 is sold out.)
If you haven't already heard about the promotion, it's probably because you are not part of Spacing's mailing list. You can hear about ...
December 20th, 2005
Parkour video
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The phenomena known as Parkour has been catching on like crazy lately [ read Jim Munroe's article from Spacing Spring/Summer 2004 issue ]. It can be easily explained as extreme jogging -- but instead of sticking to the sidewalk, you run over cars, fences, even entire buidlings. I was forwarded an 8-minute Parkour film [ streamed on Google video ] shot in Russia that shows a young guy running around, through, and over his town. The buildings are burnt-out and abandoned, the infrastructure is crumbling, but the Russian tracuer (what they call a parkour ...
New York City transit strike
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you haven't heard, New York City's transit system was shut down at 3am today by a union strike. Nealy 7 million people are walking, biking, or stuck in gridlock. New York Governor George Pataki denounced the strike and the transit union: "They have not only endangered our city and state's economy, but they are also recklessly endangering the health and safety of each and every New Yorker," he said. He is also worried that a strike could cost the city $400 million a day (what "cost the city" means is unclear -- ...
No strike, but they don’t use it….
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Unlike NYC, the TTC is working fine, so I found a "story" on CityNews (what was wrong with the old CityPulse name -- it was cool) last night somewhat funny and depressing at the same time. Seems Fairview Mall up at Don Mills and Sheppard was giving away 5 VIP parking spots near the front entrance. Crack "news" "reporter" Audre Brown interviewed some of the winners. One 60 year old guy in an Oldsmobile said "This is awesome -- it probably saved me 1 hour". Another woman said the VIP spot saved her 2 hours of ...
Walking News
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto has a program in place to add sidewalks on both sides of all arterial and collector roads in Toronto (not local roads). The work is proceeding gradually, with a couple of million dollars a year assigned. For example, next year a sidewalk will finally be added to the side of 401 Richmond, at Spadina.
To get an idea of where the work is needed, the City is building a database of where arterial and collector roads are missing sidewalks. They welcome additional information -- there are always more to add. If you know ...
December 21st, 2005
Macroscopes
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Yesterday's Toronto Star had two stories that reminded me of John Thackara's macroscope idea:
A macroscope is something that helps us see what the aggregation of many small actions looks like when added together. My favorite example is that everybody in Melbourne, Australia, is crazy about building small concrete patios in their backyard as a kind of mini fashion item. When you add all those thousands upon thousands of little bits of paving stones and cement together, it turns out that more of the earth is being sealed off from the rain and nature ...
Honk if you like to walk
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Jose Lourenco sounds off for pedestrians in the Toronto Star by asking the simple question: Cars get horns, why can't the rest of us?
The results of the experiment were intriguing. The air horn did help to halt reckless auto activity, true. And, granted, there was the delicious feeling of horning when a vehicle was in the wrong — we were almost like cars. I'm thinking of taking it one step further and getting a set of turn signals for my backpack and brights for my coat.
Knit graffiti
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There is a new type of graffiti that should catch on here in Canada -- knit graffiti. A Montrose, Texas crew, calling themselves Knitta, are yarn bombing neighbourhoods. Knitta is at the confluence of two rising cultural tides: crafting and street art. The former has been embraced by hipsters: sites like Craftster.org regularly attract 300,000 unique visitors a month; Stitch 'N Bitch groups are popping up all over.
"We're taking graffiti and making it warm, fuzzy and more acceptable," says AKrylik, one of the Knitta gang. "I like ...
Kensington Market Festival of Lights Tonight
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Come celebrate the spirit of light in Kensington Market on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 6:00pm-.
Light up the longest and darkest night of the year at the annual Kensington Market Festival of Lights. Enjoy the annual lantern-lit celestial carnival and Samba Squad pumped procession, as they move through the narrow, culturally rich streets of historic Kensington Market.
Bang a drum or a pot and pan, ring a bell, carry a lantern, make a puppet or wear a mask.
For more info email: redpepper.spectacle@sympatico.ca
December 22nd, 2005
Stay Connected
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Patrick Evans writes in the Toronto Star about a Statistics Canada report connecting strong community feelings with health and longevity. The article reminded me of the book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. In that book Putnam suggests that North Americans have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbours, and our democratic structures.
The StatsCan report suggests that people in urban centres have a weaker sense of community than those in rural areas. A recent New York Times ...
December 23rd, 2005
Local Government
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Former Mayor of Toronto and Eye magazine city columnist John Sewell is running an interesting web site devoted to local government, www.localgovernment.ca. It provides resources and publishes an email bulletin analyzing local government issues and championing increased power for local communities.
The most recent issue of the bulletin includes very interesting analyses of the provincial government's proposed amendments to the Ontario Municipal Board, and its new City of Toronto act. The analysis is far more in-depth than the coverage these initiatives received in the media, and is therefore well worth the ...
December 24th, 2005
Public squares around the world
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
NOTE: The Spacing Wire will be posting only occasionally throughout the next week -- The Editors
Probably the best North American resource for learning about issues that affect the public realm is the website of the Project for Public Spaces [ www.pps.org ]. Planning and development departments from all over North America (including the City of Mississauga) are using PPS's knowledge of the built urban form to make their local public spaces work. Each month they put out a newsletter called Making Places that focuses on a theme, and find wonderful examples of good ...
December 25th, 2005
The suburban loft
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If we needed another signal of the demise of the urban loft, it has arrived. A development in a suburb of Denver is experimenting with the suburban industrial loft home for the family. The lofts are houses set well back from the street with double-car garages. No nearby shopping, restaurants, bars, or public transit. The places have names like "The Cannery." It's "city living without the city," a phrase I read somewhere. Read more here.
We’ve been nice (according to the Star)
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In Saturday's edition of the Star, Spacing was placed on the Nice side of the Naughty or Nice list in the their A&E section. They write: "For the inspiring magazine Spacing, which improves with each new issue; for making us want to fight for a better city; and for helping us realize that we live in a pretty cool town, after all."
Thanks!
NOTE: The SpacingWire will be posting occasionally throughout the next week -- The Editors
December 26th, 2005
When the Streets are Home ~ STREET NURSE
By Dave Meslin // No Comments
Tuesday December 27 2005 • BLOOR CINEMA ~ 7pm ~ $9
STREET NURSE ~ A film night with special guests
During the Season of Giving, please join the Toronto Public Space Committee as they screen a film about someone who has given so much, to those who are most in need.
A 'question and answer' discussion will follow the film, featuring Cathy Crowe, Director Shelley Saywell and Dri, a former resident of Tent City.
"Street Nurse" is a powerful point-of-view documentary that explores the streets of Toronto through the eyes of Cathy Crowe, who ...
December 27th, 2005
NYC police infiltrate bike and anti-war activism
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
An early holiday present to New York City cycling activists was revealed last week in the New York Times. For the last 16 months, undercover NYC police have infiltrated organizations and people protesting the Iraq war, bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a street vigil for a cyclist killed in an accident. From the NY Times website:
The officers hoist protest signs. They hold flowers with mourners. They ride in bicycle events. At the vigil for the cyclist, an officer in biking gear wore a button that said, ...
December 28th, 2005
Reading Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Some might say that the Reading Toronto blog is our competition, but in fact they are our friends. RT offers readers intelligent critique and ideas that are shaping our city. Their contributors include urban planners, architects, designers, artists, writers -- the whole gamet. Here are a few recent posts that are worth reading:
The Hidden City: a look at the spate of gun violence of our youth.
Ossington My Ossington: by Hal Niedzviecki, and his observations on the intersection of Queen and Ossington.
Eight projects re-shaping Toronto.
The 504: ruminations on the King streetcar.
The Island ...
December 30th, 2005
Dear Detroit
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I'm visiting hometown Windsor right now. Yesterday I went over to Detroit to visit my long lost friend Emily —- I recently rediscovered her thanks to The Internet. We met at muddy Woodstock '94 waiting for Nine Inch Nails to come on (no, the one with all the rapes was Woodstock '99 — '94 wasn't so violent), and we spent the next few years visiting and driving around Detroit. She showed me pockets of the city I wouldn't have found without a local guide -- parties in massive Victorian mansions surrounded by ruins, Belgian "feather bowling" ...
Reasonable Thoughts on Terrible Events
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
In these confusing days after the awful Boxing Day shootings -- days full of more questions than answers, and political moves like Jane Pitfield calling for "emergency meetings" -- it's good to read something like Andrew Spicer's blog where he has produced a few good and thoughtful posts on the shootings that also sum up some of the the coverage in various papers.
In general and unrelated, Spicer's blog has lots of good posts on the federal election as well as other Toronto stuff.
Harper on transit
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From CBC.ca: People who buy monthly public transit passes will be given a tax credit of 16 per cent, saving the average user about $150 per year, The Conservative Party unveiled today in Vancouver. At the same campaign event, Harper attacked Liberal support for the Kyoto Protocol, which permits buying emissions credits from other countries to meet Canada's greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Incidentally, both Haprer and Martin were campaigning during the campaign "break" which was to start-up again on January 1.
December 31st, 2005
Edible Estates
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
Growing food in your front yard is unconventional in just about any North American city, but in many places, especially the suburbs, farming your yard could be considered a defiant act. The Edible Estates project wants people to reconsider how they use private front yards. At work in nine different American cities, Edible Estates will partner with residents to turn their suburban lawns into prototype food-producing gardens.
"Edible Estates proposes the replacement of the American lawn with a highly productive domestic edible landscape. Food grown in our front yards will connect us to ...
Toronto’s Public Spaces in 2005
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Both Eye Weekly and NOW ran excellent 2005 year in review features. Here's the stuff they pointed out that the Spacing Wire thinks is worth mentioning.
At Eye Weekly, they highlighted the launch of [murmur]'s third story-telling intervention along Spadina Avenue. There are over 150 stories to pick from -- just spot the green ear, call the number on it, and select a story by a local Torontonian. Genius.
The TTC was in the news a lot. The good stuff: new transferable Metropasses, bike racks on buses, video advertising ...
January 1st, 2006
Toronto’s New Year resolutions
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This might be a good time to lay out our wish list for 2006.
• Do not approve the EUCAN monster bins: Within the coming months, the City's Works Committee will vote on whether to approve the EUCAN monster garbage bin pilot project. The receptacles are billboards first, and trash bins second. Little thought seems to have been put into how people will actually use the bin, but its perpendicular placement on the sidewalk seems to have been seriously thought-out. The last thing these monstrosities do is help make this a clean and beautiful city. Also, the ...
January 2nd, 2006
SPACING FEATURE: Toronto’s new wayfinding signs?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In Spacing's current print issue, we challenged Toronto artist and Spacing contributor Marc Ngui to identify neighbourhoods and locations that were lacking the appropriate wayfinding signage and create new icons using his unique blend of social and political commentary.
Our city has a plethora of signs that tell us where or where not to park, if a street is a dead-end, or point us towards cultural institutions. We thought it would be fun to imagine the real hazzards of this city. You can download a PDF of the icons and make yourself stickers, buttons, ...
SPACING FEATURE: How did that get there?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As mentioned before, each Monday Spacing will post articles that have appeared in the magazine. We will also post new articles and reviews specifically commissioned for our online readers.
This week we have Marc Ngui's piece on Toronto's wayfinding signs (posted below). Also, Spacing managing editor Dale Duncan wrote about the prolonged process of putting sanctioned public art on to our streets. From Dale's article:
The process the City currently goes through to obtain new pieces involves committees, competitions, money from developers, and a host of other time-consuming, bureaucratic things that one would ...
These bad people
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Since I have the luxury of living downtown and not in a violence-prone neighbourhood, and since I don't know anybody personally touched by violence, I look at images and reactions like the one above (found at John Fewings's political cartoon website) and worry. I "get" cartoons like this, but I also feel a fair amount of reservation, because though a terrible thing happened there, that isn't the Yonge and Dundas I walk through every-other-day, and we should calm down and figure out why all this stuff is happening, and figure out real ways to stop ...
January 3rd, 2006
Couch biking
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It's as wide as an SUV but has to be carried across rail tracks. It's called the Couch Bike. Two guys (one Canadian and the other a Norwegian) rode this contraption across PEI and part of New Brunswick this summer. They were stopped by an RCMP cop who wanted to cite them for traffic violations but let them go cuz they had "a nice rig." Download the Window Media video of the trip [ 8.3 MB ] or go to their journal of the jounrey.
Don’t Drink and Walk?
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
An interesting study by Transport Canada shows that a significant number of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents are drunk, often extremely drunk, especially those victims in the 26-45 year old age range (over half of those tested in this age range, though it's not clear how representative the testing is). It's certainly better to walk than to drive, but it's even safer to sleep it off rather than walk. And if you've got a very drunk friend who is walking somewhere, it's one more reason to walk with them to keep them safe.
The finding is part ...
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Public Space Invaders film fest
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing is looking for submissions for our second Public Space Invaders film night. We have received a good stack of submissions but there is still room for more. We've extended the deadline to Friday, January 20, 2006.
BACKGROUND: Last January, on a bitterly cold night, 200 people packed the Drake Hotel's Underground Bar to watch a varied collection of films that celebrated and critiqued Toronto's public realm (and a few other cities). We are primarily looking for films that deal with public spaces in Toronto. They can be fun, arty, serious, very serious, beautiful or even ugly. Student ...
January 4th, 2006
Federal election: Waterfront debate this Sunday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Date: This Sunday, January 8, 2006
Time: Noon to 2pm
Place: Harbourfront Community Centre — SE corner of Bathurst St. and Queen's Quay W.
It has been 1,444 days since the Federal Transport Minister said the best plan for Toronto's money-losing island airport would be to close it down. How many more days before the Feds finally act? We'll find out this Sunday at the Trinity-Spadina candidates' debate. For more specifics on the event and questions that will be asked click here.
The focus of this debate will be the role and the future of ...
Today’s Traffic News
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
A story in the Toronto Star today showed that, despite the hype about gun-related deaths in Toronto, the car was deadlier than the gun in 2005. In Toronto, 59 people died in traffic accidents, while 52 were killed by guns. Half of those traffic deaths were pedestrians (29).
"This is a serious problem, but it's something that has been downplayed or ignored by a lot of people. It seems to be as if people expect (traffic fatalities) to be one of the factors of modern life," said Helen Riley, co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee. ...
Pedestrian Plans Galore
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
As Toronto begins the preliminary stages of developing a Pedestrian Plan, it's useful to see what others have done. Bicyclinginfo.org ("Pedestrian and Bicycling Information Centre") has a useful list of exemplary pedestrian plans (and cycling plans). It also has loads of other useful cycling and pedestrian resources.
The Antisocial Libertarians of England
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
A neat article by George Monbiot in The Guardian about the culture of car driving in England, and his fear that "the car is slowly turning us, like the Americans and the Australians, into a nation that recognises only the freedom to act" and that when you drive "society becomes an obstacle. Pedestrians, bicycles, traffic calming, speed limits, the law: all become a nuisance to be wished away." He could probably add Canada to his list.
Most interesting is his thoughts on the roots of this culture back in the Iron Lady's tenure, and how ...
January 5th, 2006
FRIDAY: What the TTC could be
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
WHAT THE TTC COULD BE
January 5-8, 2006: noon to five
XPACE Gallery • Kensington Market • 303 Augusta
Over the last decade TTC Commisioners have plastered the transit system with wall-to-wall (and floor-to-floor!) commercial advertising. The Toronto Public Space Committee asked Toronto's transit riders to "re-imagine the TTC" without any ads. Using this new blank canvas as a starting point, they redesigned buses, streetcars and subways. Their work will be on display at XPACE Gallery.
OPENING NIGHT: Friday January 6th 2006. 7 to 11pm
Read the article in the Toronto Star.
Maisonneuve and Micallef on Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing's very own Associate Editor Shawn Micallef is a guest columnist for Maisonneuve this month. He takes on the task of explaining to the rest of the country just how fragile the city's ego is. A sample:
The truth is that Toronto's ego actually bruises very easily—a sense of decline over the past twenty years and a lack of mythology for its citizens to seek comfort in means that our civic skin isn't as thick as the rest of the country thinks it is. Torontonians habitually and chronically undervalue their city and its stories; we ...
Royal Mess
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Today, the Toronto Star's "Fixer" column features a corner of Royal York road where people waiting at a TTC bus stop have been sheltering in the porches of adjacent newly-built townhouses.
The painful part of this article is the proposed solution -- moving the bus stop. No one seems to have thought of actually building a shelter on the lawn beside the bus stop. Of course, the owners of the townhouse would probably complain that it took up what little lawn they have. But the fact is, that lawn is almost ...
January 6th, 2006
Honk if you like Transit
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Kevin McGran reports in today's Toronto Star that GTA tranist use is higher than ever. This suburban transit enthusiasm is evident in the magazine 54east that is named after a bus route. The magazine (now online) created by Think Tank Toronto features a neighbourhood soundtrack, the stripmalls of Scarborough, the green roofs of Scarborough, and best of all Honk if you love Scarborough T-Shirts. [via]
January 7th, 2006
EUCAN’s pants are on fire
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As most readers of Spacing know, we are not fans of the EUCAN bin. You can read all about our reasons here, here, here, or here. There is no doubt in our mind that Toronto needs to clean up its streets and sidewalks, but these bins do nothing but encourage people to consume more, and thus create more garbage and waste.
So when the City released its survey yesterday about the public's perception of the bins, we were sure the numbers would validate our viewpoint. And they did. But by mid-afternoon EUCAN had its ...
January 8th, 2006
When condos attack and defending suburbia
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Eye Weekly is running a series of articles on development in Toronto. In the first piece, "Beyond NIMBY," Spacing's managing editor Dale Duncan writes about how most residents just want to be part of the process of development in their communities.
"Instead of looking to simply placate resistant residents, the challenge now facing the city is how to give citizens a voice in the process. A citywide model for consulting residents does not exist -- at least not in the way associations would like it to -- while a confusing planning process, made up of ...
January 9th, 2006
Island airport debate
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The debate for federal candidates held on the waterfront last night showed the animosity towards an Island airport is very much a hot local issue. Nealry 500 people showed up (who says the electorate is apathetic?) to hear what Tony Ianno and Olivia Chow had to say (the other parties, with all due respect, are not really part of the Trinity-Spadina race). Ianno said he'd support shutting down the airport if that's what residents and voter wanted (obivously he hasn't been listening too hard because that feeling has been made clear with every hoarse voice from the ...
SPACING: advertising vehicles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
We know that there are lots of Spacing readers who are comfortable with outdoor advertising. We still like you. But we're sure almost all of you would agree that mobile advertising trucks, specifically sent out into the streets of Toronto to sit in gridlock, are not good for anyone except the advertisers. It doesn't matter if they are running on bio-diesel fuel, or are capable of delivering water to the homeless (yes, that is what MotoMedia says their vehicles do in their down time), these trucks create smog, contribute to ...
January 10th, 2006
Editorial on ads vs. art; young pedestrian killed
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
You know you've made it as an effective community group when newspapers start writing editorials about your campaigns. The Toronto Public Space Committee's recent gallery show, What The TTC Could Be, challenges the notion that we could have a better transit system with less ads and more art. The Toronto Star today wrote a pretty lame defense of advertising as an artform in repsonse to the TPSC's show. Read it here and decide if their argument even makes sense.
Also in the Star, a sad report on how an 11-year-old girl was ...
TTC to reconnect station to its landscape
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The TTC has hired a group including noted Toronto architects Brown + Storey to help re-configure Victoria Park station and re-connect it to the ravine landscape bordering the station. A story about the project in the National Post by readingtoronto.com's Robert Ouellet includes some interesting thoughts on the relationship between landscape and engineering, along with information about the area's history.
The project will also create better connections between the various buildings, parks and travel routes that exist around the station without, at the moment, really connecting to it:
The public spaces around Victoria Park station -- described ...
January 11th, 2006
The Creative City panel
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Hart House Art Committee Presents...
The Creative City?
Panel discussion at Hart House, U of T St. George campus
January 12, 2006 at 7:00p.m., free
The panel will present their thoughts on "The Creative City" how to fully integrate the arts into the life of the city.
Matthew Teitelbaum Director of the Art Gallery of Ontario
Adam Giambrone Councillor - Ward 18
Shawn Micallef [murmur], Spacing, Eye Weekly
Katharine Mulherin Owner & Director of Mulherin Gallery
Lupe Rodriguez moderator, artist and CBC Art Commentator
SPACING: In Transit gallery show
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing presents: IN TRANSIT
OPENING NIGHT PARTY: Thurs. January 19, 2006 7pm
WHERE: Toronto Free Gallery 660 Queen St. E.
WHEN: show runs from Jan. 19-Feb. 28 2006
Spacing magazine presents IN TRANSIT, a gallery exhibit of photos, paintings, videos, and audio that explores Toronto on the move. This exhibit combines the work of 25 Toronto image makers and their captured moments of the city's public transit system.
PARTICIPANTS:
Audio stories are provided by [murmur] from their Spadina project launched in the Fall of 2005. Video by Steve Denheyer, Michael Higginson, Lise Hosein and Sean Lerner of ...
January 12th, 2006
Harper on cities; a Liberal scandal on the waterfront?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
While it took years of lobbying and persuasion for the federal government to finally start investing in cities, a Conservative victory may wash that hard work away. Harper said he is committed to the 5-cent gas tax, which goes to fund public transit infrastructure, but the tax has to be "supplemented." That sounded good when I read it, thinking maybe he had other ideas on how to fund public transit. But what Mr. Harper wants to do is to give money to build roads. The Tories would implement a five-year fund for highways and border ...
Segways Put in their Place — For Now
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Segway issue came back again to the City of Toronto's Works Committee this morning, in a lively and sometimes surreal debate. The good news is, these machines have finally been put in their place -- for the moment.
The day began, suprisingly, with Segway Ontario admitting in a brief deputation that the issue was basically a provincial one, and that they were resigned to waiting to see what the province will do about it (under Bill 169, An Act to Amend the Highway Traffic Act, the provincial government can now allow new vehicles on provincial ...
January 13th, 2006
Bird flap
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Just over a year ago in our Work & Play issue, Spacing published an article on FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program), an organization that focuses on saving birds that have hit buildings. Birds are attracted to the office lights but the city currently has no regulations requiring skyscrapers to flick off the lights when the working day is done. NOW reports this week that 32,000 birds from 158 species have died after flying into the lit windows of Toronto buildings over the last 12 years. And it seems City Hall is trying to do something ...
January 15th, 2006
21st century bike racks
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I came across an interesting new design for bike racks called a Cyclepod [via]. It holds eight bikes, can come with a canopy, and seems to maximize space. Pretty sweet design by some Englishmen. It's also 95% recycled aluminum. I don't think the design would be good on downtown Toronto streets, but would be nice for condos, office buildings, and suburban commuter connections. Here are photos of the design and a short demo animation.
SPACING presents: In Transit gallery show
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing presents IN TRANSIT, a gallery exhibit of photos, paintings, videos, and audio that explores Toronto on the move. Opens Thursday, January 19 at the Toronto Free Gallery. More info here.
City soundtracks
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
Walking through the city, one is treated to a variety of sounds -- it could be the conversation of the people walking ahead of you on the sidewalk, the scraping of hockey sticks on asphalt as kids play road hockey, or the revving of car engines. And with the proliferation of people wearing headphones in public these days, more and more people are creating their own private soundtracks for the city.
Traffic Island Discs is a London radio programme that makes some of these private soundtracks audible:
"Traffic Island Discs is a radio programme about music, people and ...
January 16th, 2006
SPACING: Toronto designers wins Chicago recycle bin contest
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
SPACING.ca FEATURE:
In the summer of 2005, the American Institute of Architects/Chicago Young Architects Forum called for design submissions for an ecologically intelligent urban recycling container for downtown Chicago. The reThink/reDesign/reCycle competition received proposals for a varied selection of innovative containers described in the event program with words like ‘sculptural', ‘memorable' and ‘symbolic'.
The winner design of the competiton, the EcoTrio (pictured at right), came from Toronto-based designer Amanda Smith and her Chicago-based partner Deborah Kang. With the mess Toronto currently finds itself in with the EUCAN monster bins, I ...
January 17th, 2006
Dose of Urbanity
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
We know the trend towards celebrating the city (for which Spacing can perhaps take some credit) is doing well when Dose, CanWest's free daily, jumps on the bandwagon. For its recent Friday/weekend edition on "The Two Sides of the Street: what you have to say about the good and bad of urban living" (Jan. 13-15) it seems to have gone straight to the latest issue of Spacing for material. The page 3 "Weekend Guide to Urban Environments" highlighted our friends at infiltration (accompanied by the pic from Sam Javanrouh's topleftpixel that Spacing had already ...
Birmingham pedestrians and Public Space
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The city of Birmingham, formerly a car-centric industrial city, has tranformed its central core into a pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood of pleasing public spaces. Ben Plowden, Director of the Pedestrians Association in England (imagine a nation-wide association of walkers!), writes about this transformation in opendemocracy.net's urban forum. This forum also includes interesting articles and a lively debate on urban planning and architecture from some of Britain's leading commentators on these issues.
Check out as well the article "How you travel is who you are", which muses on the way in which people's notions of status ...
January 18th, 2006
The art of noise
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Received this tip from Spacing Wire reader James Koole -- an interesting sound project from New York City. Basically, you can use sound captured from the street to make your own song/soundtrack. You can even save your mix. From the Wired web site:
As if getting jostled awake by the screeches, alarms and hollering of a city that never sleeps isn't bad enough, a web-based art project wants you to make Lower East Side noises into audible art. But the noises are much less annoying when you can control them. The Lower East ...
Public Space News
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
As part of the reconstruction of the Don Mount Court project, the city is considering closing part of Carroll Street (between Matilda and Thompson) to expand the existing Joel Weeks Park, while extending two other streets (Kintyre and Munroe) . Google Maps provides a good view of the current situation.
The city is inviting public comment, with a deadline of February 13, 2006. Visit the relevant City web page for further information about how to submit comments.
In other news, city staff are considering a new streets by-law which would mandate a clear pedestrian corridor 2.1 meters wide on ...
January 19th, 2006
SPACING: In Transit opens tonight
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing presents: IN TRANSIT
OPENING NIGHT PARTY: TONIGHT @ 7pm
WHERE: Toronto Free Gallery 660 Queen St. E.
WHEN: show runs from Jan. 19-Feb. 27 2006
Spacing magazine presents IN TRANSIT, a gallery exhibit of photos, paintings, videos, and audio that explores Toronto on the move. This exhibit combines the work of 24 Toronto image makers and their captured moments of the city's public transit system. Please come to the opening tonight -- we'll also have the magazine, and back issues, for sale. Also on the merch table will be our famed subway station buttons.
PARTICIPANTS:
Audio stories ...
January 20th, 2006
A Harper win means a TTC fare hike?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
City Councillor and TTC Commissioner Joe Mihevc raised the possibility of a fare hike if the Tories win the federal election in the Toronto Star today. The Tories have promised a 16 per cent discount that transit riders could claim as a credit on their income tax return.
"If we at the TTC — who are in a big budget squeeze — suddenly find out a few days from now that passengers are going to be getting a discount on their income tax, there will actually be upward pressure on increasing fares," he said.
The discount reduces ...
Free metre parking for green vehicles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Salt Lake City, Utah became the fourth municipality in the States to offer free parking to the owners of fuel-efficient vehicles. Salt Lake City is offering free-metered parking to residents who drive vehicles that get 50 miles per gallon, have low emissions or are powered by an alternative fuel. The other American cities that have programs similar to Salt Lake City's are New Haven, Conn., Fresno, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M while, Austin, Texas, also recently approved a green vehicle incentive that provides $100 in free parking. [via]
While on the surface, this sounds ...
January 21st, 2006
Toronto and tall buildings
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TALL BUILDINGS ~ Who is Planning Our City?
Wednesday January 25, 7:30-9:30pm, free
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
27 Front Street East (2 blocks east of Union Station)
From the press release:
Toronto has had no shortage of tall building controversies. While there is agreement that Toronto must grow upward, there appears to be little agreement on where tall buildings should go and how tall is too tall. Instead, decisions are being made in the wrestling ring of ...
Secondhand Smog
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Tanya Talaga reports in today's Toronto Star about research from London connecting traffic congestion, smog and its health effects. The report concludes that the closer you are to the source of pollution the higher the level of exposure:
The study found while commuting in a London taxi, people were exposed to more than 100,000 ultra-fine particles counts per cubic centimetre, while travelling in a bus meant an exposure of just less than 100,000 and walking resulted in less than 50,000 particles counts per cubic centimetre.
In a society that has ...
Play Needs Infrastructure
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
In Spacing's third issue, Ed Keenan wrote about the importance of play -- spontaneous or organized -- for our city. This oft-neglected issue is now it is back in the news. This week, the Toronto Sports Council issued a report (PDF) detailing the inadequate infrastructure for organized play in our city, as a lead-up to a summit today between Mayor David Miller and over 200 representatives of local sports groups.
As described in an article in the Toronto Star, the report found that, while Toronto has plenty of neighbourhood sports facilities ...
Contrary to reports, not everyone hates Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
John Bentley Mays reviews uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto, in today's Globe and Mail (FYI, 16 of the 34 contributors to uTOpia are also Spacing contributors). He delves into why there is a sudden wave of Toronto-loving and names Spacing as the house organ of this new movement. Read the review here.
Mays writes:
Suddenly, people are in love with Toronto again. They are making music and art and magazines in its busy cultural scenes, haunting laneways in search of marks made by the city's feral children and finding secrets long hidden underground, busily writing down ...
January 22nd, 2006
SPACING: last call for submissions
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing presents our second annual Public Space Invaders film night on Tuesday, February 28th at the Drake Hotel. We have received a good stack of submissions, and the deadline has just passed. If you still want to submit something to us, we'll still accept it, but time is running out. Click here for more info on the film night.
EMAIL: shawn@spacing.ca
SEND DVDs: 253 College St. Box 372, Toronto ON, M5T 1R5
January 23rd, 2006
Give feedback on TTC video screens
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The City of Toronto and the TTC are asking for your opinions on their new video screens that are slowly being installed on subway station platforms. You can fill out the survey by clicking here.
While I think the screens should be on our platforms, there are some serious problems with the content:
• the time display has shrunk significantly from the previous Subway Online digital clocks. When I'm on a platform, the time is what I want to see more than anything.
• The best thing video consoles can provide riders with is information on ...
Make your own subway sign
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The New York Times reports on Andy Cheung's NYC subway sign online generator. Visitors can go to his website: www.whereandy.com and generate their own subway advisory signs that look just like the real thing.
The signs are getting a lot of press and prompting a debate between graffiti/art:
Is it vandalism? Or, is it art? Magazine editor Bucky Turco is at the center of the city's ongoing fight over graffiti.
Bucky Turco, Animal Magazine: "I think graffiti is the ultimate form of ...
SPACING: The genius of grafitti artist Roadsworth
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Canadian answer to Britain's Banksy, the world's most legendary stencil artist, should be none other than Montreal's Roadsworth. His work is subtle, clever and full of political and social commentary. He turns crosswalks into giant footprints, traffic lines into heartbeat monitor rhythms. He also recently faced 51 counts of mischief, which could have lead to fines adding up to $255,000.
But last week, all charges against Roadsworth were dropped. His only punishment from the court was to take part in 40 hours of community work that focuses on street art. That doesn't sound ...
January 24th, 2006
Royson James on the urban agenda
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Royson James writes today in the Toronto Star about the urban agenda at the federal level now that we have a Tory government. There is nothing revealing in it, but it helps give focus to the challenges Toronto and other urban centres face.
January 25th, 2006
Tall buildings forum tonight
By Spacing // No Comments
TALL BUILDINGS ~ Who is Planning Our City?
TONIGHT! 7:30-9:30pm, free
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East (2 blocks east of Union Station)
with Kyle Rae: Toronto City Councillor; Tony Coombes: Principal, City Formation International; Mimi Fullerton: urban activist, Annex Residents' Association; Steve Diamond: development lawyer and Partner, McCarthy Tetrault; Ted Tyndorf: Chief Planner for the City of Toronto
Toronto has had no shortage of tall building controversies. While there is agreement that Toronto must ...
January 26th, 2006
SPACING: Spacing Wire voted top blog in Eye’s Best of Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This week's Eye Weekly has a few Spacing-related items:
1. You named the Spacing Wire the Best Blog in Eye's Best of Toronto Reader Poll! Thank you!
2. In the feature about David Miller being named Best Politician:
"Let me show you my collection of subway buttons," Mayor David Miller says, leading the way into a closet off of his office, where he keeps his Spacing-magazine-produced buttons representing the Spadina, Yonge and Sheppard subway lines. He's searching for his home station of High Park so he can wear it in a photo. This enthusiasm ...
SPACING: In Transit in today’s Metro
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Ed Drass, the transit columnist for the free Metro paper, wrote about Spacing's In Transit gallery show. He also took time to write about uTOpia, a book that is filled with the work of Spacing contributors. From Drass' column:
Is there a way to see your daily commute with new eyes? Sometimes it takes an artist to remind us how to find the unusual in the ordinary. For the second time in a month, there's an exhibition that explores how we travel through our city. Whether it's moving underground in subway stations we've ...
January 27th, 2006
A TTC crush? And public meeting at Wychwood Barns
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There have been two stories in the last two days on the TTC that have focused on the need for more funding as ridership continues to grow. Is the solution to just pack them in, or put more buses and streetcars on the road? Those questions are addressed here and here. Transit Toronto has a short post and a good link about these reports.
The other story connected to the TTC has to do with the budget of the soon-to-be renovated Wychwood Barns on Christie just south ...
Detroit Blog
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
My sister in Windsor sent me a link a couple weeks back to the Detroit Blog -- I've been slowly going through his archives. All things Detroit are interesting in general, but perhaps more so for me because I grew up a Detroit interloper, exploring some of the heartbreaking ruins and generally being overwhelmed with a city that is impossible to figure out, then returning each night to the safety of Windsor across the river (which might as well be 1000 miles wide, in terms of the difference).
The Detroit Blog is what Detroit has always ...
Road rage in Kensington
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
photos by Adam Krawesky
Spacing contributor and photoblogger Adam Krawesky of www.inconduit.com is everywhere in this city. On Tuesday, he captured a confrontation between an aggressive car-owner and a cyclist, something rarely seen on camera, but a regular occurrence all over the city.
According to Adam, the story goes like this: Motorist throws food out of window; Courier riding by picks up food and throws food back in car; Motorist dumps coffee on courier; Courier scratches car with key. And then the sequence of photos.
You can find all of the images of the ...
January 29th, 2006
The urban environment can make you skinny — or fat
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
A new research project is being developed in the United States to quantify the degree to which the urban environment -- mixed use, density, public spaces (or lack thereof) -- affects people's health and weight.
The operating hypothesis is that a mixed-use, attractive urban environment that encourages people to walk a lot results in a healthier, less obese population.
"The more mixed an area, the skinnier people are" says Andrew Rundle, an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health who is working on the New York study. He wants ...
John Sewell on the challenges facing young planners
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
“Planning, not development approval — the challenge for young plannersâ€
WHEN: Tuesday, January 31, 7:00pm $5.00/free with student ID
WHERE: U of T, Sandford Fleming Building, Room 1101, 10 King's College Road
The Urban Studies Student Union, an organization at the University of Toronto, presents John Sewell's lecture “Planning, not Development Approval.†As many of you may already know, Sewell is trained as a lawyer, and has been engaged in city politics in Toronto since the 1960s in a variety of modes -- as a community organizer, city councillor, mayor, journalist, activist, writer, housing administrator, and ...
January 30th, 2006
End Of Suburbia screening at Bloor Cinema
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the collapse of the American Dream
presented by the Toronto Public Sapce Committee
WHEN: Tuesday January 31 2006 • 7pm • $9
WHERE: Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West (near Bathurst Station)
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the North American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way ...
SPACING: The New City is the old photoblog
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Your Monday SPACING.CA feature:
Spacing contributor Sean Waisglass scours old bookstores and always seems to turn up interesting gems. This summer he stumbled upon The New City, a photo documentary book by photographer Henri Rossier with writing from Pierre Berton. Waisglass writes:
The New City, published in 1961, features the black and white photography of Henri Rossier capturing... moments from another time, and is one of the great documents of Toronto (well worth scouring used bookstores or shelling out online for). It's a testament to the quality of the photos in the book that Rossier gets top ...
Worst TTC routes
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star asked their readers to submit the TTC's worst transit routes. To be honest, I generally find the TTC to be reliable, but I work from home and use the system in non-peak hours so I do not experience the rush-hour crush. It has been repeatedly suggested that employers being willing to stagger the hours of the workday to help ease the pressure on the system, as well as keep their employees happy by not being crammed up against someone for their entire commute.
January 31st, 2006
Ticket SUVs
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Come out on February 3rd and help Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable ticket 1200 gas guzzlers in Toronto. ATSA is the Montreal group that investigates and transforms the urban landscape to restore the citizen's place in the public realm. They are the group that installed the bombed out SUV in Dundas Square last June.
Details here.
More on Kensington cyclist-motorist conflict
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
photos by Adam Krawesky
The other day, the Spacing Wire posted about a motorist-cyclist conflict in Kensington Market. This post has become an international news item -- it's like photographer Adam Krawesky captured a fight between a killer whale and a great white shark. The Wire received over 80,000 visitors since we posted the images. Today, the Toronto Star ran the images on the front page, and had a story on the inside, with quotes from Krawesky and the bike courier in the photo.
February 1st, 2006
Blog TO’s Best of Indie Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The good people at Blog TO are running their first Best of Indie Toronto -- what's nice is that Spacing finds itself nominated in the best indie magazine category (#37). Feel free to go and vote for us, but the other nominees (Broken Pencil, Shameless, and the Walrus) are also great choices. Well, the Walrus is technically independent, but none of the other four publications have a $5-million trust fund to draw from. Also, nominated in the Best New Book category were two Spacing faves: uTOpia (Coach House Books) and ...
Mississauga, Riverdale hospital, delivery trucks downtown, & waterfront money questions
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Yesterday, Christopher Hume of the Toronto Star wrote about the international competition for a 52-storey condo tower that will be built on the northeast corner of Hurontario St. and Burnhamthorpe Rd. It will be the fourth and most prominent of a five-tower complex called Absolute. The finalists are certinaly eye-catching designs (see above image), but I believe only two of the six could actually stand the test of time and not be ridiculed within 10 years of construction (my fave is the image second from the right).
Also, there is much work to be done ...
February 2nd, 2006
New twist in motorist vs. courier saga
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Since the photo of the courier being assaulted by a motortist has been seen by half a million people online and was on the cover of the Star yesterday, this story seems to be on everyone's lips (traffic to the SpacingWire has increased ten-fold since out post on Friday). Now the courier is concerned for her safety, and the motorist has been threatened, the Globe and Mail is reporting. The article gives a few more voices in this new local urban legend.
Island Airport fiacso, 2006
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Regional Airline Holdings, the company that has been pushing to run an airline out of the Toronto Island airport, will announce today details of a plan to buy up to $500 million worth of planes from Toronto's Bombardier. "We are confident that the Q400 is the perfect plane to allow our airline to bring substantial economic benefits to the city and contribute to a revitalized Toronto City Centre Airport," CEO Robert Deluce said in the Toronto Star today. Check out two articles in the Globe and Star.
For many people, including myself, it seems ...
St. Clair right-of-way; follow-up on Waterfront money questions
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The St. Clair right-of-way has been back in court the last two days. Save Our St. Clair is still fighting the City on whether the TTC has the right to build the dedicated streetcar lane since St. Clair was not considered a traffic corridor in the 1994 official plan. The 1994 plan was the legally binding document when council approved the ROW in November 2004, SOS argues. There are articles in the Globe from yesterday and today that can give you a lengthy description of the arguements.
Following up on yesterday's post about money and the ...
Who Runs This Town?
By Dave Meslin // No Comments
New Website Launched Today: Who Runs This Town?
With one election over, another is just beginning!
In recent years, Toronto's municipal elections have suffered from low voter turnout, lack of debate and a small pool of candidates. Some Councillors even got a free ride and won their seat without having to campaign because no one challenged them!
Lack of participation results in a stale political culture characterized by dull debate at Council, misplaced priorities, alienated citizens and poor decisions.
We're hoping to inject some energy into our local democracy be encouraging people to get involved early. This ...
February 3rd, 2006
More island airport stuff
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
For many voters, the 2003 city election doubled as a referendum on the island airport. David Miller didn't want it, John Tory did. Miller won [ as an aside, mayoral hopeful Jane Pitfield doesn't think most Torontonians care about this issue -- probably not the best way to win over the hearts of the downtown and waterfront voters ]. So it frustrates me to no end to see this monkey-business Robert Deluce and the Toronto Port Authority are playing with the City of Toronto and its residents. The best analysis of the situation comes from ...
Pedestrian concerns all but ignored
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing's Associate Editor Dyland Reid wrote in NOW this week about the City's new street standards, and he was quite critical -- the City staff seemed to ignore almost every recommendation from the City's own Pedestrian Committee. Also, a nice photo essay on why the plan stinks.
To download the report: click here. If you'd like to pass along your comments after reading the report you can contact Louis Tinker by email, call 416-392-4331. For more contactinfo at the bottom of this page.
February 4th, 2006
Follow-up: French riots and public space
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The BBC did a radio program this week following up on the riots in the suburbs of Paris three months ago. At the time, there was some commentary that part of the cause of the riots was the oppressive architecture of these public housing projects, which left the community's public spaces unwelcoming and abandoned.
This hypothesis is strongly reinforced by what happened, or rather did not happen, in those public housing projects which had been remodelled by architect Roland Castro. Re-designed to create open travel routes, welcoming public spaces, places for businesses and shops, and public facilities for ...
Postering Project in Montreal
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Montreal currently has extremely restrictive postering by-laws. Postering is allowed on construction hoardings (which are private property) and on private properties that give permission, but that's about it. These spaces are dominated by large-scale commercial postering. There is very little public space for postering which would be accessible to non-corporate advertisers, creating constant tension between those who need to advertise and the authorities.
Recently, a pilot project has been initiated in Montreal's entertainment district, the Quartier des Spectacles, to create boards where local small entertainment venues can put up posters to advertise their shows. It's a small ...
February 5th, 2006
John Sewell on the Real Story Behind the Superhighways
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
John Sewell: The Real Story Behind the Superhighways, 1930 to Now
Monday, Feb. 6, 2006. Reception at 6pm, lecture at 7pm.
Starting Monday night at the Gladstone Hotel, with the help of the Toronto Society of Architects, John Sewell kicks of a four-lecture series called The Real Story Behind the Superhighways, 1930 to Now. The talks are meant to give us a greater understanding of the framework for suburban growth in Toronto since WWII. The event also happens on February 13th, 20th, and 28th.
Have your say — Budget 2006
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Yesterday marked the beginning of community meetings to receive public input on the City's 2006 operating budget. For those who didn't get the chance to participate, two more meetings are scheduled to take place this week:
Wednesday, February 8 from 7 — 9:30 p.m. at the East York Civic Centre (850 Coxwell Ave.)
Thursday, February 9 from 7 — 9:30 p.m. at the Scarborough Civic Centre (150 Borough Dr.)
You can also provide input by calling your councillor directly, or by making a deputation at the next joint meeting of the Budget Advisory and Policy and Finance Committees ...
February 6th, 2006
What will our new subways look like?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The TTC is looking to replace 234 aging cars in 2009 or 2010. Transit reps have been eyeing an integrated six-car train that is wide-open from end-to-end. James Bow of Transit Toronto thinks this will help distribute crowds more evenly and increase capacity. The TTC hopes to have a website up in April showcasing a model and seeking public feedback, with a possible full-scale mock-up for public viewing by June. [via]
Bow also notes the removal of the forward-facing seats (as seen above):
"This was a strong complaint when the original mock-up of the ...
The Metropolis monstrosity
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I was forwarded this image of Metropolis posted on the Urban Toronto Forum. The complex will occupy the northeast corner of Yonge and Dundas, completing the final "wall" to the square. Words almost fail me -- it makes my heart sink that the "heart of the city," as promotion brochures describe Yonge-Dundas Square, is still undergoing the trashiest renovation Toronto has every seen. It still boggles my mind that people see this kind of development as a step towards a "world class city." For a larger version of the above photo click here. Gotta ...
$treet Furniture – Buy Now, Pay Later!
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
For everyone who is following the monster bin® saga. Here is another chance to let the city know what you think about adverfurniture©.
Consultations are starting on design guidelines for the mismatched litter bins, bus shelters, newspaper boxes and benches lining Toronto's sidewalks -- six months after council approved a recommendation to harmonize the city's street furnitureâ„¢ .
Sign up for a workshop to let them know what you think about public furniture in public space. ...
February 7th, 2006
Baby on board; TTC fare hike?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
For those who take public transit regularly, you are probably familiar with people acting weird on a subway, streetcar, or bus shelter. But an unlikely scene unfolded at Wellesley station yesterday -- a woman gave birth on the platform. Click here for the story.
Another oddity coming out of the TTC is talk of a fare hike. When oil prices soared last summer, public transit boosters, like us Spacing folks, silently cheered. We believed it might force drivers out of their cars and into the transit system -- and it did. But gas prices also ...
Queen West Makes Fun of Itself
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Another thing making the internet rounds is this short movie making fun of Queen Street West West hipsters. The Hipster Defense League will probably be up-in-arms at yet another unfair portrayal of the urban-hipster-as-moron, but I think we can enjoy this one guilt-free, and know that if any hipsters see this and feel shame about who they are, it's for the best.
If anybody knows how to contact the filmmakers, please email me [ shawn@spacing.ca ]. We'd like to show it at our upcoming Public Space Invaders Film Night on Tuesday Feb 28.
February 8th, 2006
The words of Steve Munro
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As we await news of a possible transit fare increase (the TTC meeting started at 2pm this afternoon), we should stop and thank those who have fought to keep the transit system from sliding further into decay. For years, Steve Munro has been a thorn in the side of TTC commissioners and management. The transit activist was recently awarded the Jane Jacobs Prize, an award created to "discover and celebrate Toronto's original, unsung heroes -- by seeking out citizens who are engaged in activities that contribute to the city's vitality."
Mr. Munro has started ...
TTC fare increase of 25 cents
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The TTC will raise fares by 25 cents starting April 1, the TTC commissioners voted today. I can't fault the City or the TTC -- the province under Mike Harris' regime downloaded costs on to the city during amalgamation which has crippled us ever since. Over 80% of the TTC is run on money raised through fares, which is the highest of any North American city. What was once the pride of our city is now being reduced to a second-world system.
So, should the TTC cut services to keep the fares down? ...
February 9th, 2006
The morning headlines
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Some of the morning headlines left me feeling a little glum today:
• TTC hikes fares but won't cut service in the Toronto Star
• City's future under Harper looks bleak by Christopher Hume
• Tunnels need detectors, union urged in 2003 in the Globe and Mail (re: transit workers overcome with exhaust fumes Tuesday morning)
• Commentary on the reaction to Metropolis on Paved.ca
But Andrew Spicer's blog did a nice job explaining some Island Airport commentary.
• Toronto Island Airport: The financial playing field and The Jobs Card.
[murmur] vs. Hart House
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Our next [murmur] audio documentary project is taking us out of the "true" public spaces of our streets, laneways and parks and into the "sort-of" public space that is the University of Toronto's Hart House. We haven't done an interior project yet, so this is a bit of an experiment for us. Hart House was built between 1911 and 1919, a gift to the University from the Massey family and was based on buildings at Oxford and Cambridge in England. The architecture screams "I Am Important" (just look at that picture!) but not ...
February 10th, 2006
Livable Streets: A New Vision For New York City
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Check out the ongoing exhibition in New York put on by three great public groups: The Open Planning Project, Transportation Alternatives and Project for Public Spaces called Livable Streets. The appealing concept of city streets transformed into pedestrian-friendly public spaces is the theme for Livable Streets: A New Vision for New York, an exhibition of images, graphics and multimedia. On display at the Urban Center, the exhibit launches the New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign.
For those of us that might not make it to ...
Toronto’s design review panel
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Design Review Panel pilot project for Toronto
WHEN: February 13, 2006, 7-9pm, FREE
WHERE: Metro Hall Council Chamber, 55 John Street
Design Review Panels are used successfully by many cities in Canada and internationally to improve the design quality of buildings and public spaces. Panel members are recognized design and planning professionals who provide expert, objective advice to City staff as part of the development approvals process. Vancouver has used a similar type of design review panel which has helped the city receive world-wide recognition for its smart and attractive planning.
Toronto's City Planning Division is ...
The Hidden City Photo Contest
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Toronto Psychogeography Society was asked to judge a Hidden City photo contest started on Tropolism, a blog about all things urban and architectural out of New York City, edited by writer and architect Chad Smith. This city has so many good photobloggers, flicker sites and would-be Weegee's -- and that Toronto's best stuff is mostly hidden, tucked away somewhere in the CN Tower's shadow -- Toronto folks should find this a bit of fun.
Tropolism is pleased to announce the first open-sourced architectural contest, Your Hidden City.
The contest is simple: ...
February 11th, 2006
Seattle’s department of neighbourhoods
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In the fall, Spacing, Professor Pamela Robinson of Ryerson University, and the Metcalf Foundation presented two lectures by out-of-the-box thinkers from Portland: the City Club of Portland and the City Repair Club. While not a utopia, the Left Coast has become a fertile place to try out new ideas in city building. In today's Globe and Mail, Spacing associate editor Shawn Micallef writes about Seattle's department of neighbourhoods. It's a partnership program established in 1988 that works with and supports neighbourhood associations in 13 districts spread across the city. Micallef writes:
The Department ...
Queen St. West Heritage meeting
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The second Public Meeting for the Queen Street West Heritage Conservation District Study will be held on Wednesday February 22, 2006 — 7:30pm at Citytv (229 Queen St. W).
This is the second Public Meeting about the study of the Queen Street West Area as a potential Heritage Conservation District. The purpose of this meeting is to present several key components of the Heritage Conservation District study, including a draft inventory of Queen Street West properties, key components for a Heritage Character Statement, and emerging Design Guidelines.
Alexandra Park Memorial Mural
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
An attractive mural has been painted onto a wall on Cameron Street, at the edge of the Alexandra Park housing development, in memory of a long-time resident and activist of the community.
The inscription reads:
Sonny Atkinson
This mural was created to honour the community work of Sonny Atkinson who was a long-time resident of the Alexandra Park community.
Sonny dedicated his time to making this neighbourhood a better, safer place by settling disputes, improving street lighting and breaking down unnecessary walls in the community.
He was also instrumental in making the Alexandra Park housing project ...
February 12th, 2006
A little more ad creep
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Some of our readers have been emailing us about the new Pattison ad pillars (NOW magazine had a small piece on them this week). The structures are new, but in most cases they are just replacing already existing, but dilapidated, ad pillars. The previous ones were very low-tech, with brown metal frames, located on private property. The ads displayed were sometimes years old, or the space was illuminated but empty of signage. These new ones stand out because the structures are bigger (12 feet tall) yet the ad ...
February 13th, 2006
SPACING: Public Space Invaders film night Feb. 28
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
WHEN: Tuesday, February 28th • doors @ 7pm, films start @ 7:20pm
WHERE: Drake Hotel Underground • 1150 Queen St. West
HOW MUCH: $5-10 sliding scale
Spacing is proud to announce our second annual film night Public Space Invaders. We have gathered a handful of great short films focused on the public realm of this city and from around the world. The night kicks off at 7pm and goes until 10. After the films, join us upstairs in the Lounge for the DJs Tyler Clarke Burke & Friends. Any questions about the night can be directed to ...
February 14th, 2006
Seattle’s waterfront revitalization
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There are many similar parallels between Toronto's and Seattle's waterfront revitalization projects. The only real difference is that their waterfront doesn't seem to be tied-up in perpetual red tape. Seattle is taking a former industrial port and turning it into a vibrant green space. You can read an article here on CNN.com or check out the project's website here.
Queen Street of Hearts
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Those crazy kids from Newmindspace were at it again -- last night/this morning a team of chalker made a mural of hearts along Queen Street West from Yonge to Bathurst. Wanna see photos of the event? Go here.
If you are unfamiliar with Newmindspace they are the folks who have brought this city Capture the Flag, the Pillow Fight at Yonge-Dundas Square, streecar parties, subway parties, and tiny chocolate eggs everywhere on Easter weekend last year. If you're into organized shenannigans, these events are made for you.
photo by Roger Cullman
February 15th, 2006
Starchitect Landing
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Editor's note: The AGO invited a handful of people and organizations from Toronto's blogging community to be part of the media launch of Frank Gehry's exhibit. To see photos of the event go to: Flickr group photo pool, Sam Javanrouh's daily post and Flickr set, and Rannie Turingan's daily post and Flickr set.
Frank Gehry was at the AGO today for the launch of Frank Gehry: Art + Architecture exhibit that opens later this week. He said some nice things about Toronto, some others made some speeches, then we were free to ...
Goodbye, Regent Park
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
They've started tearing down Regent Park. For weeks now I've been walking through the middle of it, on my way from Cabbagetown down to the Dundas Street car along what was once and what will again be Sackville Street, looking at the empty glassless buildings with the skyscrapers rising in the background. It's a Detroitish or Buffalonian image we don't much see in Toronto.
Yesterday when I got off the streetcar at Parliament and Dundas I was surprised at how loud and real the demolition was. The machines were tearing at the Regent walls. Chunks of bedroom ...
The Suburban Party
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Our friends at the Toronto Free Gallery are hosting The Suburban Party (Friday, Feb 17, 2006) during our exhibit of In Transit. They'll take the photos down in the basement so you can rock out. DJ Luis Jacob will be at the controls. $10 cover or $5 if you come as your favorite suburban identity.
February 16th, 2006
Some good readings
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A few tasty reads for you: here are three recent columns from Christopher Hume at the Star. The first column is about the public art at Toronto's international airport. In the second column he writes about development in Uxbridge, a town of 18,000 just north of Toronto, where suburban sprawl is apparent, yet people can still walk almost everywhere. The third column from Hume is about the waterfront and how the condos and development along the lip of Lake Ontario represents the city's last chance to build new downtown neighbourhoods that are intelligent, ...
February 17th, 2006
Transit Notes – February 17, 2006
By James Bow // No Comments
Crossposted from Transit Toronto.
The Toronto Transit Commission unveiled its February service changes earlier this week (details here), comprising largely of increasing trip times so as to improve the reliability of service. One item that went almost unnoticed had to do about the 509 Harbourfront streetcar.
Early morning service which normally turned back at Fleet Loop has been extended to the Exhibition. In anticipation of the route's seasonal increase in ridership, the route's frequency will also be increased, but the reason for the early morning route extension is "because of poor track conditions at Fleet Loop."
The ...
February 18th, 2006
Street furniture, pregnant transit riders, and idling busses
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A few things from the Star today:
1. An article on street furniture and how the city is about to put a call out for a RFP.
2. An article about pregnant transit riders and how people are hesitant to give up their seats for mothers-to-be. I will admit that this article didn't sit with me well since I regularly see people give up their seats to the elderly, pregnant women, women with kids.... I'm sure the people the writer interviewed had very valid complaints, but the generalization irks me.
3. And busses at the Dundas ...
February 19th, 2006
TV on transit
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
You may have noticed that the high-definition video screens are being installed throughout the subway system. About half the screen shows 15 to 30 second commericals, while the other half gives you a news feed, weather, the time, and a tiny strip across the bottom with TTC updates. TTC Commissioners even considered allowing TV monitors on subway trains, but the idea was quickly shot down. But some cities in the US are experimenting with TV on transit. For one experience check out this awkwardly told story from Los ...
Planning Downsview Park
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
Located at the edge of the City of Toronto, but in the centre of the GTA, the Downsview Park site could become a significant public space, and one of Canada's biggest urban parks. Downsview Park consists of approximatley 600 acres of federally owned land, and plans are underway to turn about half of this land into urban park and recreation space.
Parc Downsview Park Inc. will be holding a public meeting tomorrow in order to present the preliminary plans for the redevelopment of Downsview Park. For those unable to attend, you can view a live ...
Who Rides 33 Forest Hill?
By James Bow // No Comments
Cross-posted from Transit Toronto:
Who rides the 33 Forest Hill? About 750 individuals per day, actually. Though it is one of 62 “poor performing routesâ€, transit advocates like Steve Munro recommend raising fares rather than cutting these services, as this Globe and Mail article reports. From the article:
...The route's 195,000 annual fares would be bus-less. While the 33 Forest Hill's ridership — 750 fares a day — pales in comparison with the 501 Queen streetcar's more than 40,000 daily fares, the bus remains a desired service for people in the area, no matter how few ...
February 20th, 2006
Café l’Urbanité
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Maisonneuve city columnist Christopher DeWolf has restarted his Café l'Urbanité forum site after it was hacked to death last fall ("Like Detroit, we're not dead yet"). It's a good place to talk about all things urban, architectural or public-artish. While there, check out the Urban Photo site, full of Chris's photos of cities around the world.
Forget what you knew about Toronto
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The National Trade Centre at Exhibition Place is a nice place to shop for boats and check out the latest in hot tub technology, but most of us probably aren't emotionally involved with the building and its name, unlike a place like the Skydome, so labled after a province-wide naming competition and home to the teams that we love and hate. The Trade Centre did its job, and the name sort of told us what that job was. No poetics, it just worked, and has for quite some time. So it's going to take some ...
News on the Wychwood Barns
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A bunch of good news for people interested in the development of the old TTC streetcar garage, the Wychwood Barns up Christie, south of St. Clair West.
Council approved a lease agreement with ArtScape for the northerly four Wychwood Barns, a contribution to the project of $350,000 and relief of building permit fees and other related city costs. These are the final Council approvals required for the project to proceed. The ball is now in ArtScape's court to undertake final architect's drawings and to raise the remaining money required to get the entire ...
February 21st, 2006
Seven deadly sins of driving
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Ian Law of the Car Control School is an enlightened motorist. Check out his opinion piece in the Toronto Star about the seven deadly sins of driving:
As civilized human beings, we have discussed throughout the centuries how to live our lives in a manner that is fair and benevolent to all.
One of the early written codes was a description of "The Seven Deadly Sins," compiled in the 6th Century to help people live a more righteous life.
The news from NOW and Eye
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you haven't picked up a copy of this week's NOW you should try to find the few remaining copies that float around coffee shops or burger joints. They have a number of public space related articles: a run-down of the tall buildings forum from a few weeks ago; a story on BENCHmark, a public art project using benches that was started in Liberty Village and hopes to expand into other parts of the city (Spacing did a profile of this initiative in our current issue); and the efforts of the City to deal ...
St. Clair saved from Save Our St. Clair
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Word is leaking out that the TTC and the City have won the battle to start construction on the St. Clair right-of-way. Further links to related articles will be posted as soon as the Old Media catches up to us. Here's one from the CP Wire. If you wish to download PDFs of the court's decision click here.
Here's some analysis from Joe Travers of Biking Toronto:
...the Ministry of the Environment ruled that a certain kind of environmental assessment wasn't needed for ROW construction, and Save Our St. Clair (SOS) thinks this is illegal. ...
February 22nd, 2006
No need to boycott St. Clair anymore
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As we posted yesterday, the St. Clair ROW has been given the legal authority to proceed with construction. Save Our St. Clair (SOS) has 15 days to appeal the decision, though it is rare that the courts overturn these types of rulings (in the range of 5%, I'm told).
I spoke with TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc last night, and he was obviously excited. "Everyone should be happy about this," he said. "We need to put this behind us and move forward to make this part of town exciting and vibrant, and the ROW is the first step." ...
206 Carlton
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The recent sentencing of David Irving to three years in prison for holocaust denial got me thinking about the fortified house at 206 Carlton. This was where Irving's contemporary, the now-deported Ernst Zà¼ndel, ran his small-press and hate operation called Samisdat Publishing between the late 1970s and mid-1990s. It has been a dark spot on my Toronto map since I moved up here in 2000 when, while looking at apartments in Cabbagetown, I was told this was the house of Zà¼ndel. Location has a strong power -- especially on this elegant stretch of Carlton with ...
6x parking density
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Six bicycles to one car: the bike park occupies a single carpark space, a critical proposal of the space of parking. By Adrien Rovero & Inout Projects.
February 23rd, 2006
Toronto to Force New Condo Developers to Buy TTC Passes for Residents?
By James Bow // No Comments
That's Howard Moscoe's suggestion, as a possible revenue stream for the TTC, and as a means of encouraging residents of new condominiums springing up alongside transit lines to take the TTC. The Toronto Star has more details:
Under Moscoe's proposal, developers with buildings larger than 25 units and within 500 metres of subway stations would have to give purchasers a free one-year pass as would those in buildings constructed in areas on and near major bus and streetcar lines with more than six units. Each pass would generate about $1,000 a year for the TTC, Moscoe ...
TTC subway station names get remixed
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
We've been dealing with serious TTC issues over the last few days, so this shold be a nice break. Robot Johnny was so inspired by the anagrams of the London Underground tube stops that he remixed all of Toronto's subway stations. Ossington becomes Gino's Snot, Sherbourne becomes Hose Burner, Davisville becomes Valid Elvis, and my fave, Summerhill turns into Mush Miller. You can download the map to see the results of every stations.
News on the Wychwood Barns
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A bunch of good news for people interested in the development of Wychwood Barns, the old TTC streetcar garage at Christie just south of St. Clair West.
Council approved a lease agreement with ArtScape for the northerly four Wychwood Barns, a contribution to the project of $350,000 and relief of building permit fees and other related city costs. These are the final Council approvals required for the project to proceed. The ball is now in ArtScape's court to undertake final architect's drawings and to raise the remaining money required to get the ...
February 24th, 2006
SPACING: Toronto photoblogger panel at Apple Store
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing is happy to be sponsoring the second Toronto Area Photobloggers event at the Apple Store Yorkdale on Sunday, February 26th starting at 6:30pm. Spacing photographer Sam Javanrouh will be there, as well as other great participaints in our In Transit gallery show (which closes this weekend).
Presenters include
Chris and Jessica of istoica,
Payam Rajabi of ColourBlind.ca,
Irina Souiki of StillMemory.ca,
Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery,
Shahin Edalati of Foto Project, and
Taku Kumabe of media smaku with the latest issue of U&IMagazine.
Plus, arrive by 6:30 pm and receive a ...
Scavenging uTOpia
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
When: Sunday February 26, 2-5pm
Where: Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, free
Do you have city savvy? Detective-like determination? Intimate knowledge of the west side of town? Explore the crevices of Parkdale and the Gladstone Hotel as you join the folks who brought you the book uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto on a scavenger hunt! This event is part of the Gladstone's Come Up To My Room alt design festival.
Collect yourself a team of two to four people of any age (or arrive solo and join up with other solos), then meet up in the ...
Public Chairs
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Used chairs are taken from the trash and are being transformed into public property by spraying the words “public chair†on them. That way they get a new and recycled function. The citizens of the cities are being animated to reconquer the streets and sidewalks.
February 25th, 2006
Urban Imbalance – Exquisite Corpse
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The city is bankrupt.
We need more transit and other services.
Miller talks to McGuinty - the province is broke.
McGuinty talks to Flaherty - yes, the city is broke: we will build more highways.
Who runs this town?
Google Kills Your Time
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Hours and hours can be spent looking at Google maps. Apart from revolutionizing communication and changing the way we live, it might just be the best thing about the Internet. The hybrid function (where the maps and satellite images are overlapped) lets you wander around neighbourhoods far away. I've retraced walks I went on in San Francisco in 2001, found relative's homes and plugged in Warren Beatty's Mullholland Drive address to see what his backyard looks like. The moment a notorious location hits the news, or was in the news, you can plug the address in and see for yourself. ...
February 26th, 2006
TTC bullies creator of station anagram map
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This seems rather odd, but the TTC has decided to send Robot Johnny a cease and desist letter for his anagram remix of subway station names. I agree with the people at Boing Boing who write, "Trademark is supposed to protect rightsholders from competitors who use their marks to confuse the public in the course of commerce. No one who saw RobotJohnny's genius map would have confused it for a second with a real TTC map and sent him a subway token.... Torontonians go to bat for the TTC all the time, shouting at the ...
February 27th, 2006
Emotion Mapping
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Check out this amazing project by artist Christian Nold who collaborated with local residents from the Greenwich Peninsula in London to explore the area afresh and build an emotion map of the area that explores people's relationship with their local environment. It's like a geographic mood map of the collective consciousness of the residents. Nold calls the technology biomapping.
I wonder what a biomap of Toronto would look like?
Cops on horses
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Excuse me, but this post is a bit of a rant, so feel free to skip over.
On Thursday last week, a police officer on a horse was struck by a car. The horse, named Brigadier, was injured in this bizarre hit-and-run. The officer was thrown from the horse, suffered broken ribs, and injuries to his neck, back and leg. Police later had to shoot Brigadier because of the injuries sustained. And for the last few days the Toronto Star has published numerous articles waxing poetic about how Brigadier was killed "in the line of ...
Spacing on CFRB tonight
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Murmur mastermind and Spacing associate editor Shawn Micallef will be on CFRB AM1010 tonight at 11pm talking about our film night Public Space Invaders, his Eye Weekly column Stroll and the usual Spacing stuff. It's Mark Elliot's “Nightside†program, which is often a phone-in show, so perhaps they'll be a chance to call in and chat. At any rate, Elliot is a progressive voice in Toronto's night air, and maybe a good reason to demand iPods start installing radio receivers in the little things. In the event of the apocalypse, iPod listeners will also be able to hear the ...
February 28th, 2006
SPACING: Public Space Invaders film night tonight!
By Spacing // No Comments
Where: Drake Hotel Underground 1150 Queen St. West
When: Tuesday February 28th, 2006, Doors 7pm, films start at 7:20 sharp
How: $5-$10 sliding scale
Spacing is pleased to present Public Space Invaders, our second annual collection of films on public space. The program will run just under two hours and include a selection of films (often lighthearted, sometimes serious) made by local video & film artists along with archival films on the building of Canada's First Subway during the 1950s and the competition to build new City Hall. After the screening, folks are ...
40th anniversary of Bloor-Danforth subway passes (almost) without comment
By James Bow // No Comments
Forty years ago this past Sunday, the public boarded the first revenue trains operating on the Bloor-Danforth subway. The line, running between Keele and Woodbine station, was the only east-west subway line in Toronto until November 2002 when the Sheppard line opened.
Toronto celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Yonge subway in 2004 but, since opening in 1966, the Bloor-Danforth subway has carried hundreds of millions of commuters and local residents to and from Etobicoke, Scarborough and midtown Toronto. It’s opening almost literally decimated Toronto’s streetcar network. It is a workhorse of ...
March 1st, 2006
Queen West Community Charrette
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Cross-posted from the Eye Weekly blog.
This Sunday, Active 18 — the Queen West West community group that's formed to provide a voice for residents in the face of massive development in the Queen Street Triangle (across from the Gladstone Hotel) — is holding a day-long community charrette.
For those of you who aren't aware of what's going on in the area here's a quick synopsis: The Queen West Triangle is the area between Queen Street, Abell Street and the railroad tracks. Seven new condo buildings are proposed for the site ranging between three and 26 ...
To Jaywalk or not to Jaywalk
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Over at Maisonneuve Magazine, Christopher DeWolf wrote about how Montreal is cracking down on jaywalking, but explores the idea that maybe jaywalking might be something city planners should pay attention to.
It's no wonder that a high-publicity crackdown on jaywalking does little to change Montrealers' walking habits. It's hard to fault police officers for simply upholding the law, but should jaywalking even be illegal in the first place? Maybe it's time to rethink the entire notion of jaywalking. Maybe, just maybe, jaywalking is actually good for cities.
In the article, DeWolf quotes Spacing associate editor Dylan Reid, who ...
Vote for Mississauga
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The people building "The Absolute," the soon-to-be-landmark at Mississauga City Centre (the area surrounding Square One Mall), are asking the public to vote on the design they like best. This could be just a way to get your email address and send you glossy brochures, but maybe they actually want to know what the public has to say. I'll leave it to you to decide. Spacing Magazine officially does not encourage people to lie about where they live when filling out forms like this.
Mississauga City Centre seems to change everyday. Last Friday night a friend took ...
March 2nd, 2006
Anti-postering by-law not so anti anymore
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I've been interested in city politics since my early-teenage years. My grandparents were active political volunteers and got me involved in every type of election. Their choice of candidate is easy to deride in hindsight (I grew up in North York where Mel Lastman was highly regarded at the dinner table) but instead of watching another repeat of the Thundercats, I was helping them bang signs into supporters' front lawns.
But it was the anti-postering bylaw the city proposed back in 2002 that kicked me into action. It just seemed wrong to ban posters for garage sales, ...
SPACING: what do other cities have that the TTC needs?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Over the last few weeks the Spacing Wire has been posting a lot of transit-related articles and links. This is probably happening because of the research we've been doing for the next issue of Spacing, which will hit newsstands in April, focused on public transit. But we need your help: we want our readers to tell us interesting features used in other public transit systems that the TTC should consider implementing. Maybe it's a screen with arrival times displayed at bus stops, or grass between streetcar tracks instead of cement. We know you fine people are ...
Talks – Citizens and Cities in Japan
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Asian Institute at the Munk Centre for International Studies (1 Devonshire Place) at the University of Toronto is holding two upcoming talks that deal with citizen engagement and urban space in Japan.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SHIZUKA HASHIMOTO
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Neighborhood Associations in Japan: How do they function as planning instruments?
Friday, March 10, 2006, 12:00 — 2:00 pm
Register online here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ANDRE SORENSEN
Department of Geography, University of Toronto
Citizen ...
Bike lane stunt on Bloor
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cycling activists are holding a bike-lane making party on Friday at 2pm at Bloor and Yonge (the above photo is an attempt to visualize what the lane would look like). It is part of a campaign to turn Bloor and Danforth into a city-wide bike lane. Anyone who shows up should be prepared to meet a few men and women in uniform that may want to stop this proceeding for orderly reasons. Read more at Take The Tooker.
March 3rd, 2006
We Are Traffic — Bike Themed Art Show
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
This appeared in my OCAD mail box today -- I don't know anything about it, but maybe some folks might be passing by and want to pop in and see. Maybe an excuse to see the new OCAD building if you haven't wandered through yet. It's neat.
“We Are Trafficâ€
Bike-themed art show
Organized by the Bicycle Friendly Campus Project
Opening tomorrow, Friday, March 3 4:00 to 7:00 pm
Room 190, Auditorium, 100 McCaul St. 1st floor.
Spacing buttons + anagram map in Eye and Now this week
By Spacing // No Comments
It was nice to see both Eye Weekly and NOW cover the silliness of the TTC's cease and desist letter to RobotJohnny and his anagram subway station remix. In both pieces, the writers criticize the TTC for not welcoming with open arms its biggest boosters, which includes Spacing's subway button series and In Transit gallery show. Click here for Eye's piece, click here for NOW's.
Commentary: It’s Time to Break Up the Queen Streetcar
By James Bow // No Comments
The Queen streetcar remains one of the TTC’s most prominent and well-travelled routes, but it is a shadow of its former self. Twenty-five years ago, 80,000 passengers plied the streetcars on Queen Street each day. Today, that number is closer to 50,000.
Transit activist Steve Munro details a number of reasons for this drop in ridership. It largely amounts to the frustration of passengers who are waiting longer for their streetcars to arrive, assuming those streetcars arrive on time. Service reliability is a big problem on Queen Street, and it’s not ...
Reading Toronto post: ad nauseam
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
An article from yesterday's National Post has been cross-posted on Reading Toronto's website. It focuses on how Toronto's planning department is starting to see the light on the multiple problems caused by selling off street furniture in public realm. This is encouraging news. I have been part of two City-sanctioned committees that are dealing with beauty and design standards of our streetscapes, and I can confirm that city officials have become very wary of Megabin and Info Pillar -style intrusions. Our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee are not nearly as confident as ...
SPACING: voted best indie magazine in Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The results are in from BlogTO's Best of Indie Toronto survey, and Spacing was voted the city's best independent magazine. Thanks for voting for us! Congrats to our friends at Shameless for coming in second and holding off "indie" monter The Walrus. For the winners of other categories go here, or for full voting results go here.
March 5th, 2006
Active 18 design charrette
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Originally posted on March 1st.
This afternoon, Active 18 — the Queen West West community group that's formed to provide a voice for residents in the face of massive development in the Queen Street Triangle (across from the Gladstone Hotel) — is holding a day-long community charrette.
For those of you who aren't aware of what's going on in the area here's a quick synopsis: The Queen West Triangle is the area between Queen Street, Abell Street and the railroad tracks. Seven new condo buildings are proposed for the site ranging between three and 26 storeys in ...
Naturalized Water Cleaning Planned for Toronto
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Toronto is planning to establish a wetland in a neglected spot of public land near High Park that will clean stormwater before it is dumped into Lake Ontario -- in the process, improving the quality of the water around Sunnyside Beach.
[The project] uses cattail thickets, lily pads and sunshine to stop motor oil, pesticides and dog feces from being flushed into Lake Ontario. The storm water will first pass through a grit and oil separator before dumping into a catch basin, where heavy material will sink to the bottom. The water will then flow into the wetlands, where more pollutants ...
Yorkdale Rainbow
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
In Saturday's Globe and Mail John Barber wrote about the "Yorkdale Rainbow," or rather Arc en Ciel, the neon artwork by Michael Hayden. The lights pulsed as trains entered the station. Sounds exciting, iconic and great, but many of us either haven't seen it, or can hardly remember it. It was installed when Yorkdale Station was built, but taken down soon after because the TTC didn't want to buy some new transformers to replace the ones that burnt out (they cost $28 each, so it's understandable).
Although he grieves the loss of a "seminal" sculpture the artist ...
March 6th, 2006
Hamilton Raises the Hammer
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
In 2004 a group of citizens in Hamilton started an online magazine called Raise The Hammer "dedicated to providing a variety of views and approaches to the goal of making Hamilton a great city." The current lead article is celebrating 14 new projects in the city centre.
Hamilton's future does not lie in paving over farmland on the outskirts of town. Our future starts at King and James and spreads out from there. Only with a healthy heart can the rest of the body function efficiently and properly.
Hamilton is and was a good city -- when I ...
Toronto the Good & Wire Free
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Star is reporting on a Toronto Hydro wifi initiative that may or may not be a thorn in the side of Ted Rogers.
Mayor David Miller will join Toronto Hydro executives on Tuesday to officially announce the initiative, which will be the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Canada and could undermine commercial product offerings from Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility.
I look forward to wifi being everywhere, but this idea of "Municipal WiFi" can be approached from a variety of ways. There are those who think a pay-per-use sort of wifi ...
Calling all public space geeks!
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Next week in the east end, some urban planning students and others who just happen to enjoy talking about the city are kicking of a casual late afternoon/evening of drinks and conversation at Dora Keogh's Irish Pub near Broadview station. With all the interest in public space, civic involvement and the design of our city these days, this group of friends figured why not invite others to gather monthly to share ideas and thoughts over some pints of beer (or whatever else you might like to drink)? The night is not programmed beyond inviting people to ...
March 7th, 2006
Adscape
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
What is the geographic impact of advertising on our cities? We know that advertising pervades our urban environment but what would a map of advertising locations look like? As Toronto thinks about selling off street furniture this project from New York sheds some light how the commercial landscape may or may not reflect the socioeconomic landscape of New York neighbourhoods. The database of advertising images is the basis for understanding location based advertising. All that is missing is a map.
York University Subway Extension is a Go
By James Bow // No Comments
The Toronto Star is reporting that the provincial government will announce funding to extend the Spadina subway from Downsview to York University in finance minister Dwight Duncan's first budget on Thursday, March 23. It is estimated that the 6.2 km extension will cost $1.5 billion to build (the full environmental assessment can be found here). The city has asked the provincial and federal governments to kick in a third of the cost. Duncan has not said whether the province will provide its $500 million share, or if it will ...
Taxing Parking
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
While the TTC is begging the provice for money - Vancouver's transit authority Translink is getting beat up about their parking tax. If only the TTC had such problems. The business owners in Vancouver are all up in arms about $30/year per parking space. I guess these business owners aren't too good at mathematics. That's like 8 cents a day. Even at minimum parking rates they could cover the 8 cents and make a little profit. Here's another economic lesson for business owners. It ...
March 8th, 2006
Portraits in the Park
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
WHEN: Thursday March 9, 8-10pm
WHERE: Toronto Free Gallery, 660 Queen St. E.
On Thursday at the Toronto Free Gallery, the work of Rannie Turingan (aka Photojunkie and regular Spacing contributor) will be featured in the 24 Hour display. In the summer last year, Rannie posted a park location each week on his photoblog and invited anyone to show up to have their photo taken. He went to different parks all over the city and met many of the anonymous viewers of his website. Who said the internet would keep us from face-to-face interaction?
Planning Site of the Day
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Spacing magazine is the planning site of the day today on Cyburbia. Cyburbia is a great planning portal with lots of resources including links, forums, and a gallery. Here's a link I found on cyburbia today: if you ever wanted to know how to build a thriving neighbourhood - Christopher Alexander has it all worked out.
URBAN DECONSTRUCTIONS Launch Tonight
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I've been told that Toronto architect Paul Raff was jumping over fences and exploring buildings long before it was called "Urban Exploration" -- now he and David Warne have an exhibit in a show that is opening tonight, with a panel discussion at 7pm.
--
URBAN DECONSTRUCTIONS
March 8 — September 2006
Goethe-Institut Gallery
163 King St. W. 416 5935257
www.goethe.de/toronto
Public Opening Wednesday March 8, 5-8 pm
Panel discussion with the artists, moderated by John Bentley Mays, 7-8pm
“Toronto Project†- a deconstruction of 163 King St. W./100
University Ave. through 3d computer animation, ink jet prints, and
drawings by Alekos Hofstetter and Holger ...
Roman Impressions
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
I have just arrived in Rome, and even after just a day and a half of walking around I've already formed some strong impressions of Roman public space.
Hills. Rome really is a city of hills, and that means lots of steps. I've already noticed, and traversed, several elegant sets of steps. And steps mean places for people to sit, to chat, to bask in the sun, to ponder, to make out. I noticed this even before I'd seen the Spanish Steps, the mother of all steps. Steps make a wonderful contribution to public space, but they have to ...
March 9th, 2006
SPACING’s 2006 city election internship program
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In the fall, Torontonians will go to the polls and pick 44 city councillors and a mayor. This will be the first time Spacing will have election coverage and we couldn't be more excited. We are looking for students/graduates who have a passion for city issues and reporting that want to take part in a 3-month internship program from September to the end of November. If this tickles your fancy, or someone you know, please click here for more info.
TTC anagram map not going away
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Sean Lerner, the quick mind behind the TTC Rider Efficiency Guide, is a little worked up over the TTC's "cease and desist" letter squashing John Martz's witty anagram remix of Toronto's subway stations (Martz has posted a new, less sue-able version). Lerner has re-posted the original map on his own site ttcrider.ca. He has also written an open letter to TTC Chair Howard Moscoe asking that the TTC reconsider it's cease and desist stance, stating that the TTC is targeting the very people that are ...
Ducharme to Province: Fix My System First, Then Talk Subways
By James Bow // No Comments
It's not that Rick Ducharme doesn't appreciate the money that may have been promised to extend the Spadina subway to York University, it's that the TTC has other needs that need attention first. John Barber talks to the TTC Chairman and compliments him on his prudent approach to managing the TTC's priorities.
"The top priority is state-of-good-repair," he said yesterday, repeating a phrase that has become a mantra at the TTC ever since a worn-out signalling system killed three people on the Spadina line 10 years ago. "Over the next four or five years I need about ...
Battle of St. Clair Won. SOS Abandons Court Battle for Politics
By James Bow // No Comments
As the window to appeal the superior court decision reinstating the St. Clair private right-of-way project closes, the opposition group Save Our St. Clair has admitted defeat and abandoned its court battle (the Toronto Star report is here). Construction on the project will resume as soon as tenders are adjusted -- possibly May.
Instead, the people behind SOS are turning to politics, hoping to punish those councillors who have favoured this proposal. Councillor Joe Mihevc and Mayor David Miller are the main targets, but SOS suggests that it may bring forward a list of candidates their ...
March 10th, 2006
Bike lane on Bloor
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
It is for real this time -- there is a bike lane on Bloor Street West. Well, kinda. An anonymous reader sent us the above photos and wrote, "I was riding west along Bloor after having attended the Take the Tooker event on Friday. As I passed Spadina I began to notice stencils of bicycles - what looked to be the makings of a real live bike lane on the North side of Bloor. It didn't take long to find and photograph the action.Though not an 'official line', what struck ...
Art on the Move
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
As part of their Environment Week, the University of Toronto is hosting [A]lternative [R] [T]ransportation: Art on the Move, an art exhibit and party celebrating sustainable transportation:
Transportation isn't just about getting from A to B. Especially if we are talking about sustainable transportation. There is a certain art to it, a certain aesthetic pleasure that such healthy transportation affords, and a certain art to the very objects that take us from one place to the other.
[A]lternative [R] Transportation celebrates the art of transportation that doesn't just consume energy, but generates energy, healthy energy that inspires and creates, that celebrates a much larger ...
March 11th, 2006
A reason to linger in Dundas Square again…
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
TRANSMEDIA :29:59
+media art in public urban space+
March 1 - 31, 2006:
29th minute: Myfanwy Ashmore - 'Mario Trilogy'
59th minute: Kate Armstrong + Michael Tippet - 'Grafik Dynamo'
Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto
Year Zero One is pleased to present TRANSMEDIA :29:59, a year long exhibition on the pedestrian level video billboard at Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. Launched August 1st 2005, TRANSMEDIA :29:59 features one minute video works 24/7 every half hour on the 29th and 59th minutes.
Featured for the month of March is Myfanwy Ashmore's 'Mario Trilogy' and Kate Armstrong + Michael Tippet's 'Grafik Dynamo'.
Myfanwy Ashmore's Mario Trilogy is three hacked ...
March 12th, 2006
When it’s good to look up
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Maybe 50-53% of the reason I moved to Toronto was for the tall buildings. If I wanted low I'd have moved to Cornwall and paid less rent. The National Post, which I'm always surprised and secretly glad still exists (because of articles like this), rated the "top 10" residential towers in Toronto. I like this list - some have their problems, like the Palace Pier, which up close is sort of a gated community, yet is such a landmark otherwise (passing it on road trips trips to TO from Windsor always meant "now ...
The cult of transit lovers
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star did an a full-page article on transit lovers today, and it featured a number of people connected to Spacing (and Spacing itself!). Interviewed are Sean Lerner of the TTC Rider Guide, Shawn Micallef of Spacing and [murmur], Steve Munro of stevemunro.ca and his 34 years of transit advocacy, and Kevin and Lori from Newmindspace. The article also deals a fair bit with our subway button collection. You can read the big fat article here. Photos by Bryan Partington
March 13th, 2006
Warm days and beach criminals
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
This was the weekend that Toronto was set free -- the first warm couple of days, when the thick heavy coats are left behind (not that it's been such a cold winter though). I think it's that physical lightness that is most noticeable, perhaps even more than the warmth itself. Late on Saturday afternoon I walked from Cabbagetown to the Annex, but stuck to the south side of the street, in the shade, as the sun was blinding when walking west. There's something about Bloor in the late afternoon between now and late Spring when the ...
Beauty in density
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I came across the photos of Michael Wolf a month or two ago and kinda forgot about him until I was cleaning out my Inbox. His images of Hong Kong, and the sheer density of the city, are a joy to view. His work has been described with these words: "Stimulated by the region's complex urban dynamics, Wolf makes dizzying photographs of its architecture. He investigates vibrant city blocks, finding a mesmerizing abstraction in the buildings' facades. Some of the structures in the series are photographed without reference to the context of sky or ...
Good articles from the Star & NOW
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Some recent articles in the Star are worth posting about:
1. The City wants to crack down on vehicles idling.
2. Royson James writes about the need for money to be put into the social services of this city, not just its culutral landmarks.
3. Christopher Hume asks Toronto to think big -- like Tokyo.
4. Toronto has an archeology master plan -- and its at work at Baby Point in the Bloor and Jane area.
Over at NOW, they have three great features in this week's issue:
1. Mike Smith explores the street ...
March 14th, 2006
Photjunkie wins Bloggie
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Regular Spacing contributor Rannie Turingan [ aka photojunkie.ca ] won Best Canadian Blog at the 2006 Bloggies held at SXSW. The Bloggies are one of the few big-time awards for this new media world. Congrats, Rannie!
Signs of Life
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Signs of Life is a book by Dave Askwith and Alex Normanton that chronicles the subtle art of changing official signage into amusing social commentary. The book is described like so:
As Dave Askwith's daily grind caused him to sacrifice several hours to the railways between London and Brighton, he has spent more time than he cares to remember reading and rereading the many officious signs and labels that are festooned around our public spaces. For his own entertainment (and sanity) he began adding a few personal variation giving fellow commuters the option of the summoning ...
March 15th, 2006
Toronto People Project
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Neil Gunner wants to talk to you. He started a photo web site called the Toronto People Project. He asks random people if he can take their photo. Most of the people say yes.
[murmur] Launches at Hart House
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Forget what that sooth sayer told you about the Ides of March because today [murmur] is launching our first interior project at historic Hart House on the University of Toronto campus. Stories include how the ceremonial mace ended up in the RCMP evidence bin, tales of the Hart House ghost and a story from director Atom Egoyan recounting his first tracking shot ever in the second floor hallway. If you're nearby, please join us tonight for an opening reception beginning at 6pm in the Debates Room that will include thoughts on interactive media from Ana Serrano, ...
Trellis: Constructions for Growth
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TRELLIS. CONSTRUCTIONS FOR GROWTH
March 18 to April 8, 2006, Opening March 18, 2 - 5
DYAN MARIE PROJECTS, 1444 Dupont Unit 31
Gallery Hours Saturdays 1 - 5 and by appointment
Janet Rosenberg, John McKinnon, Douglas Walker, Mike Murphy, and Napoleon Brousseau acknowledge the city's fragile green space and present works imagining ways to contribute support.
Janet Rosenberg, Landscape Architect: Ideas for parks and gardens. Janet Rosenberg runs one of Canada's leading landscape architecture firms and has produced innovative landscape ideas that focus on what is possible and direct what should be done.
John McKinnon, Public art artist: Trellis drawings and model. John ...
Like Spacing’s buttons, but more practical
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
One the fun fallouts of producing our Toronto subway buttons is hearing how people use their buttons. One lady bought a pack of station buttons that were wheelchair accessible -- her son was disabled and had recently passed on, and this was her way of remembering him on a tiny level. Other people suggest that people should wear the buttons so if they fall asleep, other passengers will know which station to wake them up at. Well, someone in London, England has created stickers to do just that. Its a project called Wake ...
Part of billboard falls on man in Dundas Square
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A piece of a billboard hit a man today, seriously injuring him as he walked through the Dundas Square area today. Here's what CP24 is reporting:
One minute, he was walking near the Eaton Centre. The next, he was in an ambulance racing to hospital for emergency treatment.
A man was seriously hurt around 2:30pm Wednesday afternoon, after parts of a billboard crashed down and hit him near Yonge and Dundas Square.
Police report at least two others were slightly injured in the mishap, but only the male in his 20s was taken to hospital.
His condition isn't believed ...
March 16th, 2006
The Toronto Game
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As the weather warms up we are starting to see some of the great plans people have for this coming spring, summer, and fall. One of my favourite things is Navigate The Streets, a city-wide scavenger hunt that uses cell-phones and the TTC to help you figure out clues. Another event we just got wind of is The Toronto Game. It's described as "a plot-based competition between teams to solve a series of puzzles that are based on the landscape and geography of Toronto.... For those of you familiar with ARGs ...
Ryerson to ‘turn around and face the city’
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From the Globe and Mail today:
Ryerson University sits smack in the middle of downtown Toronto, with its back turned to the city. That's about to change. With no obvious front door on Yonge or Dundas streets, key stretches of which remain down at heel, the university now aspires to embrace its neighbours and the city in a major renewal effort. Landlocked on 10.1 hectares (25 acres), the university is at the first stage of a plan, to be developed over the next 18 months, on how to grow beyond its current borders.
To read more of the article ...
March 17th, 2006
South Central Farmers
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
An interesting showdown is happening in Los Angeles. The South Central Community Garden is split into 350 plots farmed by local families and community members who grow crops like cabbage, cactus, brussel sprouts, and medicinal herbs. The land, however, doesn't belong to the farmers or to the city, but to a private developer who has now decided it is time to do away with the Garden.
You can read more about it on Treehugger, and don't skip the comments. Private property rights are something Americans take very seriously -- and I think it is one of those small ...
Crazy cycle lanes
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
BBC news asked readers for photos of bizarre bike lanes and got some good ones.
Postering & Gentrification
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
NOW has two stories worth reading this week: one is on postering and the pros and cons of the newly proposed by-law. Spacing has the exact same concerns and hope expressed in the article. Eye Weekly's editorial also deals with the postering question.
The other piece to check out is the debate over neighbourhood gentrification. The article specifically focuses on the West Queen West 'hood and the effect of the Drake Hotel. While it is easy to lay blame on the Drake, there are other factors to consider in this complex debate. Personally, I find gentrification ...
Toronto’s community gardens
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Earlier today I posted about community gardens in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, Eye Weekly has a feature on Toronto's community gardens.
Amid budget woes and provincial downloading that has left Toronto's city council scrambling to find ways to meet the needs of some of its most vulnerable residents, a tool in the challenge to help eradicate hunger and improve nutrition is cropping up in what, for some, may seem like an unlikely place. Last week, the Community Services Committee received a report on the growing number of community gardens in Toronto and the key role they play in the city's ...
March 20th, 2006
Meter Pops
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Meter Pops by Mark Jenkins, found in downtown Washington DC. It would be nice to know what is going through this gentleman's head as he approaches the installation.
Leading us to water
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
This morning the Globe and Mail is reporting that the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp has short listed a competition to make the approach to the lake more accessible between Bathurst and Parliament. One of the judges of the competition is urban planner Ken Greenberg -- when we asked him what the one thing we could do to make Toronto more pedestrian friendly (for our pedestrian issue two years ago) he said creating approaches to the lake was most important. The short listed teams include Sir Norman Foster's firm and Allsopp Hillier of Toronto, who have been ...
March 21st, 2006
Moscoe Responds to Anagram Map Challenge
By James Bow // No Comments
Earlier this week, Sean Lerner, who challenged the TTC's legal department by reprinting the original version of RobotJohnny's Anagram Map, received a response from TTC Chairman Howard Moscoe.
“I agree that the TTC may have over reacted to the publication of the map but it did so with honest intent. In this case the intention of the authors was to be helpful but by the same token If the TTC allows its logo to be used by anyone it has a huge potential for abuse. I, for example, would be open to charges if ...
The TTC and Google
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
As we posted back on December 8th, 2005, the TTC is hoping to get our system into the Google Transit feature. From the Star:
Google has asked the TTC for station, stop, schedule and route data to create a trip planner so commuters could input origin and destination points to get the shortest or fastest routes. Google is running a pilot project with Portland (Ore.) Transit. The TTC had looked into doing its own for about $2 million. There are no cost estimates or time frame for the Google deal....
TTC chair Howard Moscoe is not so ...
SPACING: Comments on the Spacing Wire
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Some of you may have noticed that we are now allowing comments on the Spacing Wire. We will turn on the comments function for posts that we feel need to be discussed. All comments are moderated.
Cinematic City
By Shawn Micallef // 6 Comments
Unconfirmed rumours are circulating that the plug has been pulled on Atom Egoyan's Camera Bar-slash-repertory cinema on Queen Street just east of Ossington (update at BlogTO: still open but scaled back). A shame if true as it was a lovely place. It got me thinking about the idea of going to the movies in the city. I have this image of big cities, on Saturday night, with people filling the sidewalks on their way to see a show. Toronto had lots of neighbourhood cinemas, built before television took over (in fact, there's a nice book ...
March 22nd, 2006
Province Rolls Out Greater Toronto Transit Authority
By James Bow // 6 Comments
CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR
TTC and Mississauga buses share space at Islington station.
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
The Toronto Star is reporting that the Province of Ontario will be rolling out a Greater Toronto Transit Authority to knit together the dozens of transit agencies throughout the Golden Horseshoe into a “seamless†system. The move fulfills a Liberal campaign promise from the 2003 election.
It is unclear how much clout the GTTA will have (if indeed those are its initials). The Star provides a glowing outlook, saying: “this could eventually mean faster and smarter decisions ...
Sidewalk carving removed
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
A reliable source (a Broken Pencil magazine editor) has told Spacing that the sidewalk carvings found at King and Simcoe, made by a man who asked for money in that spot for years, was being removed today by a city works crew. To see a larger version of this photo go to Sam Javanrouh's Daily Dose of Imagery., or check out Jorge Chaves' photo of the more complete carving. There was a story about the artist in the Star last summer but I can't seem to find any further info on the man.
UPDATE: our reliable ...
Toronto Ruins
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
(Photo courtesy of Bob Krawczyk)
The Toronto Star reported two days ago that the James Chalmers Building located at 6 Howard Street has collapsed. This building is part of a notorious and curious collection of buildings right around Howard and Glen Road -- at the top of St. James Town, where the east exit of Sherbourne station lets out -- that are boarded and bricked up, seemingly forever. Though designated a heritage property (built in 1915), the city seems unable to ensure the buildings are reasonably kept up, leading to, as next-door resident Larry Clydesdale told the Star, ...
Canadians believe subway likely terrosist target
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Canadians believe a terrorist attack on their country is unlikely but feel if one did happen, the Toronto subway is the most probable target, CTV is reporting.
That's the picture painted by a federal focus-group study of views in several major cities on the prospects of a 9/11-style assault. Overall, Canadians interviewed during the sessions felt an attack was "highly unlikely'' given the proximity of other, more attractive targets -- namely the United States.
Estimates ranged from a one per cent to a 25 per cent possibility of terrorist action against Canada in the next few years, says ...
March 23rd, 2006
Update on destroyed sidewalk carving
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
A quick update on the sidewalk carving destroyed by City staff on Wednesday. James from Broken Pencil who originally tipped us off, says "I watched, at 9:30 this morning, as one City worker took out some sort of concrete grinder and proceeded to rip up the entire carved image. A huge cloud of dust was shot everywhere. All that remains now is a bunch of ugly scrape marks -- the carving is completely, I repeat, completely gone."
It certainly is a shame this happened. The etchings are one of those things that stop you in your tracks -- its ...
Is Thunder Bay Worth $180 Million?
By James Bow // 16 Comments
It may be before the starter's gun, but Siemens has brought forward a bid to build 232 subway cars to replace old cars on the TTC's fleet. The proposed bid is $535 million, $180 million below the $705 million the TTC has budgeted for the project.
The TTC is working with Bombardier on designing the specifications for the next generation of subway cars. The work with Bombardier doesn't commit the TTC to buying from this builder, but it does make the company the front runner. Some have questioned ...
How to take the zazz out of Pizzazz
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
On a day when transit advocates like myself should be cheering (see money influx from Ontario budget announced today), I want to highlight a transit lowlight.
The month of April will mark the launch of TTC's Pizzazz campaign. And I have to say, if anyone can take the zazz out of Pizzazz, its the TTC. I don't know what it is about the TTC -- they are spending nearly $20,000 on mind readers, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra impersonators, Easter Bunnies on the Resurrection Weekend, stilt walkers playing the violin, native drum circles.... This sounds more like ...
March 24th, 2006
Sit-in at Parkdale’s Globe
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Some community members of Parkdale are a little upset that the new World Peace Monument does not include benches. They claim the Parkdale BIA purposely exluded benches because it would encourage the colourful and transient locals to use them as beds or for other unsavoury activities. You can read the NOW article from a few weeks ago.
So a "sit-in" has been organized to reclaim the former public square at Queen West and Cowan. Check it out on March 25th (tomorrow) from 1-3pm. I hear a few couches from local apartments will be dragged out for any ...
Province Complicates York University Extension With Money
By James Bow // 1 Comment
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
Despite the highlights of Ontario's recently announced budget, and despite earlier indications that the York University subway extension was a go, Torontonians are no closer to boarding trains to Steeles Avenue. The province announced $670 million worth of support for the subway extension, but it did not commit to getting shovels in the ground this year. Indeed, the details of the announcement suggest that construction might not start for years yet.
The province offered $670 million worth of support not for a subway extension to Steeles Avenue, but for ...
Whitewashing
By Chris Hardwicke // 2 Comments
The Guardian reports that Melbourne's street art scene is being culture cleansed for the Commonwealth games. Meanwhile adidas is giving up some of its adspace for the people (with a small logo in the fineprint).
Congestion Inflation
By Chris Hardwicke // 3 Comments
The Toronto Star reports that congestion is costing us $2.3B-$3.7B a year and that the new provincial budget is planning to spend $1.2B to invest in public transit, roads, highways and bridges next year. This is an unsustainable situation; we are going broke because of congestion and we don't have enough money to buy our way out.
What is left unmentioned is that the province is allowing car-dependent urban form to propogate on our urban edges. Car dependent places don't offer a choice of mobility to their inhabitants. The streets are dicontinuous and not connected ...
March 25th, 2006
Help Wanted: [murmur]
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
[murmur] is looking for help. We've got a bunch of new projects on the go, and need someone to help us manage it all.
Please get in touch with us if you:
-are personable, and a great writer
-are organized and good with deadlines
-have your own laptop and workspace (Cafes count. We have no office -- it's the new way.)
-are in Toronto, but able to travel sometimes
-are available at least two days a week, until at least the end of August
Bonus points if:
-you have experience creating/organizing events, art projects or urban interventions
-you regularly read Spacing, The Toronto Star, ...
Public Art Abuse?
By Dylan Reid // 15 Comments
I was walking past the parkette at the S-E corner of Bloor and Spadina on Thursday night about 7:00 when I saw three guys on bikes riding on, leaning on and doing tricks on the popular domino sculpture on this corner. They weren't even kids -- they were university-aged at least.
We at Spacing are generally supportive of BMX and skateboarding -- we've published articles arguing for improving facilities for these sports in Toronto. But the activity I saw on Thursday just seems thuggishly abusive. This isn't simply street infrastructure they were biking on -- it's public ...
March 26th, 2006
Roman Graffiti
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
In Rome, some of the graffiti is in Latin! Admittedly, this one was near some university buildings. My friend Jess helped me translate it - it means something like "Fortune is like glass, it shatters as much as it shines."
Even more fascinating is the ancient Roman graffiti that survives. Below is a stone from the Coliseum. Spectators, as they were watching the games, would etch images of the games they were watching right into the marble of the stadium. The example below depicts two gladiators fighting (the one on the right is wearing ...
Google and transit
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
We had this recent post about the TTC and Google getting together to make a trip planner map called Google Transit. Portland is the only city currently working, but in our comments section a reader points out, "Google's Trip Planner for Portland gives consistantly worse advice than Portland Transit's own web site." Maybe the software needs fine tuning? I thought. Then another reader directed us to Montreal's STM transit trip planner. It calculates not only your routes, but the time you should catch the bus and if you are willing to walk ...
March 27th, 2006
Waterfront takes next step
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
From the Toronto Star today:
Today, an old cement block warehouse will come tumbling down on King St., east of Toronto's downtown.
The demolition of 15 other derelict buildings and dead factories between Parliament St. and the Don River will follow.But this isn't the end of a neighbourhood, it's the beginning. From the rubble of this industrial wasteland the new West Don Lands community will rise.There will be 5,800 new homes, an elementary school, a recreation centre and parks — all within a five-minute walk of a new public transit line. "This is an area that has been abandoned and ...
March 28th, 2006
Developing Vaughan
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
Today's development story is not about the waterfront. Its about "downtown" Vaughan. It seems developers like the idea of the Spadina subway line coming north of Steeles, to help build a dense "downtown" area around Jane and Highway 7 (currently it is a nondescript light industrial area).
The dream of Vaughan building its own downtown from scratch has taken on a new sense of importance with the province's decision to extend the TTC subway system into the so-called city above Toronto. For about eight years, planners and politicians in Vaughan have been putting together a proposal for ...
Newmindspace subway party tonight
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Just in from the HQ of newmindspace
SUBWAY PARTY TONIGHT
The theme: "Oh, the places you'll go!" by Dr. Seuss.
Think bubbles and bicycles! Roller skates! Drums! Checkerboards! Tricycles! Cameras! And plums!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUBWAY PARTY
TUESDAY MARCH 28TH 2006
FINCH STATION // 11:10 PM
Meet by the last car
for more info go here: newmindspace.com
Active 18 vs. WESTside Lofts
By Dale Duncan // 2 Comments
[Crossposted on the Eye Blog]
Back to back press conferences taking place Thursday morning will provide two perhaps contrasting visions for development taking place in the Queen West Triangle, that chunk of industrial land across from the Gladstone Hotel and the notorious Drake.
Starting at 10:00am at LOT 16 Bar (1136 Queen Street West), the residents' group Active 18 will release the results of a community charrette they held March 5th. The day-long charrette allowed them to pull together a vision for development in area based on the concerns, needs and desires of the residents who live in the neighbourhood.
An hour ...
March 29th, 2006
Activate the Park
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Activate the Park
Butterfield Park, south end of OCAD building 100 McCaul Street
Thursday March 30, 3-6pm
If you have a some free time on Thursday afternoon, you should check out the OCAD Interaction Design students' presentations -- 15 interactive public space projects are to be displayed in Butterfield Park (under the OCAD "tabletop").
First year interaction design students at the Ontario College of Art and Design have been charged with the task of "Activating the Park." Nestled underneath architect Will Alsop's now-famous "tabletop" is Butterfield Park, a new and beautiful urban park, but one people don't linger in -- it's ...
Absolute Mississauga
By Matthew Blackett // 16 Comments
Mississauga unveiled the winner of its landmark development Absolute near the city's civic centre and Square One shopping mall. The jury picked the building I thought was the best designed, but I'll admit to paying only passing attention to this competition. Robert Oullette of Reading Toronto has some decent comments on the winner:
Architect Yansong Ma of China declared that high-rise buildings have a close connection with technology and culture. I'm with him there. He also said that high-rises are landmarks of culture. Sure.
However, when he says that social relations have more complexity and [therefore] we need ...
March 30th, 2006
Waterfront, GTTA news, Mississauga BRT, trees in Oakville
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
The Toronto Star has a number of articles today that may be of interest to you:
Christopher Hume from the Toronto Star, on the city's waterfront: "The bulk of the work remains to be done, but this week's launch — if that's the right word — marks the start of a process whose importance cannot be overstated. In short, this is where Toronto will either become the city it thinks it is or remain the city it really is, a second-rank centre of little interest to itself, let alone the rest of the world. The waterfront is our ...
European ad creep
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
Advertising encroachment into the public realm is one of my strongest pet peeves. When outdoor ad companies use guerrilla marketing campaigns to get their message out, I am lead to believe that the other forms of advertising are no longer as effective for their product. And so, I start to view their brand as being desperate for attention. Why else would you spend so much time and money to create a campaign that you know violates local signage bylaws?
The above image is from Paris, where they've used the light standard as a prop in their own ad. I ...
March 31st, 2006
Map jewelry
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
If you haven't seen Ann Lindsay MacDonald's Toronto-inspired jewelry, you're missing out. She makes rings, brooches and bracelets using maps of Toronto's street grid. They are made of sterling silver, steel and gold.
Get deals with your Metropass
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Tomorrow may bring another TTC fare hike, but you can win some of that money back by using your Metropass to bring you discounts. How? Just show your Metropass at places like Grass Roots on the Danforth and on Bloor, or Eco Cleaners up on Mount Pleasant, and you'll receive a discount. The Metropass Affinity Program (MAP) is an initiative of the Ontario Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada and Car Free Day.
MAP believes that we can vastly increase transit usage by rewarding people for a good action (choosing transit over private automobile), rather than punishing ...
April 1st, 2006
City wiki in Cali
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
Spacing Associate editor Shawn Micallef has a short article in the Globe and Mail today about city wiki projects.
Everyone has an opinion or a bit of information about Toronto that is kept bottled up in his head. Imagine if there was a way to share that inside knowledge with others: where the secret passages are; the best café to study in; or how long the wait is at a particular medical clinic. In Davis, Calif. (population 60,000), a city 100 kilometres northeast of San Francisco, people can do just that by accessing the Davis Wiki website.
CN Tower in Utility and Literature
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The other day CBC Radio One came to our OCAD "Activate the Park" event to do a live spot for Here and Now. The producer came in a CBC Minivan that had this big portable broadcast box in it that looked like it was from the 1970s. There was an antenna on top of the van too. We had to talk to Matt Galloway using the mic, but heard his voice (and ours) through a cell phone that was patched into the CBC board. There was a split second of delay though, making it feel like all ...
Cycling Map is Out
By Dylan Reid // 3 Comments
I just got a copy of the new 2006 Toronto Cycling Map. It's new and improved - it looks crisper and glossier, and the routes stand out better. Presumably to keep Scarborough from feeling left out (it used to be alone on the back), it shows half the city on either side, so it's a bit challenging if you're going from the west side to the east, or vice-versa.
The City of Toronto web site's cycling portal has not yet been updated with the new map, but it should be soon. The map itself should be available shortly in libraries ...
April 2nd, 2006
Platial
By Michelle Kasprzak // 1 Comment
"Platial enables anyone to find, create and use meaningful maps of Places that matter to them. We hope it can connect people, neighborhoods, cities and countries through a citizen-driven common context that goes beyond geopolitical boundaries. We are building it, because we adore Places."Platial is essentially a Google Maps hack that allows you to annotate and share maps with anyone on the World Wide Web. While it's easy enough to narrow down and find places you care about (there are quite a few entries on Toronto, for example) services such as these cause me ...
April 3rd, 2006
The Beach or The Beaches?
By Spacing // 5 Comments
The Beach or The Beaches?
by Josh Hume
An old civic-pride controversy is flaring up again in Toronto's east end. The Beaches Business Improvement Association is asking local residents to vote on the long-standing question: Is the neighborhood called “The Beach†or “The Beaches?†The debate has resurfaced as a result of the BIA's plan to erect street signs featuring a new design that will identify the name of the area. Neil MacDonald, the association's chair, defends the need to settle on a name to put on the signs, saying “our job as a BIA is ...
So long, secret swing
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
Rannie Turingan just sent us an email saying that the secret swing, located just off Graffiti Alley behind the shops of Queen West, has been boarded up and completely removed.
Back in December, Corwyn Lund's Secret Swing installation had the seat and a few rings of the chain removed. But within days, two people named Vince and Kai fixed it, leaving an inscription on the seat that said, "The Secret Swing belongs to the people of Toronto." Here are two previous Wire posts about the swing and some photos.
In just two weeks we've lost two ...
Save Otter Loop?
By James Bow // 5 Comments
(Otter loop photograph by Richard Leitch)
Adam Sobolak of the Toronto Architecture Conservancy sent me this press release about the group's desire to save the distinctive transit shelter in the loop at the corner of Avenue Road and Otter Crescent:
"Recently, the TTC sold the “Otter Loop†bus turnaround (on Avenue Road at Otter Crescent, south of Lawrence and across from Havergal College) to the City for $1, Thanks to the efforts of Post City Magazines publisher Lorne London, together with the endorsement of Councillors Moscoe & Stintz, it is slated for conversion into ...
Mayor Miller Speaks on”Building a Great World City for the 21st Century”
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Mayor David Miller gave Victoria College's annual Keith Davey lecture this year on March 30, on the subject of "Building a Great World City for the 21st Century."
The speech can be watched over the web.
Garbage scout
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
To continue with the theme of hacked Google Maps, I was forwarded a great project happening in New York. Seems you can take a photo with your cell phone of roadside junk and email it to the website Garbagescout.com. An automated post is generated on to a Google map of NYC showing you where the junk is located. The photos are displayed along with the time that has elapsed since the item was sighted.
There is a brief write-up in the New York Times to learn more. If the NYT ...
April 4th, 2006
Orange County’s very own SOS
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
Found this post by accident but I thought it was an interesting comparison to Toronto's own Save Our St. Clair group. It seems back in 2003 "one of the hottest spots in the ongoing battle between automobile-favoring road warriors and transit proponents is currently centered in Orange County, California, just south of Los Angeles. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) proposed a brand-new light rail transit (LRT) project. OCTA's CenterLine Phase I project was an 11.4-mile LRT system."
The opponents were a group called FAIR (Fund Alternatives Instead of ...
Queens Quay Swan
By Shawn Micallef // 10 Comments
This afternoon I was walking along Queens Quay, head down (was the ugly part around Spadina) and came across this dead swan lying peacefully in the middle of the sidewalk. It was huge. I should have put some kind of marker in this picture to show its size. It seemed almost placed there, the head curved gently back towards its body. There was no obvious sign of why it died, as it was clean. For a moment I thought it might be sleeping, but no.
April 5th, 2006
Superboxes, Megabins & Freedom of the Press
By Chris Hardwicke // 4 Comments
The Globe & Mail reports today on the move towards aggregating the muddle of newspaper boxes on our public streets. Although it is always good to get rid of clutter the article points out some of the issues that are connected to this seemingly good thing:
The conglomerated superboxes could potentially limit the freedom to distribute the press:
"If you can only have [the box] in certain locations and the locations are controlled, there is a severe restriction on being able to distribute news," said Stan Mukuch, a lawyer representing the association.
Public space is a valuable ...
New media vs. old media
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
On most days, the Spacing Wire tracks what is going on in the public realm of this city, linking to articles and columns in the major daily papers, the weeklies and on blogs. On the odd occasion, we do our own reporting. So it is nice to see when the new media (us) gets a story first and the old media (them) follows up on it. It happened when we helped publicize the motorist vs. courier altercation in Kensington a few months ago, and it happened again last week when we reported on the ...
April 6th, 2006
St. George Street signage we can get behind
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
These photos are from a mobile LED display on St. George Street taken tonight on the U of T campus. Rumour is it's the handiwork of a group called Cars Off Campus. Check out a quick video clip of it on the Newmindspace website [9.1 MB].
UPDATE: seems this post garnered a lot of attention. Over at EcoGeek.org 153 comments were posted about this intervention: some people called it genius, others claimed it was endangering people's lives by altering a road sign (someone even called them terrorists!). Well worth the read.
photos by Kevin Bracken ...
Who wants to build Toronto’s street furniture?
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
The Globe and Mail reports today that the City of Toronto met with companies who will potentially bid on the street furniture contract. There is Spain-based Cemusa Inc., which signed a street-furniture deal with New York last year that officials there say which could see a $1-billion share of ad revenue for the NYC government over 20 years. French giant JCDecaux and U.S.-based Clear Channel, are also being tipped as bidders. Viacom Outdoor Canada, bus-shelter and billboard providers, and Astral Media Canada, makers of the city's pilot-project info pillars, are also ...
April 7th, 2006
Art installation gets bomb squad call
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
On April 1st, five teenager girls, ages 16 to 17, put up question block icons seen in Super Mario video games. The clever public art installation in Ravenna, Ohio got the bomb squad called in. The girls may have to face criminal charges.
The police in Raveena claimed the boxes were part of a game, but according to the website where the girls got the information about constructing the boxes, the installations are "supposed to be a comment on public spaces being routinely used for advertising. Also, despite what Police Chief Randall McCoy says, the purpose ...
Community-guided development
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
In Thursday's Toronto Star, Christopher Hume writes an excellent piece about the efforts of community group Active 18 to create a high-quality, integrated development plan for the area south of Queen Street West, in the area bounded by train tracks, Dovercourt and Dufferin. It's an issue that has also been discussed by Spacing's own Dale Duncan.
The community is attempting to head off the kind of random, thoughtless high-rise development that is currently taking place all over the city -- and is also trying to avoid the trap of being cornered into simply opposing the developments (which is inevitably followed by accusations of "NiIMBYism") -- by offering ...
April 8th, 2006
Ottawa Public Space
By Dylan Reid // 7 Comments
I went on a trip to Ottawa in the fall, and noticed good, interesting, and bad public space initiatives.
The Good
Ottawa has made many pedestrian-oriented improvements since I lived there a couple of decades ago. Ottawa's residential streets, even in the central area, tend to be very wide, but they have been mitigated by extensive use of bulb-outs at intersections, which slow traffic, make for shorter crossing distances, and can provide a pleasing little public space (depending on how well they're designed and maintained). Ottawa has also put a lot of effort into creating new pedestrian ...
Making Rural Development Work
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
The Town of Caledon, a rural area just north of Brampton, has come up with a promising way to encourage development without sprawl.
The township prides itself on its rural nature, and wants any new developments to be real, independent, self-sustaining communities rather than the usual sprawling bedroom suburbs that developers build.
To make developers work harder to create what the community wants, Caledon held a competition. Two developers, each owning a different plot of land, had to create proposals that fit Caledon's standards, and the one that did so the best was allowed to proceed. The Globe and Mail reports:
Caledon ...
April 9th, 2006
Pedestrian Bridges
By Dylan Reid // 12 Comments
In Saturday's Globe and Mail, John Lorinc reports that there is a proposal afoot for a pedestrian bridge designed by architect Will Aslop (of OCAD fame) over the CN rail line to link new developments in the Liberty Village area to those just north along King Street [edit - I believe I was wrong about the location. There SHOULD be a bridge at Liberty, but I now understand this Aslop bridge is meant for a location further west, north of King and south of Queen, where Aslop has also designed a proposed building. On stilts, again, apparently. It's part of a ...
Catcalls
By Dylan Reid // 12 Comments
It's easy for a male like myself to forget that public space can be made significantly less friendly for women, through catcalling by men. It's an issue discussed this week in a column in the Montreal Mirror.
Curiously, the women the writer talks to find that while it's not a problem in Montreal, it's a significant issue in the United States. My guess would be that it is not a big problem in other Canadian cities, too, and I confess I was surprised at how prevalent the women he talks to find it in American cities.
He quotes ...
April 10th, 2006
Public space in the news today
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
Here are a few links to articles in today's papers:
The TTC is going shopping for new streetcars. The photo above, from Minneapolis, is the new breed of North American streetcars made by Bombardier. This is something that the TTC would consider, though the article notes that Toronto's streetcars are special in some ways and will need specific modifications.
A company called Sub Media plans to install tunnel advertising in the Yonge subway line this fall, reports Metro News today. We have previously posted about subway tunnel advertising during the TVs on platforms and subway ...
April 11th, 2006
Last day for street furniture survey
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Today is the last day for the public to fill out a street furniture survey. It is very important for as many people to fill this out so that the City understands what the public wants and needs. If you want to read previous posts about Spacing's views on street furniture click here.
To fill out the survey click here.
Developing downtown Vaughan
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
As we posted a few weeks ago, "downtown" Vaughan will rise thanks to the provincial government's decision to fund the Spadina/York University subway extension. Do not be fooled -- the extension is not just a move to ease the traffic problems of Toronto's northern communities. Its to spur development (and increase the tax base). Politicians and developers are drooling over the possibilities of building a bustling city centre for Vaughan at Highway 7 and Jane. Read the Toronto Star article about this topic in today's paper.
All of us concerned with smart and sustainable development in ...
Toronto Gaol
By Shawn Micallef // 18 Comments
This morning I went on a tour of the Don Jail, or Toronto Gaol. The old part, built in 1860s, closed in 1977. The "new" part is still full of the bad guys for the time being. We couldn't go into the basement to see the shower area as there are still connecting doors between the old and new sections. Once we were in, we were locked in. Stay tuned, more on this in next week's Stroll Column in Eye Weekly -- but for now, some unskilled pictures I took of a rarely seen Toronto interior that will one day ...
April 12th, 2006
Easter Egg Hunt
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
The crazy kids over at Newmindspace have hatched a new plan -- the Easter Egg Hunt. They need people to be involved this Sunday so if you're interested in some public shennigans click here.
Senior ticketed for taking too long to cross street
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Gotta love this -- an old lady crossing the street in Los Angeles gets a ticket from a motorcycle cop because she was too slow. It's still early in 2006, but this copper should be nominated for the Asshole-of-the-Year award.
Mayvis Coyle, 82, was shuffling with her cane across busy Foothill Boulevard while a traffic police officer watched and waited. And watched and waited.
Even before Coyle finished crossing the intersection at Woodward Avenue, he had scribbled a $114 ticket for crossing against a don't-walk signal. "I entered the crosswalk, it was green," said Coyle, of Sunland, ...
Cycle Disobedience
By Chris Hardwicke // 7 Comments
Albert Howell has a great article in the Globe and Mail highlighting issues surrounding the role of local goverment to supply cycle-safe infrastructure vs. civil disobedience in the form of law-bending cyclists. Interspersed in the article are cheerful notes to pedestrians and drivers like:
Drivers, when a cyclist is eyeballing you it's not an insult or a challenge, we're simply watching you to see what you're going to do. If you make a mistake in traffic it's an expense; if a cyclist makes one, it's a lot of pain ...
United We Can
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Found this article on CBC's website about binners and dumpster divers. I like the name of the organization involved in this project: United We Can. I know very little about the dynamics and challenges faced on Vancouver's Eastside, but this sounds pretty smart.
Binners — who make their living salvaging bottles and cans from the garbage — are road-testing new units that could replace their noisy shopping carts in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. It's part of a project run by the non-profit bottle depot United We Can and funded by businesses and foundations.
Ken Lyotier, the manager of ...
April 13th, 2006
Save Otter Loop II: Opponents Speak; You Should Too
By James Bow // No Comments
(Otter Loop photograph by Richard Leitch)
Janice Etter, Chair of the Etobicoke-York Community Preservation Panel, offers this update on the drive to preserve the transit shelter at Otter Loop. It's a long post with a lot of background, which we show after the link, but Janice finishes it off with this challenge to transit fans:
It's now up to TTC buffs to make sure that Councillor Karen Stintz and funder hear from them, urging that the shelter be incorporated into the park design as a way of commemorating a significant relic of TTC ...
April 14th, 2006
Conflicting views of T.O.’s waterfront and engery needs
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Robert Ouellette had a good post on Reading Toronto yesterday (with some good links, too): "Why is it that whenever Toronto begins to improve the waterfront one of the other levels of Canadian government stops those improvements cold? The Ontario Liberal's decision to build a new power plant on the waterfront is the latest example of this unwanted interference. Our city government does not want this plant. Residents in downtown Toronto don't want it. Toronto Hydro says we don't need it. So, can someone explain why this plant is arbitrarily going forward?"
His post coincides with ...
Speaking of the waterfront…
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
CommunityAIR, the group that helped stop the bridge to the Toronto Island Airport, is still battling hard to keep any kind of commercial airline out of the airport. From their media release yesterday:
Bombardier's Q400 large turboprop does not qualify for use at the Island Airport. This is the plane that Robert Deluce intends to use as the entire initial fleet for Porter Airlines, his new commercial carrier. Porter plans to utilize the Island Airport as its principal hub....
The Q400 is unable to meet this requirement and therefore should not be permitted for commercial use out ...
April 15th, 2006
Architecture is a transformer
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Saturday edition of the Globe and Mail has a few articles on the architectural and culutral renaissance Toronto is undergoing. Lisa Rochon has the best piece of the lot:
These days, in the city of Toronto, architecture is understood as a major transformer. At times, large-scale urban design has taken on a spectacular dimension, delivered as a jaw-dropping provocation, an object to behold, the latest, stupefying commodity. But public architecture also resides more quietly, enduringly, within the deep folds of a city's fabric, in that zone of the glorious in-between. It is found in life-sustaining libraries ...
Connect the streetcars
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
The TTC is considering turning two or three streetcars into one long "coupled" vehicle along the King Street streetcar route. The high-foreheads at the TTC believe that this contraption would help keep streetcars running on time and move people more effectively. I like that the TTC is considering some out-of-the-box thinking. Personally, I have no idea if this is a good plan or just a smoke-screen by the TTC to make it look like they are serving us better.
From the Toronto Star article:
The demand is increasing, and we've been putting more and more streetcars on King ...
Again with the waterfront…
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
Spent part of the afternoon wandering along the Windsor waterfront & Detroit River. On the west side -- "downriver" -- Windsor looks over at Zug Island in Detroit (though this picture is from about 2k away). Steel plants, the original Ford plant nearby and (they say) the world's largest sewage treatment plant (whenever I'd heard that I'd be in awe of how badass Detroit sewage must be, like the city itself).
The E.C. Row Expressway in Windsor, heading West, has a fantastic view of Zug for a bit where it looks like the freeway goes right up to ...
Vancouver Impressions
By Dylan Reid // 7 Comments
Continuing my series of thoughts about public space in other cities, I visited Vancouver for the first time in years earlier this winter. It's a beautiful city, lovely to walk in, with a lot of attractive public spaces.
What struck me the most from a public-space point of view were the various initiatives for pedestrian street-crossings. For one thing, as you can see from the illustration at right, their "pedestrian crossing" signs are serious business -- big, unmistakeable signs, much more noticeable than our little Toronto ones. They proclaim: this is a city that takes pedestrians ...
April 16th, 2006
A Toronto “What If?”
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
Today's Toronto Star has a great section called "What If?" It is very much like our "History of our Future" issue from last summer. I'm not saying that just to toot our own horn -- a number of Star writers contacted Spacing contributors and editors to help shape this section. There are two stories that focus on the same topics and people that appeared in that issue: a feature on Velo-City, the elevated bike network stretching out across the city by Chris Hardwicke (a Spacing Wire contirbutor), and Graham Lee's idea about ...
Bike Share Program in Lyon, France
By Spacing // 3 Comments
Spacing contributor Anjali Mishra writes to us about a comprehensive Bike Share program in Lyon, France.
"The bike sharing programme in Lyon leaves me very excited. ... The bikes are fully equiped with mud guard (orange -- the new colour of revolution), headlights, baskets and all. The bike stations are all around the central area of the city -- only 50 meters from each other. The computer in the silver cylinder that serves as a marker not only allows you to unlock a ...
April 17th, 2006
CommonPlace Drinks
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
CommonPlace Drinks: For people interested in Toronto's public spaces
WHEN: Tuesday, April 18th, 2006 - 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Dora Keogh's Irish Pub • 141 Danforth Avenue, near Broadview subway station
Commonplace Drinks is an informal gathering of folks, and we meet monthly. For those of you who are interested in all things public space, it's a great way to meet new people and have lively conversation. It's going to be more exciting than last time, with interactive activities to help spur on discussion.
Toronto homeless survey
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
Jeff Gray writes in today's Globe and Mail:
A controversial one-night city survey of the homeless is set to go ahead this week, despite opposition from some activists and a shortage of volunteers to walk the streets of suburban areas looking for homeless people. Most of the 1,700 volunteers for what the city calls its "street-needs assessment" have signed up to work downtown, or in the city's shelters, for the Wednesday night survey. Iain De Jong, the director of the city's Streets into Homes initiative, says officials could still use another 100 to 150 volunteers for the ...
Goethe Deconstruction Time Again
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
If you missed the first panel discussion a month or so ago on Urban Deconstructions currently at the Goethe-Institut (it was very good - they discussed a project they did where they deconstructed an old Toronto home) there is another this week with John Bentley Mays and architects Paul Raff and David Warne. Plus more, all sort of mixed in with the Images Festival, which has always had lots of stuff in their program for the urban minded.
“URBAN DECONSTRUCTIONS†— EXHIBITION AND FILMS AT THE GOETHE-INSTIUT TORONTO
Featured at both the Images and the Contact Festivals
Exhibition continues until Sept 2006
Thu. ...
April 18th, 2006
Nice Cans
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
I found some nice trash cans today that reminded me of throwing garbage out in the old days. Sometimes I worry that doing all this is bordering on some weird unhealthy fetish for public amenities -- but perhaps it's not different than watching Antiques Road Show, which is kind of fun. If CBC of PBS or BBC did Garbage Can roadshow, I'd watch for a while.
This old can must be 30 years old. It was outside my friend's house on Ouellette Avenue, Windsor's main street (some two kilometers south of the Rohypnol District I mentioned on Saturday). They're all ...
T.O.’s Expo bid, the Metropass, the suburbs
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
A few links to articles in the Toronto Star today:
With the city set to decide late next month whether to back a bid for the Expo 2015 world's fair, Toronto could soon be searching, yet again, for an international extravaganza to kick-start its port lands development.
Christopher Hume in the Star today: Say what you like about suburbia, sneer at it all you want, but the truth is it's here to stay.Maybe that's not the way it should be, but that's the way it is, especially here in North America, where gas is still (relatively) ...
Who says Torontonians are cold-hearted?
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Who says Torontonians are cold-hearted? BlogTO has a great little post about Annex residents piling carboard boxes and spare sheets below a lamppost. The reason? A raccoon somehow found its way to the top of a light standard and was not coming down. Read the Toronto Sun article or watch the short video of people making the "soft-landing pad."
Photo from Doublecrossed.ca
The winner is The Beach
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Over 2,200 people voted on whether to brand their street signs with "The Beach" or "The Beaches" -- 58% voted for the "The Beach." Not a landslide victory, but convincing enough. But this recent, and slightly charming, neighbourhood spat will probably only continue the debate -- new signs will go up in the Fall. Read more on the CBC site and the Star's article.
April 19th, 2006
The Centre Cannot Hold
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
The future is in Scarborough! Our friend's at the Toronto Free Gallery are opening an exhibition that "poses the question—Is our future a suburban one? If the city centre cannot sustain us, where shall we go? Facing an intensifying city core, artists imagine a possible future for the suburbs, exploring utopian ideals and their inherent discontents. THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD explores visions of an existing landscape and proposals for possibilities in that new frontier. What will happen to our utopian dreams?"
A number of Spacing conbributors are also involved in the show. Toronto Free Gallery is also ...
April 20th, 2006
Public Meetings Ahead and Behind
By James Bow // No Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
The public will have a chance to discuss what to do about the Scarborough RT at a meeting to be held in the Scarborough Council Chamber on Monday, April 24 at 7:00 p.m. Attendees will view a presentation on the results of a technical analysis of the various alternatives for replacing the aging transit facility. More details on this meeting can be found here.
The City of Toronto is also looking at ways to serve its developing Portlands with public transit. Suggestions include LRTs on Queens Quay East, ...
Don Jail Redux
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
To continue last week's wire thread (with pictures), the Stroll column that came out this week in Eye has more about the jail and can be read here. More pictures can be found on the Reading Toronto site.
Yesterday a friend recounted a story about his family's tangential experience with the Jail. When the Boyd Gang escaped, the Toronto police followed his grandmother home to a street near Carlaw, as her green car was the same as the getaway car. When she got home, they rushed the house and took away his grandfather, ...
Calming Traffic
By Chris Hardwicke // 6 Comments
A different traffic culture from India.
Via: Space & Culture
TTC promotions
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Ed Drass of the Metro daily transit paper has a column today on the TTC's promotional ideas. The column includes a nod to Spacing's round-around experience with the TTC: we approaced them with a few ideas in hand (not revealing what they were) and were told by staff that we could not present them with any ideas because the TTC would have to tender a contract for them. We countered "but you don't know what our ideas are so how can you tender a contract?"
Alice Smith, the TTC's marketing manager, says in the Metro column today, ...
April 21st, 2006
To Hide and Protect
By Chris Hardwicke // 2 Comments
Royson James has a great piece in the Toronto Star today critiquing the 2.4-metre-high cedar fences being erected around Toronto police stations. These tall fences make the police look like they are afraid of seige. If the police are afraid what are the rest of us supposed to be feeling? Fences are a subtle but essential element that demarks the boundary between public and private spaces. The height and transparency of fences are signs of openness and public engagement. Tall solid fences are not appropriate along public streets as ...
Spadina Streetcar Operating Below Full Potential?
By James Bow // No Comments
In discussing the TTC's proposal for multiple-unit operation, transit activist Steve Munro notes that coupling two streetcars together as a means of improving a line's reliability only works when headways on that line are very tight. In his view, only Spadina justifies the possible use of multiple-unit streetcars, and that's negated by the fact that both Union station and Spadina station are unable to handle such trains.
But he notes that transit priority signalling would have as much of a beneficial effect on streetcar operations on Spadina as multiple unit operation. Moreover, ...
New Streetcars More Likely in TTC’s Future
By James Bow // No Comments
This past Wednesday, TTC Commissioners decided to rebuild only 100 CLRVs of its fleet of 196. The rebuilds would begin in 2007 and ramp up to 30 cars per year by 2009, extending the thirty-year design life of these vehicles by another twelve.
TTC staff and commissioners are recommending that new vehicles replace the remaining 96 CLRVs. This arrangement will not only maintain the fleet, but give the City flexibility in expanding the system. Given that Toronto's streetcar fleet is already operating at near capacity, proposals to expand the system, with LRTs on Kingston Road, ...
April 22nd, 2006
Public space catch-all post
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Here are a number of articles from the last few days:
Trash: A recommendation that York and Durham regions' trash be incinerated will likely cause controversy. The two regional councils will vote on the recommended incineration method before the end of May, following a series of public meetings. A request for proposal will go out in early 2007, and a site and vendor will be selected by the end of that year. The environmental approval process will be completed by 2009 and the plant built by 2010. Katrina Miller of Toronto Environmental Alliance said ...
Live Free and Die (on bikes)
By Shawn Micallef // 5 Comments
I bought this hot (as in sexy, not stolen) Peugeot bike in Windsor last week for $40, complete with "new rubber" and in very good working order. My advice is to go back to your home towns and take advantage of people by paying their ridiculously low asking prices for used bikes. I felt bad buying it from the guy (his shop had more, on Lauzon Road just south of the lake, if you're near Windsor and want to check), who was also lamenting the demise of the Leafs. I said I was bringing it back up to ...
April 23rd, 2006
How to be a great city; pedestrianizing Toronto; homeless survey
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
The Star on Sunday has some more good articles on city building.
1. From "How to be a great city": What are the forces that shape the urban landscape and culture into something recognizably wonderful and inspiring? And what can we learn as Toronto, the most culturally diverse city on the planet, at last begins to accept and maybe embrace its own potential greatness? We don't lack for ideas about transforming Toronto, taking it to the next level. Magazines like Spacing and the book uTOpia: Towards a new Toronto attest to that, as does the outpouring of response to ...
Montreal Street Furniture Project
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
I've been posting my impressions of public space in some cities I've visited recently, and the last of the current bunch is Montreal.
Montreal is experimenting with a variety of interesting public space projects, and one of them is a localized street furniture project in an area designated as the "Quartier Internationale de Montréal", that is, the Montreal International Quarter (which is a fairly small area of a few square blocks).
They've had some attractive and thoughful integrated street furniture designed for this district. Note how all of the lamp posts have an integrated pedestrian ...
April 24th, 2006
Motorhead Beachhead
By Shawn Micallef // 18 Comments
The Beaches vs. The Beach is not the only battle on the beach in Toronto -- a coalition of Parkdale community groups is trying to stop a waterfront parking lot from going in near the historic and soon-to-be-reopened Palais Royale. They produced the above map graphic, as well as these "before" and "after" pictures of the area in question (never mess with community groups armed with Photoshop).
John Lorinc had a piece in Saturday's Globe Toronto section on the issue. From his article:
Heading into a summer when tens of thousands are expected to flock to ...
Three Choices for Scarborough
By James Bow // 10 Comments
Photo by Calum Tsang. Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
Scarborough residents won't receive the full presentation until later tonight, but the Toronto Star received details of some of what consultants recommend could be done with the aging Scarborough RT line.
The Scarborough RT, a troubled appendage of the Bloor-Danforth subway line, was originally designed as the trunk route for an LRT stretching throughout Scarborough. At the province's behest, it was upgraded to a “mini-subway†using technology developed by the province's crown corporation, the Urban Transit Development Corporation (UTDC). You can read the full history of ...
SPACING: new issue release party May 2nd
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing Release Party
When: Tuesday, May 2nd, doors 8pm
Where: Gladstone Hotel • 1214 Queen Street West
Who: DJ Chris Thinn
How much: $10 includes new issue + zine
The release of Spacing's sixth issue is upon us. Come join us on Tuesday, May 2nd at the Gladstone Hotel, as Spacing launches its newest issue which examines life on Toronto's confounding public transit system. The night includes music by DJ Chris Thinn, short TTC promo videos from the 1950s, and a few contests that test your local transit knowledge. The $10 cover gets you a copy of the new issue plus ...
Dutch Sheep Complicit in Ad Plot
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
The New York Times and other outlets are reporting on an ad campaign in the Dutch countryside that is wrapping sheep in ads for an online hotel reservations company, like small, fuzzy versions of wrapped TTC busses. From the Times article:
The company spends 1 euro, or about $1.23 a day, per sheep and sponsors about 144 sheep in flocks throughout the Netherlands. But commercially branded sheep roaming the bucolic meadows of the northern Netherlands have prompted a reaction.
On Saturday, the town of Skarsterlan began fining Hotels.nl 1,000 euros a day for putting branded blankets on ...
April 25th, 2006
New mobility hub launched today!
By Spacing // 3 Comments
The New Mobility HUB Launch
at Exhibition Place
Tuesday, April 25, 8:30 - 10 am
From the Bike Toronto website:
The City of Toronto will be getting its first New Mobility Hub that will feature facilities for cyclists including an installation of the city's new bike lockers and one of the Community Bicycle Network's Bike Share Hub. The New Mobility Hub is a project of Moving the Economy www.movingtheeconomy.ca, an organization whose mission is to spur the growth of sustainable transportation. One of the initiatives that they are undertaking towards that goal is to build New Mobility Hubs around the ...
Will the GTTA really help?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From the Star today: "Will the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority soar like an eagle, or will it be a turkey? That question was posed by Glen Grunwald, president of the Toronto Board of Trade, back in March when the province reconfirmed its commitment to creating a Greater Toronto Transportation Authority. Yesterday, as the GTTA was hatching, it was far too early to tell if this bird will fly."
Ed Drass of the Metro transit paper examines the transit HUB opening today at the CNE. "The reasons people buy cars is the perception that other ...
Jane Jacobs 1916-2006
By Matthew Blackett // 19 Comments
Jane Jacobs passed away overnight. She was 8 days away from turning 90 years old.
Read the Globe and Mail article, the Toronto Star piece, and CBC.ca. CBC Radio is also doing a feature on Here and Now around 5pm tonight (Spacing's Shawn Micallef will be a guest).
EDIT> A CBC Archives Clip of her from 1969.
April 26th, 2006
Feds Open Funding Floodgates for Transit
By James Bow // No Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
A much higher than expected surplus (as high as $13 billion, by some estimates) has allowed the Conservative government of Stephen Harper to funnel $3.3 billion in transit and housing improvements throughout the country, the Toronto Star reports. The province of Ontario is estimating that as much as $1 billion of that could be channelled towards extending the Spadina subway beyond York University, and to other transit improvements in the Greater Toronto Area.
The numbers have been taken from a confidential letter sent by federal finance minister Joe Flaherty to Ontario finance minister Dwight Duncan, one ...
Cyclist memorials
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
(crossposted on the Eye Weekly blog.)
Tomorrow (Thursday, April 27), memorials will be held for the two cyclists killed April 20th.
The morning memorial will take place at Avenue Rd & Cortleigh Blvd. at approximately 8:30am. A group ride will start from southeast corner of Spadina and Bloor — meet at 7:45am.
The evening memorial will be at Keele and Finch at approximately 8pm. A group ride will depart from Downsview Station at 7:30pm — cyclists should meet at the main pedestrian entrance of Downsview Station. (Those who live downtown will meet at the southeast corner of Spadina and Bloor ...
City Idol opens on Friday!
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Almost three million people live in Toronto. All important decisions are made by forty five people. They're called City Councillors.
City Idol is looking for new Councillors.
Elections have become so dull and mundane that most people simply tune them out. Is it possible to turn things around? Can an election actually be a time when people step forward with new ideas, new energy, a sense of optimism and maybe even a little imagination?
The Music Hall • 147 Danforth Avenue
(near Broadview Station)
doors open at 7pm • show starts at 8pm • $4
Tickets on sale at 6pm (two ...
April 27th, 2006
Where am I?
By Shawn Micallef // 9 Comments
Today a glossy brochure called "The School Paper -- the official Schoolhouse Community Newletter", complete with fancy red apple on the front, came through our mail slot. It's for the School House Lofts located in "the fabulous Annex neighbourhood with endless numbers of galleries, theatres and museums...the TTC is just steps away, as is world-class shopping and gourmet dining. This is the Annex in lower Forest Hill -- smart, exclusive, sophisticated." It is always good fun to see how real estate people shift neighbourhood boundaries (I always thought of the Annex as East Swansea), but this ...
Toronto’s Festival of Architecture and Design
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The City of Toronto's Festival of Architecture and Design is now underway and will run until the end of May. Spacing has two events during the festival -- the first being our transit issue release party on Tuesday May 2nd at the Gladstone Hotel (click here for more details); the other event is the second annual Toronto the Good party at Fort York that we host along with [murmur] and ERA Architects (click here for more details).
If you want to see all of the events that are going on during the festival, go the ...
Port Lands tour, Port Lands Energy Centre protest
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
(crossposted on the Eye Blog)
This Saturday, the The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) is holding public tours of the Port Lands — the 350 hectares of largely underutilized waterfront land a 20 minute walk from downtown. The free tour sounds like a good opportunity to learn more about future plans for the area and initiatives that are already underway. Registration is not necessary.
According to the TWRC's website, the open house and bus tour will give citizens the opportunity to learn more about:
- TWRC's Port Lands Implementation Strategy
- Lake Ontario Park
- New Outdoor Sports ...
Everything you need to read about Jane Jacobs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Since Tuesday morning, the passing of Jane Jacobs has been a source of a lot of blog posts and newspaper tributes. Technorati, the web portal that collects posts from 36.7 million blogs from around the world, reports the search-string of "Jane Jacobs" is one of the most popular topics in the blogsphere over the last few days (specifically, she ranks fifth behind "American Idol," "Smithy Code," "Stuck With Bush," and "Sketchup"). Locally, you can read the Jane Jacobs memorial blog which has collected links to blog posts and previous interviews that you can listen ...
April 28th, 2006
Anne Murray: Menace II Toronto
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
Last night the Toronto Psychogeography Society started one of our weekly drift's at the corner of University and King after an Images-Geothe film screening. We saw Tatoo back at work on his carvings, fixing it up. We talked to him for a bit. He said he started another carving down the street but that he's going to fix this one up and that city won't stop him "because if they stop me, they'll start going after other artists." Then he said something about Picasso.
Whether you like this kind of public art or not, the city's justification ...
April 30th, 2006
Weekend round-up
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A list of articles from the weekend newspapers:
Tall buildings and shadows: Spacing associate editor Dylan Reid posted on the Spacing Wire back in November about shadows created by tall buildings. The Star did a cover story on shadows in today's paper. "It was not always the most decorous debate when Toronto City Council met last Thursday to endorse plans for a new Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville, a 46-storey spire that will fairly loom over the playground of nearby Jesse Ketchum Public School. There were personal insults. There was innuendo galore. About politicians being ...
Pugly Awards
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
For the second time, The Pugly Awards let you give the thumbs up, or thumbs down, to Toronto buildings completed in the last year.
The Pugly Awards were established to raise the level of architectural and planning standards with the goal of giving Toronto a more beautiful face.
The Puglys are different. They are awards that are judged, not by architects, developers, planners and the like, but by the public…people like you, who want to make our city more beautiful.
Nominations for the 2006 Pugly Awards include all commercial, institutional and residential buildings that are greater than 50,000 sq ...
Mumbai Makes Do
By Spacing // No Comments
In conjunction with Spacing's new transit-themed issue, we will be publishing transit-related stories on our web site over the upcoming weeks.
The first is a report by Robin Rix on lessons Toronto can learn from transit in the city of Mumbai, India.
Photo by Robin Rix
May 2nd, 2006
SPACING: new issue release party Tuesday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing Release Party
When: Tuesday, May 2nd, doors 8pm
Where: Gladstone Hotel • 1214 Queen Street West
Who: DJ Chris Thinn
How much: $10 includes new issue + zine
The release of Spacing's sixth issue is upon us. Come join us on Tuesday, May 2nd at the Gladstone Hotel, as Spacing launches its newest issue which examines life on Toronto's confounding public transit system. The night includes music by DJ Chris Thinn, short TTC promo videos from the 1950s, and a few contests that test your local transit knowledge. The $10 cover gets you a copy of the new issue plus ...
SPACING: National Magazine Award nomination
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Just a brief post to note that our Spring/Summer 2005 issue, "The History of our Future," was nominated for Best Editorial Package in the 2006 National Magazine Awards. The issue delved into the plans city builders had for Toronto but were never realized, as well as features on fantastical ideas for our city's future (including the above article on Velo-City by Spacing Wire contributor Chris Hardwicke). We'll find out if we are the winners within the next month. Thanks to our writers, photographers and illustrators who contributed to that fine issue. And thanks to the ...
condo BOOM! call for submissions
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
Multistory Complex and The Theatre Centre are in the process of putting together an exhibit that explores the marketing, development and impact of condominiums in Toronto, and they are looking for submissions from a variety of disciplines:
condo BOOM!
The rise of presentation centres and other outposts of lifestyle
September 14-October 1, 2006 at The Theatre Centre
Call for submissions:
Condo presentation centres have cropped up all over the Toronto landscape. These temporary model suites are the contemporary pioneer outposts, pushing the frontier of gentrification. They are used to sell condos not as homes but as lifestyles. This project aims to appropriate the ...
May 3rd, 2006
Federal Budget Introduces Transit Tax Credit
By James Bow // 12 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
The first budget of the newly-elected Conservative government, introduced yesterday, contained enough spending measures and promises to fix the so-called fiscal imbalance that it secured the support of the Bloc Quebecois and will likely pass. Among the measures is a tax credit, allowing commuters to claim back up to 15.5% back on any monthly pass purchase. This applies to all transit agencies nationwide, including the TTC and GO Transit.
The Star has more details. For TTC users purchasing a $99.75 monthly pass, it's like receiving $15.46 cash back per ...
Warbike in Ottawa
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
This is a last minute thing, but if anybody is in or going to Ottawa there is a conference underway looking at movement in cities.
May 1-5, 2006
Cultures in Transit
Gallery 115
100 Laurier Ave E., room 115, University of Ottawa
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
One project, by Toronto based artist David McCallum is called Warbike: My project is a sonification of WiFi networks. Participants can sign out a bicycle and backpack that will make music based on the wireless networks the rider is riding through. It acts as a means of discovering the invisible human communications activity in ...
May 4th, 2006
The Independent City
By Spacing // No Comments
Our friends at Broken Pencil magazine, the Canadian indie culture standard bearer, are launching their new issue tonight with a little panel discussion at the Toronto Free Gallery . The new issue is about Canadian cities.
Broken Pencil, the magazine of zine culture and the independent arts, presents
Issue 31: The Independent City
Launching Thursday, May 4th at 7pm
Toronto Free Gallery
660 Queen St. East
This groundbreaking issue of Broken Pencil explores how independent arts and culture are starting to shape the identity of the urban environment and, in ...
Petty Laws Week
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
London, Ontario city council has just passed a law banning under-18s from purchasing markers or spray paint without a parent or guardian present. Yes, that's right -- you need adult accompaniment to buy a marker in London. The aim is to reduce graffiti.
Meanwhile, Toronto's Planning and Transportation committee has sent forward a law for city council's consideration that would ban anyone from having more than two garage sales a year.
While I'm not necessarily sympathetic to crude taggers, or people who turn their lawns into weekly sales lots (is there really some wave of garage-sale entrepreneurs sweeping the ...
Who You Gonna Call? Obstacle-Busters!
By Dylan Reid // 6 Comments
At the Toronto Pedestrian Committee in January, we heard a presentation from city staff about sidewalk obstacles (construction scaffolding, patios, A-frame ads, etc). Apparently, the city relies on members of the public to lodge complaints in order to identify illegal sidewalk obstructions. There aren't enough bylaw enforcement officers to do it. (It doesn't help that two separate departments are in charge of overseeing different types of obstructions).
So, as a public service, here are the numbers to call when you see a sidewalk obstruction that you suspect may be illegal (i.e. they didn't get authorization from the ...
Missing rings from post
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
The blog bricoleurbanism.org is reporting that the metals rings from Toronto bike racks are missing along a stretch of Dundas St. West (just east of Keele) in the Junction. Have they been stolen or is there an official reason for this? This is probably not a good time to have missing ring and posts with all this nice weather. A bunch of people should put a call or email into the local councillor Sylvia Watson (though she may be tied up trying to fix the mess she made down by the waterfront). If ...
Ring Cycle: More Phone Numbers
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
In an email exchange with city staff regarding the previous post about missing rings from bike lock-ups, staff have told me the number to call regarding issues with ring-and-posts. I am giving it a full post (instead of commenting on the previous one) to disseminate the info widely:
The post-and-ring line is 416-39-CYCLE (392-9253).
(If you call your councillor, they'll just forward the query to this office anyway).
Apparently the rings are sometimes taken off temporarily for photo shoots, sidewalk maintenance work, or other similar reasons.
May 5th, 2006
Bye-bye, Monster Bins
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
The monster garbage bin project is dead! Well, almost.
This week, the City's Works committee agreed to begin the process for a fat-ass street furniture contract. Bundled into that decision was a report on the Monster Bins.
Some of you may remember that back in January a report was submitted to the Works committee on the public's perception of the billboard-garbage bins. The results were very mixed -- online respondents hated it, phone-in responses were favourable, and a few on-street interviews were poorly collected. EUCAN, the creators of the monster bin, twisted the findings and used the comments ...
May 6th, 2006
Council Sidesteps Dog Decision
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
What is the public space conflict that arouses the most intense passions in the largest number of people? Is it cyclists versus motorists on our streets? Ads versus activists on our sidewalks? No -- it's children versus dogs in our city parks.
So it's kind of understandable that the City's economic development and parks committee decided to avoid dealing with this issue in the run-up to an election. Both parents and dog-owners are large constituencies who will happily punish a politician who displeases them. The committee instead decided more public consultation was needed in response to a staff ...
Street-side mood lighting, bike tips and tactics
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Spacing's associate editor Shawn Micallef has an article in the Globe and Mail today about street-side mood lighting in Wrexham, Wales. "If music soothes the savage beast, can mood lighting help to curb late-night drunken violence? The city of Wrexham, in northeast Wales, thinks it does. In December of last year, city officials installed 115 LED lights in the pavement along Bridge and Brooks Streets, in the centre of Wrexham's club district. The lights change colour on a 10-minute cycle -- from blue to red to green, with shades in between."
And the Globe's Jeff Gray has ...
Lucky Quebec
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Cross-posted from the Eye Weekly blog.
The Province of Quebec and its municipalities have just struck a deal that'll make Toronto, and other Ontario municipalities, jealous. Over the next seven years, cities in Quebec will be reimbursed the money they pay in provincial sales tax, bringing in an additional $472 million a year.
As the Globe and Mail reports, “municipalities will have the option to reduce property taxes, improve infrastructure, or pay down their debt.â€
Some other excerpts from the article sure to make Torontonians cringe with envy:
“This is one of the more important things I've done in ...
Pedestrian Crossover Review
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
I told someone recently that I had been at a meeting dealing with a review of pedestrian crossovers, and they got that glazed look in their eyes. But once I got them actually thinking about pedestrian crossovers and the last time they used one -- do they feel safe? Can you see them clearly when cycling/driving? -- they got animated and involved in the issue.
Pedestrian crossovers (PXOs in city jargon) are something that a lot of people across the city use regularly, and a suprising number feel strongly about. In response to public interest, especially in the wake ...
May 7th, 2006
Cleveland and Whitehorse bike racks
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Since Toronto is about to embark on a massive street furniture project, we should to take a look at other cities for inspiration. The top image is a bike rack in Cleveland, Ohio and the bottom two photos are from Whitehorse in the Yukon [click on either image to see it bigger]. Thanks to Anthony DeLorenzo for the Yukon tip.
The suburban urban forest
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In Sunday's Toronto Star, Kenneth Kidd has a great piece about the urban forest in suburbia:
...The houses duly go up, some of that topsoil gets put back for the lawns, and in come the happy new homeowners dreaming of a green and leafy suburb to be. There's just one snag: It may be decades before the place will begin to support the kind of trees the homeowners want."It's really not the first generation of trees that's going to be this spectacular canopy that you see in those old neighbourhoods of any town or city," says Richard ...
Weekend round-up of links
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Murray Whyte of the Star write about orphan spaces: "They are the unloved, invisible and, chances are, right outside your door — dozens of them — waiting, wanting, right now. Don't panic. They're not closing in, even if, as some say, their numbers are growing. They're waiting for you to come to them. They are what a handful of urbanists, bureaucrats, designers and planners in this city have come to call "orphan spaces" — those slices of cityscape, large and small, that have fallen off the map. They are not, officially, part of the plan. Through generations ...
May 8th, 2006
Greening our cities
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Fred Kent, director of Project for Public Spaces out of New York, has a great column on how Placemaking can reinvigorate the environmental movement.
The environmental movement has raised its voice loudest in defense of rainforests, wetlands, and old-growth wilderness, sending a subtle message that the places most of us care about strongly--our neighborhoods, our hometowns--aren't really as important. But suppose for a minute that we enlarged the usual definition of the environment to include the places that people inhabit--where we live and work and play. Many people would then be willing to stand up as part of ...
May 9th, 2006
SPACING FICTION: “23 Bay, 23 Bay, 23 Bay…” by Jim Munroe
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing has a number of articles from our public transit issue that we saved to publish exclusively on Spacing.ca. Last week we posted Robin Rix's look at the inspiring transit system of Mumbai, India, and this week we are happy to bring you a short fiction story called "23 Bay, 23 Bay, 23 Bay..." by local author and DIY publishing guru Jim Munroe. The story follows two inquisitive young men who are trying to sneak into Toronto's abandoned Lower Bay subway station. A little excerpt below:
All I was in for, originally, was the Lost ...
Sad day for Toronto
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
Another bit of Toronto Modern has come down, quickly, before the required permits could be issued to save it. The Inn on the Park rose above Eglinton and Leslie, overlooking Sunnybrook Park. It was a fine expression of Toronto optimism in 1963 when it was built, by architect Peter Dickinson. A generation of Torontonians had their weddings, Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, First Communions and after-prom deflowering in a building appropriately important for those occasions. From the 1960's onward, Glenn Gould kept a room with a makeshift studio there. He liked the 24-hour room service and the ...
Who You Gonna Call? Part 2
By Dylan Reid // 5 Comments
The City of Toronto website is full of useful but hard-to-find information. As a follow-up to the sidewalk-obstacle-busting phone numbers I provided in an earlier post, here is a useful PDF (print it out! Put it on your fridge!) which lists ALL the phone numbers you can call for the different problems you might notice in Toronto's public space:
Whose job is it? (PDF file)
This is horse shit!
By Matthew Blackett // 35 Comments
In late February, when the much beloved police horse Brigadier was killed by a hit-and-run driver, I posted a bit of rant about my feelings towards cops on horses. I think it is cruel treatment for horses to be put into dangerous situations. I can certainly live with them in parades and at ceremonial functions, but putting them on the front line is ridiculous. If you love animals that much, take them off the road and out of duty so they can frolic in the fields instead of trotting through heavily polluted traffic. Get the police ...
May 10th, 2006
China to Build Eco-City
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
In our "History of our Future" issue of Spacing, we ran several articles about ideal, sustainable city ideas, including an "arcology" in the stadium-formerly-known-as-Skydome.
Well, it looks like the Chinese are on their way to actually building an utopian sustainable city, Dongtan, on an island in the mouth of the Yangtse river. According to the Guardian, it will look something like this:
None of the buildings is more than eight storeys high. Turf and vegetation cover the roofs, a natural form of insulation that also recycles waste water. The town has six times more space for pedestrians than Copenhagen, ...
May 11th, 2006
Backstreets of Toronto Tours
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
The great thing about the internet-o-sphere is it allows for stuff like the "Backstreets of Toronto Tours" that Jamie posts over on JB's Warehouse and Curio Emporium. Yesterday he posted a tour of Boswell Avenue, a funny little street that runs off of Avenue Road. I've often used it as quiet shortcut, as it's dead-ended on Avenue to prevent cars from cutting through. It reminds me of the dead-ended streets in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, along the border of Detroit. Those were to keep Detroit out -- the Toronto ones are much more altruistic. From his post:
As for ...
The Natural City
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
The University of Toronto's Centre for Environment is holding a conference called The Natural City May 31 - June 2, with Stephen Lewis as the keynote speaker. There are lectures on urban agriculture, disaster management, sustainable architecture success stories, and the role banks can play in forming a green city. From those I've talked to, this will be a great event for people with a keen interest in sustainable city deveolpment. From the website:
Many people perceive nature and cities to be separate entities. Despite some significant shifts in thinking in recent decades, the overriding perception still seems ...
May 12th, 2006
SPACING presents: Photogrammetry
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing is happy to have hooked up with the Harbourfront Centre and Digifest to present a photo installation called Photogrammentry down by the water's edge. Starting Friday and running through to July 9th, this ever-changing photo installation showcases the work of Spacing photo contributors and internationally-known Toronto photo bloggers Sam Javanrouh, Matt O'Sullivan, Gayla Trail and Davin Risk. The installation is an active public space exhibition of urban photography. The images can be seen in the window display at the Service Canada building at the Harbourfront Centre. We're grateful ...
Heritage Toronto walks Saturday and Sunday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As part of this month's Festival of Architecture & Design, Heritage Toronto is leading numerous different walks throughout the city. Each walk always leave you a little bit smarter about our history and surroundings. All walks are free events.
SATURDAY MAY 13
Cabbagetown South
1:30 p.m., starting at the NE corner of Winchester and Parliament Streets and ending at Carlton and Parliament Streets. Cabbagetown, originally developed in the late 1800s, is rich in Victorian architecture - from workmen's cottages to villas. This 1½ hour tour explores both the architecture and the stories of the people who have ...
May 13th, 2006
Waterfront design competition
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) is sponsoring a $20 million international design competition to re-design the area from the water's edge along the Western Gap in the west to the Parliament St. slip in the east, a distance of 3.5 km. According to the TWRC, 38 design teams from 15 countries on four continents submitted proposals. Five teams were selected to compete. Their submissions will be on display at the BCE Place Galleria, Harbourfront Centre, Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens, Fairview Mall and Scarborough Town Centre for two weeks. Teams will present their work at ...
May 14th, 2006
Montreal’s duct tape thugs and bike parking spots
By Spacing // 8 Comments
A dispatch from Spacing public art editor Leah Sandals:
Kalisse de tabernac! I went to Montreal last weekend and witnessed a kind of recent addition to the tam tams, that impromptu drumming-and-dancing-and-frisbeeing-and-whatevering gathering that happens on sunny sunday afternoons on Mont Royal. This addition is a completely unregulated midaeval-style battle for everyone from Harry Potter-struck kidlets to oldtime D&D fanatics who just never said die. Their shields, swords, daggers, maces and spears are all made from duct tape. Canadian Tire (or excuse me, Rona) must be making a killing off this newfangled public play trend. And my brother tells ...
May 15th, 2006
Ride of Silence on Wednesday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Date: Wendesday May 17, 2006
In T.O.: meet at Bloor and Spadina 6:30
Leave at 7pm
Join cyclists worldwide in a silent slow-paced ride in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.
On May 17 at 7:00 PM, the Ride of Silence will begin in North America and roll across the globe. Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession to honour cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn't ...
May 16th, 2006
Love My Bike
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
LOVE MY BIKE
JAIME MADDALENA, JOSEPH PAGET
MAY 18 - JUN 8, OPENING MAY 18, 7 - 9PM
CURBSIDE CYCLE, 412 Bloor St W, Toronto
The photographs in the Contact exhibit Love My Bike are inspired by the images of early 20th century bicycle posters which advertised and idealized a lifestyle of leisure and simplicity. Curated by Frances Enchin.
Rooftop gardens lecture
By Spacing // No Comments
Wednesday, May 17th 7:15 pm
Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave
(1 block south of Bloor/St. George), University of Toronto
The Rooftop Gardening Project is an innovative partnership between Alternatives, an international cooperation network, and Santropol Roulant, a community organisation in Montreal. Together we are making widespread rooftop gardening a reality in Montreal and around the world. Our novel soil-less gardens empower urban residents to produce their own food, green their neighbourhoods and build healthy communities.
Toronto has eagerly invited Jane Rabinowicz, directrice of Santropol Roulant to offer and share her stories and suggestions. This night will ...
Pitfield panhandled, er, manhandled by homeless committee
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Mayoral hopeful Jane Pitfield has landed herself in some trouble -- yesterday, the city's homelss advocates voted to oust her as co-chair of the homelessness advisory committee. Seems the committee doesn't like her anti-panhandling motion she plans to present to council next week which asks for several reports from city staff about what can be done to curb panhandling. The gist of the motion is a "quality of life" bylaw making it illegal to "impede any other person's reasonable enjoyment of day-to-day activities through panhandling."
Toronto Star reports:
During a raucous meeting yesterday members of the city's ...
Parkour and knitting on the TTC
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Liz Worth, Spacing's editorial assitant for the last year, has two pieces in the Toronto Star's ID section today. The first one is about the sport of parkour (as seen on the Rogers cell phone oft-repeated TV ads) and the other focuses on a group of people who knit together while on the TTC.
May 17th, 2006
Name That Subway
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
The TTC has finally had enough of boring, old internal "engineer speak" it uses to refer to the various of models of subway trains it has used through the years. With the TTC opting for a radical new design for its next-generation trains, it wants a radical new name for the fleet. So it's having a Name the Subway Train contest.
This is good news -- it may be the first non-lame marketing idea the TTC has had in some time.
Commissioners will discuss details of the contest as well as the future of the subway at their monthly meeting ...
Robert Fung wants the Gardiner to get down
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Royson James' column today is with Robert Fung, the now deposed head of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation. James reveals Fung's desire to rid the waterfront of the Gardiner. But the decision to take it down needs political will, which Fung points out, Toronto is sorely lacking. Form the column:
Detailed studies show the Gardiner Expressway could be torn down and replaced with a prettier thoroughfare for about $750 million, but city hall is sitting on the recommendations because the project doesn't have political support, says Robert Fung, ousted waterfront czar. Simulations conducted at the University of Toronto ...
Dose does posters, then dies
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
If you haven't heard, the free daily paper Dose is dead. At first, I outrightly rejected the publication. But over time I began to enjoy the snarkiness and their willingess to cover interesting urban storylines. Compared to the horrible recycled trash found in 24 Hours, and the less-offensive Metro, Dose was ahead of the curve. The publication is not entirely dead, as its website Dose.ca will live to see another day.
Today, in one of their last editions, Dose did a cover story on the ever-important issue of street postering. They looked at the ...
[murmur] in Dundas Square
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
[murmur] will soon putting up the green Ear signs in Dundas Square as part of "The Networked City," a series of installations that will be along Yonge Street from Dundas to Queens Quay. More on that next week.
We are currently looking for stories about Dundas Square. About stuff that has happened there, or memories of what was there before. Wasn't there a jeans store there? And a Licks? Did you ever go there? I seem to remember a bikini store there, with bikini's hanging everywhere. Trips to the big city meant crazy bikini stores. By the time I ...
May 18th, 2006
SPACING: Toronto the Good party: TONIGHT!
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
When: TONIGHT! starting at 6pm-mindnight
Where: Fort York • West of Bathurst, south of Front
Music: DJ Will Munro
How much: $20 gets you into the site, plus food and refreshments
PLEASE NOTE: The party will still go on even though there is a lot of rain. We will hang out under a small tent and inside the Blue Barracks and Centre Block.
Last year we threw our first Toronto the Good party with the folks at ERA Architects and [murmur] in the Distillery District during the City's first Festival of Architecture and Design. We had a giant map of the ...
Toronto’s Next Generation of Subway Cars: Preview to Appear in June; Public to Name Vehicles?
By James Bow // 8 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
The general public will have an opportunity to preview the proposed configuration of the next generation of Toronto's subway trains from Tuesday, June 6 to Friday, June 21, according to David Fisher who attended the Toronto Transit Commission's commissioners meeting yesterday. A T1 car currently being modified at the Greenwood shops will be stationed on the west side of Davisville's southbound platform and open to the public between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays.
The TTC is planning to purchase ...
Meanwhile, in other Waterfront issues…
By Ian Malczewski // 5 Comments
As if there wasn't enough to think about on the Waterfront these days, an unofficial Expo 2015 website has been launched, branding Toronto's Expo theme, "The Future of the City." The site's creators hope that a successful bid would provide a "realistic look at what innovations can be made to help enhance the quality of life of urban space around the world." Their plan calls for the Expo to spread out over three waterfront locations: Exhibition Place, the Docklands, and the Toronto Island Airport.
Here you can find the City's more comprehensive plans ...
TSA Film Series: In the Public Realm
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
Toronto Society of Architects Film Series: In the Public Realm
May 19, th, 7:30 p.m., FREE
Royal Ontario Museum -
Glass Room, 4th Floor, 100 Queen's Park
Three films look at chaotic cities and urban sprawl; early planning strategies such as the destruction of "blighted" neighbourhoods, autocentric planning, and suburban sprawl; automotive, industrial, interior, and architectural design.
The City, d. Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke, narr.Lewis Mumford (1939, 32 minutes)
The Dynamic American City, d. Frederick Baskaw (1950s, 27 minutes). American Look, d. anon. (1958, 28 minutes)
May 19th, 2006
Toronto the Good was good
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Thanks to all who came out last night to our second annual Toronto the Good party at Fort York. We even convinced Mayor Miller to fire the cannon at the Gardiner Expressway. Nuff said.
photo from BlogTO
May 20th, 2006
The Yellow Slasher
By Shawn Micallef // 5 Comments
Bikeshare sent us a press release about many of their bikes being vandelized lately. I suppose it's one of those things that makes you wonder about what society is coming to, like people who voted for Margaret Thatcher did:
In the last month, 25 BikeShare bikes around downtown Toronto have been vandalized. Tires are being deliberately punctured, requiring hundreds of dollars in parts and labour.
The attacks are a serious blow to the viability of BikeShare, a not-for-profit community project of the Community Bicycle Network.
The vandalism began last winter at our Grassroots - Riverdale hub where six ...
Some of the news that is fit to print…
By Spacing // No Comments
In today's Globe Toronto section, there are two articles of note, indirectly or directly related to things that sometimes are noted on this wire. First, there is a story on Wireless Toronto's new site in Dufferine Grove park. You can now sit under the trees and be connected. Some of us always thought nature went best with highly connected technology -- like those futuristic forest cities on Star Trek. The article also outlines the difference between Wireless Toronto's approach, and Toronto Hydro's new WiFi initiative. Dog-bites-laptop could be a problem though.
The other ...
May 22nd, 2006
Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Based on extensive community consultation in the fall of 2005, the Kensington community again supports Pedestrian Sundays in 2006. This year, the neighbourhood will be turned into a pedestrian zone on the last Sunday of the month (May to October) starting Sunday May 28th from 1-7pm.
You can find out more at the P.S. Kensington web site or you can volunteer to help run the event by emailing the organizers.
If all works out, Spacing will have a table on Augusta Ave. selling our buttons and copies of the magazine. Come look for us.
Sleeping beauty . . . and a new flag?
By Ian Malczewski // 6 Comments
The Star's Christopher Hume writes that the addition of a Sobey's supermarket to the Queen's Quay terminal is helping wake up the "sleeping beauty" that is the Waterfront. The addition of the supermarket shows a dedication to turn the Waterfront not just into a tourist attraction, but also a neighbourhood where people live, work, and play.
Both The Star and the National Post (whose story seems to only be available in last Friday's print edition) have thrown their support behind the West 8 design proposal for the Waterfront competition. They say their design will most ...
May 23rd, 2006
69 TTC stations photo project
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Check out this neat project called 69 TTC Stations over on Flickr between Torontoist and Toronto photoblogger David Topping. He's going to a different subway station each day and posting a photo of it. Even better, the TTC is covering part of Topping's Metropass cost.
EDIT > Torontoist is covering the cost of the Metropass, not the TTC.
May 24th, 2006
$100 million for Union station
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Star is reporting the City and province will be announcing $100 million in funding for transit improvements to Union Station. Tim McGran reports:
Union Station commuters will enjoy bigger, better walkways and a second subway station platform under a $100 million plan that gets the go-ahead today. Provincial, federal, city and transit officials will make the big announcement for the project — which has been on the books for six years — at the moat between the historic Union railway station housing GO Transit and the subway system's part of Union Station to the north. Construction is ...
Wealthy Walking
By Dylan Reid // 15 Comments
The City of Toronto is announcing today that the project for revitalizing the high-end shopping strip along Bloor West from Church Street to Avenue Road is finally going ahead (it was originally proposed three years ago). The project includes widened sidewalks with a special new design, and new street trees with a special irrigation system. Some public art will probably be included too. A lane of parking will be removed to accomodate the new sidewalks.
The original plan was for the city to contribute $10 million dollars to the project, which would be matched by the Bloor-Yorkville BIA (Business Improvement Area) and ...
May 25th, 2006
The articles of John Lorinc
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Toronto-based journalist John Lorinc wrote a great piece for us on R.C. Harris in our Winter 2006 issue. His work has appeared in the Globe and Mail and Toronto Life and he's one of those writers who has national magazine awards to his name. If you are ever looking for some reading material that deals with city issues then you should check out his archives of articles on JohnLorinc.ca.
Trees in the Sky
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
Why do so many Toronto street trees die, but as Detroit Blog shows, trees can grow just fine on the top of abandoned skyscrapers. Maybe if we abandoned the city, the trees would grow. Though perhaps Detroit's urban prairie is not the example we should look to here. Still, these are tenatious trees. Like the ubiquitous Tree of Heaven -- or as the foul-mouthed vernaculars call them, the "cum trees" -- found all over the city. They may stink, but they smell like summer in the city, which will be here, momentarily.
EDIT> As Sean says in ...
From Scorchers to Alley Cat Scrambles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There is an opening reception for "From Scorchers to Alley Cat Scrambles: the amazing history fo the bicycle in Toronto" tonight from 5:30-7:30 at the Market Gallery in the South St. Lawrence Market (95 Front Street East). The exhibition continues to October 1st.
Working out
By Chris Hardwicke // 4 Comments
According to the recent news: we are all working too much. Perhaps we are trying to save up for a new condo in the sky? Because soon only the affluent will be able to afford living close to the ground. The rest of us will most likely be driving cost-efficient scooters in order to save our money for fancy (bikeless) shopping disticts.
Meanwhile in Switzerland (where they don't work so much): The fancy financial district of St. Gallen has been transformed by artist Pipilotti Rist and architect ...
Fair or fare? Who pays at the turnstile
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
The TTC union says it does not want fare collectors to demand money at the farebox if they think it will put them in danger. Howard Moscoe, chair of the TTC, says collectors have no choice but to demand fare be paid.
It is kind of stupid for the TTC to have a public debate about this. Fare collectors already let people go through when they sense trouble, but on other occasions they put their foot down. When collectors are scared, they can call security which will show up on a bus or at ...
May 26th, 2006
This Weekend, The Bottom of Yonge, for your pleasure
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Tonight there is reason to go to the foot of Yonge Street. More specifically, a parking lot on the south side of Queens Quay. There, between 6-9pm you'll find the "Cooler By the Lake Tent" which will house the Humanitas Launch Party & 7th Annual Doors Open Toronto kick-off. Humanitas is a month-long "festival of Toronto" and details can be found on their website. Tonight's party is free though, and includes these entertainments: Autorickshaw, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, The Pocket Dwellers, MC Abdominal, Zaki Ibrahim and more.
[murmur] will be there ...
“Street Design and Healthy Communitiesâ€
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Waterfront Action is hosting a panel discussion on Tuesday May 30 on the subject of "Street Design and Healthy Communities". From their mail-out:
WaterfrontAction has been involved in a number of the TWRC and City's projects along the waterfront. All of the new communities being planned will need safe streets and good transit services so that we can have healthy vibrant communities for the people who will live there. We have organized a panel of speakers to address these issues from a number of perspective and we REALLY want and need you to be there for this ...
May 27th, 2006
ReCycling History
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
One great way to start your bike week is to ride your bike over to see the Market Gallery's exhibit: From Scorchers to Alley Cat Scrambles. The exhibit features Lorne Shield's extensive collection of historic bicycles, posters and ephemera. At the opening cycle historian Steve Brearton spoke passionately about the history of the bicycle in Toronto and the resurgence of its popularity:
"My real belief is that people just rediscovered the joy of riding their own bike," he says. "What it comes down to is the sheer unadulterated joy of riding ...
Waking the TTC’s merchandising giant
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
John Lorinc has a piece in the Globe and Mail today about the TTC's lack of good merchandise available to the public. And the Spacing buttons are part of the article's analysis.
No one expects the sale of branded transit merchandise to save the TTC from its money problems. But some transit watchers are asking whether the commission has paid enough -- or indeed any -- attention to sexing up its brand, especially in light of the success of agencies in New York, Los Angeles and London, where hip, branded merchandise sells briskly in transit stores and on ...
Doors Open and the Gladstone remembered
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This weekend is Doors Open where we all get to peek inside buildings and places that we are usually too busy to explore (or those pesky security guards keep us from entering). You can check out the Doors Open website for any of the buildings that are on your wish list.
Our friends over at the Gladstone Hotel will have two exhibition rooms on their second floor showcasing highlights from an archival exhibition created for the Gladstone's Grand Opening Celebrations in December 2005. This exhibition of archives and memorabilia explores glimpses of the social, architectural, hotel and ...
Help name that street in Corktown
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
The great historical organization Old Town Toronto 1793 (which has a storefront on King St. East in the St. Lawrence Hall) are hosting a great little contest: help them figure out the why/how certain streets got their names. There are prizes to be won. The deadline is May 31st (short notice, I know!).
Winning design announcement on the way…
By Ian Malczewski // 2 Comments
There are a couple of articles in The Star today about the Waterfront . . . you can almost taste the excitement building up to the announcement of the winning Waterfront Design Proposal.
Above all, Christopher Hume seems most impressed with how engaged citizens have been with the competition, citing that the online opinion poll has been one of The Star's most popular - ever:
Against all odds, however, the $20 million international waterfront design competition has become a public event. True, $20 million isn't going to buy us a new waterfront, but if nothing else, the five ...
May 28th, 2006
Cyclists of Toronto, unite!
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Gotta give some props to the Toronto Star for their cover story on cycling in Toronto. It includes a big fat feature by Leslie Scrivener and a cycling manifesto by Jennifer Wells.
Toronto may be decades away from being North America's Amsterdam — (half of that city's population cycles every day) or years away from catching up to Portland, Oregon, where instead of ticketing cyclists who biked at night without lights, police give away bike lights and help install them.
Now halfway in, Toronto is woefully behind its ambitious and visionary 10-year bike plan. The city was ...
TTC Union Threatens Wildcat Strike (Updated)
By James Bow // 2 Comments
The photograph on the left is courtesy of the photographer 416 Style and is used in accordance to its Creative Commons license.
Toronto area commuters should be aware of potential problems getting into work tomorrow if TTC workers carry through on their threat of a wildcat strike against the Commission.
Bob Kinnear, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 hasn't confirmed whether a strike will take place, but has indicated that the union is giving it serious consideration in response to concerns raised about the safety of front-line TTC personnel, especially in the area of fare disputes with passengers. Earlier in ...
May 29th, 2006
SPACING.CA ARTICLE: This is my neighbourhood
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing periodically posts Spacing.ca-only articles, and this is one of those days. Laura Boudreau goes into grade four, five and six classes to find kids expressing their feelings of their neighbourhoods through art.
Read the article in the Spacing Archives.
Airstream Locations this week
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
T.Ode finally launched on Friday night with a visit from the Mayor and Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, the Poet Laureate, and we have been travelling around the city since recording stories. Later today we'll be at the Gladstone hotel. We'd happily pick people up stranded by the strike, but the Minstry of Transportation says nobody can be in the trailer when it's moving. But if skateboarders hang on the bumper, I won't try to shake them off. Please come by the trailer, wherever it's parked, and have a conversation with us about the city. You can also ...
Forum: “Urban Activism”
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Toronto Society of Architects is holding a forum on "Urban Activism" featuring former CityTV reporter and current candidate for city council Adam Vaughan.
June 5th, Reception at 6. Forum at 7
Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W.
Union Station Precinct Plan
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Union Station Precinct Plan, prepared by a team of consultants led by Architects Alliance, has been released. It addresses the re-design of the public space around Union Station (not the station itself), which is one of the busiest in the city. It will be discussed at city council's Planning and Transportation Committee meeting on June 1st.
Click here to read the plan (PDF format).
The plan is a very interesting document. It has many inspiring big ideas (narrowing Front Street; enhancing the pedestrian realm; creating cycling amenities; a plaza and grand entrance at the south end in ...
It’s a Strike! (Update – Strike Over)
By James Bow // 13 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
A wildcat strike has shut down TTC services this morning. Workers have walked off the job in an action linked to concerns about drivers' safety, but also linked to the management's decision to move 53 janitorial and maintenance staff permanently to the night shift. The Toronto Star has full details
This job action is not legal, and it was called after indications late Sunday night that no job action was planned. Commuters and TTC officials have been caught by surprise, and a number of people may be stranded today. ...
May 30th, 2006
TTC Operating Normally
By James Bow // No Comments
There were no picket lines and all workers reported to work as scheduled. TTC service is operating normally this morning, and should continue to operate normally for the foreseeable future. The Toronto Star has the full story.
The political fallout from this illegal job action will take a while to sort itself out, and the core disputes between union and management continue to simmer. The issues which sparked this strike include driver safety and shift scheduling. Early this morning, after service resumed, a driver on the St. Clair West night bus was hit on the head with a metal pipe ...
Spadina Expressway renderings
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
Spacing is throwing a party to honour the work of community activists that saved Toronto from the perils of superhighways. 35 Years Without the Spadina Expressway will take place Friday June 2nd at the Spadina Museum (285 Spadina Road) from 5:00-7:30pm, with speeches at 6pm. And it's free.
We have some artist renderings of what the expressway would have looked like. Click on each photo to see a larger version. Casa Loma, Bloor and Spadina, and U of T campus would have all been reshaped if these illustrations were a reality today....
May 31st, 2006
TTC & CAA support Cycling
By Chris Hardwicke // 6 Comments
The TTC strike reminded Toronto Star jounalist Jim Coyle how wonderful the bicycle is for getting around:
The learning began long years ago, a six-year-old aboard a red-and-white model from CCM, training wheels removed, the father running laps on a patch of asphalt at Greenwood Park to steady him, until the rider, finally feeling the absence of that hand on his back, looked around and realized he was on his own.
Amy Lavender Harris waxes poetically about the escape velocity of cycling at Reading Toronto:
At escape velocity it is possible to rise above the ...
Why Not a Subway Fantasy (Updated)
By James Bow // 19 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto
After this week's rough start, why not take a moment and fantasize about a bigger, better public transit system? In a move reminiscent of NC Duong's fantasy subway map that made the rounds of the blogs and the Globe and Mail early in 2005, Miguel Syyap has put together his own subway fantasy complete with a map that looks tasty enough to eat.
Yes, Steve Munro has convinced me that we should be pursuing LRT expansion before subway expansion, but it is still fun to fantasize about a city-wide subway network that's ...
Dog Eat Dog
By Shawn Micallef // 8 Comments
Samual L. Huntington wrote his famous and controversial "Clash of Civilizations" essay back in 1993, holding that the next big war will fought on an east-west religious basis. Maybe that's coming true, but I think he forgot to add in that dogs and their owners will also be central to the next war.
On Sunday I rode out to Cherry Beach at around 6pm. Lots of people having meaty smelling BBQs and people laying on the beach and guys with really awful trance playing out of the back of their Honda's. Except for the trance, it was nice, and Toronto had ...
June 1st, 2006
ReSurface this Saturday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On Saturday, the graffiti collective Style in Progress will host the 3rd annual ReSurface event, where 30 graffiti artists transform the walls of the alley behind the Drake Hotel (painting starts at 11am and runs 'til 7pm). There is an after party in the Drake's Underground starting at 9pm. On Sunday, there is a workshop for graf artists, too. More info on the Style in Progress website.
TTC union attack ads
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Did anyone see the ads that the TTC union took out in the major papers yesterday? They described how TTC driver Bobbie was assaulted by a passenger -- kicked, dragged off the streetcar, months of rehab....
The ad shows the photos of TTC G.M. Rick Ducharme, TTC Chair Howard Moscoe and Mayor David Miller accusing them of deliberately ignoring the problem of drivers and fare collectors and trying to turn the public against the workers.
But wasn't the wildcat strike about protesting the change in shift work of janitor and mechanical staff? Though many people assumed the strike had ...
70% of election funds from developers in 905 region
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
The Star has an article today (as does the Globe's John Barber) about political donations in the 905-region. In Vaughan, "the city above Toronto," nearly 70 percent of all "corporate contributions came directly from developers or companies that represented construction interests." These numbers were discovered by York University political science professor Robert MacDermid.
In the Star he says don't be too quick to blame the corporations and the developers for hijacking or influencing council agendas because, "Citizens have a blame here. In their absence from politics both as voters and as contributors, business and development interests ...
TTC accident this morning
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As if the TTC wasn't having a bad week, the Toronto Star is reporting 10 people were injured this morning in a subway accident:
The Dupont subway station was evacuated and ten people were treated for smoke inhalation this morning after a mechanical problem aboard a subway car.
At about 9:30 a.m., passengers aboard the train approaching the station on the University-Spadina line reported hearing a loud popping sound, or a minor explosion.
A metal plate under the subway car had become dislodged, hitting the third-rail power, causing a spark and small blast.
The subway car and station became filled with ...
City Idol tonight
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A little last minute, but the downtown portion of City Idol drops tonight at the Kathedral (corner Bathurst and Queen W). More info here.
photo by Lee Towndrow
June 2nd, 2006
Laneway tours
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Graeme Parry leads great little tours of Toronto's laneways. His first one starts this Saturday. There are a bunch of other tours this summer if you can't make it this weekend.
SPACING: 35 Years Without the Spadina Expressway
By Matthew Blackett // 23 Comments
As part of the City of Toronto's inaugural Humanitas Festival, a celebration of Toronto's rich history, Spacing magazine proudly presents 35 Years Without the Spadina Expressway. This event will remember and honour the important work of community members in saving the city and our neighbourhoods from the perils of superhighways. 35 Years Without the Spadina Expressway will bring together politicians and community activists that played crucial roles in one of the most seminal events to have shaped Toronto. With the recent passing of Jane Jacobs, this event will allow the public ...
The Networked City … and Saturday Tour
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Networked City
Walk along Yonge Street from Dundas Square to the waterfront and you will hear stories about the neighbourhood, revisit the old Bulova Clock Tower, catch a glimpse of the great outdoors, see text messages translated into Morse code, and learn about the lives of urban pigeons.
The Networked City is a series of five outdoor installations commissioned by InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre that highlight the social connections that citizens make on a day-to-day basis by simply travelling from one place to another. These new works are on view from May 26 - June 25, 2006.
More information ...
. . . And the winner is:
By Ian Malczewski // 7 Comments
Well, even though the official announcement isn't for another two hours the Star is reporting that West 8 has won the Waterfront design competition:
More than anything, the West 8 proposal saw the exercise as one that goes well beyond simply clearing up the awkward spots where the slips, water and road meet; instead its starting point was the need to reconnect Toronto and the lake and create a sustainable neighbourhood on the edge of the water.
Short notice, but if you want to hear politicians from all three levels of government make the formal announcement, they'll be doing ...
June 3rd, 2006
Dreams of expressway die hard
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
John Lorinc has an article in the Globe and Mail today about the 35th anniversary of the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway but he approaches it from a different angle -- he talks to Sam Cass, the brains behind the plans for superhighways in, out, and through Toronto.
Adam Vaughan, now running for city council in Trinity-Spadina, wrote an excellent article about being a child of the Stop the Spadina Expressway.
Also, here's a few photos from our event yesterday.
Ying Hope (left, councillor for Spadina Ward 5, first elected 1970) and Adam Vaughan (former CityTV journalist, ...
T.Ode Continues (to battle road rage)
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
This morning our trailer was parked along the side of St. Lawrence Market until about noon, on the west side. Airstreams were built for Montana, not downtown Toronto. When we pulled out, some market guy had parked his van at an angle not allowing enough room to pass. So the airstream created a very angry traffic jam. I stood out waiting for him to return, incurring the abuse of some drivers, while other people who paid attention to the situation told me that the van driver should be arrested and tortured. It was like New York City. ...
Soft City Workshop @ Riverdale Art Walk Sunday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
UPBAG's Soft City Workshop at the Riverdale Art Walk:
Sunday, June 4, 1-5 pm, Toronto Free Gallery (660 Queen Street East)
The Soft City is an ongoing conceptual craft project in which participants work together to create an urban landscape out of felt and other materials. Started by the UPBAG Collective in 2004, the soft city of Upburg has expanded into dozens of skyscrapers, roads, houses, parks, stores, public transportation vehicles, and even its own suburban outgrowth.
Participate in the creation of this soft city, June 4th, 1-5pm. Propose, design & sew (with the help of UPBAG) new buildings to fill ...
Terrorist Plot Foiled; TTC NOT a Target
By James Bow // No Comments
Thanks to careful undercover policework by Toronto Police Services and the RCMP, twelve men and five youths were arrested on terrorism charges, accused of attempting to plant a bomb on Canadian soil. Three tonnes of ammonium nitrate were recovered during the raid, and the Star has learned that this fertilizer — highly effective for making bombs — was supplied by the RCMP as part of the sting operation. A crude cell-phone detonator was also recovered in ther aid.
Most of the suspects have already appeared in court under tight security and the court proceedings against these individuals should continue over ...
June 4th, 2006
New Subway Mock-Up Unveiled to the Public
By James Bow // 1 Comment
Torontonians will get their first look at what may be the next generation of subway cars starting Tuesday, June 6.
The Toronto Transit Commission is looking to purchase 234 subway cars, to be delivered by 2011. Among other features, the TTC expects that the cars will be delivered in six-car articulated trains, within which passengers will be able to walk the length of the train. The new look cars will be able to carry more passengers by opening up the space between each cars, and spreading out the load of the train more evenly.
The interior ...
Heart and Stroke ride; using your head when riding
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
The sight of a massive amount of cyclists taking over a major highway may be enough to give any cycling advocate a heart attack, but the scene above is from 8:15 this morning during the Toronto's Heart and Stroke Bike ride along the Gardiner and the DVP.
Keeping with the cycling theme, an article in today's Star features a study which explores why Torontonians seem adverse to wearing helmets while riding a bike. In many places, like Halifax and Vancouver, it is mandatory to wear a helmet when riding on the road, but it Toronto once you are ...
Live from Etobicoke Centre
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
Sitting in the parking lot of Mongomery's Inn "Etobicoke's Museum" on the banks of the mighty Mimico Creek at Islington and Dundas. The Union Jack is flying, there is a Sunoco across the street and behind the inn there are a bunch of old(er) folks wearing very white uniforms (some kind of hybrid short-pants-very-high-waist get-up) playing lawn bowling. We're at the top of a suburb that streaches down to Bloor, full of nice houses with big lawns. It's a very Happy Days kind of suburb -- built when suburbs were not all cookie cutter, and the scale ...
Interesting City Bits
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
Here are a few delighful bits of the city to watch out for on summer walks.
Subway Mural
I found this great mural of a subway train along Richmond Street west of Bathurst. It seemed an appropriate posting in light of Spacing's latest issue on transit. I particularly like the way that the pipe is used as the frame for the mural.
Caution: watch for hula-hoops
This funny variation on a pedestrian sign can be found on the east side of Spadina Crescent, just north of College.
The orphan parking lot...
The City Formerly Known as Cambridge
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
A bunch of clever folks in Cambridge, Mass. calling themselves "The Institute for Infinitely Small Things" are asking the public to rename everything in the city so they can produce an alternative map of The City Formerly Known as Cambridge. The project is called "Initiative for the Renaming of Names in Cambridge" and described as such:
There are a rich set of economic, political and cultural interests at work in the production of names. The Institute for Infinitely Small Things is interested in researching these interests in Cambridge, MA, by inviting the public to circumvent them.
The ...
June 5th, 2006
Bits and bites about the winning waterfront design
By Ian Malczewski // No Comments
On Friday, we reported that the West 8 design team had won the competition to redesign our Waterfront. Here's what some of the mainstream media had to say about the choice:
The Star's Christopher Hume writes that:
West 8 is a call to arms as well as an answer to a proposal call; it demands we wake up to the vast potential of the waterfront and take action -- now.
This emphasis on taking action now was reiterated at the official announcement Friday afternoon, when it was proposed that the southern part of Queen's Quay ...
TTC wildcat strike again? Don’t. You. Dare.
By James Bow // No Comments
CablePulse 24 has issued a highly speculative report suggesting that the City of Toronto may be preparing for another wildcat strike tomorrow [link to video report on CP24]. This news has not been taken up by either the Toronto Star or CBC Toronto, and if you read between the lines of the report, it seems likely that TTC management may be taking steps to ensure that the commission is better prepared should a wildcat strike occur at some undetermined date. Throw in an unsubstantiated rumour by streetcar driver Faye Budree, and you have an alarming report ...
SPACING: Green roof hopping in St. Petersburg
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Here is Spacing.ca's Monday morning article: Dianna Graham takes us on a geurrilla tour of green rooftops in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The bustle of St. Petersburg life seemingly takes place within two levels. The subterranean level leads you down escalators of several hundred feet to the crowded metro below. Aboveground, the buildings of the charming city centre funnel the traffic and pedestrians between with their flat fronts. The city's relentlessly consistent height of 20 metres can become oppressive and so when you discover the city's third level, it's a surprising exploration of an unlikely city dimension.
Keep Toronto Clean posters
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Does anyone know who is responsible for this poster initiative? I've seen the large displays on construction hoardings around the city for a few months and thought it was a City of Toronto campaign until city staff emailed me personally for some leads. I know the staff certainly appreciates it. Please let us know any info.
Pedestrian Crossover Update
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
Update on the city's pedestrian crossover initiative -- council has approved it. From the Adam Giambrone e-newsletter:
Council approved a project to replace or improve Torontos 77 pedestrian crossovers on major arterial roadways in order to improve safety. The City will convert 24 of Torontos current crossovers to traffic control signals because of the high risk at those locations. The City will improve the other 53 crossovers on major roadways by enhancing their flashing beacons, signs and pavement markings. The project includes a public education effort to promote greater awareness of drivers and pedestrians responsibilities for safe ...
Commuting by Transit in the ‘Burbs
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
The Star published a very interesting story about the extraordinarily long transit commutes factory workers (mostly immigrant) have to make between areas of the city where they can afford to live, and the transit-inaccessible factories where they work.
It's a good demonstration of the inefficiency of low-density development, whether residential or commercial, which simply cannot sustain good transit service and leaves people who cannot afford a car isolated. Their plight shows how planning and transit decisions have a major impact on economic equity in our society.
June 6th, 2006
Pooling for Rooftop Solar
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing editor Leah Sandals reports:
As reported in the Star today, consortiums of Toronto homeowners are pooling together to mass-purchase and install solar panels in their communities.
Tyler Hamilton reports:
“In the Riverdale, Leslieville, and Beaches communities, about 75 homeowners have banded together to make a bulk purchase of rooftop solar photovoltaic panels that will meet a portion of each home's power demands. Solera Sustainable Energies Co. won the contract and will begin installing the panels this week.
Across the city, in an area encompassing Parkdale, High Park, the Annex, and Seaton Village, a group of more than 150 homeowners ...
Check out new subway trains starting today
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
It looks like the TTC and its workers are in some tense talks which could lead to another walkout, The Star is reporting.
You can ignore these shenannigans by beccause today is the first day the subway trains the TTC would like to order will be on display at Davisville station. Here's the rest of the info in a previous Spacing Wire post. You can also read the review of the trains in today's Star.
What do YOU do on the beach?
By Ian Malczewski // 2 Comments
On Saturday, June 8, the Toronto Waterfront Revitilization Corporation wants to know what citizens want to do at Lake Ontario Park, the new park planned for the area surrounding Cherry Beach. Free chartered TTC Shuttle buses will be leaving Union Station at 5:30 and 6:00 pm and the consultation will last from 6:30 to 8:30. Let's hope none of the suggestions include anything like the Cherry Beach Express.
The official release can be found here (PDF format).
TTC General Manager to quit
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
If the last 10 days at the TTC haven't been weird enough, the transit system's GM Rick Ducharme is quitting as of November 30th citing political interference as his main reason. You can read his letter of resignation here [PDF download].
The Toronto Star reports:
Rick Ducharme has tendered his resignation as chief general manager of the TTC effective Nov. 30, the Star has learned. It is not clear whether the commission has accepted the resignation.
"I am sure that you will read and hear theories of why I'm leaving," Ducharme said in his letter to employees.
"The main reason ...
To Wear or Not To Wear
By Dylan Reid // 12 Comments
A grad student recently did a study of the percentage of Toronto bike riders who wear helmets (it is voluntary if you're over 18). Turns out that less than half do - 44% (54% of women but only 40% of men, to confirm a stereotype).
The study is described in a story in the Star. The story takes a definite point of view on the issue, so it may prompt some discussion.
June 7th, 2006
Toronto’s new lobbyist controls
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
With the proposed new Toronto Act stating the City of Toronto must implement a lobbyist registry, and with the Bellamy Inquiry reccommending that the city carefully monitor and control lobbying practices, the City of Toronto is now developing a new framework for controlling lobbying activities.
The city's current lobby registry is voluntary, and only a minority of councillors have stepped up to participate. Participating councillors keep a register in their office and ask all lobbyists to sign in, and this list is then made available for the public to review.
"Clarifying the relationship between lobbyists and the City, and ...
Social Street Furniture
By Chris Hardwicke // 1 Comment
With the growing popularity of bicycles we are seeing a rejuvenation in bicycle support design such as the car shaped bike rack by Adrian Rovero.
As Toronto struggles with profiting from its street furniture policies Netherlands based design studio Himom, the team of Jeroen Bruls and Krijn Christiaansen, have reasserted the role of street furniture as a social space. The Heklucht, a combination bike stand and pump is made of stainless steel that shines brightly against the dull, grey of city sidewalks.
The goal of the project is ...
Vacant Lots and Orphan Spaces
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
There has been a lot of excitement in Toronto recently about the potential of revitalizing the public space of the city. Two new exhibitions are currently displaying projects that investigate the potential of overlooked spaces in the City.
Vacant Lots: An exploration of vacant spaces within our cities is showing at The Toronto Free Gallery between June 10- July 28 (Opening Reception: Saturday, June 10, 8pm). The starting point for this exhibition was for artists to find a vacant space within a city and respond to it in some way. The result is an exhibition ...
Contribute to Spacing’s next issue
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Have you ever said to yourself, "I have a perfect article idea for those chumps at Spacing"? Well, here's your chance. We are putting together our next issue and we are looking for ideas and article pitches. Follow this link and you'll see how we break down the magazine and what topics we are looking to highlight. If you don't want to write but have a suggestion for a "Hidden Gem" or "Public Enemy" we welcome those types of emails, too.
Is it time for Moscoe to step down, too?
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
UPDATE: The TTC Commission promptly asked Rick Ducharme to clean his desk out today, not on Nov. 30th as the former-GM had suggested in his resignation letter. Tim Kevin McGran writes, "But there were acrimonious parting shots fired between Ducharme and Moscoe, threats of lawsuits, more allegations of Moscoe's meddling coming to light, city councillors wondering how things went so bad so quickly while others demanded Moscoe's resignation. "
Though the situation is no laughing matter, I'm slightly amused by the disorganization of the right-of-centre councillors to even cobble together a coherent stance. Mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield said ...
June 8th, 2006
Arts on Track, Opera House, countdown lights
By Matthew Blackett // 18 Comments
The Toronto Community Foundation announced this morning, "significant new funding, achieving a major milestone in its “Arts On Track†initiative to renovate Museum, Osgoode and St. Patrick subway stations."
Christopher Hume does not seem all that impressed with the Opera House.
Countdown lights are being considered at intersections in Toronto.
And Olivia Chow introduced a bill to put sidegaurds on trucks to help reduce the chance of a cyclist being sucked under these large vehicles.
Live, from North York
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Hello from historic Gibson house, one of the City of Toronto's many fine museums. I just went over to the historic plaque, to see why it was historic. Gibson came here from Scotland in the early 1800s and built this farmhouse. A Jamaican woman and two white women wandered by and were complaining that it cost too much money to go into the museum. They did read the plaque though, and the Jamaican said to her two friends, "This is the kind of history I was telling you about -- the immigrant's history." Then I heard one of ...
The Billboard Battalion vs. Dundas Square
By Dale Duncan // 21 Comments
Nearly every community council meeting taking place at City Hall these days attracts someone from the Billboard Battalion, a sub-group of the Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) that's out to fight the growing number of new billboards that are cropping up around our city. The job of these TPSCers is to comb the community council agendas looking for companies who are applying for a variance — permission to break a bylaw so they can erect a sign that's bigger, for example, than the city permits. When they find them (and there's usually a bunch of variance applications made ...
June 9th, 2006
We missed Dump the Pump Day
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
They take their cars and gas prices seriously south of the border, but transit systems across the US took part in a national Dump The Pump Day yesterday. The day is "dedicated to raising awareness that public transit is the quickest way to beat high gas prices."
I've noticed recently that environmental and transit advocacy organizations have changed their outreach tactics by appealing to the public's bottom line and away from a "save the earth" message. And in the States, the outreach includes playing on national security concerns: by taking transit, you lesson America's demand ...
Howard to quit? Ducharme says cars rule road
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
This TTC fiasco story won't end soon, it looks like -- Moscoe may step down from the the TTC Chair position. From Jeff Gray in the Globe and Mail today:
With the Toronto Transit Commission in crisis and some placing the blame at the feet of its combative chairman, Howard Moscoe, the long-time local politician said yesterday he is thinking of stepping aside. But not yet. Yesterday, Mr. Moscoe said he was at least considering giving up his post as TTC chairman after the Nov. 13 election to make way for TTC vice-chairman Adam Giambrone, ...
Native Tree Walk at Brickworks
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
June 11th 2-4PM
Join arborist, Todd Irvine, for a guided tour of the native trees within the stunning quarry and adjacent ravine of the Don Valley Brick Works, a former industrial site now run by the Evergreen Foundation. Todd is the Communications and Outreach Coordinator for LEAF, an organization dedicated to the appreciation and enhancement of Toronto's urban forest, and a longtime friend of Spacing. He is also a founding member of the Toronto Psychogeopraphy Society, so his walks are relaxed and fun.
Learn tricks to identify trees, explore a geologically significant site, experience the ...
Toronto beaches open today
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
From the Toronto Star:
Toronto's city beaches officially opened for business yesterday with some city councillors frolicking in the 16C waters off Cherry Beach alongside a few lifeguards. Their message was simple — Toronto's 10 beaches are open even as the city launches initiatives to keep water quality high.The move came as four of the city's beaches were awarded international recognition for their water quality. Cherry Beach, Hanlan's Point Beach, Ward's Island Beach and Woodbine Beach received the Blue Flag from a Denmark-based organization called Foundation for Environmental Education.
King-Spadina Area Plan Review
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
Last night, I attended a very interesting presentation/workshop about a review of the city's "secondary plan" (the detailed urban planning for a local area) for the King-Spadina area, where I live.
The area is notable in planning circles because then-mayor Barbara Hall did a major reform of the planning in the area when she was mayor in the mid-90s, opening it up to a variety of uses restricted only by a few simple rules (including height restrictions, mostly 23 or 30 meters to create mid-rise buildings). This reform led to the rapid revitalization of a declining industrial ...
June 10th, 2006
Pedestrian Picnics
By Ian Malczewski // No Comments
Ordinarily, you'd think one of the last places to have a picnic would be a gas station. Not so for the organizers of Streets are for Picnics! On Sunday, June 11, at 4:00, the organizers behind the popular Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington will be having a picnic on the site of a former gas station at College and Rusholme (just a bit west of Dovercourt).
Kensington's sons and daughters in Samba Elegua and the New Kings will begin performing around 8:00, finishing off with a collaboration with Richard Underhill and the Kensington Horns. Rump-shaking fun for all!
The mission of the the group:
To ...
Pigeon Condo Talks
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
This is last minute, for today's talk, but we'll pretend everybody is reading this on a Blackberry or Palm Treo while moving around the city.
Pigeon Condo special guests Zavisha and John van Nostrand will be speaking in Toronto on Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11 at the intersection of Yonge St. and Lakeshore Blvd.
All welcome!
Pigeon Condo is developing luxury housing for pigeons right in the heart of Toronto's revitalized waterfront.
Sat. June 10, 2-4pm Guest speaker Zavisha will talk about the Roma people and how they are represented as the pigeons of the world.
Sun. June 11, ...
Inner City Outtripping
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Spacing Editor Dale Duncan has written in Eye about a program in Toronto that takes inner-city youth on camping trips within the city itself, using areas such as the lakeshore and the Humber river: the Inner City Outtripping Centre (ICOC). It's one of those successful, cost-effective programs that somehow never get the funding they really need.
It's a great way of making better use of the amazing public spaces Toronto already possesses:
While many people debate whether building more basketball courts or community centres is the best way to help solve the problems of gangs, drugs and violence, the ICOC takes ...
Green the ‘burbs
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Hume in the Star today (click here for full article):
So far, builders, especially suburban builders, have blithely ignored the consequence of what they do. But how much longer can we allow this to continue?
As the Archetype competition and exhibition at the Design Exchange, 234 Bay St., makes beautifully clear, now there's no excuse. Both the knowledge and technology are available to allow us to build responsibly. The show, which comprises 13 proposals for green housing, offers a wide-ranging and imaginative survey of what's possible. And, by extension, it exposes the gap between that and current practice, which ...
Spacing wins National Magazine Award
By Spacing // 2 Comments
Spacing is excited to share some good news: on Friday evening, the magazine captured a gold medal in Best Editorial Package at the 2005 Canadian National Magazine Awards for our spring/summer 2005 issue "The History of our Future". We beat out Canadian Geographic, Report on Business, Azure, and Saturday Night. To say the least, we were very surprised.
We want to thank our writers, photographers, illustrators, editors, and the assortment of helpers and volunteers for all of their work on our winning issue (and every other issue, too).
June 11th, 2006
Pressure from West-end Waterfront residents working on Watson
By Dylan Reid // 6 Comments
In April, the Spacing Wire reported on a plan to turn some waterfront parkland near the newly renovated Palais Royale into a parking lot.
The Parkdale Liberty is reporting (scroll down -- June 3, 2006) that the plan has been reconsidered in light of vehement local opposition. The city is instead going to try suggestions made by citizens at a public meeting on the subject.
The City is now considering putting parking on the median in front of the Palais. However, the restored Palais is slated to open in June, and the median parking lot would not ...
June 12th, 2006
SPACING: Beware the Ides of Merch?
By Spacing // 1 Comment
One of Spacing's on-going beefs with the TTC is how poor of a job it does of marketing itself. Once and a while they will do something that we may even say is pretty good, but those experiences are far and few between. Spacing's managing editor Dale Duncan wrote an article about this topic called "Beware of The Ides of Merch?" in our current issue of the magazine and is this week's Spacing.ca Monday morning article.
If this kind of TTC talk tickles your fancy, then check out John Lorinc's piece in the Globe and Mail from ...
Final City Idol tonight
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Toronto & East York Final Event!
Six candidates will try their best.
Only one will become a City Idol!
The winner will run for City Council in the fall election!
Monday June 12 • 8pm
Lula Lounge
(Dundas, west of Dufferin)
doors at 7pm • event begins at 8pm
$6 • no advance tickets
(Etobicoke is tomorrow)
New iPod skin design: Tokyo subway map
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
More ideas for potential TTC merchandise: iPod skin of the subway system. Over at GelaSkins, you can buy an ultra-thin, high-grade vinyl skin of the Tokyo transit map design for your iPod.
The best part is you can submit your designs to GelaSkins. Maybe the owners will be brave and produce a TTC design. And then we'll see if The Better Way's lawyers will threaten to sue.
Pics of the new Opera House
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing was able to get a sneak peak at the new Opera House that is nearing completion at the corner of Queen St. West and University. We sent our man Bouke Salverda (of Aidan Fotos) to capture a few images for us. Check them out.
June 13th, 2006
Headlines worth following
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Here are a few headlines worth following today, and I'd love to hear your comments about:
The City of Toronto Act: the new law passed yesterday at Queen's Park will allow the city to make its own decisions on taxation and laws. Generally, this should be good for the City but many of the politicians involved have only given it lukewarm support. From our perspective it looks like a good start, as it will allow the city to set the rules about development (possibly decreasing the power of the OMB). Here's the Star's take on it, and ...
June 14th, 2006
Improv Everywhere
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
There's a great improv group out of New York called Improv Everywhere who do clever public interventions. They are ususally elaborate and involve placing numerous people (or "agents") in the crowd. They had a suicide jumper on the thin ledge of a building, but the ledge was only 3 feet off the ground. Or the time they gathered a large group of people (see photo below) in blue polo shirts and khakis and entered a Best Buy -- the clothing they were wearing was almost identical to the store's uniform. The "agents" did not claim ...
Street furniture gone wild
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Today at Toronto's City Hall, city councillors will finish their debate about the possible street furniture contract the City wishes to tender in the fall. One of the items our local representatives will probably discuss is the Superbox -- the City wants to combine individual newspaper boxes into one big box to decrease commercial clutter and save room on the sidewalk. So what will happen to all those boxes once a "superbox" comes into play? Well, we can just look to street artist TEWZ ONE out of Chicago for inspiration.
June 15th, 2006
Public space in the news today
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
• The Feds have tabled a law that specifies street racing as a crime.
• The Howard Moscoe saga continues: Moscoe came under fire at council yesterday. He also did a Q&A with the Star on some of the issues surrounding the the wildcat strike and Rick Ducharme's resignation (the article is unavailable online). Today, he apologized in writing for revealing a secret plan to fire the five members of the North York committee of adjustment, which handles zoning variances and land division matters.
• Christopher Hume talks about the Jane Jacobs memorial held on Monday ...
The branding of Home
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
What would the neighbours think?
I've always wondered when branding would reach the homestead. Not surprisingly, one of the most obnoxious shows on TV, The Simple Life, is pushing one of the most obnoxious forms of Ad Creep I've seen to date.
To promote the show, an Atlanta house was decorated with the E! and The Simple Life logos and the shrubs in front have been trimmed (likely pre-shaped fake bushes) to spell "Sundays". Also note the "blasted out" part of the house on the left behind the shrubs.
Albion Skyline
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
We've watched the day pass by from the parking lot of the Albion Centre. A group of about 100 birds, mostly seagulls, have been pecking at the pavement the whole time. A few wandered over to check the trailer out, giving us a nice few of their noble filth. This is Rob Ford country, but nobody I've met today a> talks like Rob Ford b> deserves Rob Ford.
Albion Centre is a mall just about in the middle of Rexdale. There's quite a skyline out here of apartment buildings. Ali and Muhamed, who work in the mall at the ...
June 16th, 2006
The Adidas bridge at the World Cup
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Just like the Olympics, the World Cup is an outdoor ad agency's wet dream. Adidas placed this massive billboard over a bridge construction site on the way to the Munich Airport, featuring a monster dive by the German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn.
The public space advocate in me needs to point out that this may be the most distracting thing I could ever come across while driving, all in the name of an ad campaign. But the marketing and graphic designer in me (my trained profession) is highly impressed with the creative use of space, not to ...
Drinking & cycling, new subways & TTC routes, street racing, police animals
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
• A teen was caught drinking and cycling and fell into an Etobicoke ravine.
• There's more controversy surrounding those new subway cars from Bomardier, but councillor Adam Giambrone thinks its non-story.
• Before you know it, your bus or streetcar route could be changing.
• It seems the OPP likes to smash-up cars (above photo) like Truckasaurus, but only if they cars are confiscated from street racers.
• And the Police Services Board wants to make it a crime for injuring a police-trained animal. I have espoused a few thoughts ...
MTA vs. TTC
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
Torontonian Ivor Tossell was recently in New York City and took this picture of an MTA window display on 5th Avenue. Like, the main big money part of 5th, near Bergdorf's and Saks. A window ad for MTA cards. One wonders if Margaret Wente would still say public transit is for the poor if such a campaign surfaced for the TTC in Toronto in the Holt's window, but we know we'll never have to worry about seeing anything remotely as creative from the TTC here.
Set a new BENCHmark
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you picked up a copy of Spacing's Winter 2006 issue ("The New Beautiful City") you may have seen an article by Anna Bowness on Liberty Village's BENCHmark program. Bowness wrote:
BENCHmark coordinator Jessica Tudos [says] that public art is a good way to revitalize the neighbourhood, and notes that these benches are the first real examples of public art in the area.
As well, they're the first really deliberate “congregation spots†where people are encouraged to stop, hang out, and contemplate their neighbourhood. “Public art,†says Tudos, “is an opportunity to enhance the experience one has of walking ...
June 17th, 2006
Cityspace
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
For the first time in human history more people live in the world's cities than in the country.
CBC radio has created a website dedicated to cities in conjunction with the United Nations World Urban Forum in Vancouver. The World Urban Forum is a gathering of thousands of people from the world's cities to look for ways to deal with this new reality and give people a chance at a better life. The website lists a series of radio shows dedicated to cities and an ...
There’s more to World Cup than soccer
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
It was nice to read a sports column today in the Star that wasn't exactly about sports. Cathal Kelly, the Star's man at the World Cup in Germany, has a great piece about the country's train system and the social life that encompasses the area surrounding each city's central train station.
For once, the cliché rings true — the trains do run on time in Germany. Die Bahn's vast, interconnected rail network is the lifeline of this World Cup, transporting supporters to and from each of the 12 host cities. And except when you're ...
Bike Riding at Jane and Finch
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The American screenwriter Marc Norman once wrote an essay called Bike Riding in Los Angeles and how weird that is. I suspect it's not unlike bike riding at Jane and Finch where the roads are fat and the cars move fast. We walked here once, during the first snow, but today we have already blown one fuse running the Airstream airconditioner.
We're at the Driftwood Community Centre, just up Jane from CP24's favorite intersection, for the Driftwood Community Festival, which is fun. There was a troop of girls on stage doing a choreographed dance that's tighter and more ...
June 18th, 2006
Galloway
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Today we've been hopping around Scarborough. First, at 7:30AM we were at a Pow Wow at Galloway Park, in the Kingston Galloway neighbourhood. It's another notorious intersection, but like Jane & Finch, it's non-descript. There's zero at ground zero, so-to-speak. Around Galloway road are apartment buildings, some social housing, and then street after street of relatively well-kept single-family homes. Two teenage girls (16 and 18 yrs old) came in and chatted for a bit -- one of them lives in the Gabriel Dumont housing co-op nearby, home to one of Toronto's larger native communities (Toronto altogether ...
June 19th, 2006
Distillery is anti-franchise, the airport LINK, and small town efficiency
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
All articles are from today's Toronto Star.
Distillery avoids sameness: from Chistopher Hume today.... For most visitors, the Distillery District is a pleasant way to spend a few hours, maybe go for a meal, wander through an art gallery or watch a play at the Young Centre. It's all those things, for sure, but there's something else going on down here that in its own quiet way is different, even revolutionary. Though it takes a few minutes to sink in, it's hard to miss: There are no franchises here, no chains, no brands as they're now called. That ...
SPACING: Melbourne vs. Toronto: LRT showdown
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Each Monday, Spacing.ca is posting articles to the Spacing Archives. This week's piece is a comparison of Toronto and Melbourne, Australia's LRT systems. Spacing contributor Ian Malczewski spent a year living Down Under and thinks the former penal colony can teach us a few things about tweaking our streetcars. Here's one tidbit to get you going:
In Melbourne, riding trams is an essential part of the city experience, a fact of which city planners are well aware. The City Circle Tram is a free tram that runs in a loop around the the downtown core during daylight hours. ...
Sprawl from Space
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Two University of Toronto profs and some others have studied the spread of urban sprawl in the late 20th century by creating composite satellite maps of American cities comparing 1976 and 1992, and looking at the amount of open space around houses in every U.S. city.
Some of the findings are suprising, such as that L.A. is relatively compact. Here's another of their many findings:
One of the common complaints about urban sprawl is that as development spreads, municipal services such as roads, sewers, police and fire protection are ...
June 20th, 2006
New Toronto recycle calendar goes back in time
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Spacing Wire reader Derek Wuenschirs sent us an email today that was a good laugh -- the City has released the new recycling calendar for 2006 and 2007. If you look closely, the cover image on the calendar captures the skyline of Toronto. But something is little....... off. If you look closely, the SkyDome does not exist yet, nor the wall of development we find along Queen's Quay. As Wuenschirs says, "It's as if they're trying to remind us how clean our city was in the days before waterfront condos, Scotia tower, or even recycling...."
It ...
Excuse me, but we’re number 3!
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
While Toronto may lag behind other cities it our quest to be a "world-class city" (probably now the most over-hyped and meaningless word in this city) Toronto checks in as the third most polite big city in the world. From the home of investigative journalism, Reader's Digest reports:
In her international bestselling death-of-manners manifesto Talk to the Hand, author Lynne Truss argues that common courtesies such as saying "Excuse me" are practically extinct. There are certainly plenty who would agree with her. Consider that in one recent survey, 70 percent of U.S. adults said people are ruder now than ...
June 21st, 2006
Vancouver takes on the World
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
As a tribute to the UN Habitat World Urban Forum taking place in Vancouver this week, Vancouver weekly The Georgia Straight dedicated many of its pages to articles related to cities, urban planning, and sustainability.
There is an excellent article on the role streetcars played in Vancouver's urban development, and the potential benefits that re-introducing the "streetcar city" concept could have for the city.
There is also a piece comparing the 2006 World Urban Forum to Habitat '76 (also in Vancouver and the first time the UN hosted a conference on urban issues) and Jericho Beach ...
Port Authority sues CommunityAIR
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
According to the CBC, the Toronto Port Authority has filed a $3-million lawsuit against CommunityAIR, (the group that helped stop the bridge to the airport) and some of its members for defamation. The article states, "In its statement of claim, the federal agency alleges it has been defamed by members of Community Air, a non-profit group that has been highly critical of the dealings of the federal agency over the years."
John Barber of the Globe and Mail wrote a column about this today [you can also download a PDF of the column if ...
Munro to Miller: Commit the City to New Streetcars Now
By James Bow // 6 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
Last week, the Toronto Budget Advisory Committee voted down a proposal to purchase new streetcars rather than rebuild 96 streetcars before they reach the end of their life. The move, while it may save money in the short term, suggests that the Budget Advisory Committee is being penny wise, but pound foolish. Transit activist Steve Munro is even more blunt:
I am beginning to wonder whether we should just get rid of the TTC and City Council, including the Mayor, and just appoint the members of the Budget Advisory Committee as ...
Chainless bike
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
I've had a bad two weeks with my bike -- three flat tires. I have surmised that something is caught inside my tire which is causing the repeated flats. So I was half-jokingly searching around, trying to see if plastic tires (or something that was solid) was available for bikes so that people like me, who live in a part of town where broken glass is as common as grass, can avoid repeated blown tires. Then I came across this cool bike....
The Dekra D-Drive.
The makers have replaced the bike chain with a chainless internal operating system. ...
June 22nd, 2006
Parks, Plazas and Squares
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
Project for Public Spaces' website has a new series of articles on public Parks, Plazas & Squares including their approach to design and Ten Principles for Creating Successful Squares. Six Parks We Can All Learn From writes about some real examples and Magic in the Motor City talks about how Campus Martius, a new public square, brought life back to downtown Detroit.
World Urban Forum – Day One
By Spacing // 2 Comments
HiMY SYeD is sending daily reports from the World Urban Forum to the Spacing Wire. Here is his first report.
World Urban Forum - Day One ( Monday June 19, 2006 )
It is the first day of the World Urban Forum. 6,000 people were expected. 8,000 registered. Even more are here. Imagine every person you speak to -- waiting in line, in the hallways, at countless networking sessions and side events -- being an evangelist for the themes, issues and ideas you read on the Spacing Wire and you begin to get a sense of what is happening in Vancouver ...
Flower Power
By Tammy Thorne // 2 Comments
One of the best things about cycling in the city — besides it being fast, cheap, healthful, environmentally friendly, freeing and fun — is that it is a social activity.
A month or so ago, I struck up a conversation with a fellow bike rider at the set of ring and post stands outside my office. I complimented her on the flowers she had woven in her baskets. She complimented me on my “not your bitch†sticker. I told her it was from a 'zine called Bitter Pie and that I had only put it there in a ...
Cycling Goes Suburbs
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Encouraging news -- the City of Markham is developing a cycling plan, including transportation as well as recreation. And it's going to be integrated with a York Region Cycling and Pedestrian Master Plan. It's good to see that suburban municipalities are beginning to embrace sustainable transportation.
Here are some details, for any Wire readers in Markham:
You are invited to a public open house concerning the Town of Markham -- Cycling Master Plan Study!
Date: Thursday June 29, 2006
Time: 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Location: Civic Centre 101 Town Centre Blvd. (Warden and Hwy. 7).
In response to the growing popularity of cycling as a ...
People Walking 2006
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
Walking down Bloor on Saturday night after seeing A Prairie Home Companion at the Cumberland (go see this wonderful movie, Meryl Streep can totally sing), we saw LED people walking in front of the Rogers building. At night it was striking. Cars were slowing down to see it. From a Canwest article:
An unusual video screen has sprung up in front of the Rogers Communications headquarters on Toronto's Bloor Street East featuring images of pedestrians.
It was created by world-famous contemporary British artist Julian Opie, whose work can be seen in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin and ...
June 23rd, 2006
The Impacts of Traffic on Health
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto's Medical Officer of Health released a damning report in March on "The Impacts of Traffic on Health". The report is full of useful information about the negative impacts of traffic on health, using examples of studies from around the world and from Toronto itself. It studies not only air pollution, but also the effects of accidents, noise, reduction of physical activity, and the impact on social cohesion and mental health. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to argue for reducing traffic in the city.
The full report can be found here:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/committees/
hl/hl060410/it011.pdf
Some of ...
Sustainable City or Sustainable Illusion?
By Spacing // 5 Comments
HiMY SYeD is sending daily reports from the World Urban Forum to the Spacing Wire. Here is his second report.
7:43 am and it is standing room only at today's first 'side event' - 'One small step for cities, one giant leap for the planet: Practical solutions for cities stepping towards a lighter footprint'
A quick headcount reveals one hundred people present plus media who've turned out to chill with 'Dr. Doom' otherwise known as 'Dr. Content'. UBC Professor William Rees is founder of the Ecological Footprint approach. His powerpoint slides illustrate practical ways cities can reduce their consumption patterns. He sprinkles ...
Spirit of ’76: CN Tower is old, but still very sexy
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
This week in the Airstream I recorded a fellow who was a teen back in '76 living in an apartment around Eglinton and Weston. He remembered watching from his window the day the big Sikorsky helicopter lifted the final piece of the CN Tower into place, and that "all of Toronto watched" too. I think some of us toddlers watched from Windsor, even. The beacon that would eventually draw us to this city. It's like our Statue of Liberty, but without the book and blank face and Emma Lazarus poems. Also, it's more phalic looking than ...
Howard Moscoe a headline maker
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Over the last few weeks, more ink has been spilled about Howard Moscoe than most city councillors receive in a term. Check out the recent articles: the ousting plans at the TTC commission in the Globe and on CBC.ca, and Royson James column.
But maybe you're Moscoe-fatigued. And that is more than undersrtandable.
Montreal Considers a Pedestrian Charter
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Montreal is considering adopting a Pedestrian Charter (Toronto was the first North American city to adopt one, in 2002).
Unlike Toronto's, which is a general statement of principles, Montreal's proposed Charter seems to include specific policies, such as banning cellphone use by drivers, lowering speed limits, introducing more pedestrian-only streets, cracking down on construction and delivery companies that block sidewalks, and creating a dedicated office for correcting dangerous intersections. Much of the focus appears to be on safety.
(The City of Toronto has just started the process of developing a Pedestrian Master Plan which will ...
June 24th, 2006
Under Bathurst Bridge
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
In the most recent issue of Spacing, David Fontaine wrote about the view of Fort York from under the Bathurst Street Bridge, the closest approximation of the historic effect of the Fort's walls. This area under the bridge, which is currently vast (15+ feet high) has been slated to become a connection between the Fort area and the new developments and pathways going in the railway lands east of Bathurst. Some of the preparation for this new pathway system has already been developed at the public art installation and stairway at the corner of Fort York Boulevard ...
Kudos: Pedestrian Countdown Conversion
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
We give the City a lot of grief, often for good reason, so I think it is important to acknowledge when the City does something well.
Recently, the city started converting old incadescent traffic lights and pedestrian signals to LED lights, saving a great deal of energy. At the same time, the city has been looking at the idea of pedestrian countdown signals, which have been installed in other cities - instead of a flashing hand, the signal indicates how much more time there is to cross before the light turns amber. They have been shown to ...
PS Kensington on Sunday
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Tomorrow is the second Pedestrian Sunday Kensington of the year. It starts at 1pm and goes to 7pm (and Augusta is closed to 10pm). Spacing will be there selling our crap.
photo by Martin Reis
June 25th, 2006
Fold-Out Guide to Toronto’s Downtown Heritage
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto's Heritage Preservation Services publishes a really attractive fold-out guide map to Toronto's Downtown Heritage. It's great for doing a walking tour of your own, or for showing out-of-town visitors some of Toronto's historic buildings. You don't have to wait for Doors Open to appreciate the city's heritage!
The map should be available at City Hall. Its pages can also be viewed as PDFs on the city website.
The centre of the public space movement
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
If you go to Google's website you can do a search on trends. We punched in "public space" to see which cities in the world had websites/posts dedicated to public space issues. Torontonians should be proud -- we seem to be the second most active city in the world (behind New York) when it comes to discussing public space issues (Montreal comes in at 7th). Now, it would be great if our governments were also world leaders in protecting and enhancing public spaces.
June 26th, 2006
Slow Road Movement
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
In today's NYTimes magazine there's a nice article on the US Interstate system. It's 50 years old, and is in need of a re-think while undergoing massive renovations. Some neat ideas are proposed, not just the more-roads kind of idea, either:
The first Bush administration's plan for a second Interstate System thankfully never took off, and the alternative has become new state-grown plans to build different kinds of road. State highway departments have been taking big roads and narrowing them, adding bike lanes and trails. In the last 10 years, engineers have increasingly looked for ways not ...
Toronto, measured in feet
By Chris Hardwicke // 6 Comments
Nicholas Hune-Brown and J. Graham Lee write in the Toronto Star about measuring the space of the city and its sprawl by walking across it. Should be a mandatory trek for city councillors, OMB judges, planners & everyone else.
Amnesty International Bus Shelter Ads
By Shawn Micallef // 3 Comments
An interesting series of ads for Amnesty International (via singer.to). They seem to have taken pictures of the background, did some photoshop, and installed. Almost makes the actual billboard disappear.
Deer Herd coming to Toronto (herd needed)
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
As a part of WADE 2006, Montreal artist Hazel Meyer and her project DEERHEADS are coming to Toronto, July 8th & 9th.
DEERHEADS is a participatory papier-mà¢ché project. It is a hybrid performance that will introduce dislocated 'wildlife' onto the streets of Toronto. DEERHEADS is a renegade parade, a roaming protest, a misfit herd of displaced Don Valley deer, and a thoughtful disruption to the visual landscape of urban life.
PARTICIPATION IS NEEDED!
The project needs the help 16 people (8 each day) willing to wear a papier-mà¢ché deer head on top of their head for roughly 2 ...
SPACING: CN Tower anniversary & the highest free-standing poster
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the CN Tower. For many of us it is just part of the city's skyline, but it dramatically remade the image of this city when it was finalized (Shawn Micallef had a little post about today on the Wire a few days back). To mark the occasion, the same helicopter that put the finishing touches on top of the tower 30 years ago will again hover over top of the world tallest free-standing building. You can watch this with your own eyes starting at 6:45pm.
Edit at 3:15pm: I made a ...
MTV Canada goes public (space)
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
If you have cable and can receive MTV Canada signals, you should check out MTV Live tonight (6-7pm, channel 59 with Rogers). They will be broadcasting a one-hour show on public space issues. It will feature Shawn Micallef of Spacing and [murmur], Dave Meslin of the TPSC and City Idol, and Kevin and Lori of Newmindspace. MTV came to our release party for the transit issue in May at the Gladstone and did a whack of interviews, so they may have some footage of that event.
Thunder Bay Discussion
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Wire post is two months old, but there's a fairly active discussion going on about Toronto's obligation, or lack of, to buy subway trains from Thunder Bay vs. China. Lots of points on both sides. Take a peek.
June 27th, 2006
The TTC is at it again…
By Matthew Blackett // 21 Comments
Sigh. The marketing geek in me keeps holding out for the TTC to come up with smart and effective self-promotion and marketing campaigns. Their new campaign to stop litter is another in a long-string of disappointing outreach posters.
Litter is a big concern for transit riders. If you look at the early footage of Toronto's subway stations, they were as clean as your dinner plate. But as a city (and culture) we have somehow allowed our trash-tolerance to slip to embarrassing levels. I know litter is high-up on the list of concerns whenever the TTC surveys its ...
Billboard liberation
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Nothing better than a liberated billboard to celebrate our first anniversary.
This piece was done by Fauxreel. It was up recently for 43 hours at Spadina and King. [via]
Everything positive…riding a bike
By Tammy Thorne // No Comments
"Everything positive in my life is associated with riding a bike."
That's what cyclist Kevin Wallace says on the website of his bike shop, located in Port Credit. Well, he must be feeling especially positive today.
Wallace recently completed the Race Across America where he had hoped to break the Mens SOLO RAAM record. He also hoped to raise $250,000 for the Betty Wallace Women's Health Centre -- a breast cancer treatment centre at the Trillium ...
Spoons take over Bloor station
By Matthew Blackett // 29 Comments
Does anyone remember The Spoons video "Romantic Traffic"? It was filmed at Bloor and Sheppard stations. Check out the old red rockets and the un-renovated Bloor platform. The start of the video takes place at Sheppard with those cool seats around the support beams (before it was renovated for the Sheppard line extension). They still have 'em at York Mills and Lawrence stations. It's also neat to see them pass over the Don Valley on the Bloor Viaduct.
Just click on the video and it should play.
Spacing Wire First Anniversary
By Spacing // 16 Comments
The Spacing Wire celebrates its first anniversary today. It has been exciting to go from a twice a year publication to a daily news and commentary feed. We're glad you have stuck around this long and continue to come back on a regular basis.
June 28th, 2006
Is it cute multiculturalism or scary hooliganism?
By Shawn Micallef // 27 Comments
A few of us have been complaining about the World Cup celebrations going on around Toronto. Quietly, to ourselves, not wanting to be the inevitable naysayer or rain on somebody's else's parade. I even want to like it.
One of my greatest Toronto moments ever was walking north up Clinton at 4AM in 2002, coming from some party on Niagara, starting to hear cheering in the distance. By the time I got to Bloor, there were hundreds of Korean fans (and instant Korean fans like me) crowded around the entrances to café's with TVs. In a lightest of ...
Waterfront Waves
By Ian Malczewski // 5 Comments
There are a few items of interest in the Star today about the Waterfront. Mayor Miller is in Paris this week to begin the city's bid, which, if successful, would likely see the Expo take place on prime waterfront real estate. Royson James writes an article expressing frustration about the lack of enthusiasm in the city about the 2015 World Expo Bid:
Toronto has twice tried and failed to host the Olympics and the world's fair. And this week, a delegation led by Mayor David Miller lands in Paris to begin the city's bid for Expo 2015. ...
Public space in the news today
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
There are a whack of articles in the Star today that relate to public space issues:
City councillors gave general approval yesterday for city staff to invite private firms to bid on a 20-year contract to supply the city with all its "street furniture" — transit shelters, litter and recycling bins, benches, bicycle racks, newspaper vending boxes, information pillars, and even public toilets. The city will ask the private bidders to put up the cost of the various items: By the end of the contract, for example, the city expects to have 6,000 transit shelters, each costing about $20,000 to ...
EUCAN’T! Megabins are dead!
By Matthew Blackett // 14 Comments
Yesterday, it became official: the mega-bins are dead.
The city planned to leave the existing bins and allow advertising for the next few years until the Street Furniture deal was complete. Councillor Janet Davis proposed and passed an amendment that any councillor who wished the bins removed could request it. So it is up to you to contact your city councillor and ask that they have them replaced with real garbage bins.
Thank your friendly neighbourhood Toronto Public Space Committee for making the public aware of this monstrosity and fighting this horrible idea right ...
Ad Blights Park
By Dylan Reid // 9 Comments
In Spacing Issue 5, I wrote about how my local park, St. Andrew's, has recently been revitalized. I went there to eat lunch today, and I was happy to see how many people were there eating lunch, chatting with friends and basking in the lovely weather. I wasn't happy, however, when I saw the FREAKIN' HUGE INFLATABLE AD that had been blown up right at the other entrance to the park.
(Fellow Spacing editor Leah Sandals, in orange on the right, is standing beside the ...
June 29th, 2006
The Wealth of Cities
By Spacing // No Comments
HiMY SYeD is sending reports about the World Urban Forum to the Spacing Wire. Here is his third report.
A thousand people are squished in and outside of Ballroom C of the
Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. 15 minutes of polite negotiation through
the crowd, yet I have barely weaved into the ballroom proper.
UN-Habitat Award winner John Friedmann is delivering his special
lecture as part of the first annual UN Human Settlements Lecture
series:
'The Wealth of Cities: Towards an Assets-Based Development of
Urbanizing Regions'.
In John Friedmann's worldview, the traditional divying up of the four
factors of production into land, labour, capital, and ...
The Bubble Battle
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Those crazy kids at Newmindspace are organizing a continent-wide Bubble Battle. Toronto's event will take place this Sunday (July 2nd) on the steps of Old City Hall at Queen St. W. and Bay at 3pm.
For all the soapy info check out their website.
The Nain Rouge – Detroit’s Harbinger of Doom
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
Cities have legends and Detroit has a fantastic one in the Nain Rouge. French for "red dwarf" or "red gnome," is a mythical creature that haunts Detroit -- its appearance is said to presage terrible events for the city. The Nain Rouge appears as "a small child-like creature with red or black fur. It is also said to have blazing red eyes and rotten teeth." They say the Nain Rouge has appeared:
-In 1701 Cadillac, the founder of Detroit, is rumored to have encountered and even attacked the Red Dwarf. Within days Cadillac lost both his fame ...
June 30th, 2006
Detroit. Demolition. Disneyland.
By Laura Hatcher // 1 Comment
Detroit is one of the most striking and well known examples of urban blight and "white flight" in North America. Many, many buildings are abandoned and decaying, and neighbourhood blocks cleared of houses by arson or demolished by the city have become sort of "urban prairies".
Starting last winter, before the Super Bowl landed in Detroit, an anonymous group called the D.D.D. (Detroit Demolition Disneyland) Project, began to paint the facades of some abandoned and decaying homes with bright orange paint, calling attention to the process of decay in the city.
To me, as a long-time Torontonian with ...
Great street art
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
You may remember Mark Jenkins from a previous Spacing Wire post (he's the dude who put lolipop-like things on top of parking metres). He's based out of Washington DC and does really interesting public art interventions. In the video above, he has made a body out of duct tape and put clothes on it. It appears as if the "person" has their head stuck in the wall. I love the reactions of passers-by. Here's some photos, too.
New Way to Colour the City
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Apparently the latest in random city beautification techniques is LED throwies, LED lights taped together with a battery and a magnet which can then be tossed onto any magnetic-friendly metal surface. The delighfully-named Graffiti Research Lab claims credit for developing them, and provides detailed instructions on how to create and use these glowing little bundles of colour.
The New York Times recently published a feature on the Lab. It also recently published a remakably extended and detailed history of traditional graffiti in New York in the words of those who were involved in its creation, diffusion and suppression.
July 1st, 2006
Hockey Night in London for Canada Day
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
One of my closest friends moved to England about six years ago and was surprised to find a large contingent of ex-pat Canadians who came out on Canada Day to celebrate the holiday (there are reportedly 400,000 Canadians living across the pond). Yesterday Canadians came together in London's famed Trafalgar Square to play a tournament of road hockey (winner gets the Trafalgar Square Cup). There's an article about the event in the Star today.
Taking it to the street (furniture)
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Two bits of interesting information have emerged from this week's City Council meetings regarding the street furniture contract and the death of the MegaBins.
The first one involves a motion by Councillor David Shiner, which passed 16-15, where he wants language inserted into the RFP to allow for other companies to provide street furniture if the major supplier cannot. This could open the door to any outdoor advertiser to approach the City (or for the City to approach an outdoor ad company) with a silly idea and have it implemented. One of the positive aspects of ...
July 2nd, 2006
Bike parking spots and Chicago’s Bike 2015 Plan
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
The above photo is from San Francisco -- a good example of recognizing the importance of bike facilities. Spacing public art editor Leah Sandals posted back in May about similar bike parking spots in Montreal.
Chicago has recently released its own ambitious Bike 2015 Plan. The plan has similar goals and strategies similar to Toronto's own Bike Network Plan (Chicago and Toronto have undertaken a working relationship over the last few years, so that may have something to do with it). Let's hope for the sake of Windy City residents that their cycling infrastructure project actually ...
The new suburbia
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Robert Ouellette, the editor of Reading Toronto, also writes for the National Post and had a good article in yesterday's paper about the development of the Vaughan City Centre now that the Spadina-University subway extension looks to be heading that way. I have made a few short posts on this subject before, but Robert covers it off nicely in his piece. Here's a excerpt:
With Toronto's waterfront and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts attracting much deserved media attention, changes taking place at the edge of the city have escaped unnoticed. That is too ...
Birds vs. Boards and Other News
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
TTC streetcars are flying little Canadian flags off their back wires this weekend. I find this a charming little touch.
NOW has an interesting article this week about the conflict over the placement of a skateboard park in Etobicoke. More facilities for skateboarders are definitely needed, but some are questioning the choice of Colonel Sam Smith park, a waterfront park that is mostly a nature reserve. It seems like one of those depressing conflicts between good causes.
Another article in NOW this week deals with what is potentially a major change in Toronto's government -- the passage of ...
July 3rd, 2006
Billboards in the city
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Today's Globe and Mail has an article about video billboards and the effect they have on drivers. From Dr. Gridlock's column today:
...City transportation officials plan to ask council for cash to help fund future studies of the dangers of video billboards, perhaps in co-operation with other cities.
Toronto already asks the operators of video billboards along the expressways under its control to voluntarily tone down their brightness in response to complaints from motorists and from people who live nearby. But the number of these signs is clearly growing on Toronto streets and along its expressways, even though the ...
Walking Philosophy
By Dylan Reid // 12 Comments
Pedestrians will take the shortest available route where they need to go. And there's really no reason why they shouldn't be able to. There's a famous anecdote about a Harvard park. In order to decide where to put the paths, they waited for it to snow and looked at where people trod down the snow and made paths naturally. Then they paved where people walked. It's a sensible philosophy -- put paths where people want to go.
You don't really need to wait for snow -- you can just watch what parts of the grass get worn down. In our own university ...
July 4th, 2006
Working Towards A Clean and Beautiful Waterfront
By Ian Malczewski // 4 Comments
Last night I was at Cherry Beach watching the fireworks and lamenting the fact that I hadn't brought a bathing suit to hop in the lake. When I told this to a friend, he gave me the look your mother used to give you when you told her you'd eaten Taco Bell for lunch. It's a shame this is the dominant attitude about the water in the city, though it's not unjustified. The Post even lists a trip to the islands to go swimming as on its top ten list of "lesser-known" Toronto summer activities.
In case you ...
One Year of Spacing Photos
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Last week, we celebrated the first anniversary of the Spacing Wire, so it would be a shame to overlook Spacing.ca's other daily feature Spacing Photos. Today we are happy to mark the first birthday of our group photoblog. There are nearly 300 photos posted in a variety of different themes by over 60 different contributing Toronto-area p-bloggers. Thanks to all of the shutterbugs who have made the photoblog a beautiful place to visit.
Kingdom of bicycles on a highway to hell?
By Tammy Thorne // 4 Comments
The New York Times magazine had a very scary article this weekend on the rise of car culture in China.
Here are just a couple of interesting bits of information:
Number of passenger cars on the road: about 6 million in 2000 and about 20 million today. Car sales are up 54 percent in the first three months of 2006, compared with the same period a year ago; every day, 1,000 new cars (and 500 used ones) are sold in Beijing.
And, along with more cars comes more pollution;
....Beijing's sulfur-dioxide levels in 2004 were more than double New York's, and ...
Oh Canada
By Shawn Micallef // 6 Comments
Dominion Day Weekend was spent in dear Windsor, a most American of a hometown that tends to hide in cars and behind air-conditioned walls to escape the sick and dirty heat most of the time -- except on this weekend, one I liked because of the public-ness of it all. There was always the Freedom Festival down on the Detroit River, with events like the "tug across the river" that had Detroit firefighters compete with Windsor firefighters to see how quickly they could pull a very long rope out of the river (they didn't actually pull across the ...
A Roar
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
I was walking home through Hart House Circle, in the heart of the largely-deserted University of Toronto. There were not a lot of people around. I had left work some time after five, knowing that the Germany-Italy World Cup semi-final game was scoreless and had gone into extra time. As I passed University College -- a long way from any kind of large gathering spot for soccer fans -- I heard a dull roar of voices in the distance, coming from every direction. I thought to myself, "Italy just scored." (There aren't enough German fans in ...
July 5th, 2006
Skateboards and falcons
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
As Dylan Reid posted a few days ago, there is a bit of a community uproar in Etobicoke's New Toronto neighbourhood. It seems residents don't want a skateboard park in a waterfront park. "We are paving over what is one of the most beautiful pieces of parkland in the city for what is basically a flat piece of ground," said Jem Cain, co-chair of New Toronto Good Neighbours. On the other side of the debate are the skaters who think the new park is uninspiring. "There is nothing of interest there," said an Etobicoke ...
Million dollar building
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
A few months back a website gained notoriety for selling tiny pieces of it's homepage in a crass attempt to raise $1 million. The Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam is ripping off this premise and selling 12"x15" spaces on it's exterior for $25 a pop and calling this “a new work that sets itself on the borders between commercial and Art.†Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Maybe if you limited the amount of space a company could buy the project could have some artistic merit, but this almost reminds me of what Metropolis at Yonge and Dundas is ...
CP24 — Everywhere, even the sidewalk
By Dylan Reid // 7 Comments
I like CP24. It's a useful channel, and does some good local features. I can even imagine that in rare instances, for a breaking news story on a busy road with no parking, their vehicles might have to mount the sidewalk.
However, there were no breaking news stories in my neighbourhood today -- in fact, I saw the news anchor walking leisurely down the street with no cameras in sight, perhaps to get lunch. And my local street is not busy, and in any case there's plenty of space on the street since there is parking at night. So why this?...
July 6th, 2006
Dancing on the street corner
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
This is an interesting little self-made documentary about dancing on the corner of a street and the type of reactions and experiences one can encounter. It takes place in a town north-west of Toronto. [via this site]
New article by Rebecca Solnit
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
Rebecca Solnit, whose wonderful book Wanderlust I would recommend to any psychogeographer or public space enthusiast, has just posted a great article on public space and civic action to the Guardian's blog.
"The exercise of democracy begins as exercise, as walking around, becoming familiar with the streets, comfortable with strangers, able to imagine your own body as powerful and expressive rather than a pawn. People who are at home in their civic space preserve the power to protest and revolt, whereas those who have been sequestered into private space do not."
Read the article in its entirety here.
A post on the Post
By Spacing // 24 Comments
Some days the editors at Spacing have to think about things other than urban planning, graffiti or cycling infrastructure. Sometimes it's our website server acting up, and other times it's about figuring out how a button order has gone missing. Last week, we had to deal with theft.
Luckily, we didn't have our office broken into (that was the week before) -- we had one of our Spacing Wire posts lifted and re-printed in the National Post without permission. Associate editor Shawn Micallef wrote on our blog on June 28th about his personal experiences travelling through the city during World ...
July 7th, 2006
Public Space Events Galore
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
This weekend seems to be one of the most intense festive periods of the year in Toronto's public spaces. Big chunks of the downtown will be closed to traffic for 10 official events. Most are inspiring: the Corso Italia Toronto Fiesta, serendipitously coinciding with Italy's appearance in the World Cup final; The Taste of Lawrence Festival; Afrofest, North America's largest and longest-running African music festival; and my personal favourite, the Toronto Outdoor Art festival. Some are less inspiring: the Grand Prix.
A couple of equally inspiring but less official events are happening this weekend too:
NEWMINDSPACE'S ...
Chicagoland
By Shawn Micallef // 10 Comments
We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday. Apart from everything being remarkable, big and American, they call the whole thing, suburbs and all, Chicagoland. That name sums up why everybody is there in a mythical sounding way. Compare with our "GTA" -- it sums things up too but in a boring technocrat kind of way. I've been mumbling "Torontoland" to myself, to see how it sounds, and it sounds good, but would be too copycat, like the way Toronto Unlimited copied London Unlimited. Calling the GTA "Torontopia" might work, but it might be overused right now and the rest ...
More Parks, Less Parking
By Tammy Thorne // 6 Comments
This is a picture of me, lounging on the sod of the newest park in town. It says, “Streets are for People†just above the windshield.
This "Community Vehicular Reclamation Project" is not only public art, but it is also a super smart way of reclaiming public space...one parking spot at a time.
The car is filled to the brim with dirt. Herbs and vegetables grow in the trunk, on the roof and just below the windshield, behind the sod. There is even a wee tree on top.
It is the brainchild of Shamez, a cycling advocate and ...
July 8th, 2006
The dirt on graffiti
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Is it still graffiti if all you're doing is cleaning away dirt?
Street artist Paul Curtis (aka Moose) has been messing with the minds of city officials in Leeds, England by washing away the grime and dirt found on tunnel walls and using the "positive" space to create graffiti-style thorw-ups and tags. Some of his work is quite interesting. He says, "The tunnels in Leeds are perfect for dirt graffiti. All you need is a sock and an idea."
While he does his own personal dirt graffiti, Curtis is also hired to do ...
July 9th, 2006
Collection of articles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
NOW has a few good stories in their current issue.
1. Street furniture debate at City Hall "It's too early to say whether the forthcoming 20-year city-wide single-company street furniture contract will be a boon or a blight, but one thing's certain: any issue that causes this much political dissonance is certainly worth watching."
2. Bird and falcon fatalities "Although the falcons are special because they're considered a threatened species, they're far from the only skyscraper fatalities. According to the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) between 940,000 and 9.4 million birds die each year after hitting skyscrapers ...
Italy!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The above photo was taken at the corner of St. Clair and Dufferin around midnight the day Italy advanced to the World Cup final. I can only imagine how insane Corso Italia is going to get tonight. I'm about to hop on a bus and go up and check out the celebration.
photo by Mondo
Final Month of Transmedia :29:59
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
July is the final month of art content curated by Michelle Kasprzak and Michael Alstad on the pedestrian-level billboard in Dundas Square. The end of the Transmedia :29:59 project begs a couple of questions: Since it appears that video billboards are a fact of contemporary urban existence, should we demand that a certain percentage of content belongs to local community/creative/independent groups? Is it too late to do so (i.e. should community content have been mandated from the beginning)?
You can read Michelle's more detailed reflections on the year of programming here.
TRANSMEDIA :29:59
+media art in public urban space+
http://www.year01.com/transmedia2959
July ...
July 10th, 2006
…the 77B on the TTC!
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
Two weeks ago we posted the "Romantic Traffic" video by the Spoons that was filmed on the TTC subway lines. Today, we found "The Spadina Bus" video by the Shuffle Demons. Urban legend has it that the TTC wouldn't allow the rapping jazz beatniks onto the bus to film because the tall foreheads didn't like the lines "I went down to the station/ I didn't scream or fuss/ but I didn't have lots of patience/ waiting for that bus/ I reached into my pocket/ to try and find some coin/ ...
Chicagoland II
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
We're done with Chicago as of this morning. It was nice, and we'll go back. If you go, and you only have one thing to do, take a tour with the Chicago Architecture Foundation. They have many, and they aren't cheap, but they're the best money you'll spend in the city. We took the boat tour, and it wasn't touristy -- our guide, an architecture student, gave loads of facts on buildings, background on the politics of getting them built, and called out buildings he didn't like (one was "brown, the colour of pooh"). The following is ...
A Walk in the Park
By Chris Hardwicke // 3 Comments
David Gallaugher, a student at the Dalhousie School of Architecture in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has created a grass-lined wheel to simulate an eternal lawn environment and to draw attention to what he considers a North American obsession with manicured lawns.
BBC Radio: “Making Cities Work”
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
BBC World Service radio has an interesting series called "Making Cities Work", available for listening in streaming or downloadable formats. It explores a lot of stimulating ideas and issues around urban planning, community, sustainability, renewal, etc.. The series features four cities: Mexico City, Moscow, Huangbaiyu and Dongtan in China (which we featured in an earlier post), and most recently Detroit.
The BBC also explores city-building in the past in an interesting story about a new book, Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City, by historian Tristram Hunt:
Hunt celebrates the architects, ...
July 11th, 2006
Mis-Guided
By Chris Hardwicke // 2 Comments
Mis-Guide is a book and website created by Wrights & Sites, a group of four UK based artists. Mis-Guide is a guide book that can be used in any city. Instead of telling you where to go and what to see, Mis-Guide gives you the ways to see your city or environment that no one else has found yet. It suggests a series of walks and points of observation and contemplation within a particular town, city or landscape. Unlike an ordinary guide book, it is guided by the practice of ...
Useful billboards
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Ad creep is an obivous concern for us folks at Spacing, but there are instances when some good can come from it. Take the California community of Riverside, east of Los Angeles, for example.
Penny Newman, director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice bought a $5,000-a-month billboard to get an important message out to her community -- the area had become America's worst place for air quality. "We are very frustrated that the county of Riverside continues to allow developers to build warehouses next to homes and homes next to warehouses when they know ...
Forbes’ Least Green Machines
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
North America's most harmful vehicle: 2006 Ford E-Series van
Forbes magazine has produced its first Least Green Machines list: a who's who of environmentally-awful vehicles thatr roam our roads. From their website (or read the whole article):
Bill Ford, chairman and chief executive of Ford, frequently touts the company's environmental friendliness. Ford was the first American car company to offer a gas/electric hybrid vehicle that could run on electricity alone (the Escape Hybrid SUV), and 10.4 acres of plants grow on the roof of the automaker's Dearborn Truck Plant.
But our first-ever ranking of the least environmentally friendly new cars ...
The Importance of Everyday Architecture
By Dylan Reid // 8 Comments
I'm not always on exactly the same page as the Star's architecture/urban critic Christopher Hume when it comes to individual buildings, but I like the way he thinks about the big picture.
In today's paper, his column made a deeply important point that I've felt has been overlooked for a long time: It's the vernacular, everyday architecture that makes a city.
What is a city, after all, but an inhabitable infrastructure? Torontonians must stop looking for the quick fix — the Olympics, the World's Fair, whatever. They are not the answer. In fact, given the way we approach development, they ...
July 12th, 2006
Midwest of America
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
Madison, Wisconsin, is a midwestern American city, a little different than other midwestern cities because of the University of Wisconsin and it's 45,000 students. It's also the state capital, which is that official looking dome above. The Midwest is dominated by the car -- things are more spread out than in the east, but Madison is a progressive place in terms of public space stuff. Pictured above is State Street that runs from the university to the capital -- it's closed to most traffic, though you do have to dodge hacky-sackers. It made for a ...
Street Furniture Placement Open House
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The City of Toronto is hosting an open house to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the Street Furniture draft Placement Guidelines and provide feedback. The open house will be held as follows:
Date: Tuesday, July 18th
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: Metro Hall - 55 John Street main floor rotunda
The draft Placement Guidelines provide general guidance for the placement of street furniture and encourage site specific solutions.The document is posted for review on the project website: www.toronto.ca/streetfurniture
Should the City buy Jane Jacobs’ house?
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
From today's Globe and Mail, an article on whether the city should buy Jane Jacobs' house:
With an asking price of $850,000, the ivy-covered Annex house at 69 Albany Ave. looks like it could be a bargain in one of Toronto's most desirable neighbourhoods.
But this Edwardian semi-detached home, last renovated in the 1970s, has an added selling point: Upstairs, in a modest study with a water-damaged wall, is the beat-up desk chair and the manual Smith Corona typewriter used by the late urban thinker Jane Jacobs.
...
Word of the house going on the market had some at city hall ...
July 13th, 2006
Statscan releases commuting figures
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
In the Globe and Mail today:
The average Canadian spends more than an hour a day -- or 12 full days a year -- trekking to and from work, according to a new study that shows commuting by car is still faster than using public transit.
Given that the average worker is entitled to between three and four weeks of vacation each year, the data suggests that some Canadians spend almost as much time getting to and from work as they do on holiday.
According to a Statistics Canada report released Wednesday [PDF 448k] said that Canadians wasted ...
Mobile Landscape Intervention Unit
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
The Mobile Landscape Intervention Unit is a recycled shipping container that has been transformed into a live-work space for a team of intrepid gardeners called Mousse architecture de paysage. First displayed at the Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens, it will be camped out in Toronto at Evergreen at the Brick Works, the site of the old Don Valley Brick Works factory, June 15 to September 24, 2006.
The March of the condos
By Dale Duncan // 10 Comments
Donovan Vincent writes about new condo towers soon to pop up on Toronto's railway lands in the GTA section of yesterday's Toronto Star. Two towers (50- and 54-storeys high) are slated to neighbour the Air Canada Centre. A cluster of six (one 38-storeys, two 36-storeys and three 18-storeys) will be built west of Spadina Avenue, south of the rail corridor. They were all approved at Tuesday's Toronto and East York community council meeting.
“If anyone has concern about the height of several new condos planned for Toronto's railway lands…it's too late, that issue has already been settled,†...
HarbourArt
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
There is an art opening at Harbourfront tonight -- some of the pieces focus on public spaces in various ways, including our [murmur] window, where we've installed a sign with stories about Harbourfront, and big maps showing where our Toronto locations are. Folks are also invited to leave their own stories about Harbourfront or any of the other locations using their own mobile phones (instructions can be found at our window).
ISEA re:mote
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
For those not able to attend the Inter-Society of Electronic Art Symposium this year, they may wish to participate remotely through the ISEA re:mote programme. Of particular interest to Spacing readers may be the "Interactive City" theme at this year's symposium.
ISEA2006 re:mote is inviting media spaces and individual artists, theorists, and curators from around the world to speak or perform via remote technologies to the audience at ISEA on one of the four themes of ISEA 2006. ISEA re:mote will focus on presenting media spaces and people that would otherwise be excluded from presenting their ...
Cross Where You Want
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
Pedestrians in Toronto have the right to cross the street wherever they want (with a few restrictions).
We tend to think of crossing the street mid-block as "jaywalking," and assume there's something wrong with it. After all, when we were kids our parents told us to cross at the corner (well, at least mine did).
But in fact, it's perfectly legal to cross the street wherever you want. There are only two legal restrictions: 1) you have to yield to motorized traffic, and 2) if you're near a marked traffic control (lights, crosswalk, stop sign), you have to use it.
If you ...
July 14th, 2006
Two cycling designs to watch out for
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
I'm at the stage in my life where the possibility of having kids is quite real. It takes a lot of planning for me to get into "big projects" and kids are the biggest project of all. So I've put some thought into a few things like how to do groceries for a family and how to get places with a child in tow without owning a car. Though I'm still up in the air on whether to even have a child, if the situation arose I have decided that I would buy a trike bike. But ...
No swimming
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
From the Toronto Star:
It's going to be hot, hot, hot for the next several days. So, where do you go to cool off? To the beach, of course. But wait. Due to high E. coli bacteria levels, only two beaches will remain open in Toronto this weekend. Hanlan's Point, which is a clothing optional beach on the Toronto Islands, is one of the beaches where it is still safe to swim this weekend.
Also check out the City's beach web page.
photo from the Star
Freight Derailment Cripples GO Train Service
By James Bow // No Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
The Toronto Star is reporting that a freight derailment near Royal York Road has suspended all GO Train service out of Union Station right at the beginning of the afternoon rush hour.
“Six cars on a westbound freight train travelling towards Oakville came off the tracks,†explained Ian Thomson, CN director of operations issues. “There were no dangerous goods aboard, and there is no fire.â€
Nobody was hurt as a result of the derailment, said Thomson.
The location of the derailment is particularly problematic, as it effectively isolates Union Station from GO Transit's Willowbrook ...
July 15th, 2006
Underground parking, skateboard parks, tourists in own city
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
In the Star today:
The price of underground parking: A Star reporter takes a look at the disappearing surface parking lots in Toronto and lauds the wonders of underground lots. Sadly, it only deals with the pricing of lots and completely ignores WHY they are disappearing and the impact surface lots have in an urban setting.
Skate or delay: Christopher Hume adds some persepctive to the skateboard park debate raging in south Etobicoke. It also looks like councillor Mark Grimes, who has been dragged over the coals by local residents for the skate park's development, is back-tracking and ...
The aesthetics of wind power
By Matthew Blackett // 21 Comments
I recently read an interesting article on the aesthetics of wind turbines. I'm going to come out and plead ignorance -- I had no idea people could actually get worked up into a huff about the beauty/non-beauty of a wind turbine (which seems to be going on in Cape Cod, Mass.). When I lived on the top floor of a 13-floor high-rise at Bathurst and St. Clair, I woke up one morning and walked out on to my balcony to see an altered skyline -- the wind turbine at the CNE had been erected while I ...
July 16th, 2006
The grey areas of ad creep
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
I came across three advertising campaigns that are worth noting. The first is a City of San Francisco outreach campaign to property owners asking them to clean their walls of graffiti tags or call the Graffiti Watch hotline (the text reads: "Clean up tagging in your neighborhood before it really spreads"). By the looks of it, SF and Toronto share a similar abatement policy where they place the onus on property owners to get rid of tags or face fines.
The campaign's execution is quite clever. While I'm no fan of tagging, I don't find it that offensive. ...
Enemies at the Gates
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
Yesterday it was very hot. Those with small ecological footprints (the unairconditioned) could be seen outside of their hot boxes, muttering mad-talk on the streets, their brains made mush by the micro-inferno's of sidewalks with no trees. So I went to the beach -- on the Island, as Hanlan's is the best beach in the city, and as was reported yesterday, only one of two that are swimable at the moment due to our friend E-coli.
Every other cottageless person had the same idea. The line for the ferry was long, which is fine. Lots of people, finite number ...
July 17th, 2006
A walk through a Berlin subway train
By Matthew Blackett // 15 Comments
There has been a lot of talk about the new subways the TTC wants to purchase (read more about it on this Wire post). To win us riders over, the TTC has a mocked-up version of a train that has been appearing at subway stations around the city.
This video is a 30-second walk through of a subway train in Berlin. If Bombardier does in fact get/keep the contract for the Toronto subways, this is the type of train we'll be getting. I'd seen photos describing the opening between cars, but ...
A glimpse of the future?
By Ian Malczewski // No Comments
There was an article in the Star a few days ago about how the city will be temporarily closing down Queen's Quay improve pedestrian access to the Waterfront.
From August 11 to 20, Queens Quay from Spadina to York will only allow one-way westbound vehicular traffic, leaving the rest of the street for pedestrians and bicycles.
[The plan] starts with the premise that much of the land along the water's edge should be handed over to people, not cars. This will be an extremely contentious issue in August and all eyes will be focused on whether the needs of ...
New garbage bins and newspaper boxes on T.O.’s streets
By Matthew Blackett // 14 Comments
It must be summer vacation at One Yonge Street because the Star is reporting today on the death of the MegaBins (Spacing reported this development back on June 28th). Nonetheless, the story is getting out to the greater public, so I won't complain.
Also of note, BlogTO spotted a new waste disposal contraption on College Street. Spacing has put a call into city staff to explain where this came from (I like it, but want to know more of the facts). Spacing editors have noticed beige plastic bins with the City's logo have appeared around the ...
July 18th, 2006
Spacing Photos posting again
By Spacing // No Comments
After taking 9 days off to celebrate Spacing Photos' first birthday, the photoblog is back up and running.
Layout of seats on subway
By Matthew Blackett // 26 Comments
Just the other day I posted a video of a Berlin subway car which is very similar to the model the TTC is looking to buy. A commenter noted that the seat arrangement on the new cars would reamin in the formation we currently have, but now the TTC is once again considering perimeter seating for safety reasons. Here's the Globe and Mail article.
A gate fit for a prince
By Ian Malczewski // 2 Comments
John Lorinc has an article in the Globe & Mail today about a facelift at the CNE:
Tomorrow morning the city will cut the ribbon on a landscaped piazza, road improvements and new pedestrian/cycling amenities intended to resolve long-standing access problems near the base of the 79-year-old ceremonial entrance to the Canadian National Exhibition.
The project is the result of plans "to improve open spaces and the road network in an area experiencing an explosion of residential development."
If you want to be one of the first to get a look, head down to the CNE tomorrow from 9 until ...
Weather Vanes
By Chris Hardwicke // 7 Comments
Here is some functional street furniture from the UK. McChesney Architects designed a series of innovative swivelling wind shelters on Blackpool's South shore promenade. The flowing form of each 8m high shelter was created as a weather vane that swivels with the wind to shelter its inhabitants. Let's hope Toronto gets a street furniture solution as creative as this.
MTV Canada and a TTC streetcar
By Matthew Blackett // 21 Comments
This MTV Canada promo video uses a TTC streetcar as a prop. I'm torn about whether this is something I should laugh off or be offended by. I do have a sense of humour, but with the bad rap the TTC has fostered lately, a lot of people would like to see this actually happen. I wish they used a Hummer instead.
I'm sure MTV received permission to do this -- but knowing the TTC's reaction to negative publicity (see the anagram map fiasco) I'm surprised this clip is even on the ...
July 19th, 2006
Style in Progress this weekend
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Starting on Thursday, Style in Progress will be hosting a four day graffiti festival: DJs, Hip Hop events, wall murals and art shows. The events take part all over downtown -- in Kensington, along the back alley of Queen West, Dundas Square, the Berkley Church....
I'm excited to see Rush Lane get a facelift. The alley is one of my favourite parts of the city. Click here to see the posters and event details.
Johnny Drives his Chevy onto the Sidewalk
By Shawn Micallef // 10 Comments
On his nice blog Aquatic Existence, Matt Ross has a post called "This really annoys me" about some guerilla marketing by Chevrolet he found on some Toronto sidewalks (the above picture is his). He writes, in part:
Recently, Chevrolet began running commercials for a variety of vehicles using a character named Johnny. In each episode Johnny tells the host the right way to operate a vehicle and be a responsible driver, in a cheesy 1950's sort of way. The commercials are mildly amusing and show some creativity. They have since been extended to billboards and posters, ...
Art Attack! Saturday July 22nd
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Saturday July 22
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm making art at the Gladstone, 2nd floor
9:00 pm - 10:00 pm Queen Street installations
All Ages, Free or PWYC, BYOMarkers
The Toronto Public Space Committee presents Art Attack, an evening of art-making, music and public space beautification. Art Attack will transform the Gladstone into an art factory complete with paper, art supplies and live music. Later in the evening Art Attack will move outdoors and place the fresh artwork over commercial advertising space.
July 20th, 2006
Moscoe stays on; no perimeter seating
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
It is possible that the lively discussion on our two recent posts about perimeter seating has not been for naught -- the TTC has voted against the plan. It also seems the revolt to oust Moscoe died at the commission, with a 5-3 vote in favour of keeping the bombastic TTC chair.
Fellow commissioner Mark Grimes reseigned shortly after the vote saying, "Obviously my voice is not going to be heard." I'd hate to lecture Mr. Grimes but your voice was heard -- you were part of the three who voted against Moscoe. It ...
Carole Pope does not like what she sees
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Toronto rocker Carole Pope had some harsh words for the City of Toronto in a National Post piece yesterday called "Dude, where's my city?". I had no idea development and historical critiques were part of Ms. Pope's many talents. Here's some samples:
So I'm walking along Yorkville Avenue, always a poignant, painful experience for a baby boomer, and I see a big honking ugly condo rising up where rows of boutiques and The Grab Bag (smoke shop and meeting place for Toronto's sixties Youth Quakers) used to be.
The Grab Bag bit the dust eons ago but ...
Toronto Bay Initiative photo contest
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Toronto Bay Initiative is holding a photo contest. They are looking for photos that "celebrate the unique character, beauty and revitalization of the Toronto Bay."
In addition to submitting a colour or black and white 8X10 hard copy of the entry, applicants must also submit a digital copy of the image, and email it to: info@torontobay.net with "Photo Contest Submission" in the subject line. The image must be no larger than 800X600 pixels at 72 dpi.
Deadline: October 27th 2006 at the Toronto Bay Initiative office (201-30 Duncan Street Toronto ON M5V 2C3) to be considered. ...
July 21st, 2006
Philadelphia’s Autobiographies
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
With Art Attack! just a couple of days away, here's another example (albeit a top-down one) of the reclamation of spaces typically reserved for commercial advertising. The Worldchanging blog has an article about Philadelphia's Autobiography Project -- a city-wide writing project that asked residents to write their own memoirs, and then posted these autobiographies on bus shelter billboards around the city.
Bikely Keeps you Safe(r)
By Shawn Micallef // 6 Comments
A website called Bikely lets people use Google maps to plot out their favorite bike routes and share them with others. The safe routes, escape routes, direct and indirect routes people take on their bikes can now be followed, step by step, by the rest of us. When Google opened up their maps allowing people to use them for a bunch of different purposes like this, it may have been one of the greatest moments in the history of the Internet. Bikely mentions they are very young and" need more than anything people like you to ...
July 22nd, 2006
Today’s public space headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
• Skateboarders, nature lovers in weedy tug-of-war [ Globe and Mail ]
• One cool ride [ Globe and Mail ]
• Goodbye to accidental landmark [ Globe and Mail ]
• Graffiti's tag-of-war [ Toronto Star ]
• Fixing hot spots for society's powerless [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto Port Authority down to one board member [ Toronto Star ]
• As condos go up, quaint comes down [ National Post ]
Greenpeace: You’re a prick if you drive an SUV
By Matthew Blackett // 19 Comments
Greenpeace has released a 90-second commercial that takes dead aim at SUV drivers.
While I appreciate the cheekiness of this ad, I 'm not sure this is the correct approach. Shame is a powerful motivator, but I think this type of moralizing only emboldens SUV drivers (labeling them all as pricks may not win people over to your side of the debate). I recognize that global warming and sustainability are the most pressing issues of the 21st century, but I think the economic argument is a much more effective way to ...
July 23rd, 2006
Toronto Star’s “What If…” section continues
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Spacing was excited to be referenced a few times in the Toronto Star's "What If..." section back in April. The paper used a few stories brought up in our "History of our Future" issue as jumping off points. Since the spring, Star readers have sent in over 400 emails with their ideas for improving Toronto. The Star handed them to Paul Bedford, the former chief city planner of the City of Toronto and the author of the city's Official Plan. He read them, analyzed them, and has come to some critical conclusions.
July 24th, 2006
Art Attacked!
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Check out the photos of Art Attack by Jerrold from Blog TO.
Register for Toronto Green Building Festival
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Toronto Regional Green Building Festival
Second Annual Conference and Trade Show
October 31 - November 01, 2006
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, 250 Front Street West, Toronto
Spearheaded by the Green Building Alliance, a collective of sustainable and community building non profit organizations, the Toronto Regional Green Building Festival has established itself as the pre-eminent event for the green buildings sector. Again this year, the core conference and trade show will be “bookended†by two days of related activities including specialized training, design workshops and in-depth breakout sessions.
If you want to go to the trade show, it is ...
Toronto’s street signs
By Matthew Blackett // 18 Comments
In the Winter 2006 issue of Spacing, I wrote about the new street signs that the City is implementing. Here's an excerpt:
There are some good things about the new design: the signs are much more visible, due to a larger and new reflective surface that aids the failing eyesight of our aging population; the use of upper- and lower-case letters makes street names much easier to read; and the colours used for each of the old Metro cities will stay in place.
But there are some glaring problems, too. While the new signs mimic the old designs, they look ...
Contested Streets
By Tammy Thorne // 3 Comments
It should not be considered a privilege to walk or bicycle in your neighbourhood and not get hit by a truck. It should be a basic right.
This is part of the opening voice-over from the trailer for the new documentary Contested Streets.
It's a film intended to show New York city leaders how they can follow the example of other big cities that are successfully taming traffic. It features footage of London's congestion charge zone, Paris's new Bus Rapid Transit system, and Copenhagen's network of bike and pedestrian streets (where there is ...
Great post on Toronto laneways
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Amy Lavender Harris wrote a great little piece on Toronto laneways on the Reading Toronto blog.
When it rains, I think of the laneway behind our Junction area home as a creek, flowing intermittently like those sunken runnels at the edge of rural cow pastures, shaded and stagnant in the midsummer heat but swelling to gurgling fullness after a rain. Alive with frogs, whose deep grunting utterances are low echoes of the high trilling voices of peepers in the spring.
It isn't like this in reality, of course. The laneway is poured concrete and slopes between storm sewer gratings ...
July 25th, 2006
Large shark in Dundas Square
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Thoughout the summer Dundas Square is running "Creature Feature" films each week. Tonight they're showing Jaws. It's free and starts at sunset. The rest of the schedule can be found here. If you are bored with the film, we have been told there are other screens you can watch around the square -- just like how 1970s multiplex drive-ins were set up (on a trip to see Superman 3 & Gremlins in '83 we spent most of our time trying to see one of the Porky's movies playing on a neighbouring screen).
Today’s public space headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
BB King at the rebuilt Colonial Tavern, 1977
• City's oldest firehall show its age [ Globe and Mail ]
• Construction begins on new waterfront park [ Globe and Mail ]
• Mimico waterfront park to be freed up [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto recycling champs [ National Post ]
• Colonial Tavern burned down 46 years ago today [ Toronto Sun ]
July 26th, 2006
The Dry Docks
By Shawn Micallef // 41 Comments
There was an epic length article a few years ago in Toronto Life that focused on The Docks and owner Jerry Sprackman, a man who never met a zoning ordinance he couldn't brazenly ignore (un-archivably-linkable, of course -- wither Toronto Life, says no to summer fiction and the internet too). It told the story of how, against odds and laws and city planning, he built an adult(ish) wonderland on our Industrial Rivera. He seemed like a straight Steve Rubell, taunting authories with his hedonistic creation and making a bundle. And now the spectacle that never was ...
Chalk mapping Queen West
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From the fellow who brought us the cute little zine of the Bloor Viaduct during the Apocolypse! Paul Dotey maps the Queen West neighbourhood tonight at Czehoski.
The Urban Etiquette Handbook
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Spacing has a feature in the magazine called the Manners Duck. Our resident etiquette expert dishes out what acts are acceptable (or not) while you're out in public. We are always looking for questions for the Manners Duck so please email them to us.
New York magazine has gone a few steps further by publishing the Urban Etiquette Handbook on their website. It provides situations and gives you the answers.
If blogs, reality television, tell-all memoirs, talk shows, lo-risers, and overly loud cell-phone conversations (“Really? A goiter? Where?â€) all mean our once-held notions of privacy and ...
Vacant Lots: Just Add Water
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Spacing's public art editor Leah Sandals has been a participant in the Vacant Lots exhibition that is running out of the Toronto Free Gallery. Today, Murray Whyte at the Toronto Star wrote a piece on her and partner Samantha Crowhurst's installation, while Liz Worth wrote about it too in Eye Weekly (scroll down to second article).
From the Star:
Officially, their project, Just Add Water, is part of "Vacant Lots," an exhibition at the Toronto Free Gallery meant to address the empty, forbidden zones scattered throughout the cityscape. More broadly, though, Crowhurst and Sandals are part of an ...
July 27th, 2006
Today’s headlines
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Ryerson's new Sally Horsfall Eaton Centre for Studies in Community Health
• Dirty beaches spark debate in Ajax [ Toronto Star ]
• Hume: Ryerson campus blends into streetscape [ Toronto Star ]
• Dry Docks worries other nightclubs [ CBC.ca ]
• Port Authority plans to ban Jazz planes [ Globe and Mail ]
• Driving to shop turns me into basket case [ National Post ]
• Subway contract controversy takes new twist [ Toronto Sun ]
• Tuned into noise of the city [ Toronto Sun ]
UPDATE: "Driving ...
Quay to the City
By Ian Malczewski // 3 Comments
It looks like we can get ready for our first taste of a revitalized central Waterfront. As reported before, Queen's Quay West from Spadina to York will be partially closed to car traffic from August 11 - 20 to give us a taste of West 8's plan for the Waterfront:
[Quay to the City] will feature activities intended to immerse people in the winning design that affords everyone a taste of Ontario's popular cottage life without leaving the GTA.
The corporation has gone beyond merely closing off the street, though. Realizing that special programming and events also ...
July 28th, 2006
Withrow Potluck Aug 4
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
Local TTC booster and provocateur Sean Learner is shifting focus briefly to do something extremely local and hold a potluck near his house in Withrow Park (on Logan south of Danforth). Inspired by Dufferin Grove Park, he wants to see if the same community involvement can happen in Withrow and figures a potluck is a good way to start. He says it's ok to advertise for this early "in case people want to start making their dish now" and that non-locals are allowed to come too. Or, at least, tell locals who might not read this about ...
Bike Lockers in T.O.
By Tammy Thorne // 3 Comments
The City of Toronto has launched its Bicycle Locker Pilot Project. You can now rent a locker for 10 dollars, per month for a minimum four-month term at Toronto City Hall and GO Transit's Exhibition Station. The lockers are designed to hold one bike plus gear.
There are 16 lockers located at City Hall, at the Elizabeth Street entrance. There are 6 lockers at the Exhibition GO station.
"Future locations will include the Toronto Island Ferry Docks and various public transit stations to increase transit access and use by cyclists."
The lockers at Exhibition Place are part of The ...
Infrastucture art
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
I was forwarded an interesting art exhibit called Safe Design sponsored by Safety Issues magazine that took place at the MoMA in New York last fall. A few items in the show were of particular interest: the security fence turned bench, the brass-knuckle (acutally stainless steel) rings for the ladies riding the subway late at night, and the whimsical metal chain links shaped as hearts. Here's a link to the rest of the gallery.
Flat Tire Fridays are No Fun
By Tammy Thorne // 6 Comments
Being a nine-to-fiver I have come to, somewhat unnaturally, appreciate the arrival of Friday. This Friday, however, is not up to snuff. I got a flat tire on my bike and had to walk it the rest of the way to work in the rain this morning. And, this is my second flat tire this week.
Could there be some kind of flat phenomenon happening in Toronto? Check out the BikingToronto blog today.
I too had originally thought today's flat was due to a faulty tube installed Wednesday at The Bike Clinic. But, after walking all the way to the clinic ...
July 29th, 2006
Lazy days of summer at Spacing
By Spacing // No Comments
Almost everyone who contributes to the Spacing Wire is on, or is going on, vacation over the next month. The destinations include Victoria BC, Ontario cottage country, San Francisco, San Jose, Seoul South Korea, Taipei Taiwan, and Stockholm Sweden. We're going to try and keep posting to the Wire during these excursions but we can't guarantee the usual regularity.
On the bright side, Spacing editors will have first-hand reports from abroad examining street life and the public realm of distant places.
July 30th, 2006
Name calling on the TTC
By Spacing // 64 Comments
Craig Cal, Spacing's new transit beat writer starting in the fall, sent along this TTC anecdote.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After a Spacing editorial meeting last week, I wanted to share an experience that I had on the subway and see if other Torontonians have had a similar one.
Since the Ontario Human Rights Commission convinced the TTC to start announcing subway stops "clearly and consistently" last year, I've heard one too many driver's do so with the least bit of enthusiasm. I guess fun wasn't part of the mandate.
Thankfully, some ...
Street Signing Man
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
I've been interested in street signage since my early teen years -- I think my first act of admiration for our wayfinders came when I was 14 and tried to steal a street sign that shared the same name with a girl I had a massive crush on (I was unsuccessful as a neighbour drove by and asked why I was standing on a mailbox with a screwdriver in hand). This fascination has carried into my professional life -- that's why last year, for our Public Art issue, I commissioned Marc Ngui to create new wayfinding ...
Weekend headlines on public space issues
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Christopher Hume has a great piece in the Star today about the redevelopment of Beirut during the 1990s and its connection to Toronto's waterfront dreams. Here are some other headlines:
• Docks toasts courts decision [ Globe and Mail ]
• A hushed silence descends on clubland [ Globe and Mail ]
• Drumming up a little support [ Globe and Mail ]
• Where's our Jane Jacobs Blvd.? [ Globe and Mail ]
• An Angel earns his wings [ Globe and Mail ]
• Guardian Angels get warm welcome [ Toronto Star ]
• Big ...
July 31st, 2006
Water, water, everywhere…
By Ian Malczewski // No Comments
It looks like the summer's high temperatures and humidity have sparked a lot of talk about the Waterfront these days. Today, Christopher Hume has an article in the Star about the ever-controversial plan to drop a new power plant in the portlands:
If there's a quick way to kill a neighbourhood, even before it has been built, this could well be it. Who would want to invest — or live — in a development located next to a large industrial complex?
Meanwhile, a few days ago another Star article weighed in on the Docks vs. Islanders debate which ...
Heat, heat, everywhere…
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
The Toronto Star has three articles that are inter-related. The first one is about Baby Boomers and how they will bear the brunt of smog-related illnesses over the next quarter century. I was struck by one of the stats provided: by 2026, up to 4,000 deaths each year in Toronto will be premature due our poor air quality. This made me wonder -- if our drinking water was helping contribute to 4,000 premature death each year wouldn't everyone would in this city be in a panic? But since the air is unseen, maybe we refuse ...
August 1st, 2006
Nature in the Garage
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Nature in the Garage, an exhibition carried out by Gallery 1313, in association with liveARTs, and in partnership with the City of Toronto, runs from June 29 to August 6, 2006. This project houses ten artists from Canada and abroad, each using a Royal Outdoor garden shed which will be placed in several primary locations in downtown Toronto including City Hall, Fort York, Harbourfront Centre, and the Drake Hotel. Artists include Mary Anne Barkhouse (Minden, Ontario), Catherine Bodmer (Montreal/ Switzerland), Maria Fernanda Cardoso (Australia), John Dickson (Toronto), Noel Harding (Toronto), Yvonne Lammerich (Toronto), Gwen MacGregor (Toronto), ...
Pool Party Tonight
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Local playwright and troublemaker Darren O'Donnell sent this note this morning -- seems the pools are open late:
10PM Alexandra outdoor pool at Dundas and Bathurst.
Last night was really fun and - weather permitting - tonight will be
more fun.
To confirm that the pools will be open call this number after 3PM:
416-338-POOL then press 2 and 5
Bring beachballs.
Please Fwd.
Toronto vs. Reprazent
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
Continuing with presenting videos shot in Toronto that show the city in a neat way, this 1998ish video from Roni Size & his Reprazent collective was mostly filmed around town. It's neat because they make the streetcars and the traffic jam on the Gardiner dance.
I like how the dudes are mildly concerned that the basketball players are stuck in mid-air loop, but not so concerned to get upset. I saw the tour for this album when it came to Detroit back then (it won Britian's Mercury Prize too -- the "alternative" award ...
Things That Move: streetcar doc on HistoryTV
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Back in the winter, I was interviewed about Toronto's streetcars for an episode in a documentary series called Things That Move for History Television. On Wedensday at 8:30am and 6:30pm the show about streetcars will air. I did a pretty crappy job of answering their questions so I bet my interview ended up on the floor of the editing room.
There will be also be episodes on subways, taxis, garbage trucks, ambulances, and roller blades but the producers are unsure when those episode will air. For more info check out www.historytelevision.ca and click “ON TVâ€
photo ...
August 2nd, 2006
Solar-powered trash compactors that don’t recycle
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Most large cities in North America are facing their own garbage crises, so Toronto shouldn't feel it's the only one trying to find solutions to street-side waste.
Boston has done something to raise our eyebrows both positively and negatively -- they have introduced a solar-powered trash compactor called Big Belly (much better than EUCAN's "megabin", probably one of the least imaginative monikers I've ever heard).
The bins are powered by photoelectric panels, which supply power to motor-driven compactors inside. Workers extract neat, 40-pound trash bricks instead of trying to handle the loose contents of bins stuffed to capacity. ...
Solid & Friendly San Jose California
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
I saw this utility cover on a walk through downtown San Jose last night. It's so solid looking, and tells you exactly where you are. There are chunks of Toronto infrastructure that say "Toronto" on them -- not just a tacked-on sign, but engraved or forged. It's good -- but there isn't enough of it. (Suzan Krepostman wrote about our utility covers in a previous issue of Spacing). There is a certain "solidness" to American cities that always impresses me...even fast growing Western cities like San Jose, a town of 200,000 in the early '60s now ballooning up ...
Extreme Bike Lockers
By Tammy Thorne // 5 Comments
The City of Toronto launched its new bike locker program last week. I posted on this, and one clever fellow replied, in part;
At $10 per month, this is the cheapest rent in Toronto. I'm pretty short, I think I could squish up in there with some bedding and pillows, maybe drill a few air holes. I could bring my laptop and take advantage of the free Toronto wireless Internet and it could double as my office.
Well, my friend, it would appear that you might be on to something...sort of.
The Bike Boutique of Singapore ...
August 3rd, 2006
Toronto waterfront enters Hall of Shame
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Project for Public Spaces in New York has a fantastic website that offers up lots of interesting urban planning solutions. One of their features is a Hall of Shame, and Toronto's waterfront has made just been inducted! Woo hoo! Though, I was left wondering if there was a typo for their section titled "What Puts Toronto Waterfront in the Hall of Shame?" It has many more nice things to say than negative things.
Here's a link to the PPS's 60 of the greatest places in the world.
photo from PPS.org
Headlines worth following: Aug 2
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
• Toronto police to use closed circuit TV at Caribana parade [ National Post ]
• Police to film street party [ Globe and Mail ]
• Ad on building wall intrusive [ National Post ]
• Taxis not cool with A/C bylaw [ Toronto Star ]
• Fight between TPA and City over ditch dig symbolic [ Toronto Star ]
• Why can't Toronto put its civic money where its mouth is? [ Toronto Star ]
• Fight gridlock with planning [ Mississauga News ]
• New BMX park construction begins at Dufferin & Dupont [ ...
Pirates of the Streetcar party
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Pirates of the Streetcar Party: A fundraiser for Newmindspace
Friday, August 4th 2006, Bathurst & Wolseley @ 7:30p
Our friendly, freaky friends over at Newmindspace are putting together a fundraising event with a Streetcar party. Here is the email they sent us:
Ahoy! Mysterious mermaids and plundering pirates alike, join us as we weigh anchor and set sail upon the seven streets. Plunder Parkdale, hornswoggle High Park and swashbuckle in Seaton Village. Shake yer booty with buccaneers and scallywags from the briney deep. Grab yer grog 'n get ready to caper with the best! Yarrr! Come in ...
Major walking conference coming to Toronto
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
City Council has just approved a proposal for Toronto to host the major world annual conference on pedestrianism, Walk21, in 2007, in conjunction with Green Communities Canada. It will be a major event. The conference is being held in conjunction with the city's recent initiative to develop a pedestrian master plan. The idea is that the conference will provide the city with feedback and ideas for the development of the plan, and that there will be a whole series of walking-related activities alongside the conference.
Read the staff proposal for hosting Walk21 here (PDF).
It's a really ...
August 4th, 2006
Get tangled this Sunday
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
This Sunday, the Toronto School of Creativity and Inquiry is coordinating a conversation on entangled territories in the city. Not only will it address sticky urban issues like the protecting our urban spaces, it will be hosted within Adrian Blackwell's public art piece called carpool. carpool uses parked cars as the base for a tent-like shelter, and the conversation will go on in and between the car-building. There will also be an opportunity to rock out with Republic of Safety later in the day. All are welcome. Here's the details:
Entangled Territories
A Toronto School of Creativity ...
EUCAN and misinformation
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
The Megabin project is dead, but the war or words is still raging. Joe Clark, Leslieville's loudest booster, recently found EUCAN misleading the public (once again) in one of the Town Crier community papers. Clark methodically picks through the quotes from EUCAN reps and the lack of journalistic research by the Town Crier. He also has a good post about the survey results. One of the quotes Clark cites is from Rolando Garcia, CEO of EUCAN.
“All the reports that the city produced, even the ones regarding the opinion of the people, and the people ...
Sam Javanrouh photo from lightning storm
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
Sam Javanrouh, the world famous Toronto photoblogger and regular Spacing contributor, captured this amazing photo of the lightning storm we had the other night. You can see it bigger on his site or on Flickr.
Friday’s headlines before you leave for the long weekend
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
• The Way We Were: Simcoe Day history [ Toronto Sun ]
• Up on cripple creek [ National Post ]
• NYC group flunks T.O.'s waterfront [ National Post ]
• Absolute development still evolving [ Globe and Mail ]
• Taking safety to the streets [ Toronto Star ]
• Police patrol boozing boaters [ Toronto Star ]
• Queen's Wharf uncovered: what should the City do? [ Blog TO ]
August 5th, 2006
New fuel tank gauge
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
from the Christian Science Monitor
August 6th, 2006
Weekend headlines on public space issues
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
• Running scared? Why dogs, Gardiner are not election issues [ Toronto Star ]
• Ending GTA gridlock tops readers wish list [ Toronto Star ]
• Greatness eludes Canada's top architect [ Toronto Star ]
• Who'd give Miller a fight? [ Toronto Star ]
• Tearing down the past [ Globe and Mail ]
• Misguided Angels [ Globe and Mail ]
• Docks can only fume in silence over Island parties [ National Post ]
• Nevermind the gap, cyclists [ National Post ]
• Real cost of suburbia [ Reading Toronto ]
photo from ...
Alley Jaunt and the evolving fence
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Alley Jaunt will take over the laneways in the Little Italy neighbourhood this coming weekend (August 12-13). I am a sucker for laneways and find this event to be exciting because I get to see creative art installations at the same time as exploring the spaces of people's private property. You can download a map that shows you where each garage display is located.
I have also been following the trials and tribulations of Alley Jaunt participant Susan Rowe Harrison through her blog Lunule. She has been working on numerous designs of a fence. She ...
The “Bystander Effect”
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
The Star ran an interesting story this week about the "bystander effect." Apparently, when a crime is happening in public, the likelihood of a bystander doing something about it is inversely proportional to the number of people around. It's completely counter-intuitive, but the more people are witness to the crime, the less likely it is that even any single person will do something (e.g. intervene, call 911). Basically, it's because because everyone thinks someone else will do something.
It's interesting to think about this in light of Jane Jacob's "eyes on the street" theory, which holds that crime is less ...
August 7th, 2006
Front yard art
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing's very own Leah Sandals was asked to curate Toronto's front yard art scene by the Toronto Star -- the piece ended up being a two-page spread in Sunday's paper. You can read online, but is much better to see in print on a broadsheet. Go look through the reycling bin.
photo by Matt O'Sullivan
Street Scat
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
A handful of these fine things are scattered around the downtown San Jose. They're in other cities like San Francisco and Paris, and in San Jose it costs 25c to go. The low cost may still be prohibitive as I've already accidentally walked through a river of pee coming from a man hiding in a storefront one night as I was walking along -- we made eye contact, and at least one of us wished we weren't there.
Public toilets are good, and discourage this sort of behavior mostly. Toronto used to have them all over ...
Turning turnstiles into energy
By Spacing // 10 Comments
From our soon-to-be transit correspondent Craig Cal
- - - - - - - - -
This is the type of progressive thinking the TTC and the City of Toronto badly needs.
The East Japan Railway company (JR EAST) has a fantastic Research & Development centre dedicated to achieving five goals: safety and stability improvement, convenience and comfort improvement, promotion of reduction in costs, contributions to the global environment, and new developments for stations.
One of their many interesting research initiatives is a ticket gate which contains piezo elements under the floor, producing electricity as people walk through it.
“When combined ...
August 8th, 2006
SPACING: What do you want City Hall to accomplish?
By Spacing // 5 Comments
On November 13, 2006, Toronto will elect a new city council. Over the next four years, the city will face numerous challenges and opportunities and we need our elected representatives to get things done. No more excuses, please.
Spacing is asking its readers what they would like to see city council accomplish during the next term in office.
Please email us your ideas and we may publish it/them in our upcoming issue (September 2006). Please keep your ideas to 50 words or less. It can be as simple as "make green roofs and solar panels mandatory ...
Liberated billboard
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Just north of Dundas West station. Good catch, BlogTO. Torontoist also has the goods.
Toronto street signals introduced 81 years ago today
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
southwest corner, Yonge and Bloor, 1923.
On this day in 1925, Toronto got to use street light signals for the first time at the Yonge and Bloor intersection. Police officers (as seen above) directed traffic at the time. Read more in Mike Filey's "The Way We Were" in today's Toronto Sun.
photo from Toronto Archives: Fonds 1231, file 1231 it2089
August 9th, 2006
T-shirts I like
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Threadless.com is an ongoing t-shirt design competition. Each week, four to six designs (out of 600) are selected and sold through the oneline store. Two designs that may be of interest to Spacing readers are above and below. Read more about the bike design here and the pedestrian one here.
Royson James Calls For Subway 401
By James Bow // 7 Comments
Royson James, columnist for the Toronto Star, and potentially a decent candidate to be mayor one day, has taken the city, the GTA and the province to task for not doing more to solve the transportation woes of our commuters. In his column (found here), he calls for David Miller, Hazel McCallion, Bill Fisch (Regional Chair of York) and Roger Anderson (Regional Chair of Durham) to sit down and hammer a skeleton GTA transportation plan that they can take to the province with the full weight of the GTA's four million voters behind it.
Among James' favoured projects:
a cross-GTA ...
Calinfrastructure
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
I'm not sure if it's boring or interesting or just weird to post pictures of foreign garbage cans -- but I'm always struck at the choices cities make when deciding if their street furniture will behave like street furniture or behave like a billboard. Leaving aside Garbage Can Ontology (surely a grad program at some liberal arts college somewhere), these green things in San Jose just look nice and blend in, helping the city function rather than adding to the clutter. There are also solid cement ones with neat silver tops around too. As far as I've ...
Bike Theft Under Police Noses
By Dylan Reid // 40 Comments
A Star reporter wrote a story today describing how her bike was stolen from in front of police headquarters.
It's a perfect symbol of how little police in this city care about bike theft, whose ubiquity is probably one of the significant deterrents to cycling in this city.
I suspect that, with even a modest dedicated program, the police could significantly reduce theft in the city, by cracking down on the ways stolen bikes are re-sold. Most of them probably go through a small number of bike shops. Shut down these shops with a few sting operations, and make sure the ...
August 10th, 2006
High graffiti
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Spacing Wire reader Mark Liechti sent along this image: graffiti on a building, really high up. That's not what is impressive -- rather, he hasn't seen graffiti on a new development so soon. I agree. Usually, it takes a few weeks after an unveiling for the first tag to go up. Combined with the height and placement, this could up the ante for other taggers, so to speak. For a larger view click here.
What about winter?
By Ian Malczewski // 3 Comments
Maybe last week's insane heat really did affect my head, but in a small way I found myself looking forward to winter. While summer will always be the time we celebrate freedom and outdoor activities, there's a serene beauty in winter that only those of us who are forced to live through it can find.
I suspect one of the reasons we fear winter so much is because suddenly our public spaces become inhospitable and unfriendly; they're places to avoid rather than hang out. One of the last places we think to go during the winter is the ...
The bright lights and tall towers of Bundang
By Dale Duncan // 2 Comments
I've spent the past two weeks in the neighbourhood of Bundang in the city of Seongnam, South Korea. (My business here is not Spacing-related — I'm teaching at a two-week summer English camp, then off for a four-day visit of Seoul, then flying to Taiwan for a four-day visit of Taipei.) We've been referring to Seongnam as the Misissauga of Seoul. You can take an express bus to the capital city in about half an hour; it's mostly residential here, and the malls and plazas are plenty.
We've been spending a lot of our little free time in Samsung ...
Cyclists Wanted!
By Tammy Thorne // No Comments
As was posted earlier in Spacing, Queen's Quay west from Spadina to York will be partially closed to car traffic from August 11 - 20th as part of the Quay to the City: Summer 2006 event, and as a sign of good things to come for the waterfront.
Car traffic will be replaced with bike lanes, as well as a kilometre-long stretch of 12,000 red geraniums and a picnic lawn the length of almost ten football fields.
Two four-storey sculptures built with more than 600 bicycles will highlight the temporary new section of the popular Waterfront ...
August 11th, 2006
What to do if someone is stealing your bike
By Matthew Blackett // 18 Comments
The Toronto Star is reporting about a 31-year old man who caught a 16 year old stealing his bike. Read all about it here.
A 16-year-old boy remains in hospital after a 31-year-old man caught him trying to steal his bike last night, police say.
Emergency medical personnel were called to Bloor St. and Dundas St. W. after the teen was punched in the neck during a scuffle with the man shortly after 8 p.m. yesterday, said Det. Niels Sondergaard. The boy was transported to St. Michael's Hospital with serious, but non life-threatening injuries....
Stockholm syndrome
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
I'm in Stockholm, Sweden for a week and plan to post my observations about the city's public realm as much as possible during my time here. I got in late today after spending 8 hours waiting in NYC to transfer to my Swedish flight (thank you, Red Terror Alert). Anyway, the first thing I saw after I walked out of Central Station (Stockholm's Union Station) was row upon row of bikes locked up (above photo). I think it bodes well for my trip.
Also, Joe Travers at Biking TO has posted real-life photos of the Quay to ...
August 12th, 2006
Pedestrian Collisions
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
The City of Toronto recently released the statistics for collisions involving pedestrians in 2005 (PDF file).
Although the year-to-year changes are slight, the total number of collisions has been going down slightly every year in recent years, which is promising. There are still far too many, though: 2,233 reported, with 29 pedestrians killed.
There are some interesting details in the statistics. For example, the time of day that witnessed the most collisions was between 3 and 4 in the afternoon -- when schools let out. Unfortunately, the city does not cross-index the time with the age of the victims, ...
August 13th, 2006
Weekend headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
• Bike sculpture built for 300 [ Toronto Star ]
• HUME: Glorious kick in the asphalt [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto's east-west divide [ Toronto Star ]
• Blogtown: Spacing and TTC driver stories [ National Post ]
• Debate over video taping in public [ National Post ]
• Park goes arty with toilet in park [ National Post ]
• World's Fair? It all depends on the plan [ National Post ]
• It's not all Greek at Taste of the Danforth [ Toronto Sun ]
• Truck blitz sees one-third pulled over ...
August 14th, 2006
Blackout in Kensington
By Matthew Blackett // 14 Comments
Today is the anniversary of the 2003 Blackout. Though it was extremely hot that night, it was also one of the best days I have ever experienced. I have heard some amazing stories from friends about that fateful day. I would like Canada (or Toronto) to turn the lights off for one day a year in the summer. It will remind us how special the comforts of our daily lives really are.
From today's Globe and Mail:
Three years later, memories live on about the blackout that crippled northeastern North America.
After leaving work in Kensington Market in 2003, Ms. Carriere ...
August 15th, 2006
Cambridge Pocket Park
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
In September 2004, the University of Waterloo School of Architecture relocated into an abandoned factory warehouse in the urban core of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. By relocating to the abandoned silk mill, the school has triggered a revitalization of Downtown Galt which had fallen into decline.
This injection of new minds has begun to initiate conversations concerning the role of the School and its contribution to public space in its new urban setting. Taking the challenge into their own hands a group of students designed and built a temporary installation of a pocket park beside ...
Kensington Labyrinth
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
They've painted a labyrinth in Kensington Market, at the corner of Kensington and St. Andrew. I believe it's part of the Kensington Pedestrian Sundays festival.
It's reminiscent of the "intersection repair" work done by Portland's City Repair organization.
August 16th, 2006
Cool Mist in Qatar
By Chris Hardwicke // No Comments
As gas prices rise Toronto's transit and cycling infrastructure is under attack. First it was the bike rings now it is the transit shelters.
Meanwhile in Qatar, oil money is building new mist-cooled cycling paths - a warm weather solution to an international need.
Two-by-four lore
By Tammy Thorne // 10 Comments
What should you do if you see someone with a two-by-four at a bike locked to a ring and post bike stand?
As we know from recent city cycling news, there is at least one person who might advise a swift punch in the neck.
But the City of Toronto is asking that you call 416-392-9253 (416-39CYCLE) or email bikeplan@toronto.ca to let them know the time of day and location of any broken ring-and-posts.
The City investigated the potential for the R&Ps to be busted with a two-by-four following many recent news reports.
David Tomlinson of the City's Transportation Services ...
Ride a Peter Witt streetcar, September 3
By James Bow // 1 Comment
The Toronto Transportation Society will be offering Torontonians one of the few opportunities to travel Toronto's streets in a vintage Peter Witt streetcar. As part of their annual Transportation Weekend festivities, the TTS will be chartering the TTC's two remaining PCCs and Peter Witt car 2766 for a tour of the city's streetcar network on Sunday, September 3, 2006.
This four hour excurion will start at the corner of Victoria and Dundas Streets at 10:30 a.m. Passengers will receive colour coded tickets, and will spend an equal amount of time in each of the three vehicles, ...
August 17th, 2006
More stolen bike tales
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Over at the blog The Tea Makers, there are images of a fellow who CBC security wants to chat with. He has been seen working on bike locks in 30 second to 1-minute intervals.
Read more here.
* moonlight bike ride *
By Chris Hardwicke // 3 Comments
Who could resist a moonlight bike ride on a fine August night?
Quiet, peaceful, and lit by streetlamps, the city takes on a new, almost more personal, character after dark.
Saturday, August 19, starting at 10pm and ending at midnight. The meeting point will be Healy-Willan Park, located at the intersection of Ulster and Euclid. The course will include laneways, Yonge Street, some public art sites, at least one industrial area (perhaps near King and Niagara), and the Bike Arch at Queen's Quay.
August 18th, 2006
Getting Oriented
By Laura Hatcher // 4 Comments
A helpful stencil artist is making it easier for you to get your bearings after leaving the subway -- someone has been spray painting directional arrows on the sidewalk just outside TTC exits. I noticed one today at King Station on my way home from work, and just now at two of the Spadina Station exits.
August 19th, 2006
Stockholm syndrome, part II: BIKES
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
I just returned from a week in Sweden and was quite taken by the country's advanced urbanity. I have a couple posts to make about my trip with some general observations and a few photos (thank you Bouke Salverda for your camera!). There are a few similarities between Toronto and Stockholm, most notably being the temperature and terrain. The place has been around for awhile (mid 1200s) so we could learn a thing or two from them.
Seeing as bike racks have been a news item in Toronto over the past week, I may as well as start ...
Saturday’s public space headlines
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
• Roadsworth getting his street cred [ Toronto Star ]
• A problem with the Beav on Ward's Island [ Toronto Star ]
• A garden of delights at Downsview [ Toronto Star ]
• Our long affair with the CNE [ Toronto Star ]
• DIY neighbourhood re-design [ Globe and Mail ]
• Portlands power plant imminent [ Toronto Sun ]
• Sidewalk stamps [ Torontoist.com ]
• Night of the living air conditioners [ Reading Toronto ]
August 20th, 2006
Nothing Sacred
By Ian Malczewski // 7 Comments
We've already seen subways, streetcars, and subway stations wrapped in advertising, but we can now add another part of our infrastructure to the list: the island ferries. I was headed to the islands yesterday and was unpleasantly surprised to see all three ferries completely wrapped in huge ads. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so you'll just have to imagine the ferry pictured above covered with monkeys selling cell phones. Another battle for the Toronto Public Space Committee?
August 21st, 2006
How to Upholster a Tree Stump
By Chris Hardwicke // 1 Comment
Madelon Galland reports on his Tree Stump project in SuperNaturale. I remember seeing one of the stumps last time I was in New York and always wondered what the story was:
The STUMP project began in 1999 on the sidewalks of New York City — the sidewalk plots where there are tree stumps are generally neglected spaces left to collect debris. The tree stumps reminded me of the childhood story, The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein, in which a tree has given of herself to the point of being diminished ...
We tear down the good to erect the bad
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Toronto skyline, 1931
Christopher Hume had an excellent piece in the Star yesterday. His opening three paragraphs are a reminder of what we've let our city become:
The problem isn't that Toronto tears down so many buildings, but that it tears down the wrong buildings.
Instead of destroying the good stuff, which is in short supply, we should be ridding ourselves of architectural blight, of which there is plenty.Rather than tearing down landmarks such as the recently disappeared Inn on the Park, the soon-to-be-gone half-round building at Bridgepoint Health (formerly Riverdale Hospital), and the former Bata Shoe Headquarters, not to ...
BikeFriday starts THIS FRIDAY!
By Tammy Thorne // 2 Comments
Do you know someone who would like to ride their bike to work, but is too nervous to ride in traffic?
Have you ever experienced the wonderfully safe feeling of a group ride through the city?
This is the idea behind BikeFriday: safety in numbers.
From the bikingtoronto blog:
Remember the kick-off to BikeWeek? The great "group commute" of thousands of bike commuters travelling west from Danforth and Woodbine, east from Bloor and High Park...as well as many other start-points around the city?
It was great to have bikes be so prevalent on the roads that day that it ...
The Streets of San Francisco painted and lubed up
By Shawn Micallef // 9 Comments
Toronto has been called "San Francisco upside down" because where they have hills, we have ravines. Their Victorians are wooden, ours are brick. The city itself is walk-able, bike-able and cozy and urban, safe-seeming and friendly. Too friendly, maybe. Eye contact everywhere. Eye contact then smiles even, as people pass by. I tried to smile back but couldn't do it fast enough due to the surprise, so I left a trail of unanswered smiles throughout the city. I thought walking around smiling constantly would avoid this, but it felt a little too weird and hippy-dippy Californian to do ...
A New Solar Power
By Ian Malczewski // 4 Comments
What if every window in the financial district could be transformed into a translucent solar power generator, powering anything from the lights to the elevators in the buildings? A company called XsunX is currently developing technologies to help achieve environmnetally sustainable power options. Their first development is a solar power generator called Power Glass. When the windows are exposed to light, they begin to convert the solar energy into electricity:
Power Glassâ„¢ represents a new breed of solar cell design that balances solar cell efficiencies and manufacturing costs with broad applications and uses. The Company ...
August 22nd, 2006
TTC Today: no firm funding, bad mojo at helm, future of the RT
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
The federal Conservatives has said that funding for subway expansion is not firm. From the Toronto Star:
Federal funding to help extend the Spadina subway line to York University and into Vaughan is far from a sure thing, warns Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
In his most pointed comments yet on the proposed $2 billion TTC expansion, Flaherty had some sobering news yesterday for subway riders." There isn't any firm money on the table," he told the Toronto Star. While Flaherty said he has been having "constructive discussions" about the long-awaited subway extension with Ontario counterpart ...
Three people don’t make it “mixed reviews”
By Matthew Blackett // 15 Comments
The Star has an article today about the Queen's Quay pedestrian/bike lane experiment. They had quotes from three residents who didn't seem pleased with the short pilot project. Only one of them complained about traffic complications (she was upset about having to wait for cyclists and pedestrians to cross the street), while the others thought the $1 million price tag was a waste. Somehow this is considered "mixed reviews." I get a little annoyed when media outlets try to show two sides of the story but provide only one or two weak voices of objection. And in ...
So Much for a Bike Lane
By Dylan Reid // 22 Comments
It's bad enough that the city only created 1 km of bike lanes last year. What's even worse is that the city is allowing those bike lanes that do exist to be systematically torn up and made unusable.
The above image is of the northbound bike lane on Beverly Street, one of the most heavily used in the city. A contractor is doing some kind of sewer or watermain work on the street, right under the bike lane. When they're finished, they are doing an appalling slapdash patch job, ...
August 23rd, 2006
Weston Residents Demand Improved Transit Vehicles, Route Change
By James Bow // 8 Comments
Crossposted with Transit Toronto.
A community group based out of Weston, called ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) are holding a public meeting at the Weston Public Library (2 King Street in Weston) at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow to organize a campaign to improve public transit along Weston Road.
The group's main complaint seems to be the use of old TTC buses, especially rebuilt fishbowls, along the 89 Weston route. They are demanding that newer buses be used instead, and the route made fully accessible.
With the Weston population including a high proportion of young families, disabled and ...
More on subway extension
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
TTC and York Region officials are applying pressure to Ottawa, according to the Toronto Star, after the Conservatives said they are not ready to commit to funding the subway extension to York U and the Vaughan City Centre.
"The subway coming to Vaughan is not just for Toronto and Vaughan, it is important for the whole region," said Vaughan Mayor Michael Di Biase. "We are building a huge transit hub for the entire Greater Toronto Area. People can come from north and east and west and just zoom downtown."
Di Biase was optimistic the Tories would fund the subway ...
Scarborough councillors see the LRT light
By Matthew Blackett // 17 Comments
We wrote the other day about a closed-door meeting about the future of the Scarborough RT. The Scarborough Mirror has a report on it:
Several Scarborough councillors, who met Tuesday with Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) officials in a closed-door meeting to discuss transit options for the area, are now saying that creating a network of LRT lines is the way to go.
"I think today's meeting is really the death of the Scarborough subway and the birth of massive public transit in Scarborough. And that, for me, is incredibly exciting," TTC Commissioner and Ward 38 Councillor Glenn De ...
Public Space Filling Up
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
Spacing Magazine is pleased to announce that Spacing Associate Editor Anna Bowness, along with her partner and Spacing contributor Matt Godden, have added to Toronto's ranks by producing River Sarah Bowness Godden last night at 8:24PM, weighing a reasonable amount for a new baby. Baby and parents are fine and happy that Toronto East General on Coxwell Avenue (All's well that's Coxwell) will forever be part of their lives. The view from the 7th floor maternity ward was good, and it was noted that all babies should be born with a clear sightline of the ...
Streets to Screens 2006 Outdoor Launch Party
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Free outdoor screening and launch party: Thursday August 24, 2006
Date: Thursday August 24, 2006
Location: Bellevue Square Park, Kensington Market
Time: 8:00 p.m. (screening to start at sundown)
After-party: Supermarket (268 Augusta)
Come celebrate the launch of the 2006 Streets to Screens, the fundraising film series for the Toronto Public Space Committee. Our Fall Season opens with a free outdoor screening at Bellevue Square Park, in the heart of Kensington Market. We'll be presenting a selection of seven family-friendly films courtesy of the National Film Board.
For more information: www.streetstoscreens.ca
August 24th, 2006
Quay to the City: Re-Lived!
By Ian Malczewski // 5 Comments
While the Quay to the City gave us a taste of what the revitalized Central Waterfront will be like, it also served another important function: it gave engineers a chance to see how the changes affected the flow of pedestrians, cyclists, streetcars, and car traffic.
The designers' website has a series of time-lapsed videos showing how they fared. It looks pretty smooth, and makes me miss the changes already...
DuskTOdark Cycling Adventure
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
On September 15, Toronto will see its first "Dusk TO Dark" evening mass cycle ride, a 25km trip through the waterfront starting at Fort York at dusk. The event is modelled after Montreal's successful "Tour la nuit" event, which included 12,000 participants this year.
See Queen's Quay, the St Lawrence Community, the Distillery District, the Portlands, the West-Donlands development, the Esplanade, Liberty Village, CNE grounds, and top it all off with festivities before and after at Historic Fort York.
Each year, proceeds will go toward cycling education, infrastructure, and culture. This year's project will be building a bike parking pad at ...
Future of Island Airport Delayed
By Ian Malczewski // 2 Comments
Spacing seems to be the first media outlet reporting that the federal report on the Toronto Port Authority by Roger Tasse has been delayed. The report, which was expected to be completed by September, is now expected to be done by October 15th. This is not particularly good news for those wanting to see the dysfunctional TPA dismantled as soon as possible, but if it takes another month to get it done, we'll just have to wait.
August 25th, 2006
Friday’s headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
• Who said cops are lazy? Well, a Toronto Star reader did and asked the Fixer why, after nine years of amalgamation, the Toronto Police HQ on College at Bay has not changed its sign.
• Is it hip to be Dundas Square? [ National Post ]
• TTC backs Bombardier deal [ Toronto Star ]
• Highway shanty knocked down [ Toronto Star ]
• Big designs in small spaces: laneway houses [ Toronto Star ]
• Street meat vendors ticketed [ Globe and Mail ]
• Cherry St. bridge to close for four months [ ...
Port Authority appoints new board members
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Toronto waterfront, 1918
Yesterday, Spacing reported that the release of federal government report (the Tasse Report) assessing the need for the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) was delayed until October 15th. Today this came out of the Canadian NewsWire:
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, today announced the following appointments to the Toronto Port Authority's board of directors: Mr. Christopher M. Henley and Mr. Douglas Reid for terms of three years; Ms. Krista L. Scaldwell and Mr. Colin D. Watson for terms of two years; and Mr. Cameron J. Turner for a term of one ...
August 26th, 2006
Montreal Info Pillars
By Dylan Reid // 8 Comments
On a recent trip to Montreal, my host pointed out a new, larger type of info/ad pillar the city has introduced. Montreal has always had info/ad-pillars with ads on two sides and a map on the third, but these new ones are more aggressive.
What has to be said about the Montreal pillars (by contrast to Toronto's) is that at least the information they provide is genuinely useful. Each map is a detailed local map custom-made for that location (they even switch from north to south orientation depending on which ...
August 28th, 2006
The Lakeshore Median: Parkland or Parking?
By Ian Malczewski // 12 Comments
There's an article in the Globe and Mail today about the debate concerning parking for the newly restored Palais Royale. A plan is in place to put the 125 space parking lot on the grassy median between the eastbound and westbound lanes of the Lakeshore.
The city will also spend $160,000 to build a traffic light so pedestrians can safely cross three lanes of traffic on the Lakeshore to get to the venue. Some area residents are still unhappy, claiming the city never took some of their proposals seriously (like converting one of the lanes of the ...
Building Neighbourhoods along with Subways
By Dylan Reid // 15 Comments
Urban consultant and former councillor Richard Gilbert has a very interesting op-ed in the Star today arguing that each of the proposed new subway stations on the Spadina line to York should be accompanied by a medium-density neighbourhood built around it that would ensure that ridership would increase enough to pay for the new station over the long term.
To me, his most important point is that such new neighbourhoods, made up of mid-rise (7 storey) buildings, would need to be mixed-income. Lower-income citizens are more likely to take the subway, but most new dense developments in Toronto are primarily ...
August 29th, 2006
“Port Authority Wins”?
By Ian Malczewski // 18 Comments
John Barber's column in the Globe today betrays a sense of defeat about the Island Airport issue. You can find it in the Print edition of the paper or the paying portion of the website, but here are a few quotes in case your access is limited.
He says that lovers of a green waterfront
conceded the defeat of their fond, ultimately naive hopes within hours of hearing -- late Friday afternoon -- that Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon had appointed five new members to the largely vacant TPA board of directors. That was the definitive signal. Suddenly, the official review ...
Montreal Cycling
By Dylan Reid // 8 Comments
On my recent trip to Montreal, I found the city's cycling projects very interesting. Of course, Montreal cyclists will tell you they have many problems -- paths that go nowhere, and also some odd paths that shift back and forth between parallel streets (and are therefore ignored).
But what impressed me was the degree of intervention in the roadway exhibited by Montreal bike lanes. None of the apologetic "squeeze one in where convenient" approach of Toronto bike lanes. Montreal's bike lanes are interventionist, completely reshaping the roadway. Above is the major pavement markings ...
Croft Street Reborn
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
A year ago, I went on a walking tour of the Harbord Village area that ended at Croft Street, an utterly charming, unconventional laneway that was in the midst of being revitalized by its residents.
The Star reports that the final part of the transformation is being completed -- the painting of murals over much of the blank wall space, covering up the graffiti that previously existed. Many people will recognize in the photo, however, that much of the new art is itself by well-known graffiti artists. In effect, sanctioned, attractive graffiti art is replacing unsanctioned, random ...
August 30th, 2006
Streets to Screens: August 31
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
STREETS TO SCREENS
Toronto Public Space Committee fundraiser
The Mayor of Tent City
(Canada, 2005 • 53min)
Director: Rosalie Bellefontaine • Producer: belladonna productions
Friday August 31
7pm • Bloor Cinema • $9
Karl Schmidt is an ex-East German soldier, former fruit farmer, and once-successful contractor. Personal tragedy, bad luck, and worse circumstances found him alone and homeless on the cold streets of Toronto at the end of the millennium. Instead of entering the already-overburdened shelter system, Schmidt builds his own makeshift shelter on a toxic industrial brownfield along a desolate stretch of the waterfront. Using discarded construction materials and his own ingenuity, ...
Ootes doesn’t like bikes
By Tammy Thorne // 13 Comments
Okay, this isn't exactly a breaking news headline, I admit, (in fact, it could be called an understatement) but check out the latest anti-cycling installment from the weird world of Ootes-land, in the Beach-Riverdale-East York Town Crier:
Ootes pushes to get rid of bicycle lanes
Bikes slow down cars, forcing traffic on side streets, says report
Why does the Town Crier add "says report" when, in fact, the City of Toronto report says that the bike lanes had "little, if any, impact on traffic operations"?
A summary of the City's report can be seen here.
As for slowing down cars, the biggest increase ...
Every station club
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Over at Torontoist, David Topping has been posting an image every day, for 69 days, of a Toronto subway station, and today is the final day of the project. He is now the newest member of the Every Station Club. Congrats, David!
You can check out his set of photos on his Flickr site.
New Pedestrian Space, Montreal
By Dylan Reid // 9 Comments
This attractive little space is the result of the pedestrian-oriented rebuilding of Bernard Street, a minor mixed commercial/residential street in Montreal.
It's wonderful to note the many details that have gone into making this small space. The bulb-out sidewalks at each corner increase pedestrian space, slow traffic, and mean that pedestrians have only a short distance to walk to cross the street. There's a little bench for sitting any way you want (it was almost constantly occupied when I was there, waiting for a place at a restaurant). The tree has ...
August 31st, 2006
Queen and Portland
By Dylan Reid // 7 Comments
The large parking lot at Portland between Queen West and Richmond is one of the last major undeveloped sections of Queen Street West, and as such holds great potential to contribute or detract from this vibrant street.
Rumours have swirled around this site for years, but this Tuesday (August 29), there was a meeting at the back of the Cameron House organized by long-time local activist Deanne Taylor where we finally heard some hard information.
The lot has been purchased by RioCan, a large commercial developer. They have been in talks with various types of retailers, probably including Home Depot, about ...
September 1st, 2006
Popular August posts on the Spacing Wire
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
In mid-March of 2006 we decided to activate our comments section to let Spacing Wire readers have their say, too. We've been very happy with the tone, passion, and knowledge of our commenters. So we've decided at the end of each month to highlight the posts with the most comments.
Name calling on the TTC: 58 comments. This post is just outside our monthly range, but it is the most commented-upon post we've ever had on the Wire. Craig Cal, our transit beat intern, wrote about a streetcar driver who called out the names of each stop in ...
September 5th, 2006
SPACING: new issue in two weeks!
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
September is a busy month for Spacing. We have a few announcements to make (which you may want to mark down in your calendar).
1. New issue of Spacing! In two weeks, the newest issue of Spacing will be hitting the streets (September 18). Since the city will be in the throes of a municipal election over the next two-and-a-half months, we thought it would be appropriate for Spacing to outline the topics we feel City Hall needs to make its top priorities. We've even compiled report cards on our graduating class of city councillors: we ...
September 6th, 2006
Tuesday’s headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
• Follow the leader game just unfair to challengers: Royson James has a good piece in the Star today about the upcoming city election. "It's difficult to explain, but a near-record number of people is interested in running the City of Toronto. They've plumped down their deposit, signed nomination papers, and many have started campaigning via websites and door-to-door.This surge of candidates for Toronto City Council comes when the prospects of unseating an incumbent are as dim as ever. In fact, Tiger Woods has a better chance of winning every golf tournament he plays for ...
Mothership
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
Being in Edinburgh feels a bit like hanging out in Toronto's mothership -- the place where all the names we see everyday came from (but with much less civilized plumbing). Those early Scotch Scottish settlers in our city probably wanted to be reminded of home, but it's working in reverse for me. Wandering around the city, there are all these signs that remind me of Toronto -- but as you can see, the buildings at right don't much look like Palmerston or Eglinton -- though they are a bit like those townhouses just under Casa ...
September 7th, 2006
Artful Street Furniture
By Tammy Thorne // 6 Comments
Imagine a city where street furniture is designed by psychiatric survivors and artists. It's a far cry from a city with fully harmonized street furniture covered in advertisements.
Here's something to help spark your imagination.
The tree and dog sculptures-cum-bike stands were designed by a group of psychiatric survivors who meet at Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC) on Tuesdays.
The stand is out in front of PARC. There are, apparently, two more sculptures to be installed this month that incorporate solar panels. But, PARC administrators are trying to figure out how to theft-proof ...
September 8th, 2006
City Surfing
By Spacing // 3 Comments
City Surf is a new Toronto based company selling cool downloadable audio tours of some of our more famous neighbourhoods. For $9.99, the savvy traveller or neophyte Torontonian can experience the city as though a seasoned neighbourhood vet is showing you the ins and outs.
So far, City Surf has tours covering the St. Lawrence Market area, The Annex and Yorkville, with Kensington, Chinatown and Church Street up next and Montreal and Vancouver tours on the horizon.
Their even working on niche tours covering Toronto's art scene and quickie tours for business travellers with time to kill.
Check out their ...
September 9th, 2006
Subway Navigator
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
I was recently forwarded the Subway Navigator site which has a number of international cities' subway maps and can help you figure out how to get form one place to another underground. Toronto is listed and is currently the 5th most popular city requested.
It's good to see sites like these popping up. The TTC is trying to get Toronto listed on Google Transit, a map/directions site (currently, Portland is the only city in use).
Monarchs everywhere!
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Monarchs, monarchs, everywhere! From today's Star:
They're suddenly everywhere — majestic black and orange butterflies fluttering in your garden, preening on a fence, landing on the neighbour's flowers. This weekend, millions of monarchs — or Danaus Plexippus as they're known in Latin — are starting their long trek to winter in Mexico's Sierra Madre Mountains.
The skies above the city, and all around southern Ontario, are filling as they take flight en masse. While some left in mid-August, the bulk of monarchs in Ontario and Quebec will take flight over the next three weeks, depending on the weather. The ...
September 10th, 2006
Making the Streets Safe for Walkers (slowly)
By Dylan Reid // 3 Comments
Two interesting pedestrian initiatives are coming to the Works Committee of City Council on Monday, Sept. 11.
The first is a proposal to extend the crosswalk improvement program already begun on major arterials to minor arterial roads (PDF). It's a straightforward and useful proposal. The interesting thing is that, unlike many feel-good pedestrian gestures, it will cost some real money ($6.5 million over 4 years). This is a good opportunity to see if council is willing to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to pedestrians. Even if it is approved, it ...
New York looks to control ad blight
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Torontonians often use New York as an example of a North American city that has vibrant public spaces and decent urban planning. Specifically, we hear Yonge-Dundas Square compared to Times Square and how lively advertising can enhance a public space (which I disagree with on many levels).
The issue of advertising encroachment is important to Toronto -- our street furniture has increasingly become a vehicle for outdoor advertisers to push products (OMG bins, Monster bins, info pillars). The City is about to accept proposals for a 20-year street furniture contract that will be almost entirely funded through ad revenue.
How ...
September 11th, 2006
HUME: show some leadership, Pitfield!
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
I opened up my copy of the Star today to find a grumpy Christopher Hume. He laid into Jane Pitfield's platform of tax cuts and hiring freezes. His column paints a much different picture than Star-colleague Royson James who attneded the same press conference. Jeff Gray from the Globe and Mail had a good article about Pitfiled's platform launch.
It's better for me to pull out a few quotes from the Hume column:
One might have thought that after what the Mike Harris Tories wrought in this city and province — remember Walkerton? — such banalities would ...
September 12th, 2006
Vancouver and Victoria public spaces
By Spacing // 2 Comments
Andy Reeves will be covering ad creep and streetscape issues during the 2006 election for the Spacing Votes blog. Here's a report by Reeves from his recent travels out west.
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Travelling out from Toronto for the first time to Canada's west coast allowed me to ...
The Babe Gets a Plaque
By Spacing // 6 Comments
A new plaque honouring the site of Babe Ruth's first professional home run will be unveiled in a ceremony held at Hanlan's Point on September 19. Toronto author Jerry Amernic, whose novel, Gift of the Bambino, is based on the 92 year-old long ball, has led the effort to have the event officially commemorated.
The home run occurred on September 5, 1914 in the sixth inning of a minor league game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the visiting Providence Grays at Maple Leaf Park on Toronto Island. The stadium was demolished in 1937 and ...
Toronto Coalition for Active Transport
By Spacing // No Comments
Cycling, walking, and related organizations in Toronto have come together to form the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT). TCAT's goal is to make cycling and pedestrian issues a major factor in the upcoming municipal election. It has developed a platform of important issues that should be addressed by the city, and will be conducting a candidate survey. From the press release:
Active transportation (cycling and walking) is the most affordable, healthy and sustainable mode of transportation. A city where cycling and walking are safe and enjoyable is a great place to live. Toronto could be a world ...
September 13th, 2006
Ad-Hoc Urban Signage
By Michelle Kasprzak // 1 Comment
Tom at Fire in the Brain recently told a story of some guerilla signage with longevity in his community:
Last spring someone affixed a hand-written sign to a lightpost at the intersection of Fellowship Road and Church Street. I thought to myself "I better get a picture of that before it gets taken down, there's no way the town's going to leave that up there." I never did take that picture, and the never did take down the sign. It stayed all through the winter, even after the writing had faded away. This spring the ...
JAMES: New blood needed
By Matthew Blackett // 17 Comments
Photo of John Sewell by RENE JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR
This is the period during an election where the finer points of platforms are not usually debated in the media. Instead, over-arching persepctive pieces seem to dominate, setting the tone for the next 60 days. Today, the Star's Royson James dicsusses the need for new blood on City Council.
Sometimes, ordinary folk just can't seem to get a break. Especially at city hall.
And these days, old and recycled blood may have to do for those seeking new blood at the seat of local democracy.Welcome back ...
September 14th, 2006
TTC merchandise commentary in Eye Weekly
By Matthew Blackett // 16 Comments
Liz Clayton has a story this week in Eye about the new store TTC Transit Stuff (she also wrote about Spacing's subway buttons). Read the full article, but first a quote:
...so it was with high hopes that we greeted the quiet opening last month of a little store in the TTC's portion of Union Station. TTC Transit Stuff, as it is named with nearly postmodern utilitarianism, is the first formal TTC merchandising effort in many years. (An official gift shop once existed at Davisville head office, but the space was taken over by the ...
Rogue public art hits Disneyland
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
The BBC reports that graffiti artist celebre Banksy (hey, how many graffiti artists have their own monographs?) hit the Rocky Mountain Railroad at Disneyland with a figure less than Mickey-like. His rogue public art installation of a hooded figure to reference detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The Bristol, UK native is hitting SoCal for the next few days as part of a "top secret" street artist convention in LA. Tough if it's posted to the BBC and mediabistro.com, it's hard to see how it's ...
Pitfield won’t quit anti-panhandling bylaw
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
The Toronto Sun is reporting mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield won't let go of her anti-panhandling bylaw: "Mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield vowed yesterday to fire a shot next week in her battle for a bylaw that restricts panhandling. A new report from city lawyers warns that the courts would likely shoot down any outright panhandling ban. Such a prohibition would violate a beggar's constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of expression, says the legal report to next Monday's meeting of Toronto's policy and finance committee."
photo by Bouke Salverda
Inspiration for Toronto
By Dale Duncan // 7 Comments
In Toronto, connecting with our lost rivers means taking walks along the streets where they were buried. Talk about dismantling the Gardiner Expressway is just that, talk. In Seoul, South Korea, they managed to both dismantle an elevated expressway that cut through the city, and unearth the Cheonggyecheon, a river buried beneath it.
Just last year, Seoul's municipal government spent $360 million to have the stream uncovered. Walking along the river now is like being in a real life version of one of those urban planning student's thesis projects (see Chris Hardwick's VeloCity, or Jose Gutierrez's ...
September 15th, 2006
Subway Extension to East Mall Proposed
By James Bow // 11 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
This past Wednesday, Etobicoke community council voted to ask city staff to investigate the possibility of extending the Bloor-Danforth subway one stop westward from Kipling to the Dundas/East Mall intersection. The details were reported in Inside Toronto.
Councillor Peter Milczyn (Ward 5 - Etobicoke-Lakeshore) made the motion, to update an older Environmental Assessment and assess the costs required to acquire property for the extension.
The proposal differs from the other westward extension that has been proposed: from Kipling to Sherway Gardens and possibly Dixie GO Station, with provisions made for a future station stop at East Mall, ...
Hume has Stockholm Syndrome, too
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Even along the major roadways of Stockholm you find the different types of traffic are separate: bus lanes, car/truck lanes, and a fenced off cycling lane. Photo by MATT BLACKETT
In August, I spent some time in Stockholm, Sweden and came away amazed at how they have planned/organized their city and adapted to the realities of global warming and other environmental issues. The Star's Christopher Hume arrived a few days after I left and seems to have similar observations. On Thursday he wrote, "Will Toronto follow Sweden down road to less traffic?"
Around the world, people ...
Take the Tooker group ride Saturday
By Tammy Thorne // 4 Comments
To help reduce smog in the city and climate change, there are people busily working away at alternative transport options, which include cycling.
This Saturday, join fellow cyclists and bike activists for a group ride across Bloor-Danforth, where TakeTheTooker.ca supporters envision a bikeway connecting cyclists from Mississauga to Scarborough through the downtown core -- a living legacy for bike advocate Tooker Gomberg.
In the lead-up to the municipal election, Take the Tooker and cycling advocates are lobbying City Council candidates for a Bloor-Danforth bikeway -- the group ride is part of the campaign. There is ...
condo BOOM! opens next week
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
From September 21 to 30, The Theatre Centre (1087 Queen Street West) will be hosting condo BOOM!, an exhibit that aims to explore "the marketing, production, and development of condominiums, and their impacts on neighbourhoods."
The condo BOOM! program will feature panel discussions, workshops, walking tours, theatre, film, and will also be participating in Nuit Blanche on September 30. For more information on the project and events, click here.
September 16th, 2006
Low floor buses a bust
By Matthew Blackett // 19 Comments
Both Howard Moscoe and Chief General Manager Gary Webster say the new low-floor buses have been a failure due to their poor seating in the rear of the vehicle. Read about it in the Toronto Sun.
In its bid to squeeze as many seats as it could into the Orion 7 buses that lose some seating because of the low-floor, the TTC shoe-horned seats into the raised back of the bus.
"They're all jammed together so you can never get a comfortable seat unless your legs are two inches long," TTC chairman Howard Moscoe said.
"It's been a disaster," he ...
SPACING: John Lorinc joins our election coverage
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing is very excited to announce that John Lorinc, noted urban affairs journalist and author of the The New City, has joined the Spacing Votes election coverage team. John's columns will unwind the electoral spin and examine the pressing issues of the 2006 Toronto election.
John specializes in urban affairs, politics, education, culture and business. Lorinc has contributed to numerous Canadian publications since the late 1980s, including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Canadian Business, ROB Magazine, Saturday Night, Spacing, and The Walrus. Between 1995 and 2005, he was Toronto Life's urban ...
Hume’s Stockholm Syndrome II
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Christopher Hume is on a Stockholm kick. Today in the Toronto Star he writes about Hammarby Sjostad, a waterfront community built over the last decade on former industrial lands. Stockholm built the community on the site that was originally pegged to house an Olympic Village (Stockholm bid on the 2004 Games but lost to Athens). Sound familiar? There really is a striking similarity to what they have been able to accomplish and what Toronto is trying to do with the Port Lands.
When I visited Hammarby, I was blown away by the small environmental footporint the development had. ...
September 17th, 2006
Wade into Don River Park discussion
By Ian Malczewski // No Comments
The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation has invited the public to participate in a forum for the 7.3 hectare Don River Park. The forum takes place this Tuesday, September 19th at the Champagne Ballroom of the Novotel Toronto Centre, between 7 and 9 pm.
The park concept design stage is nearing completion and the design team, led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, will be presenting the evolution of their design since the last meeting held in July. The latest park concept includes refinements to programming elements (i.e. playgrounds, skate park and pavilion) and landscape components, as well ...
Burning for Sweden
By Dale Duncan // 8 Comments
Now that a deadline has been set to stop trucking Toronto's garbage to Michigan, the problem of what to do with the city's trash is on the minds of many gearing up to the election. David Miller has said incineration is not an option, but after reading Christopher Hume's (other) column in yesterday's Toronto Star, I can't help but question why.
Hume reports that in Sweden, where there are now 30 incineration plants, dioxin emissions in the whole country are one gram, compared with 35 grams in 1985 when only 18 plants existed. In Malmo, Sweden's third ...
Negotiating neighbourhoods
By Dale Duncan // 4 Comments
John Lorinc writes about Section 37 in yesterday's Globe and Mail. The term refers to part of the Planning Act that allows the city and developers to trade increased height or density in buildings for local improvements such as money to improve parks, install public art, or build affordable housing.
The picture above shows the heights of buildings developers are proposing along Queen Street West (looking east from the Gladstone Hotel). According to Lorinc, residents in the area have suggested developers hand over money to fund arts-related community improvements.
Here's a snippet of what Lorinc has to say on ...
The lost city of Chernobyl
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
I stumbled across a site with a batch of images from Chernobyl. Besides being abandoned, the city has also become a haven for graffiti artists. Also worth noting is how overgrown the place has become. It is amazing how a city can thwart nature when in constant use -- but once left for neglect, the weeds and trees easily take over. Check out the photo essay.
Edit by Shawn> Elena Filatova has this photo tour she took of her motorcycle ride through the Chernobyl area she calls "Land of the Wolves". Very spooky nuclear motorbike ...
September 18th, 2006
Wanted: a transit visionary for GTA
By Spacing // 5 Comments
cross-posted from Spacing Votes by Zach Slootsky
Why can't Toronto find someone with the guts to stand up for transit? This is the question that former TTC boss, Rick Ducharme, is asking in today's Toronto Star.
Wanted: One politician with a vision for a regionwide transit network, the ability to procure the funding to make it happen and the guts to back the plan when the going gets tough.
The job vacancy in the Greater Toronto Area has been around for years. Toronto Mayor David Miller and Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion have talked good games, ...
Power plant plans finalized for port lands
By Ian Malczewski // 12 Comments
The CBC is reporting that Mayor David Miller and residents near the port lands have lost their battle to stop the construction of a new power plant in the area.
The Ontario Power Authority inked a deal last week to purchase power from the Portlands Energy Centre, which will see the construction of a 550-megawatt gas-fired generating station on the shore of Lake Ontario.
The plant's construction is meant to stop the oft-quoted threat of "rolling blackouts" by 2008. The mayor and residents had hoped for a smaller, greener energy centre, but, as is often the ...
Dufferin Grove Park is building a place to pee
By Dale Duncan // 1 Comment
Everyone seems to like Dufferin Grove Park, and it's not hard to understand why. They've got outdoor bread ovens, a community garden, snack carts, wireless internet and a club house. They host Friday night suppers for the community and farmers markets and they aren't afraid to fight the city when stuffy bureaucracy gets in the way of what the community wants. Last summer they built a "cob courtyard", a structure made of an old fashioned sand-clay-straw mixture known as "cob. The idea was to create a place where people can gather, play, wash-up, and cook.
This summer ...
Garbage Can Fetish: Colonial Roundup
By Shawn Micallef // 5 Comments
Since the European capitals offer little in the way of culture, architecture and tourist attraction, there has been lots of time to look at some of the garbage cans in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Malta, and see if these places need to resort to ad revenue to support civic infrastructure. These are three places that all lived and/or live under the thumb of the English Colonial Oppression (TM) for a long while. The Maltese, however, got out -- either in 1964 or 1979, depending on which political party you ask -- while the Scottish, so says the writing on ...
September 19th, 2006
In a Significant City
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Local troublemaker and sometimes Spacing contributor Darren O'Donnell is doing a mobile bike thing this Friday and you are invited to join in:
Using the Gladstone Hotel as a departure point, Darren O'Donnell will lead a bike tour through significant parts of Toronto - significant for him and for others: the places he fell in love, where Otto Vass died, where chocolate comes from, where Joe Strummer was rude to him, where he lost his marbles and where he found them again. See the points where his city and your city intersect - he has lived on Heath, ...
Toronto’s garbage woes answered?
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
I sometimes watch City Council meetings on Rogers. Today I turned it on and found councillors debating whether to buy a landfill near London, Ontario. Here's info from CBC.ca's website.
Toronto Mayor David Miller announced Tuesday that the city plans to buy a landfill site near London, Ont., in a move to keep the city's trash troubles from piling up.
"This purchase is critical for the future of the city," Miller told reporters at city hall. "It allows us the opportunity to control our own future and … to provide security to the ...
September 20th, 2006
Sao Paulo mayor moves to ban billboards
By Spacing // 2 Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes -- by David Scrivener
While doing my evening news round-up I came across an interesting article on the BBC's website about a brash move by the mayor of Brazil's largest city.
Mr Kassab [Sao Paulo's mayor] has submitted a bill to the Sao Paulo city council that would completely change the urban environment, prohibiting practically all outdoor ads in their present form. "I know the bill is radical, but it's emblematic," he says. "It's controversial, but necessary for the city."
Ordinary Paulistanos are not too keen, fearing that the city's grey concrete would look even ...
New Toronto street signs
By Matthew Blackett // 31 Comments
Tonight, the City of Toronto has its first public meeting about the proposed new street signs.
In the Winter 2006 issue of Spacing, I wrote about the implementation of the City's street sign replacement program. The Transportation department had begun to replace the old City of Toronto signs (white background, black lettering, old time colonial feel, three dimensional) with larger, more reflective signs that mimicked the old style, but seemed like cheap knock-offs.
And I wasn't the only one who thought the new signs were a step backwards, at least from a graphic design perspective. The Transportation department ...
Will the Real Rick Ducharme Please Stand Up?
By James Bow // 3 Comments
Speaking with the refreshing candour of a man not interested in sucking up to the boss, former TTC General Manager Rick Ducharme weighed in on the issue of improving public transit in Toronto and spoke out against a mantra whispered by many a city councillor. In effect, he said, “no new subways.†Instead, he wishes the city would get off its backside and support more private rights of way for streetcars and buses.
“We can talk about plans, we can talk about co-ordination. You can talk about smart cards. All that to me is irrelevant. ...
Bike racks on buses get green light
By Tammy Thorne // No Comments
The expansion of the Rack It and Rocket Program is expected to move forward following a TTC meeting this afternoon.
The one-year pilot project was launched in June 2005 and extended through the summer of 2006 on seven bus routes.
A TTC project report on the pilot showed that the racks have been popular with both cyclists and non-cyclists, produced a few new TTC riders, and do not slow down bus timetables.
TTC staff recommended the program not be expanded to the rest of the system due to low usage levels. However, Councillor Adam Giambrone ...
September 21st, 2006
Party in the streets
By Ian Malczewski // 1 Comment
This Friday, September 22nd, join Streets Are For People for World Car Free Day. The annual parade begins in Trinity-Bellwoods Park around 4 PM and marches along Queen Street to City Hall. The organizers are the same people behind the Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, and have pulled together the ReEvolution Day Arkestra for the event.
Visit the organizers' site to read about the Code of Parade Ethics or instructions on how to throw a Parking Meter Party.
Streets to Screens tonight
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Streets to Screens September 21 Bonus Screening
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
7pm • Toronto Free Gallery • Free/PWYC
featuring:
Canada Vignettes: Toronto (Canada, 1978 • 1min)
City Limits (Canada, 1971 • 28min)
Regina Telebus (Canada, 1973 • 19min)
The City (Canada, 1972 • 14min)
Come out to the Toronto Free Gallery for the first night of free screenings courtesy of the Toronto Public Space Committee and the National Film Board of Canada. The films revisit the heyday of urban expansionism that swept the nation's cities during the ...
TTC Ponders 24 Hour Subway Service
By James Bow // 18 Comments
TTC Commissioners directed TTC staff yesterday to investigate the possibility of operating subway service overnight instead of shutting service down between 1:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The experimental service could be operated next year on the Yonge-University-Spadina line. The Toronto Sun has more details.
One of the arguments against 24 hour service is that shutting down the subway allows station and track maintenance to take place without disrupting passengers. However, Phillip Webb, who has studied this issue before, suggests that this maintenance period could be exchanged for occassionally shutting down sections of the subway for sixty hours over a weekend.
This ...
September 22nd, 2006
Re-imagining Lamport Stadium
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes -- post by Julia Lo
Unless you play field hockey, it's likely that most of you have never been to Allan A. Lamport Stadium near King and Dufferin in Parkdale. The giant stadium, which can hold approximately 9,000 spectators, is old, deteriorating, and often empty.
On Wednesday night, Parkdale-High Park councillor Sylvia Watson (who is not running for re-election as councillor after running on the Libreral ticket in the recent provincial by-election) and Doug McDonald from the Department of Parks, Forestry & Recreation held a public consultation meeting for the redevelopment of Lamport Stadium. They ...
Herb tea now, coffee later
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Art lovers, start saving up sleep now… In just over one week (well, 8 days, 6 hours, 24 minutes and 45 seconds, really) Toronto's first-ever all-night art festival Nuit Blanche will kick off, sending the nocturnal Culturati vulturalis scurrying for takeout espressos and glow-in-the-dark maps alike. What, besides undereye puffiness, will they be rewarded with? 23 curated exhibitions and 42 independent projects featuring featuring hundreds of artists all over the city, with 55 galleries and 142 other destinations on the roster — all night, and all free.
Here's just a few of the highlights to ...
It’s Car Free Day… do you know where your councillor is?
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted from Spacing Votes -- by Claire Salloum
September 22 (today!) is International Car Free Day. This year in Toronto, the city is having its first major weekday, downtown celebration in the history of Car Free day. I called around to a number of councillors to find out how they plan on celebrating. On the whole, of the councillors I spoke to, all were aware of what tomorrow is and either planned to participate, or were hoping to. Here are some of the highlights in order of who called me back first:
Adam Giambrone:
As Chair of ...
September 23rd, 2006
SPACING VOTES: 2006 election blog
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing has the launched our 2006 daily election blog, Spacing Votes.
Spacing Votes is a hub of news and analysis on a variety of urban landscape topics leading up to the Nov. 13 vote. We have assembled a team of 13 young writers and urban thinkers to spread out across the city and discover what residents and candidates want to happen at City Hall. Also on our team is John Lorinc, the award-winning urban affairs journalist (Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, Report On Business, Walrus) who will provide commentary on the events that will shape the election.
Toronto BIAs recognize disability issues
By Spacing // 1 Comment
by Andy Reeves, Spacing Votes correspondent
The Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) recently released a report entitled "Accessible Mainstreet." Its aim, according to the group's website, is to "remove many of the barriers people experience in public and commercial areas," as outlined by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
With this, TABIA and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association are currently working with the Ministry of Community and Social Services to promote accessibility issues and solutions to small businesses.
While TABIA's impetus is overtly market-focused -- it claims that "people with disabilities ...
David Topping’s every subway station trip
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
David Topping of Torontoist has a piece in the National Post today about his summer project 69 Stations -- he took a trip every day to one of Toronto's subway stops and did a short photo essay. In the end, he posted a photo from every station. Here's an excerpt or read the full story.
I should've listened to that bus driver at Jane Station.
It was May 23rd. Two weeks before, I'd decided that I wanted to photograph all of Toronto's TTC stations, and bring Torontoist along for the ride. Jane was only the fifth station ...
Trinity Bellwoods & Fancy Pants Polo
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
This may be too cute, but maybe it's just lovely. None of us have been to one of these events, so we can only judge from this flyer found in our inbox, and those shoes and socks are an exceptionally good sign so we're rooting for lovely. Also they seem to be auctioning off the deed to Trinty Bellwoods. Maybe go on your way to, or back, from Word on the Street in Queens Park -- or whatever it is people do on Sundays in the fine city.
September 24th, 2006
Spacing election issue at Word on the Street
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
On Sunday, Spacing will have a booth at Word on the Street, the huge book and magazine festival that takes over Queen's Park and Queen's Park Circle for the entire day (we're booth 167 if you really want to find us -- PDF, 1.4 MB). You can pick up a copy of the new issue, which focuses on Toronto's upcoming city election. You can also purchase a discounted 2-year subscription (you save over 30% off the newsstand price), or grab yourself one of our ever-popular subway station ...
September 25th, 2006
Future Billboards and Missing Toronto
By Shawn Micallef // 8 Comments
Last night I saw the new movie Children of Men -- it's about a dystopian Britain in 2027 where all the women are infertile, so the human race is going to die off. It's pretty good and relentless and depressing, but the art direction in it is great and there are a whole bunch of futuristic looking billboards around some of the sets. Moving LED screens on the sides of busses, ads that sort of floated in the air and standard-but-totalitarian ones like the one pictured above -- it was a bit like an updated take on Blade ...
BikeFriday rides again
By Tammy Thorne // No Comments
Get ready to roll! This Friday is the 2nd BikeFriday.
Back on August 25th, Joe Travers of bikingtoronto.blogspot started an initiative to get people thinking about biking in Toronto once a month, instead of just once a year at BikeWeek in the spring.
Here is a short report on the first BikeFriday:
August's BikeFriday received a lot of attention for something that went from idea to reality in less than 10 days. I was interviewed by the Toronto Star, CTV News, GlobalTV, and CFRB radio. While making me extremely nervous, it made me happy that biking in ...
Spacing and Daily Dose of Imagery present…
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Toronto's Old City Hall • photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
Spacing asked Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery a few months ago to take the cover photo for our new issue. We wanted to capture a unique angle of City Hall so we convinced the fine folks at the Sheraton Hotel to let us do a photo shoot from the top of their roof. Sam also spent time photographing the surrounding buildings and sightlines during our allotted time. For the next week, Spacing and Sam are teaming up to ...
Come fly with… my art.
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
It's short notice, but don't we all sometimes need a deadline to work its production magic on us? October 2nd (yes, that's next Monday) is the deadline for two groovy public art calls here in The Ronto.
One of ‘em, In Flight, is for a juried exhibition at Toronto Pearson Airport Terminal 1. It's in the international part of the terminal, so if you're looking for that big breakthrough showing to your favourite Siberian curator, this is it! Seriously though - artists residing in the 416, 905 and 519 area codes are invited to submit ...
Green space for the living
By Dale Duncan // 4 Comments
Last week, the Toronto and East York Community Council shot down a plan to build a 24,000-square-foot visitation center in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. This was good news for the Moore Park community, reports the Annex Guardian. Residents there strongly opposed the plan, which would have required an alteration of Belt Line Trail and the removal of 11 mature trees.
Interestingly enough, the community's opposition to the development seems to have less to do with ensuring deceased loved ones continue to have a pretty final resting place, and more to do with maintaining green space within their community.
"What we've ...
September 26th, 2006
Branding a place
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Back in July I was asked by new media marketing guru Eli Singer to make a presentation about the success of Spacing subway button collection. I took part at Case Camp, an un-conference (not a typo) on marketing. I was allowed to use only a few slides, with a maximum of 10 words on a slide. I had ten minutes to present my case study and five minutes of Q&A. For anyone who has to make presentations to crowds, this is an excellent exercise. You have to learn how to effectively ...
Pedestrian advocate resigns in frustration
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
Long-time pedestrian advocate Helen Riley, one of the activists who was instrumental in getting a Pedestrian Charter for Toronto, resigned her post as co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee ahead of the committee's September meeting. In an email to fellow committee members, she expressed her frustration at the lack of resources given by the city to pedestrian issues, and the consequent delays that beset pedestrian initiatives. She also expressed frustration that the city did not take the citizen's committee sufficiently into account when considering pedestrian issues.
The last straw was another delay to the city's Pedestrian Collision Study, which ...
You gotta fight for your right to arty
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
Used to be that things had to come to blows to decide who was the best artist in the land. You know, it was all about art oligarchy and art coups to decide who had the most art power. Well, since the invention of art democracy, you don't have to get put on your best brass knuckles to decide who's got the bossest bronze casting. Right now, until September 30th, all people of the GTA (ie. probably you!) can decide which aesthetics rock the vote — just go to www.torontosculpturegarden.com to cast your ballot for most ...
Spacing and Daily Dose of Imagery present… pt. II
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
City Hall • photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
Spacing asked Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery a few months ago to take the cover photo for our new issue. We wanted to capture a unique angle of City Hall so we convinced the fine folks at the Sheraton Hotel to let us do a photo shoot from the top of their roof. Sam also spent time photographing the surrounding buildings and sightlines during our allotted time. For the next week, Spacing and Sam are teaming up to show you five of the ...
Miller campaign embraces My Space, You Tube
By Spacing // 3 Comments
cross-posted to Spacing Votes -- post by Josh Hume
David Miller has joined the ever-expanding legion of self-promoters by establishing his own MySpace page, Matt Kang reports on BlogTO. Note the "Details" section, where Miller lists his occupation as "Mayor of Toronto" and his hometown as "San Francisco." Currently, 73 'friends' are listed on his page and he has yet to make a blog entry.
While MySpace has its humble origins as a social networking page similar to Friendster, it has become something else ...
September 27th, 2006
Future of Gardiner report to be made public
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
A report commissioned by the City of Toronto on what to do with the Gardiner Expressway is about to be made public at the end of the week, CBC.ca is reporting.
Councillors voted Monday to approve the release of the report amid building pressure leading up to the November municipal election.
City officials received the report from the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. in 2004, but have resisted releasing it, saying the key financial details were not ready.
The report outlines three options for the busy roadway, including tearing it down, leaving it up ...
Liberty Village reaches new BENCHmark
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
photos of previously installed BENCHmark benches • photo by Bouke Salverda
New BENCHmark benches unveiled on Thursday
September 29 at 1:00 pm
Street between Atlantic and Jefferson Avenues
Winning designs for nine new public art benches will be unveiled at an official ceremony in Liberty Village. The designs are part of Liberty Village Business Improvement Area's unique BENCHmark 2006 Program that transforms park benches into public art pieces.
Lupe Rodriguez, a visual artist, educator and CBC radio artiste-at-large, will officially unveil the nine BENCHmark 2006 designs. The unveiling is Friday, September 29 at 1:00 pm on the north side ...
Spacing and Daily Dose of Imagery present… pt. III
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
looking southeast from Sheraton's rooftop
• photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
Spacing asked Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery a few months ago to take the cover photo for our new issue. We wanted to capture a unique angle of City Hall so we convinced the fine folks at the Sheraton Hotel to let us do a photo shoot from the top of their roof. Sam also spent time photographing the surrounding buildings and sightlines during our allotted time. For the next week, Spacing and Sam are teaming up ...
Gardiner details revealed
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
The report that details the future of the Gardiner Expressway was released today. David Miller held an information session with the media to give his opinion on the report, while mayoral challenger Jane Pitfield is desperately trying to making this a wedge issue. She said to reporters at City Hall today, "The Gardiner is not a barrier to the waterfront. Everyone knows the best view of lake is from the Gardiner."
The Toronto Star has the details:
The Gardiner Expressway should come down east of Spadina Ave. and be replaced with a 10-lane street ...
Green Toronto Festival on Friday
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
If you have spare time on Friday, you should saunter down to the Toronto Green Festival and Energy Challenge at Nathan Phillips Square (things start up at 10am and go 'til 3pm). Some of the event's activities:
• Find out what the City is doing to help make Toronto even cleaner and greener
• Learn about the latest advancements in energy reduction and how to reduce your energy use
• Preview green services and products from a variety of companies and organizations
• Pick up an assortment of energy- and money-saving coupons
• Enjoy a low-cost lunch from Field to Table, offering ...
Bait Bikes at the University of Toronto
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
Finally, someone is doing something about bike theft.
The University of Toronto Campus Police are starting a bait bike program. Bikes with GPS positioning devices hidden on them will be positioned in high bike theft zones on the U of T's downtown campus. When they're stolen, the thieves will be tracked down and arrested.
The campus police are publicizing the program in order to discourage bike theft. A similar program in Victoria, B.C., reduced bike theft by 20% -- and they still caught plenty of thieves.
As part of the publicity, a campus police officer was interviewed today by Andy Barrie (RealPlayer) ...
September 28th, 2006
Links to articles on the Gardiner report
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On the Gardiner report:
$758M to raze Gardiner [National Post]: "The Mayor said it would be "nice" to implement the TWRC's plan, but it is not a priority for him."
Call to rip up Gardiner reroutes mayoral race [Globe and Mail]: "Budget chief David Soknacki (Scarborough East) said the release of the two-inch-thick report doesn't move the city any closer to a decision on the Gardiner. "It leaves [us with] two inches worth of paper without a funding source," he said."
Level Gardiner at Spadina [Toronto Star]: "Councillor Jane Pitfield, a candidate for mayor, also argued that there ...
JOHN LORINC COLUMN: Wishing for a hidden agenda
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Wishing for a hidden agenda
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
Jane Pitfield, the self-appointed defender of the Gardiner Expressway, alleges that Mayor David Miller has a "hidden agenda," and points to timelines in the hefty technical report released yesterday as evidence that the decision is "a fait accompli." The tragedy is that Miller's agenda on this massive project is not hidden, it's simply missing in action.
During his press briefing yesterday, the mayor stated quite clearly that he has no intention of championing an destiny-altering plan to remove the elevated section of the Gardiner between ...
SPACING: new issue release party TONIGHT!
By Spacing // 1 Comment
Spacing Fall 2006 release party
TONIGHT!
Gladstone Hotel • 1214 Queen St. W. (Queen and Dufferin)
doors open at 8pm
As usual, Spacing will throw a release party for the new issue. Come by and pick up a copy and take part in some fun, election-themed activities. DJ Chris Thinn will supply the tunes. Cover is $10, which gets you a magazine, and the possibility of a few prizes.
Spacing and Daily Dose of Imagery present… pt. IV
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cover photo of new issue of Spacing • photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
Spacing asked Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery a few months ago to take the cover photo for our new issue. We wanted to capture a unique angle of City Hall so we convinced the fine folks at the Sheraton Hotel to let us do a photo shoot from the top of their roof. Sam also spent time photographing the surrounding buildings and sightlines during our allotted time. For the next week, Spacing ...
September 29th, 2006
Nuit Blanche — Hidden Toronto: Curious Walking Tours
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
Some walking tours on Saturday night that may or may not be like the usual walking tours. Fanny packs allowed, but not encouraged.
Have you ever wondered what happens in the nooks, crannies and alleyways of Toronto? Are you curious about what lies beneath the typical tourist faà§ade? Uncover Toronto's secrets through specialized walking tours that will enrich both locals and visitors. Knowledgeable tour guides will educate and inform you about this fabulous city.
ZONE A Tours
Walking Yorkville: The World's Most Interesting Town
--Tour Guide: Shawn Micallef Tour Time: 8:00pm
Turning community into conflict: the life and vision of ...
Spacing and Daily Dose of Imagery present… pt. V
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Crowd at Nathan Phillips Square • photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
Spacing asked Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery a few months ago to take the cover photo for our new issue. We wanted to capture a unique angle of City Hall so we convinced the fine folks at the Sheraton Hotel to let us do a photo shoot from the top of their roof. Sam also spent time photographing the surrounding buildings and sightlines during our allotted time. For the next week, Spacing and ...
Capture the Flag tonight!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
CAPTURE THE FLAG
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th
Meet @ KING & BAY at 9:00 PM (SW corner)
$free + all ages! rain or shine
Capture the Flag is a massive, adrenaline-pumping, urban game played on the streets of downtown Toronto. Two teams hide flags in their territory and attempt to capture the enemy flag using subways, streetcars, bicycles, longboards or their own two feet. Join us as we dash through the Financial District, evade the enemy, hide behind Toronto's skyscrapers, travel through the PATH and score a point.
More info at: newmindspace.com
JOHN LORINC COLUMN: Is Miller tilting at turboprops?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Is Miller tilting at turboprops?
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
In the wake of the revelations this week about the $20 million start-up subsidy for Robert Deluce's Porter Air, Community Air research coordinator Marc Brien laid out three scenarios for blocking the increasingly imminent launch of this new service.
Here they are, in order. One, Stephen Harper's government, responding to public outrage about the sweet-heart deal between the Martin Liberals and the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), could force Deluce to fly out of Pearson. Second, the city could make getting to that Bathurst Street terminal really irritating, with a ...
September 30th, 2006
What’s on Spacing Votes today
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Check out what's on Spacing Votes today:
• Election registration closes [ video ]
• Ad creep falls below the public radar
• Pitfield stumps on wedge issue
photo by Bouke Salverda
Spacing and Daily Dose of Imagery present… pt. VI
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
City Hall • photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
This is the last in our series • cross-posted to Spacing Votes
Spacing asked Sam Javanrouh of Daily Dose of Imagery a few months ago to take the cover photo for our new issue. We wanted to capture a unique angle of City Hall so we convinced the fine folks at the Sheraton Hotel to let us do a photo shoot from the top of their roof. Sam also spent time photographing the surrounding buildings and sightlines during our allotted time. For the next ...
October 1st, 2006
Streets are for people?
By Dylan Reid // 6 Comments
The Sunday Toronto Star has a great article about how the automobile muscled its way into becoming the sole master of the roadway at the beginning of the twentieth century, and how it might be good for everyone, including cars, if streets were once more shared between cars and people.
The article cites notable advocates Dutch traffic planner Hans Monderman and Australian walking activist David Engwicht on their ideas for sharing streets and slowing down traffic.
October 2nd, 2006
Nuit Blanche verdict: A contemporary art event with legs — but balls?
By Leah Sandals // 5 Comments
Well, I'm sorry I didn't post on this yesterday, but frankly, in the spirit of all things Nuit Blanche-y (ie. staying up all night, seeing lots of people you like, sleeping in to excess the next day, being Euro-style and honouring “The Lord's Day,†etc.) I'm glad I didn't. This way, I had some time to process the event that was Nuit Blanche.
The best part of the event, hands down, were the people who came out in droves (reportedly 450,000 strong) to participate in and spectate — get this! — contemporary art. I could hardly ...
That Wonderful Nuit
By Shawn Micallef // 8 Comments
Our path through Nuit Blanche began in Yorkville, where I gave a tour of some secret and not-so-secret parts of Yorkville early in the evening. On the subway to Bay Station, I was a little angry that it was raining. Why does God hate Toronto? The rain though didn't deter anybody though (and made it almost cozy), and there was a big group waiting to walk around, and most of them stayed until the end -- and we gained more as we went. We started at the Yorkville rock -- I invited other people to share their thoughts ...
October 3rd, 2006
Feds to discuss emissions with carmakers
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
From CBC.ca:
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose will meet representatives of Canada's car manufacturing companies on Tuesday in Ottawa, likely to talk about reducing auto emissions.
Ambrose is expected to discuss the possibility of Ottawa imposing auto emission regulations.
The Harper government is interested in introducing changes to the Clean Air Act later this fall in a bid to impose new standards and reduce pollutants, Ambrose has said.The meeting is part of consultations leading to the government's environmental plan, dubbed Green Plan Two, expected to be unveiled within weeks.
Read the entire article.
The province of Ontario was chided by the Environment Commissioner in the ...
Most popular posts of September on Spacing Wire
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Today marks the return of our monthly feature: the most popular blog posts of the previous month. Transit, the Gardiner, and the upcoming election dominated the discussions.
New Toronto street signs: 26 comments. I wasn't the only one who thought the new signs were a step backwards, at least from a graphic design perspective. The Transportation department received a number of complaints, as did city councillors. So the Works Committee asked Transportation to go away and come up with a new design. The motivation for change also came from the City's renewed interest in improving the appearance of ...
What TTC shwag should look like
By Matthew Blackett // 12 Comments
I'm jealous Marc Lostracco from Torontoist beat me to this -- I've been thinking (and sketching) the designs I'd like to see on clothing for the TTC for a year now. Marc has pulled together a few good designs (certainly much better, and creative, than the one pushed by Legacy Sportswear, the TTC shwag suppiler). You can see one of my designs at the bottom of the post. Read Marc's post from Torontoist (and the read the growing list of comments -- it was at 38 this morning).
We really ...
Battle of the Brochures: Miller vs. Pitfield
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
I'll be highlighting and critiquing some of the campaign literature I come across during the election. The graphical representation of a campaign can say so much about a candidate.
It's probably best to start with the mayoral candidates since they've had material out on the streets for months now.
DAVID MILLER
The incumbent mayor has strong graphics. Certainly, he has people advising and creating literature that know a thing or two about graphic design, copy writing, and branding.
1. Size: A brochure should reflect the personality or platform of the candidate. If any of you have met ...
Tungsten Arts at City Hall Speakers Corner
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing contributor, Eye Weekly editor, father and Passionate Torontonian Edward Keenan started this thing called the Tungsten Arts & Letters Society Outdoor Word & Music Adventure. Tomorrow night (Wed) is the 3rd installment but we have been tardy in posting these events, but you can now RSS the blog and keep track for yourself. As for tomorrow:
It is our tremendous pleasure to remind or inform you of the third installment of the Tungsten Arts & Letters Society Outdoor Word & Music Adventure, taking place this Wednesday October 4, 2006 at 6:30pm at the speaker's corner at ...
October 4th, 2006
Rivertown Fantasy
By Dave Meslin // No Comments
I awoke this morning to the sound of thunder and the deep hum of raindrops crashing through trees, knocking leaves to the ground. I walked out my front door and dragged my feet through the rivers forming at the side of the road. The leaves were blocking the sewers, turning every intersection into a gathering point of tributaries, gathering momentum before carrying on. I followed a leaf in the river as it swam along my neighbourhood's streets, and it felt as if we were walking together. A few sewers weren't fully clogged yet, so ...
Who wants to be mayor?
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
WHO WANTS TO BE MAYOR? Meet the Candidates
Wednesday October 4, 7:30-9:30 pm
St. Lawrence Centre, 27 Front Street East,
2 blocks east of Union Station
The St. Lawrence Centre Forum and Who Runs This Town invite you to come out and meet ALL the candidates vying to be Mayor - at last count there are 30!
Experience democracy at its fullest. Come to the St. Lawrence Centre, put your question to the candidate of your choice and watch the political theatrics unfold. The Q&A will be followed by a meet and greet.
Moderated by Anne Mroczkowski: Anchor, CityNews at Six, Citytv
Presented ...
Give your 2 cents on the future of Lamport Stadium
By Dale Duncan // 9 Comments
Allan A. Lamport stadium is falling into disrepair, and the City wants to fix it. Problem is, as is the case with so many other things that need fixing in Toronto, they say they don't have enough money to do so. The City's plan is to look for a private partner to help pay for repairs and help make the City-owned facility sustainable. This could involve adding retail spaces to the building, putting a bubble over new and improved turf, or increasing the number of parking spaces on the south side of the property.
A ...
Building Blocks Exhibition
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
If you're ever bored, or hiding from a rainstorm, go to the forth floor of the Toronto Reference Library and page through the city directories and see the names of whoever lived at whatever address you want to follow over the year -- and in the older books, find out what they did for a living. This exhibition is sort of like doing that -- the history of Queen Street through public announcements in the Globe and Mail.
The Toronto Architectural Conservancy and the Market Gallery present
B U I L D I N G ...
October 5th, 2006
JOHN LORINC COLUMN: An immodest proposal for the Gardiner
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
An immodest proposal for the Gardiner
The depressing thing about this election is that the voters are being told they're not allowed to talk about city building. Setting aside Jane Pitfield's hell-in-a-handcart rhetoric and the methane emanating from the $300,000-man Stephen LeDrew, David Miller has said we can't debate highway tolls, congestion charges and the future of the Gardiner. Everyone's forgotten about Union Station. Miller's taking credit for a waterfront planning process that chugs along on its own steam. As for the island airport, the mayor will produce sound-bite outrage, but we ...
October 6th, 2006
JOHN LORINC COLUMN: Who stole David Miller?
By Spacing // No Comments
Who stole David Miller?
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
When the Liberals used to rule Ottawa, astute political observers often pointed out that the Chretien/Martin crowd liked to campaign left and govern right. In this election, so far, it would seem that David Miller is attempting to reverse that formula, although the second part of the equation remains to be seen.
How else to explain the miserly promise he made yesterday -- $13 million to Toronto's 13 distressed neighbourhoods, spread over four years, plus some window dressing (youth business training, partnership initiatives, etc.). Do the math, and that ...
What’s on Spacing Votes
By Spacing // No Comments
We're excited about the addition of Spacing Votes to the daily blog features of Spacing.ca. Our writers have been criss-crossing the city talking to candidates and attending community events. Here's a snapshot what's been posted during the last week.
John Lorinc columns
• Who stole David Miller?
• An immodest proposal for the Gardiner
• Is Miller tilting at turboprops?
• Wishing for a hidden agenda
Mayors' race
• Battle of the brochures
• LeDrew not master of his domain
• Playing the crime card
• Every mayoral candidate has their night
• Port Lands' Energy Centre dominates mayors' ...
October 7th, 2006
Bike Share in Financial Difficulty
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Part of a press release found in our inbox:
BikeShare, a multiple award-winning bike lending program run by the Community Bicycle Network, must find a new source of funding or the popular program will shut down. BikeShare is Canada 's longest-running and largest community bike lending initiative.
This week, the program received a Bicycle Friendly Business award in Best Overall from the City of Toronto . BikeShare has also been recognized locally, nationally and internationally by numerous organizations including Transport Canada , the Green Toronto Award, and the Stockholm Awards for Sustainable Development.
“We've won awards year ...
Wente takes the TTC
By Dylan Reid // 12 Comments
A year ago, Globe columnist Margaret Wente wrote a column glorifying her SUV and dismissing public transit as something you only take when you have to. She received a lot of well-deserved criticism.
To her credit, she took the criticism on board and decided to take only the TTC for a week and write about. Her diary ("Carless in Toronto") appears in today's Toronto section (unfortunately only accessible online to subscribers).
It's typical Wente -- breezy and superficial -- but it's also valuable because it reveals the impediments and attitudes that keep many people ...
Re/Discover Your City
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Harbourfront Centre is running a cool program called Re/Discover Your City. You can sign up for these tours. Or check out their web site.
Tour: LOST TORONTO
meet at HFC Info Desk
end at Old City Hall (Queen/Bay)
We start off at HFC and stroll together into the heart of our ever-changing city. What's lost you might ask? Plenty -- we'll unearth lost nooks and crannies of Toronto the Meeting Place. We will seek out the lost jails, hanging square, grand vaudeville theatres, and a court house -- all of these old sites beckon us to listen to ...
October 8th, 2006
Pedestrian Science
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Brits have created a machine for walkers -- a big suspended platform that can simulate a range of pedestrian environments and situations in order to test how people respond to them. It's called PAMELA (Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory). The research will enable cities to design better pedestrian infrastructure.
One example of the need for this kind of research is the number of injuries pedestrians suffer from falls (a particularly serious problem for seniors). A U.S Federal Highway Administration study found that 64% of emergency room admissions for pedestrians were the result of falls ...
Links to weekend articles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
• Will pick up your crap for $$$ [ BlogTO ] Zach Slootsky, one of our reporters at Spacing Votes, also contributes to BlgoTO and has a neat little post about the young fellow who walks along downtown streets cleaning up litter while asking for donations (photo above).
• EDITORIAL: Tear down the Gardiner -- now [ Eye Weekly ] "Start with the words "Gardiner Expressway" and we'd be sawing logs before you got to the end of your sentence. But now that we've seen the report that no one wants to turn into a ...
October 9th, 2006
Rating the public washrooms of Toronto
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
The Star went out and performed an audit on Toronto's public washrooms. Read the full article.
Everyone appreciates a clean washroom. But if the outrage — or whatever it is — dripping from the emails and calls of readers from as far away as Philadelphia is any indication, many washrooms operated by the city or public agencies are slimy and disgusting.
A thriving metropolis that insists it is a world-class city would pride itself on its spotless privies, wouldn't it? Surely the situation can't be that bad, we thought.
...
And go we did, to more than 30 washrooms in city ...
The Birds of Trinity-Bellwoords Park
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Adam Krawesky at inconduit.com has created a nice little photo-audio loop of grackles congregating at sunset in Trinity-Bellwoods Park. Check it out.
Adam is a regular contributor to Spacing and is one of Toronto's most prolific photobloggers. His photos of pedestrians are featured in the current issue of Spacing. I've bumped into him all over the city, as have most of the people I know. This trait is probably why he is also known for capturing the infamous cylist vs. driver incident in Kensington Market earlier this year.
October 10th, 2006
A question for candidates: would you help fund BikeShare?
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
BikeShare — a bike-lending program run by the Community Bicycle Network — is in trouble.
Despite their numerous awards — they've been recognized locally, nationally and internationally by organizations such as Transport Canada, and the Stockholm Awards for Sustainable Development — the program may be forced to shut down in the new year due to lack of funding. With an election right around the corner, now might be a good time to ask why they've never received any funds from the City of Toronto.
Maogosha Pyjor, Bikeshare's Project manager has a meeting with ...
Sexism in the city
By Leah Sandals // 5 Comments
There is an interesting article on Women's Enews about how urban design affects resources available to battered women. Phoenix, like many cities, is experiencing sprawl, and this is reducing the ability of abused women to access adequate resources — shelters just aren't being built fast enough in outlying areas. (In related sprawl sexism, the Surface Transportation Archives report that women pay the highest price for sprawl in terms of commutes.)
North of the border, StatsCan reported last week that violence against women is down in Canada, though there has been an increase of abuse ...
City Council TTC Report Card: Wards 12-22
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
WARD 12 (York/South Weston) - Frank Di Giorgio - D
NOW magazine calls him "Frank Who?". Voted to reduce the TTC's Ridership Growth Strategy spending and voted against the St. Clair ROW project.
WARD 13 (Parkdale/High Park) - Bill Saundercook - C
Known most recently for his failed attempt to oust Howard Moscoe as TTC Chairman. Eye magazine critizes him for voting against raising the TTC's budget. Tends favour lower fares over improved service, and voted to reduce the TTC's Ridership Growth Strategy spending. Despite his voting record, he nevertheless remains a member of the ...
JOHN LORINC COLUMN: Third rail or third way?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes
Third rail or third way?
Based on the manufactured outrage that greeted his musings about road tolls in the 2003 election, Mayor David Miller now regards the notion of charging drivers to use the city's two highways as something akin to a political third rail: touch it and die instantly.
Unfortunately, this kind of simplistic for-or-agin' positioning fogs up the whole debate about congestion charges, which, in truth, have been with us for many years. After all, what is the price of a TTC ticket if not a congestion charge levied ...
October 11th, 2006
Moose Art redux – this time interactive!
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Just when you thought Toronto's contemporary artists had abandoned Moose Art once and for all, a spunky new arts duo and their officially named space steps up to reclaim it!
Tomorrow night, Thursday October 12, sees the opening of the Centre for Culture and Leisure No. 1, a new project and exhibition space in Parkdale located “ten steps south of Queen West†at 83 Elm Grove, Unit 102.
The opening night of the project space includes an interactive video installation by Philip Monk starting at 7pm, an on-bike field trip by Carolyn Tripp at 9pm, and ...
Port Authority re-enacts Giligan’s Island
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
The maiden voyage of the Toronto Port Authority's new ferry to the island airport didn't go as well as plan -- it crashed. According to City TV, the captain experienced some kind of medical problem just as the vessel came in to dock at the harbour, and the ship suddenly hit a breakwall beside the boat it was heading for. Shouts of, "I don't think he sees it! He doesn't even know it! Hold on! Hold on!" could be heard before the ship hit the concrete just before noon.
Subsequent reports say the captain suffered a panic attack ...
Beach Party Blues
By Dylan Reid // 8 Comments
NOW magazine had an interesting article this week about the police closing down a regular all-day all-ages "Promise party" that has been held at Cherry Beach for the past five years.
Predictably, accounts of what the party was like diverge. The organizers say it was a harmless, long-standing event that they compare to the "tam-tams" who gather every Sunday on the slopes of Mount Royal in Montreal. The police claim there was open alcohol, drugs, and excessive noise. However, the residents of nearby Toronto island say they never had a problem with the parties, and consider them well-organized. ...
Hip to be square
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted to Spacing Votes • by David Scrivener
With so much discussion about the redesign of Nathan Phillips Square in the media lately it seemed appropriate to look at what other cities, and their governments, done about creating livable and exciting public squares. So a quick review of four successful squares from towns far and wide.
Federation Square
Melbourne, Australia
Located across from Melbourne's main train station and at the centre of the city's nexus of streetcar lines Fed Square has become in the short four years since its opening in 2002 the focal point of Melbourne. Built ...
October 12th, 2006
LoFiSciFi Movie Needs Bike Gang Extras
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing contributor and indie-everything guy Jim Munroe is looking for extra's to hang out in Sir Winston Churchill Park on Sunday evening. The details are below -- he'd like people to RSVP him if they're coming.
We're gearing up on this LoFiSciFi movie I've written and we need people to play the bike-riding anti-nanotech gang members of the very near future.
We're gonna meet in the playground at the southeast corner of Spadina and St. Clair this Sunday Oct. 15 at 8pm. It's a fifteen minute ride from downtown, or if the hill freaks you out, ...
Upcoming waterfront events
By Ian Malczewski // 1 Comment
The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation is hosting three events along the Waterfront in the next few weeks. They are open to all and encourage public participation - and one offers a free cruise!
1. Don Mouth Site Walk and Boat Cruise - October 14th, 1:00 - 4:30 pm
Meet at the parkette at the northwest corner of Don Roadway and Villiers Street. Parking is available at 95 Commissioners Street.
Join us at the mouth of the Don River on Saturday, October 14, 2006 to enjoy an interpretive site walk and boat cruise aboard the beautiful Island Princess, ...
Scavengin’ for love… or maybe just 500 big ones
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
You know, I remember feeling offended about a year and a half ago when a middle-aged editor I know alluded that Toronto's youthful public art phenom (scavenger hunts, minimalist graffiti jaunts, guerilla gardening, etc.) amounted to “an enlightened singles scene.â€
While Tyler Clark Burke's newest party, Eagle Eyes, sounds very cool, that particular judgement echoed back to me — Clark Burke is of course the creator of the night for the explicitly (or pretending to be explicitly) single, Santa Cruz. Eagle Eyes ain't promising to be Santa Cruz with a scavenger hunt… but sure could be fun ...
[murmur] & the Human River
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
On Sunday between 1:30-4:30pm [murmur] will be wandering along with the Human River following old Garrison Creek, long buried but still mighty (we assume). We'll be there to record stories along the way -- the Toronto Public Space Committee has put out a specific call for storytellers to come along for the walk and we hope to capture those, and whatever anybody else would like to say too. Stories about the creek itself, or things that happened on top of it, long after it was buried. Did you live at a house along the way? Did you have ...
U of T Student? Vote Bikechain!
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
A quick public service message:
The University of Toronto's excellent BikeChain free bike-repair program needs to be supported in a student referendum happening now in order to continue to function. In order to sustain long-term funding, they need a student levy of 25 cents (yes, just a quarter) per session per student. The referendum to approve this levy ends tomorrow, Friday October 13. They need at least 2100 students to cast a vote in order for the referendum to be valid. So, if you're a U of T student and you like bikes, please make sure to vote on ...
October 13th, 2006
Pledge TO Green
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On Saturday, October 14 in Toronto's City Hall council chamber it will focus on the Environment and the upcoming municipal election. Post Carbon Toronto and the East Toronto Climate Action Group are holding a non-partisan political event in the hopes of leveraging the election in order to bring a reinvigorated focus to Toronto's official Environmental Plan (officially adopted and subsequently orphaned.)
They are asking every candidate to Pledge TO Green. Pledgetogreen.ca will keep track of all of the candidates that have pledged to green.
The doors open at 11:30 a.m. and presentations start at ...
Spotlight Toronto: Planet in Focus Film Fest
By Laura Hatcher // No Comments
The 7th annual Planet in Focus International Environmental Film and Video Festival will be taking place November 1 to November 5. Planet in Focus has just announced this year's line-up of "documentaries, animation, dramatic features, shorts, and experimental works that celebrate, question, and establish varied ways of viewing the state of our world".
The spotlight theme of this year's festival is “Toronto in the Moving Image from the Dawn of Cinema to the Presentâ€, and it looks like there will be a diverse line-up of films exploring Toronto's politics, history, and mythologies. This Toronto ...
EUCAN megabins to be removed in North York
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
Some good news from North York: a number of the Megabins will be replaced with smaller sized receptacles. EUCAN's monster garbage bin pilot project was rejected by city council in May 2006.
From the community newspaper the Town Crier [entire article]:
After discussions with the city, Eucan, the manufacturer of the seven-foot garbage Megabins, has agreed to put smaller-sized garbage bins back into production in order to replace the giant-sized receptacles.
But it could take months to manufacture them, said Rob Orpin, director of collections at the city's solid waste management services.
"They are going to be replaced," ...
Pitfield takes Spacing’s word — literally!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Sometimes candidates, and their campaign teams, take action without putting much thought into the consequences. And we think Jane Pitfield's team had a serious brain cramp last week.
It was rather surprising for us to read Ms. Pitfield's blog entry on October 7th which, almost word-for-word, plagiarizes a column by Spacing Votes' John Lorinc. The text below is Ms. Pitfield's:
David Miller made a thin promise yesterday — $28 million to Toronto's 13 distressed neighbourhoods, spread over four years. That works out to be just over $500,000 per neighbourhood per year — a bit less than what the ...
October 14th, 2006
Prevent it — ad creep, that is
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
The WSIB has an interesting ad campaign about preventing injuries in the workplace. They also have an excellent web site to demonstrate potential hazards. But they have created a hazard of their own at the corner of Yonge and Dundas, one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the city. By using a flipped over car to highlight the dangers of high-risk jobs that are low-paying (like pizza delivery jobs), they are creating a walking obstacle of their own for the disabled and the blind, not to mention every able-bodied person. Even though the display sits on Dundas ...
October 15th, 2006
Manhole cover bathmat
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
I know the holiday season is still a little ways off, but it's never too early to start thinking about gifts for your most urban-obsessed friends. This manhole cover bathmat is a product of SuckUK, a rather cool online store operating out of London, England.
Miller needs waterfront more than it needs him
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hume writes in Saturday's paper about how Mayor Miller needs the waterfront more than it needs him. [ read entire article ]
At this point in Toronto's history, the mayor may need the waterfront more than the waterfront needs him.
Earlier this week, David Miller announced that if re-elected he will ensure that all the parks of the waterfront revitalization program will be completed by 2010.Why the rush?
...
the truth is that the bulk of the money for the parks — maybe three-quarters — is coming from the federal government. In other words, though the mayor's support is important, ...
Walking while black?
By Dylan Reid // 13 Comments
[Edit - I received comments that my original version of this report included too much speculation. I have removed most of the speculation. Instead, I would like to discuss my reaction to this incident, and the broader issues]
I was waiting for the light at the corner of Brant and Richmond on Sunday just after 2:00 in the afternoon when I saw 6 or 7 police on bikes, in their bright yellow cycling jackets, taking a whole lane along Richmond. At first, I thought this was great -- a kind of police critical mass.
There were two young black men walking along ...
Put traffic lights at highway entrances, professor says
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
The National Post ran a little article about highway congestion. I'd be interested to hear readers' thoughts on this idea.
GTA highways are maxed-out, but that does not mean commuters must accept traffic jams as a way of life. Professor Baher Abdulhai, director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Centre at the University of Toronto, believes ramp meters or traffic lights at highway entry points would help ease GTA congestion by 10% to 30%. "The myth is this is penalty. It's actually helping because you choose either to wait [at the light] for three or four minutes and ...
October 16th, 2006
What’s on Spacing Votes
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Each week we round-up the Spacing Votes posts from the previous seven days into a nice, digestable size. Over the next three weeks we'll also be publishing the City Council report cards found in the magazine's Fall 2006 issue. And Spacing and Eye Weekly have teamed up to present a mayoral event Nov. 6th.
John Lorinc columns:
• Third rail or third way
• What to do with LeDrew?
Mayors' race
• Etobicoke mayoral candidates forum
• What to do with LeDrew?
• Pitfield takes Spacing's word -- literally!
• Miller needs waterfront more than ...
October 17th, 2006
Utility covers: not just about utility anymore
By Ian Malczewski // 1 Comment
Spacing has written before about utility cover design, and it seems the City agrees that the "discrete portals between the city we live and work in and the working city" deserve some sprucing up. Yesterday the City launched Grounds for Art, a competition to design the new utility covers in Regent Park:
Amateur, aspiring or professional artists and designers are invited to submit designs to distinguish the sanitary, storm sewer and the water valve covers. Applicants can submit proposals for one, two or three of the utility hole cover types. An independent selection panel will ...
Toronto’s High Anxiety
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
High Anxiety: Can We Get the City and Skyline We Deserve?
Thursday, October 19. Doors open at 6:30pm.
Event begins at 7:00pm. Free. No registration required.
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, 1 Harbour Square
Co-sponsors: Toronto Society of Architects and City of Toronto
Keynote Speakers: Mark Kingwell and Paul Katz; Moderator - Rick Wolfe
Panelists: Anthony Borelli, Mimmi Fullerton, Marianne Mckenna, Jeanhy Shim, Brent Toderian, Gerde Wekerle
---------------------------------
From the TSA press release:
The evening session of the City of Toronto 'Higher Learning' symposium on Thursday, October 19th is being co-sponsored by the Toronto Society of Architects.
Our moderator is Rick Wolfe, who we know from ...
Walking Man vs. Raised Right Hand
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
We don't usually signal articles that aren't available online, but I feel the need to make an exception for the delighful and informative "The Walking Man" by Philip Preville in the current issue of Maisonneuve magazine. A meditation on the intersection of Dupont and Christie, which the author lived near and crossed constantly for three years, the article ranges across issues from why pedestrians really cross against the flashing hand to how Toronto has absorbed massive amounts of new traffic within the existing grid, all the while personalizing the characters of Walking Man, his nemesis Raised ...
October 18th, 2006
Mute’s photos speaking loudly
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing is lucky to use the wonderful images produced by Toronto's ever-expanding photoblogger community. The top image is behind the GAO, while the second image shows the opening spread of the current issue of Spacing which contains the work of Miles Storey, publisher of the wonderful Mute photoblog. Miles' photography of Toronto and its people is remarkable and worth checking out everyday.
In the coming weeks, Spacing will highlight some of our other photographers and the stories behind their captivating images.
Creating Connections: another option for the Gardiner
By Spacing // 4 Comments
The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation recently released a report (PDF) outlining four different options for dealing with the Gardiner Expressway. The options, ranging from doing nothing to creating a "Great Street" along Lakeshore Boulevard, were not exactly greeted with universal acclaim. Jose Gutierrez's Toronto Waterfront Viaduct presents a different vision for the Waterfront, one that acknowledges the need to replace the Gardiner with a major transportation corridor, eliminate barriers to the Waterfront, and, most importantly, create connections between the city and its greatest resource.
Spacing asked our Waterfront reporter Ian Malczewski to shed some light ...
Toronto (The Book)
By Spacing // 2 Comments
Thursday (Oct 19) is a busy night with two separate discussions going on, one about tall buildings and the other about the Queen West Triangle -- but if you're in the mood for something more contemplative, head over to Ballenford Books (600 Markham, across from Honest Eds) between 6-9pm for the launch of Toronto, a new book of photography by Geoffrey James.
Geoffrey James has stalked the parks and back streets of Canada's largest metropolis with his tripod and wide-angle panoramic camera, in search of the city's essence. Eschewing the obvious landmarks, he shows ...
Grrr! No passive-aggressive parks allowed!
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
The Design Exchange is still seeking participants for their Passive Park Design Charette happening October 24 (next Tuesday) at the DX. That's right, the call is for passive parks only, so all designs for benches that break when you sit on them, sliently seething groundskeepers, or seesaws that catapult you off into traffic will have to be put on hold for now. (In truth, a passive park is not one necessarily suited only to complete catatonia — walking, bird watching and picnicking may also be encouraged, even if copy editors become annoyed.)
OK, here's the real details: ...
October 19th, 2006
I am a wild public art party
By Leah Sandals // 2 Comments
There is a slew of public space events happening tonight, what with a book launch, tall buildings talk, and activist meeting (see below for details). On top of all that there is also the opening of the 7a*11d festival. This fest brings performance art to several galleries and a few different outdoor spaces in Toronto. The one I'm most excited about is a performance by Halifax artist Rita McKeough. On October 27 and 28 she'll be traveling Dundas St just west of Yonge with a motorized tree, picking up vegetation fragments and labeling them with a ...
October 20th, 2006
I ___ this ad
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Here's a nice option for the ad-inundated public; a sticker that will puke on beautiful models in perpetuity.
Image courtesy of Wooster Collective
Yeah, but can I build one in Trinity-Bellwoods?
By Leah Sandals // 4 Comments
Treehugger reports this morning that Mary Cusato's Katrina Cottage has won the first ever Cooper-Hewitt People's Design Award. The cottage design was developed in response having folks live in gross truck trailers after Hurricane Katrina. Soon, a national retailer in the states, Lowe's, will be introducing kit versions of four Katrina Cottage in Designs.
Cute… and affordable… so can I build one in Trinity-Bellwoods? I know Toronto rents don't equate to a national disaster, but baby, my bank account sure seems to think so.
Image courtesy of Treehugger.com.
Sculpture Idol results in!
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
In case you were wondering who won the Toronto Sculpture Garden's own version of the Cooper-Hewitt People's Choice Awards earlier this month, it was a tie between James Carl's Fountain (pictured above) and Luis Jacob's Flashlight. Take that, CN Tower! It all goes to show that you don't have to be tall to be big.
Image courtesy of the Toronto Sculpture Garden.
Rejuvenating the waterfront, one big box store at a time
By Dale Duncan // 18 Comments
The land where the Toronto Film Studios sits is one step closer to being taken over by big box retail. Big box store developer Mitch Goldhar now owns a 50% stake in the east-end property, reports the Toronto Star. The deal made the front page of today's business section (and not, surprisingly enough, the front page of the entire paper).
Says Tony Wong of the Star, “The downtown land purchase is significant because there has never been a large-scale power centre in Toronto's core.â€
Goldhar promises he'll be sensitive to the surrounding neighbourhood. “If anything this is my ...
October 21st, 2006
It’s where I’m from frankly, couldn’t pick a better city
By Leah Sandals // 2 Comments
Alright, so it's a bit of a grey coolish day out there, a hard day to get excited about life in the old Toronto the Good. So listen to this, have a coffee, and thank your higher spiritual power that you're not in Lincoln, NB, or Paris, FR, or for that matter, anywhere else. Just scroll down to "T.Ode" and find a place in your living room to do the moonwalk.
photo by City of Toronto
10 parts of Toronto that need public art
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
Tut tut! There is not one but two pieces on public art in the weekend papers. The Star runs a long piece from Peter Goddard about a new public art initiative out by the airport, and pegs ten other locations that could use some pubart goodness. The Globe runs a small piece in their Toronto section (not available online) about the DO ME portion of the 7a-11d festival, part of which involves instructing artists and other members of the public to pull down their pantalons.
October 23rd, 2006
Hume: fear of tall buildings silly
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Christopher Hume thinks Toronto's aversion to tall buildings is silly.
What can be said of a city that fears growing up?
In Toronto's case, mere mention of the word highrise is enough to turn grown men and women into frightened children. Anywhere, they say, but please, not in my neighbourhood. Not where it might block the view from my kitchen window, or cast a shadow on my backyard.Yet despite Toronto's fear of heights, the city keeps reaching higher and higher. And strangely, even though residents scream whenever a tall building is proposed, once they're up, they're filled ...
Protesters greet Porter Airlines
By Matthew Blackett // 27 Comments
About 30 protesters greeted the frist group of travellers on Porter Airlines, the Toronto Star reports. You can also read a feature by a Star repoter on-hand for the first flight.
"Another empty bus. Another empty bus," some of the picketers on hand at 9 a.m. chanted as one bus drove past them carrying a lone passenger to the ferry docks.
The protesters say the flights from the Island Airport will add to pollution in the city and create safety issues.
"This facility here has two schools and a daycare centre. There's a community centre here," ...
Carpooling lanes saving time for GTA commuters
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
According to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, GTA commuters can save up to 25 minutes if they use carpooling lanes. And more high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV) are expected. Read the CBC.ca article.
Carpooling lanes introduced to the Greater Toronto Area nearly a year ago have reduced travel times for some commuters by up to 25 minutes, transportation officials said Friday.
Two High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, reserved for vehicles carrying at least two people, were opened on southbound Highway 404 and both directions of Highway 403 in December 2005 with the expansion of an extra lane along each roadway.
"[It ...
Project for Public Spaces presentation
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
On Wednesday, October 25, 2006, Fred Kent, President of Project for Public Spaces, will be speaking in the Council Chamber of City Hall between 1:00 PM and 4:30 PM.
Project for Public Spaces was founded in 1975 to build upon the pioneering Street Life Project of writer-sociologist William H. Whyte. Their recent work in the GTA includes the "My Mississauga" programme.
Learn what makes a great space and how to improve a poorly designed and programmed puublic place. A power point presentation will be followed by questions and answers focused on public spaces in Toronto.
Star’s new transportation column
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Toronto Star has a new transportation columnist, David Bruser, and in today's column he asks readers to tell him about their problems with transportation in Toronto, in particular their commute. Bruser mentions cars and transit, but, as so often happens, he overlooks walking and cycling. No doubt he will get many emails from frustrated drivers, so help him to maintain a broad perspective by writing in about other ways of commuting. His email is transit - at - thestar.ca
Finally, a plan for affordable housing
By Dale Duncan // 9 Comments
How do we meet the growing need for affordable housing in this city? The problem has become so big, it's almost overwhelming — each year more than 30,000 people turn to Toronto's shelters, nearly 70,000 households are on Toronto's social housing waiting lists, and around 150,000 households spend over half of their income on shelter. These numbers don't include the people who make their homes on the street, the people so many of us have learned to ignore when walking by.
It would help if the City — as well as the provincial and the federal governments — ...
October 24th, 2006
Yes, In My Back Yard!
By Dale Duncan // 7 Comments
It seems neighbourhood groups are constantly fighting bad reps. Dispelling stereotypes isn't always easy. Take the experience of Active 18, for example — despite repeatedly saying they're open to good development in their neighbourhood, they haven't been able to escape being called NIMBYs in the media.
Active 18 have now taken to calling themselves YIMBYs (Yes, In My Back Yard) and they're inviting other neighbourhood associations from across the city to join them this Saturday at the Gladstone Hotel to help drive home the message that community organizations aren't always anti-development.
Though admittedly, there are some bad eggs ...
October 25th, 2006
Traffic Tales movie night
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Streets to Screens movie series will feature two movies about sustainable transportation on Thursday, October 26, at the Bloor Cinema at 7pm.
The 'Traffic Tales' programme features the CANADIAN PREMIERES of Stefan Schaefer's buzzworthy 'Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock' and Clarence Eckerson Jr's documentary short 'A Conversation with Enrique Penalosa'. Read all about these films.
Tickets are $9 at the Bloor Box Office, and all funds raised go to support the Toronto Public Space Committee. The film will be followed by a Q&A discussion panel moderated by Constance Exley of Planners for Tomorrow, and featuring:
* Les Kelman, Traffic Management Centre ...
Gentrify this
By Dylan Reid // 3 Comments
There's been a lot of discussion in recent years in Toronto about the gentrification of formerly "ethnic" and low-income neighbourhoods in west-central Toronto, such as Kensington Market, College Street and Queen Street West. In many cases, the process starts with "bohemianization" -- the areas are first infiltrated by hip independent stores and art galleries that are oriented towards "creative" types. With this in mind, a recent satirical story in The Onion which sends up this whole process, "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood," seems like it was made ...
October 26th, 2006
Reverse Graffiti
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
Reverse graffiti is a practice where the artist creates a design by cleaning grime selectively off a wall, so that the cleaned sections stand out. The practice is intriguing because it opens up a lot of questions about what exactly constitutes graffiti, and what makes graffiti objectionable. The Star recently ran a good story about reverse graffiti, in which these complications are explored -- two Canadian police officers in charge of fighting graffiti disagree on whether the practice is against the law.
Meanwhile, the British artist interviewed in the story enjoys the confusion his art has caused. When the Leeds ...
Spacing & Eye Weekly present mayors’ event
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
MONDAY NOVEMBER 6
Revival, 783 College Street
(a few blocks east of Ossington)
Door open @ 7pm, Event starts @ 8pm, Musical guest after 10pm
FREE
During the final week of the election, Spacing magazine and Eye Weekly are teaming up to bring you The Political Party, an event that brings together Toronto's leading mayoral candidates. Mayor David Miller and challenger Jane Pitfield will outline their visions for Toronto's public spaces and face pointed questions from our panel of John Lorinc (urban affairs journalist for Toronto Life, Globe and Mail, Spacing Votes), Ed Keenan (Eye ...
Say yes to bikes on Bloor…
By Tammy Thorne // 2 Comments
...And, no to war in Afghanistan this Saturday.
Take the Tooker rides again, Saturday October 28th, leaving from Kipling and Kennedy stations at 11:30 a.m. and ending on the steps of the ROM at 1pm. There are lots of pick-up points en route.
Then, ride down to the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue to join the Canada out of Afghanistan rally and march.
The connection? Why it's oil, of course, silly!
Some people (like Linda McQuaig, for example) believe that our addiction to oil is fueling our foreign policy. So, act locally: ride your bike and ...
E-signs to let riders know when next bus is coming?
By Matthew Blackett // 15 Comments
A platform sign in London, England indicates when next subway train will arrive.
The TTC wants to install electronic signs that will tell riders when the next bus or subway is coming. And, to my surprise, advertising is not the favoured funding model (though the option is still being considered). Instead, the TTC may swap services with a technology provider: you install the signs, and in return you get access to the TTC's underground network.
Readers familiar with Spacing will know that we've been advocating for the TTC to do this very thing: read about it ...
The Blueprint to End Homelessness launches today
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
Compare these average monthly costs of housing and homelessness: social housing ($199.92); shelter bed ($1,932); provincial jail ($4,333); hospital bed ($10,900).
Though the cost of building social housing is dramatically cheaper, Toronto continues to spend more than $118 million a year on temporary beds in the hostel system. Moving 10% of shelter users into affordable homes, however, would save the City nearly $12 million, freeing up enough money to pay the capital subsidies on 160 new homes, or rent supplements for over 1,400 households.
These are a few of the figures provided in the Blueprint to End Homelessness, ...
October 27th, 2006
Bundlin’ up for public artriffic good times
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
As if Hallowe'en alone didn't provide enough public visual spectacle for urban dwellers, it's worth reminding Spacing Wirers that there are some other more intentionally public artistic endeavours happening this weekend. a) On Saturday, 7a-11d artist Rita McKeough will be touring city sidewalks with a motorized tree in the area around 285 Dundas Street West at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. b) Also on Saturday as part of ARCfest, the One Block Co-op will be prsenting One Block in Parkdale, a piece of outdoor theatre beginning outside the Parkdale Library at 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm and 3:30pm. c) Then, on ...
Last Pedestrian Sunday of 2006 in Kensington this weekend
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This Sunday marks the final Final Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market of 2006. Here are some of the details:
• Sunday October 29th - Rain or Shine
• Theme: Halloween! Honoring our Ancestors
• No motor vehicles in the market from 12noon to 7pm (until 10pm on North Augusta)
• Streets include Augusta from College to Denison Square, Baldwin from Augusta to Kensington, and Kensington from Baldwin to Dundas
Specific activities and programming for October 29th include:
• A giant pià±ata - 2pm
• ...
The Wellesley Insitute’s Blueprint video
By Spacing // 1 Comment
As part of our partnership with the Wellesley Institute, we present the Blueprint video to help you get a better understanding of what the Blueprint is trying to achieve.
Also, Himy Syed was at the official launch of the Blueprint and has posted an 8-minute video of the press conference.
The route to cycling can be quick
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
There was a lot of fascinating information at the "Traffic Tales" movie night put on by the Toronto Public Space Committee last night, but the thing I found most remarkable was how quickly the number of cyclists increased when a city took extensive and concrete measures to improve cycling infrastructure. Paris, London and Bogota saw the number of cyclists increase by double or more in just 3-6 years once they created a connected network of dedicated, safe cycling routes within the city. In Bogota, the former mayor said that the number of trips made by bicycle, as a percentage of ...
October 28th, 2006
What’s going on at Spacing Votes
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Hopefully, every reader of the Spacing Wire knows we also have a sister blog called Spacing Votes that has numerous daily posts about Toronto's upcoming municipal election. Our team of reporters have fanned out across the city to try and bring you articles on issues that are important to the future of our city. For those of you not interested in the election, there are only 16 days until election day (on Nov. 13).
Here's a quick hit-list of what we've been doing on Spacing Votes over the last 10 days.
JOHN LORINC COLUMNS
• Sewell's ROW flip-flop
• ...
Illegal posters challenge Paris
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
The Star runs an AP story this morning about an innovative and illegal street art project that is pumping up some controversy in France. It has to do with a graffiti artist and photographer named JR. Nearing the eve of the anniversary of Paris-area riots that engulfed French suburbs in flames last year, JR has created massive posters that play off a pervading Parisians' exaggerated sense of fear when encountered by young immigrant youth. JR went to rundown areas and got residents to mug scary faces into a distortion-inducing wide-angle lens. (This lens is likely ...
October 29th, 2006
American Rules
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
I was recently given this 1967 NYC subway rules guide by a friend leaving Toronto for Paris who needed to purge some old stuff before leaving (I counseled that Paris is a boring graveyard and Toronto is better and he shouldn't move there, but he's still going). It's an officious little volume and has the neat old Transit Authority logo -- very jet-age. Some excerpts and highlights:
Section 700.1 Definitions:
(e) "Firearm." Any pistol, revolver, sawed-off shotgun or other firearm of a size which may be concealed upon the person.
Section 700.2 Construction
(b) Any term in the masculine shall include the ...
October 30th, 2006
Get some perspective – the urban kind
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Tonight grab anyone you think is myopic on urban issues and bring them down to the Goethe Institute for the opening of Urban Perspectives, an examination of urban themes through a wide palette of aesthetic lenses. This show features photo sculpture, video art and photo based wall paintings. Artists Andreas Koch — a Berlin artist involved in the Trash exhibition at with the Drake as artist-in-residence - and Eric Glavin have chosen to work with both well known and all too often overlooked architectural structures in the immediate neighbourhood of the Goethe-Institut. The ...
Expo bid coming down to the wire
By Ian Malczewski // 6 Comments
Jim Byers has an article in today's Star about the lack of "sizzle on the street" for Toronto's Expo bid:
So why is no one on College Street talking up an Expo bid over their cappuccino? Why is Bay Street not rallying behind the cause? Why is the mayor not out on the portlands demanding Toronto get its fair share from Ottawa and Queen's Park before the Friday deadline for a Toronto bid to be registered overseas? Why is there so little passion?
Councillor Brian Ashton has been the Expo bid's loudest supporter, and continues to ...
Spacing nominated for Heritage Toronto Award
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing is pleased to announce the magazine is a finalist in tonight's 32nd Annual Heritage Toronto Awards at the Carlu in the "Media" category. Thanks go out to those who nominated us.
As well, tonight Heritage Toronto's "Special Achievement Award" will be given to the Zeidler Family for "promoting the conservation of Toronto's heritage and their commitment to fostering community growth and the arts." When I was a kid in Windsor, two of the most iconic places in Toronto that embodied the idea of "Toronto" to me were Ontario Place and the Eaton Centre, two Zeidler-dad buildings ...
Planet in Focus and Spacing present: Toronto in the Moving Image
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is happy to announce we are the sponsors of a film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. There are films about early urban renewal efforts in Toronto that have also doubled as questionable attempts at social engineering. There are also films about our famed hothouses of psychedelic 1970's culture, and even the odd story ...
October 31st, 2006
Planet in Focus: Wednesday films
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is a sponsor of the film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. You can check the website at www.planetinfocus.org for details on tickets and screening times as well as the latest information on panel discussions, walking tours, and festival parties.
WEDNESDAY NOV 1
Farewell Oak Street (17 min / Canada)
Takes us into the squalid living conditions of ...
Bubbalicious for grown-ups
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
The Guardian Online reported Sunday about a NYC adman-cum-artist whose "bubbalicious" ad critique campaign is giving some of the power of ads back to the people. Catharine Rapley reports:
Four years ago, Ji Lee, a then 31-year-old art director for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi in New York, was heading down a career black hole. 'I was tired of the work I was producing, which was often boring and offensive to the public's intelligence,' he tells me from Manhattan. 'Any ideas I thought were engaging for the consumer never went anywhere because they were considered risky. It was ...
Island airport announces expanded service
By Ian Malczewski // 10 Comments
Yesterday Porter Airlines announced that as of Dec. 11 its service will expand to include Montreal. The expansion takes place despite the efforts of local politicians and community groups to stop operations from the controversial airport. A one-way trip to Montreal will set passengers back $119, which is $20 more expensive than an Air Canada flight from Pearson on the same day.
A piece on the CBC evening news mentioned another problem associated with the airport: worsened vehicular congestion from Porter's shuttle bus. Interviewees expressed concern that the bus, which runs every 10 minutes, ...
November 1st, 2006
Planet in Focus: Thursday films & events
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is a sponsor of the film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. You can check the website at www.planetinfocus.org for details on tickets and screening times as well as the latest information on panel discussions, walking tours, and festival parties.
THURSDAY NOV 2
Geologic Journey — Great Lakes (54 min / Canada)
Tells the story of ...
November 2nd, 2006
Eye Weekly’s primer for The Political Party
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Cross-posted from Spacing Votes
As we've mentioned, Spacing is teaming up with Eye Weekly to bring you The Political Party (Monday, Nov. 6th), where Miller and Pitifeld will outline their vision for Toronto's public spaces and face questions from our panel of John Lorinc (Spacing Votes), Ed Keenan (Eye Weekly), and Dale Duncan (Spacing editor & Eye contributor).
Keenan also wrote the cover story of this week's issue, framing the choice voters' will have at the ballot box. [ read the full article ]
Three years ago, David Miller rode his broom into the mayor ...
Planet in Focus: Contested Streets & Shanghai Shanghai
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is happy to announce we are the sponsors of a film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. There are films about early urban renewal efforts in Toronto that have also doubled as questionable attempts at social engineering. There are also films about our famed hothouses of
psychedelic 1970's culture, and even the odd story of forbidden love.
You can check the ...
Planet in Focus: Friday films
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is happy to announce we are the sponsors of a film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. You can check the website at www.planetinfocus.org for details on tickets and screening times as well as the latest information on panel discussions, walking tours, and festival parties.
FRIDAY NOV 3
Borderless (25 min / Canada)
Borderless is a docu-poem about ...
Public, Professionals, Gather this Weekend for GTA Transit Summit
By James Bow // No Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto
The Rocket Riders, the Sierra Club of Canada and the Ontario chapter of Transport 2000 have organized a summit on public transportation in the Greater Toronto Area. They have gathered a panel of professionals and activists, and are inviting members of the public to attend.
Events start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, November 3 (tomorrow) and continue until 9:00 p.m. at Metro Hall, 55 John Street near King. Another day of presentations, panel discussions and round tables takes place on Saturday, November 4, at the same location, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
According to the summit organizer's ...
TWRC changes meeting date
By Ian Malczewski // No Comments
A few weeks ago we reported the Annual General Meeting for the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation would take place tonight at the CBC. The TWRC has rescheduled and relocated the meeting, however, so here are the new details:
TWRC Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, November 15
Design Exchange at 234 Bay Street
6:30 — 9:00 pm
There will be presentations by three different firms responsible for different projects along the Waterfront:
Claude Cormier, Claude Cormier Architects
Michael Van Valkenburgh, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Adriaan Geuze, West 8
Expo bid “dead”
By Ian Malczewski // 7 Comments
The Star is reporting that Toronto's Expo bid did not get off the ground in time for the noon deadline today, despite a high level of support for the bid and the promise of long-term benefits for the city and province. Said a Toronto Star source:
"Unfortunately, the letter (of support for the bid) was not sent to the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) and unfortunately a great opportunity for the city of Toronto has been lost."
It will be interesting to see how blame for the failure of the three levels of government to ...
November 3rd, 2006
Planet in Focus: Saturday films
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is a sponsor of the film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. You can check the website at www.planetinfocus.org for details on tickets and screening times as well as the latest information on panel discussions, walking tours, and festival parties.
SATURDAY NOV 4
Walking Tour with David Crombie and Friends
Join former Mayor of Toronto David Crombie and some special ...
Hume on our streets, why Canada is failing
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Christopher Hume's last two columns have been drop-dead accurate in my assumption. His piece on Toronto's floundering streetscape in Wednesday's Toronto Star is something that Spacing and our readers have been talking about since we launched the magazine, while others, like the fabulous local architect Joe Lobko, have been talking about for a lot longer than us.
What makes the situation so frustrating is that the failure goes beyond lack of political or social will — there's no shortage of either. Instead the problem lies within the very organization of the city, its bureaucracy and ...
November 4th, 2006
Planet in Focus: Sunday films & events
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
TORONTO IN THE MOVING IMAGE:
A PLANET IN FOCUS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
Spacing is a sponsor of the film series called Toronto In the Moving Image during the Planet in Focus film festival. This retrospective of Toronto's life on film spans more than a hundred years, from the silent era to the present day. You can check the website at www.planetinfocus.org for details on tickets and screening times as well as the latest information on panel discussions, walking tours, and festival parties.
SUNDAY NOV 5
Aadan (6 min / Canada)
A young woman prays outdoors in the midst of urban ...
November 5th, 2006
Putting an end to Cherry pickin’
By Ian Malczewski // 4 Comments
A group of concerned citizens has launched a website and an online petition urging people to band together to "save cherry beach:"
The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) and Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) have created some amazing plans for the waterfront and deserve credit for putting together what promises to be a great community in which to live and work. They have however underestimated the need for treed greenspace parkland. This space exists now along the waterfront south of Unwin Avenue. For some reason in spite of the plans presented outlining different locations for ...
November 6th, 2006
What’s the difference between a BRT and BLT?
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted from Spacing Votes
With all of the recent discussion surrounding transit policies, subway extensions and streetcar rights-of-way, a brief primer on transit technologies seems to be in order. With all of the acronyms that are thrown around in transit discussions, it's easy to understand why voters may not know the difference between a BRT and a BLT (a BLT is the only one you can eat). Remember that all of the different transit modes, from the local bus route to the commuter rail line, has its own place within a successful public transit system.
WHAT IS A BRT?...
What’s on Spacing Votes
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
There are only seven days until the municipal election!
You can catch the two leading mayoral candidates lay out their vision of Toronto's public space tonight (Monday) at The Political Party presented by Spacing and Eye Weekly. Click here for all the info you need about the event.
Here's a snapshot of what's being going on at our election blog Spacing Votes for the last seven days.
JOHNN LORINC COLUMNS
• The money shot
• November surprise?
• The (unexpected) political consensus on Expo 2015
RACE FOR MAYOR
• Climate change, black balloons, and David Miller
• Miller's new ad campaign
• ...
Spacing & Eye Weekly’s mayors’ event MONDAY
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
MONDAY NOVEMBER 6
Revival, 783 College Street
(a few blocks east of Ossington)
Doors open @ 7pm, Event starts @ 8pm, Musical guest after 10pm
FREE
On Monday evening, Spacing magazine and Eye Weekly are teaming up to bring you The Political Party, an event that brings together Toronto's leading mayoral candidates. Mayor David Miller and challenger Jane Pitfield will outline their visions for Toronto's public spaces and face pointed questions from our panel of John Lorinc (urban affairs journalist for Toronto Life, Globe and Mail, Spacing Votes), Ed Keenan (Eye Weekly City editor), and ...
Spacing in today’s Toronto Star
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
Today's Toronto Star has a wonderful feature on Spacing. Just in time for tonight's mayoral event! Here's a little excerpt (or read the full article):
When it first appeared in 2003, it was with little more than a warm and fuzzy layman's fondness for the city.
"When I first saw their work, I kind of ended up scratching my head and wondering what it was about," says Ted Tyndorf, Toronto's chief city planner. "But I don't think anyone feels that way anymore. They've got a lot of credibility here."
At the beginning, the sidelines may have seemed a comfortable ...
November 7th, 2006
Blogrolling to the Turcot Yards
By Shawn Micallef // 5 Comments
The theme of the next hard-copy edition of Spacing will be intersections, those places where parts of the city meet, and cross, and where we sometimes come across each other. However, some of the strangest and most compelling intersections are the ones we can't explore on foot so easily. As I mention in an essay in the upcoming The State of the Arts book (a follow-up to uTOpia), the intersection of the 427 and the 401 out by Pearson was always magical for some of us passing through the city from Windsor, with roads flying 4-5 layers ...
November 8th, 2006
You, me, and the Grand Design
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
There's an interesting talk tomorrow night at Hart House about urban design:
The U of T Bookstore Reading Series and Hart House explores how space design, human behavior and culture interact and foster new relationships between people and their environments, and welcome you to celebrate the current architectural renaissance in Toronto, with our evening of discussion.
Join Mark Kingwell, author of Nearest thing to Heaven: The Empire State Building and American Dreams, and architecture critic for The Globe and Mail and author of Up North: Where Canada's Architecture Meets the Land, Lisa Rochon, with moderator U of ...
Active Transportation Press Conference
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
A week ago, the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) (note - I'm one of the organizers) held a press conference to highlight the importance of cycling and walking issues in the civic election, and bring attention to its candidate surveys (mayoral, councillor and trustee).
There were three great speakers: Glen Murray, former mayor of Winnipeg and now Chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Dr. Alan Abelsohn of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, and Gil Peà±alosa, former commissioner of Parks, Sports ...
Do lazy people move to the suburbs?
By Dylan Reid // 6 Comments
Researchers have established in recent years that there is a correlation between obesity and sprawl -- people in low-density suburbs, who have to drive most destinations, tend to be heavier than people who live in high-density cities where they can walk and cycle to destinations. Although it's often been assumed that, in effect, living in the suburbs makes you put on weight, so far the cause of this correlation has not been established.
Now a new study suggests that the causation goes the other way -- that, in effect, people who don't like being active tend to move to the ...
Filming life in Regent Park
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Today sees the kickoff of the 2006 Regent Park Film Festival, which runs to November 12th at Nelson Mandela Park Public School. Some of the films are actually made in the area and there is also an ongoing exhibit of work from local youth photographers. An excellent opportunity to experience the stories and sights of one of Toronto's most significant neighborhoods. For more info click here.
Photo of Regent Park Rooftops circa 1936 courtesy of Toronto Community Housing.
November 9th, 2006
Sexy public transit, part I
By Craig Cal // 20 Comments
Which proposal looks sexier: a Toronto-wide network of BRTs and LRTs (first map) or the Spadina subway extension (second map)?
POTENTIAL FUTURE BRT/LRT NETWORK (via page 31 of the City of Toronto & the TTC's Transit City report)
Estimated total cost: $1.5 billion (rough estimate)
Estimated ridership growth: 80 million new riders by 2016 (conservative estimate)
OR
SPADINA SUBWAY EXTENSION
Projected total cost: $2.1 billion
Estimated ridership growth: 30 million new riders by 2021
The expensive and inefficient Spadina subway extension doesn't address the diverse and urgent transportation needs of Toronto, and does little to enhance the quality of life for all ...
The (lost) art of voting?
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
This morning a local arts advocacy org, Artsvote.ca, released results of their all-candidates survey on arts and culture issues in Toronto. The good part? Artsvote asked some great questions on arts funding, affordable housing, and support for culture in Toronto. The not-so-good part? Very few candidates returned the surveys, with zero surveys returned for many wards. However, the responses they did receive are revealing, and Artsvote.ca, a volunteer-run, impartial org, is still happy to receive and post last-minute survey responses from any candidate. Go to their site to either read up on your ...
New Nuit Blanche online archive
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art has created on online archive devoted exclusively to documenation of Nuit Blanche. I've had a quick browse and it looks like they have photos and artist info, as well as videos, for most of the work presented that evening - pretty complete stuff. To check it out, click here.
In case you feel a rush of warm nostalgia for the eve, and anticipation for the next, be aware that we don't even know if there will be a Nuit Blanche '07 until March - that's when City Council votes ...
November 10th, 2006
Bolering alone? Alleyjaunt co-founder says “non”
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Lise Beaudry, co-founder of Alleyjaunt (one of our city's most fun summer arts fests) and an artist in her own right, will be kicking off a unique indoor/outdoor exhibition tonight at Harbourfront Centre. Her show, BOLERAMA, focuses on culture and communities surrounding a little egg-shaped trailer called a Boler. Raised in Earlton, a rural Franco-Ontarian community where the Boler was produced in the 1970s, Beaudry sees the annual weekend meet-and-greet Boler conventions in Earlton, Onemee, and other areas of the country as a manifestation of the "art of living." In addition to photographs from these events displayed ...
Is Queen Street Dead? & Funeral for a Building tomorrow
By Leah Sandals // 8 Comments
Put on your blackest of black art-discourse suits and your thinking cap tomorrow as the Toronto Alternative Art Fair International hosts an afternoon of discussion and performance on the topic of urban space. At 2pm at the Drake Hotel, artist Eric Glavin and U of T Architecture school director Andy Payne will give a lecture on Urban Perspectives. Things get a little more sombre at 3:15pm at the Gladstone Hotel's Melody Bar as a lecture panel moderated by Misha Glouberman considers the question "Is Queen Street Dead?" (It will be interesting to see what ...
November 11th, 2006
Sexy public transit, part II
By Craig Cal // 10 Comments
Sexy public transit? Beauty (and sexiness) is in the eye of the beholder, but rapid transit lines spread out all over the GTA in the next 10 years gets me hot.
I'll say it again. Rapid transit lines spread out all over the GTA in the next 10 years, baby. Just look at the map above. It's called a regional approach to public transit in the GTA.
The map is an amalgamation of recent BRT/LRT proposals from the:
TTC's Ridership Growth Strategy (BRT/LRT network = thick red lines on above map)
The City of Toronto's Transit City plan (BRT/LRT ...
November 12th, 2006
Cariboo Avenue
By Shawn Micallef // 12 Comments
(Crossposted with Spacing Votes -- a tour of Cariboo Avenue)
In a recent thread here on Spacing Votes, Danny Nardelli (the motorist responsible for the "Don't Vote for Giambrone" Jeep Grand Cherokee you may have seen driving around as well as a "Don't Vote for Adam Giambrone poster campaign) invited everybody to go for a drive and check out Cariboo Avenue for themselves (you can also check out the official response from Giamrbone's campaign in an open letter to Spacing Votes). Yesterday was a beautiful day of driving, cold mist, so instead of driving (sorry ...
November 13th, 2006
Are you voting for a Davis or a De Baermaeker?
By Dale Duncan // 1 Comment
The Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) has posted two illuminating videos on their website showing impassioned speaches on outdoor advertising from councillor Janet Davis and councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker — De Baememaeker can't get enough of it, while Davis defends our right for freedom from messages to buy, buy, buy. The TPSC posts the ads in hopes of encouraging voters to consider issues of ad creep before heading to the ballot box.
With the City about to ...
ELECTION DAY in TORONTO
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Today is election day. We have a lot of blog posts going on over at Spacing Votes, including city council endorsements and predictions. You should keep an eye on it if you're looking for your Spacing blog fix.
Once you've finished with Spacing, get out and vote. Please. We need you to save the city.
November 14th, 2006
Crossing anywhere on St. George
By Dylan Reid // 17 Comments
The Star's "Fixer" had an interesting story recently about curb cuts along St. George St. in the University of Toronto campus. During the current resurfacing of the road, the City eliminated curb cuts outside designated crossings -- and then put them back in. It's a reflection of the City's ambiguous attitude towards pedestrians crossing mid-block.
In the 1990s, this part of St. George was completely rebuilt in a pedestrian-friendly manner that encouraged students to cross the street at a variety of locations, not just at designated crossings. It was part of a fairly successful strategy of "psychological traffic calming" ...
November 15th, 2006
Forget convenient Slurpees! I want convenient art!
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Lest the promisingly whelming weekend art fairs left you over- or underwhelmed (or, uh, you just couldn't make it) now might be the time to soothe yourself and your pocketbook with a free admission, all-day all-night new windowspace gallery on Landsdowne just north of Queen. It's called Convenience Gallery. The first show, currently on, is by Flavio Trevisan and it runs to November 20.
The fate of the Cherry Beach trees
By Dale Duncan // 5 Comments
Anyone interested in learning more about plans to build soccer fields on the contaminated, but forested, soils by Cherry Beach — and judging by the more than 3,000 names that have signed the petition to "Save Cherry Beach" there are a lot of you — may want to consider attending a meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. Thursday Nov. 16, the Port Lands Action Committee will discuss issues of tree removal and replacement and soil contamination at the Ralph Tornton Centre (765 Queen Street East).
Clear cutting over 250 mature trees for soccer fields, when there is ...
Making Toronto’s streets
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
Streets are at the heart of a city. They take up a quarter of all land in the city. They should be the places where people gather and experience urban life. They enable people to move and do their business. They are the interchange between public and private spaces. Toronto's official plan calls on the city to transform its streets into truly urban pedestrian-friendly, bike- and transit-oriented spaces that do more than just move cars. But to do that, the city needs to change the way it thinks about and manages streets.
Two Toronto academics have recently published ...
November 16th, 2006
Lecture on “The New Landscape”
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
Christopher Hume profiles local landscape architect Janet Rosenberg in the Star today. She says interesting things about the difficulty of creating attractive, original public spaces in Toronto.
Take HtO, for example, the "urban beach" at the foot of John St. at Queens Quay W. her firm designed three years ago ... From the start, Rosenberg has fought against the safety tyrants who rule Toronto: The sandbox almost had to go; some years ago a razorblade was found at Cherry Beach. The terraces almost had to go; someone could fall into the water and drown. The umbrellas almost had ...
November 17th, 2006
TTC to introduce two-colour token to combat counterfeits
By James Bow // 28 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
This coming Monday, the TTC will unveil a new token designed to combat the counterfeits that have flooded the system. According to a TTC press release, the special unveiling ceremony will take place on Monday, November 20 at 2:30 p.m. in Toronto's City Hall, Committee Room 3.
According to the press release, “the new token is designed with the latest in technology, making it next to impossible to re-produce.â€
That, of course, remains to be seen. The release gives few other details, but hopefully these will be provided on Monday. One key question: will the ...
November 18th, 2006
Saturday’s links to news
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The quest for more [Toronto Star]: With barely half the polls reporting, Sean Hill erupts with words nobody wants to hear, let alone believe. "We lost." Gnawing worry in the campaign office dissolves into stunned disbelief. Gulping back tears of disappointment, Alejandra Bravo buries her head in her campaign manager's shoulder as Hill throws his arms around her. "It's okay," she murmurs. "We did everything we could."
Miller's time to take a stand [Toronto Star]: The next 10 to 12 months could be the most pivotal in Toronto's history, and it's up to newly re-elected ...
The Kids are Alright
By Shawn Micallef // 8 Comments
(Image of the Wyld-Darling building on Bay Street, after the 1904 fire -- via Toronto Archives)
John Barber's Globe column today, A city in decline? Truth be told, Toronto's on a roll, is like civic prozac after a few months of hearing why Toronto is so crappy from various candidates. He suggests that "one reason there are so many urban myths -- as opposed to the rural or small-town variety -- is that urbanites are neurotic and suggestible. The longer the good times roll, the more acutely the average Torontonian senses impending catastrophe." Toronto was ...
What was on Spacing Votes
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
The election is over, and all our election junkies can start to concentrate on the Spacing Wire again. We hope that our election coverage helped you get a clearer perspective on where candidates stood on important public space issues. We had a lot of fun, and hope we can do this again during upcoming elections.
We will continue to add posts and article links to Spacing Votes that relate to the election. In many cases we will cross-post it to the Wire so you don't miss out on anything.
Here are the last set of links to articles that appeared ...
Dancing in the streets
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Tired, like Billy Idol, of just dancing with yourself? Or tireder still, like OK GO, of dancing on treadmills at the gym? Well break on out of that dancing rut with a new public space intervention project called I WANT RHYTHM. Says founder Nicole Stoffman,
I WANT RHYTHM and it challenges the cultural prejudice against dancing in the street for no reason but pure joy. I pick a meeting place fo self-selected participants to congregate and then we dance along a lively stretch of Toronto to music coming out of shops, restaurants, cars and street musicians.
I WANT RHYTHM ...
November 19th, 2006
Public spaces melting?
By Ian Malczewski // 4 Comments
Ok, so it's not exactly waterfront news, but there's an article in today's Star about the effects of global warming on Toronto's natural outdoor skating rinks.
As winter temperatures appear to be rising, skating on natural ice may be a thing of the past, something we remember, the way we remember wearing scratchy woollen socks when we go out in the cold instead of smooth, modern polypropylene ones.
Whenever I look at archived pictures of wintertime Toronto, I'm amazed and saddened by the pictures of people skating or curling on the Don River and Grenadier Pond. I know lots ...
Affordable developments not stranger than fiction
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
During the recent municipal election, a number of candidates spoke passionately about creating more affordable housing. A certain over-exposed downtown candidate made some suggestions during his campaign that I've been thinking about for years -- turning the spaces above our libraries and subway stations into mixed-use affordable housing. There is little or no cost to purchase this land, and each location is usually centrally located in a community or neighbourhood.
If the City undertook such projects, they'd also become one of the big-time players in shaping the look and feel of our major intersections. Developers may ...
Soccer fields in the Port Lands — the continuing debate
By Dale Duncan // 2 Comments
A view from what will one day be called Lake Ontario Park.
Thursday night, I went to the Port Lands Action Committee meeting to learn more about the soccer fields to be built just north of Cherry Beach —- the ones that more than 3000 people have signed a petition against.
Here's what I learned:
There are still plans to build permanent soccer fields in a different area of the Port Lands (to be called Commissioners Park), but that won't happen for some time due to the need to wait until the leases of private land ...
November 20th, 2006
Diamonds are for selling, forever
By Leah Sandals // 12 Comments
The Star runs a piece today in the GTA section about a group that's trying to save an old ad on Weston Road north of Lawrence from being eroded. They'd like to see the ad, painted as a mural on a brick wall some 60 years ago, earn some kind of heritage designation. (The ad advertises a set of two diamond rings for $125, a lot more bling than Spence can offer you for the same amount today.)
This story, for me, prompts interesting questions on what will be the most valued art of our era when we ...
November 21st, 2006
Tuesday’s links
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Rookies arrive in Hall of power [Toronto Star]: Beginning at 1 p.m. [Chin Lee] and the six others — Adam Vaughan, Anthony Perruzza, John Parker, Gord Perks, Adrian Heaps, and Ron Moeser — will get a one-hour overview on everything from office budgets, parking, phones, faxes, even how to get their offices repainted if they so desire, from Winnie Li, director of council and support services.
Councillor's message sparks probe [Toronto Star]: Toronto's integrity commissioner has "tentatively reached the conclusion" that Councillor Maria Augimeri committed discreditable conduct over voicemail comments she made about Councillor Peter Li Preti. ...
You won the election, what’s next?
By Spacing // No Comments
Cross-posted from Spacing Votes
The confetti's been swept from the campaign room floor, but a whole new mess awaits Toronto's new city councillors. While their terms won't officially start until Dec. 5, the rookies are busy getting the lay of the land so they can hit the ground running.
For Gord Perks, newly-elected to Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park, that means a whirlwind tour of local community and business groups.
"Invitations are coming in at the rate of, oh, one every 15 minutes or so," he said last Friday evening.
For many new councillors, meet-and-greets will be the primary initiation into ...
November 22nd, 2006
Good public art that does a public good
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
If you happen to be in Montreal in the next few days, be sure to check out the big tent erected at Place Emelie-Gamelin near Berri/UQAM station. No, the circus ain't in town - given Cirque du Soleil's ticket prices these days, it's thankfully something a heckuva lot more economical.
The tent is part of the seventh edition a unique art fest, Etat D'Urgence (State of Emergency), and it houses a free 24-hour canteen, clothing depot and medical clinic for Montreal's homeless. In a more conventional art fest vein, the venue also plays home to a ...
Wednesday’s links
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Suburbs focus hard on Miller [Toronto Star]: Toronto Mayor David Miller earned a strong mandate from the former city suburbs in last week's election. We'll soon find out if he'll show his gratitude. Miller is meeting individually with all 44 members of council this week to see which committees they're interested in sitting on, and the mayor is expected to announce his choices for committee chairs at or just before the inaugural council meeting on Dec. 5. The folks who represent the former cities of Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and, to a lesser extent York and East York, are ...
November 23rd, 2006
Automatic Train Control: What’s the Catch?
By James Bow // 26 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto. Image by David Cooper, courtesy the Toronto Star.
TTC Chairman Howard Moscoe waxes on about the benefits of automatic train control (a.k.a. “driverless trainsâ€), suggesting that they are “a bargain†at $750 million. The Toronto Star has more details. In his view, putting computers in charge of subway operations would allow the TTC to:
reassign TTC personnel to other duties, like keeping the stations cleaner.
run trains closer together, significantly increasing the capacity on the subway lines.
opens up the prospect of night service, or increased service throughout the day, since you ...
November 24th, 2006
Toronto Life covers
By Matthew Blackett // 13 Comments
Toronto Life just celebrated its 40th anniversary. That's a huge accomplishment for a Canadian magazine, and even more remarkable since their readership is geographically limited.
The magazine has produced an archive of covers (1966-2006) which nicely document the evolution of Toronto Life and the city itself. While most of the covers during the 1980s make me cringe, I enjoy the art direction of the 60s and 70s (it seemed ...
uTOpia Redux: The State of the Arts
By Spacing // 12 Comments
On Sunday Coach House Books is launching the second volume of uTOpia, this time called "The State of the Arts: Living with Culture in Toronto" at the Gladstone Hotel. Three Spacing editors have essays in the book, as do a number of folks who have contributed articles to past issues.
The State of the Arts explores the Toronto arts scene from every angle. The essays consider the big-ticket and the ticket-free, from the Opera House and the CNE to the accidental art of graffiti eradification and under-ground hip-hop. In between, you'll find considerations of art in ...
November 25th, 2006
News of the World
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
Last week, Spacing's Dale Duncan wrote an article in Eye Magazine about five great public space ideas from other cities. She cited an initiative in Seoul, South Korea, where the city demolished a huge expressway and uncovered a river, transforming it into a heavily-used linear park. The Guardian recently published a detailed article about this initiative.
The article discusses the most fascinating aspect of the Seoul project, to a Torontonian who has mixed feelings about the recent proposal to tear down part of the Gardiner but replace it with ten lanes of road to handle the same volume ...
November 26th, 2006
Funniest Election Moments
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
My two favorite moments during the election were:
• At the Who Runs This Town debate at St. Lawrence Centre -- the one with all the candidates, fringe included -- one of the more leftish fringe candidates shouted "There are no homeless people on the streets of Havana."
• At David Miller's victory party at the Steamwhistle while ordering a beer and watching council results on their plasma TV, one of the 20-year-old-ish women behind the bar asked, kind of irritatedly, "has there ever been a woman mayor of Toronto?" We said sure, June Rowlands and Barbara Hall in the ...
November 27th, 2006
A compendium of links
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Lightning loves the tower [Toronto Star]: Keraunophobes, don't look up. The CN Tower is struck by lightning more frequently than any other structure in Toronto, according to a 15-year study by researchers at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. Keraunophobia, the fear of lightning, is a condition that should send sufferers running from the tower during a storm, though a safe seat near the 553-metre building would provide a "spectacular lightning show," the researchers suggest.
TOR STAR EDITORIAL: Don't return Moscoe to TTC chair: Indications are that Howard Moscoe will not be returning for another stint ...
November 28th, 2006
Carlton Canyon
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
The walk west on Carlton has changed over the past year and become quite a nice and cozy canyon. The addition of the new glass condo just east of Yonge (the one with the crane on top) made its canyon-ness noticeable. This condo has a name, of course, which I've taken note of on several occasions, and then forgot, because like so many condo names in Toronto, it's instantly forgettable, with no local reference. So I can't remember if it's The Murano or The Fooze or The VoomVaVoom or the Shimmy Bazoot building. At least it looks good, ...
November 29th, 2006
Goodbye Stump (Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em)
By Shawn Micallef // 3 Comments
The scene Monday in front of Scotiabank Centre was loud. The Murray Demolition company (I always wonder what the omnipresent Toronto demolisher Murray was like as a kid) was taking the last shots at what remained of the Bay Adelaide stump. The terrific sound of the giant jackhammer thing bounced off the surrounding buildings turning the whole area into a sort of industrial concert. The guy in the cherry picker would periodically douse it with water -- either to keep the dust down or to keep it cool. The area around the stump has ...
Dovercourt tree tour and community bonfire
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
This Saturday, December 2 at 1:00p.m., arborist about town and Spacing contributor Todd Irvine of LEAF and local tree advocate Andrea Dawber of GreenHere are leading a tree tour of Dovercourt Park and the surrounding neighbourhood.
The tour will begin in Dovercourt Park, where, thanks to Dawber's help, local residents have planted over 100 new trees over the past five years. Stops along the way will include a bed of trees and flowers where once there was grey asphalt, historical houses along Gladstone and Westmoreland, and a towering 200 year-old elm tree. We'll return to Dovercourt Park by ...
November 30th, 2006
City Council about to take flight
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
The new city council will be unveiled for us next week, and we'll get to see who'll be pushing the agenda forward for the newly re-elected David Miller.
The way city council operates has been tweaked with the introduction of the new City of Toronto Act, and the first chance for us to see it in action will be the appointment of an executive committee by the mayor. Joining Miller in this new civic cabinet will be 12 other councillors: they include the deputy mayor (Joe Pantelone has already been appointed to this position), seven committee chairs, and ...
December 1st, 2006
Scarborough in the NOW
By Dale Duncan // 6 Comments
NOW city hall reporter (and Spacing contributor) Mike Smith looks at the issues facing the former municipality of Scarborough over the next four years. Notorious for its strip malls, busy roads, and sprawling suburban neighbourhoods, Scarborough doesn't get the attention it deserves, Councillor Brian Ashton tells Smith: “The suburbs feel they're not being heard. People choose their communities for different sorts of lifestyles. There's a feeling that because I choose to live at Markham and Sheppard, all my life choices are evil and wrong and carcinogenic. They're not.â€
Could it be that some Scarberians live where ...
Eye’s on the street
By Dale Duncan // 1 Comment
While NOW's Mike Smith was spending the week thinking about Scarborough (see post below), Eye Weekly's Chris Bilton took Mayor David Miller's lead and visited each and every one of Toronto's 44 neighbourhoods. But while Miller spread his visits over three days in the final days leading up to the November 13 municipal election, Bilton covered the city's 44 neighbourhoods in 44 hours. You can read his article about the experience in this week's Eye Weekly or check out his extended notes on the exhausting trip online here.
Also online on the Eye Weekly blog, ...
NYC to Illegal Ads: Drop Dead
By Shawn Micallef // 4 Comments
Often when discussing that perhaps ads don't belong on every surface of our city there are usually folks who say that Toronto needs ads-a-plenty and are strangely insistent that our World-Class-Ness is connected to the amount of ads we've got in public. So, it's nice to see a cover story this week in the New York Press about the illegal ads plaguing that city. Lindsay Beyerstein writes:
Vinyl construction wraps loom over sidewalks all over the city—from the towering blue Infiniti ad wrapped around a vacant lot in Soho to the new Equinox Fitness wrap on the ...
Friday’s mid-afternoon links to run out the day
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Kensington Market declared national historic site [National Post]: Kensington Market, that neighbourhood that has survived for 80 years as a good place to buy inexpensive produce, gained federal recognition yesterday as a "place of national historic significance to Canada."
CHRISTOPHER HUME: Feds and province are no longer the villains [Toronto Star]: Be careful what you wish for; it might come true. Mayor David Miller and city councillors are about to find out just how true these words are thanks to the new City of Toronto Act. Though the legislation won't be tabled until early next ...
Whose space is public space?
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Jerrold Litwinenko at BlogTO had a good post yesterday on public space surveillance, and the comment section has a good debate going.
Last week, when a hail of bullets were fired at a moving car at Yonge & Shuter, just a few steps away from the Eaton Center, I was instantly reminded of the horrific 2005 Boxing Day shooting.
Yesterday, Toronto Police Services issued a press release regarding last week's shooting, including still images (image1, image2) acquired from nearby private surveillance cameras that they hope will help them identify and apprehend ...
December 2nd, 2006
Saturday, Saturday: A Public Art Rapper’s Delight
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
So I've been trying to change the words to Sugar Hill Gang's Classic "Rapper's Delight" so that it goes "Public Art Rapper's Delight." I won't subject you to the results right now. But I will tell you it's all in celebration of three rad public art-y things goin' on today that prompted my attempt at adapted hip-hop classics:
1) A formerly Halifax-based gang of artistes has decided to claim a little bit o' Queen Street for themselves — or a Queen Street alley garage at least. Yes, Evan Quigley, onetime proprietor of H-town's infamous Bathroom Gallery, has gone ...
To Suburbia
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
Today's National Post Toronto Magazine has a series of 5 articles on evolving neighbourhoods in the city, including the Oakwood neighbourhood north of St. Clair, Queen West, the Gaybourhood, and the coffee-liberation of Leslieville & South Riverdale (not online) . There is also an excerpt of the Artburbia? essay I contributed to the latest edition of uTOpia (note, seems only 1/3 of the excerpt made it online -- but all these articles look better in the printed magazine anyway, which itself has impressed us over the past few months).
In Artburbia? ...
December 4th, 2006
Articles on bike art, city hall stuff, farmer’s market, and a cool bridge
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Here are a few articles from the weekend that are wroth exploring if you haven't already.
Art to hold your eye, and your bike [Globe and Mail]: Cycling west on Queen in Parkdale, you'll notice a slight blip in the soothing staccato of post-and-ring bike racks along the sidewalks. In front of the Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre, you'll see bikes locked to a tree and to a bird instead. Designed and manufactured by members of PARC, a mental-health community centre, the one-of-a-kind metal racks may soon be spreading across the neighbourhood. [Topic also previously reported on Spacing]....
The scorched-earth reality of new councillors
By Matthew Blackett // 17 Comments
Two weeks ago on our Spacing Votes blog, Karen MacKenzie wrote about the transition process faced by newly elected councillors. The article touched on the handing-over of files and information from the incumbent to the councillor-elect. In that piece Gord Perks, the new councillor for Parkdale High Park, comes across as slightly prophetic:
“If I'm lucky, I'll have a [chance to chat with the former councillor and her assistant]. If I'm unlucky, I'll go in and there will be nothing left but lightbulbs and paperclips.†Perks said. “I may not see a single piece of paper.â€
This weekend, ...
December 5th, 2006
Outer Space: public realm articles from around the world
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
St. Pancras in London, England, from The Guardian
• The world's most beautiful train stations [ The Guardian ]
• San Diego's dedication to public spaces [ Sign On San Diego ]
• A piazza for a Maryland suburb [ NY Times -- requires registartion: use Bug Me Not for anonymous logins ]
• Must a parking garage be an architectural disaster? [ The Guardian ]
• Seattle focuses on pedestrian safety [ Seattle P-I ]
• Plans for Philadelphia waterfront coming along [ The Evening Bulletin ]
December 6th, 2006
TO’s new city council: on your marks, get set, go!
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
Toronto Star columnist Royson James, who belittled David Miller for almost the entire election campaign (two or three days before election day James decided it was time to start examining the weaknesses of challenger Jane Pitfield), got right back on his horse by laying into the mayor for a weak inaugural speech.
Mayor David Miller should fire his speech writer. And if the mayor is the author of yesterday's insipid inaugural address, he should fire himself and leave the job to someone who can capture the dual purpose of these ceremonial events. A good inaugural address will assuage ...
Walking from JFK
By Shawn Micallef // 21 Comments
In today's New York Times there is an article on a walk English author Will Self took from JFK into Manhatten. It took him six hours. Self is a noted walker, and goes on epic hikes in London, and sometimes writes about them in his psychogeography column in The Independent newspaper. As for this walk, the Times writes:
By Mr. Self's usual standards, the walk from Kennedy to Manhattan, about 20 miles, is a mere stroll. What recommended it was that it would take him through parts of the city that most people never notice while ...
December 7th, 2006
Thursday’s compendium of links
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Moscoe touts landlord licences [Toronto Star]: You need a licence to drive a car, why not a licence to be a landlord? That seems to be the thinking behind a proposal being floated by Councillor Howard Moscoe. The newly named head of the city's licensing and standards committee wants to make landlords pay a per-unit fee that would be high if the building is rundown, and low if the building is in tip-top shape. The measure, Moscoe argues, would force bad landlords to be good. Moscoe is looking at creating four categories of buildings — A, B, C, and ...
Nathan Phillips Square re-design finalists announced
By Matthew Blackett // 22 Comments
photo by Sam Javanrouh • see it larger
A short-list of finalists have been annouced in the re-design of Nathan Phillips Square. The jury studied submissions from 48 teams and yesterday named four finalists:
Baird Sampson Neuert Architects, Toronto, with VLAN Paysages (landscape architect, Montreal); Halcrow Yolles (structural engineer, Toronto); Cobalt Engineering (mechanical engineer, Toronto); and Mulvey & Banani International Inc. (electrical engineer, Toronto)
Plant Architect Inc., Toronto, with Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners (architect, Toronto); Peter Lindsay Schaudt Landscape Architecture, Inc. (landscape architect, Chicago); Adrian Blackwell (design collaborator, Toronto); Blackwell Bowick Partnership Limited (structural engineer, Toronto); and Crossey ...
Giambrone takes the helm of TTC
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
The new council appointed commissioners to the TTC yesterday, with Miller ally and second-term councillor Adam Giambrone assuming the position of chair.
Giambrone is joined by councillors Joe Mihevc (vice-chair), Sandra Bussin, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Suzan Hall, Bill Saundercook, Anthony Perruzza, Michael Thompson and Peter Milczyn.
Read the articles in:
The Toronto Star: TTC freezes fares for now
The National Post: Not Moscoe, but not quiet
The Toronto Sun: Nobody wants a fare hike
December 8th, 2006
Reminder: Calvacade of (Throwie) Lights tonight!
By Leah Sandals // 4 Comments
Newmindspace is reworking the Calvalcade of Lights theme with a throwie workshop and action tonight (Friday, December 8th). Throwies, in case you don't know, are little LEDs invented by the Graffiti Research Lab that "can stick to anything ferromagnetic and glove for about two weeks." The goal is to create a thousand points of light. How nice. And they aren't even running for leadership of a nation or political party (yet). So join 'em at Queen and Spadina, NE corner, tonight at 11:11pm.
Yer Alt-weekly round up
By Spacing // 3 Comments
Mike Smith writes about the first meeting of Toronto's new city council in this week's NOW. The meeting itself was uneventful, says Smith. Of greater interest will be the many meetings to come and how things will change under the new governance structure:
The governance changes of which the mayor speaks don't make good TV (they barely make good print), so little has been said of them recently. Still, it's the little changes that may prove to have the most impact. Changing the number of seats on a city committee from seven to six, for instance, seems superficial ...
December 10th, 2006
NY Times has ideas
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
In today's NY Times magazine they look at 74 ideas that were talked about over the past year. Some are weird -- like the comb that listens and the N.C.A.A. Psyop -- but there are a few that have a particularly urban element to them, including (click on links for full text):
The Aerotropolis
In September, Bangkok witnessed the opening of the Suvarnabhumi Airport, which when finally completed will include virtually all the components of a major metropolis: shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, hospitals, an international business center, conference and exhibition spaces, warehouses ...
December 11th, 2006
“We’re all pedestrians” campaign wins award
By Matthew Blackett // 18 Comments
While we at Spacing have serious beefs with outdoor advertising, we do have a sense of humour and can appreciate creativity when we see it. So kudos to the TTC and the City of Toronto for winning a design award in Applied Arts magazine for their pedestrian safety campaign.
Monday’s links to weekend articles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
This is the best photo of Toronto I have seen in a long time. It was posted in Torontoist's Flickr Pool and is making the rounds on the internet. Along with this blog tip, check out these other articles from today and this past weekend (sorry, there are too many articles -- and not enough time -- to include short summaries).
CITY HALL
• JAMES: Miller and apostles off and running [ Toronto Star ]
• Reality check on Miller's campaign promises [ Toronto Star ]
• Miller's new muscle [ Globe and Mail ]
• Miller kicks ...
Thimble art starts to measure up
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
Spacing's very own Shawn Micallef had a piece about the thimble public art piece found at the northeast corner of Richmond and Spadina in the weekend's Globe and Mail. Click here to read the entire article.
A giant bronze thimble and two concrete buttons: As works of art go, Stephen Cruise's Uniform Measure/Stack seems pretty well indestructible. But when you leave art in the open, anything can happen. That's what Mr. Cruise has learned as his public art piece at Spadina and Richmond has received a long-overdue finishing touch -- and an unauthorized addition in bright red paint.
...
But ...
December 12th, 2006
Chainlink Beautiful?
By Dylan Reid // 10 Comments
The new "Bennet Gates" at the south end of Philosopher's Walk on the University of Toronto campus recently won a "Clean and Beautiful City Appreciation Award" from the City of Toronto. The award citation didn't say if it included the ugly chainlink fence that was installed at the same time right beside the new gates.
The fence was installed because, as I wrote in an earlier post, the new gates ignore the natural pedestrian paths in the area, and the university wants to discourage pedestrians from ...
Regent Park Revitalization Screening Thursday Night
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
Revitalization is a word that sure sounds good; but is the phenomenon the city's calling "revitalization" over at Regent Park really a good thing? That's the question the Toronto Public Space Committee is encouraging us all to ponder tomorrow night with a screening of short docs on the subject of planned affordable housing projects:
From a heart-wrenching story of a community uprooted to make way for a planned neighborhood ("Little Burgundy"), to a thorough exploration of the history of housing projects ("No Fitting Habitat"), these films show that the more things change, the more ...
Regent Park Take I
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
The folks at Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre have been around since 1989 as a not-for-profit organization that gets area kids involved in media production. Not only do they give them skills and experience, they produce some really good mini-documentaries on Regent Park -- but they were hard to find. The great thing about the internet is suddenly distribution isn't an issue.
We'll be featuring a few of their Regent Park TV episodes over then next while. This well-done documentary here looks at the revitalization, and ...
December 13th, 2006
Art Attack Meeting Tonight @ Metro Hall
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
I know some of you want to piledrive the Henry Moore sculpture in Nathan Phillips Square, but you're going to have to save that for another day, because that's not quite what Art Attack is all about. It's about using art to attack things like advertising, not attacking art with things like your body. Just get that straight.
So... if you have some time to take aim at corporate billboards instead, you should go to the Art Attack meeting tonight (Wednesday, December 13) at 6:30pm at Metro Hall Room 304. It's brought to you ...
More high-occupancy lanes coming to highways
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
The Toronto Star is reporting today that the Ontario government will announce major plans to expand the high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
In early 2007, the McGuinty government will announce a major expansion plan for high-occupancy vehicle lanes on 400-series highways in the GTA.
Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield told the Star that the expansion will not take away existing lanes to make way for lanes exclusively for vehicles with at least two occupants. But she gave no specifics of the plan.
That effectively rules out adding HOV to the 401 atop Toronto, where the highway spans 16 lanes, and is not set ...
BARBER: Serious Land Dispute on Islands Brewing
By Ian Malczewski // 14 Comments
John Barber's column (registered users or Google News search) in The Globe & Mail today discusses the increasing volume of a voice that has been shouting about the Island Airport for some time now: the Mississaugas of the New Credit. The Mississaugas have long disputed that the land now occupied by the Toronto Island Airport was never sold in either of the Toronto Land Purchases of 1787 and 1805. The islands were long considered a sacred place for the area's native people.
[T]he continuing land dispute at Caledonia, a few kilometres away ...
December 14th, 2006
Holy Public Dancing Interventions, Batman!
By Leah Sandals // 3 Comments
Gillian Wearing, what have you wrought? Ever since you decided to spontaneously dance in a shopping mall back in 1994, and record it for a video piece, and then become an international art star, contemporary artists (myself included) have been tripping over themselves to follow in your awkward, untrained-yet-enthusiastic footsteps. How else could one explain that this weekend Torontonians have not one but two officially scheduled dancing interventions to shake their postmodern booties at?
Whatever the reason, you'll have no shortage of creative dance partners this weekend if you show up at one of the ...
December 15th, 2006
Toronto artstravaganza: t’aint public, but still worth seeing
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
The Power Plant's fall show, all about documenting and reinforcing the aura of the fabled Cologne, Germany, art scene of the 1980s, was a bit frustrating to my Spacing-self. It prompted the question "Don't we have a great art scene here in Toronto? Like, right now? Why not focus on that instead of pretending that all things important happen elsewhere?"
Well, the gallery's winter show, which opens tonight, shows that some kind of magical art fairy must have heard our cries and ferried them into the sleeping ears of gallery director Gregory Burke and senior curator Helena ...
Public Art for Sleepwalkers
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Nuit Blanche is well over, but there's a smaller-scale project launching tonight that similarly takes aim at the late-night public-art-viewing demographic. Through an experimental window space on Queen West, the aptly named Sleepwalker Projects will be presenting contemporary art "to those who are out and about in the wee hours: the time when, we believe, things begin to happen." For the inaugural exhibition, artist Fedora Romita has created a 21-day poster project (ie. each day for 21 days, a new poster will be added to the space for all to see.) Both the exhibition and ...
December 16th, 2006
Books for public space lovers to give and receive
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
Hark, what's that earth-shaking cacophany echoing past yonder half-finished condo developments and through the halls of municipal committee meetings? Public space friends, 'tis the bell of a mighty consumerist sleigh. And ask not for whom this last-minute-shopping jingle bell tolleth - it tolls, almost certainly, for thee. And, erm, me. Dang!
Fortunately, many good and informative and helpful tomes exist for city lovers (and lovers of city lovers) to give and receive in short time. With Hannukah in full force and only 7 days 'til Xmas Eve, let the following suggestions fasttrack you to the 401 of flaneur-flavoured holiday book-giving bliss:
For ...
New Fan-Produced Google TTC Map
By James Bow // 19 Comments
We are constantly impressed by the labours of love the Toronto Transit Commission brings out of its fans, but we were totally blown away by this transit map created by Ian Stevens of the blog Crazed Monkey.
It really is a state of the art feature, combining the latest Ride Guide PDF with Google Maps and Sean Lerner's TTC Subway Rider's Efficiency Guide. You can enter in your address and immediately be taken to that spot in Toronto for a quick, at a glance look at the routes near that location. Click on any subway station on the map, ...
December 18th, 2006
This week’s alternative reading
By Spacing // 2 Comments
In this week's NOW, Mike Smith describes our mayor as “a kitten with a mandate — and now, the lieutenants to carry it out.†He writes about David Miller's new executive committee and his reasoning behind appointing them. Smith also questions Miller's strategy:
...in terms of the executive, I wonder if Miller has micromanaged just a bit too much. The placement of right-wingers shows some finesse: the appointment to the straightforward general government committee (chaired by Gloria Lindsay Luby) and the "at large" executive appointment of Norm Kelly both acknowledge and contain the right.But I'm left wondering why ...
A better street food scene?
By Laura Hatcher // 4 Comments
Toronto's street food scene is reduced to hot dogs and sausages -- it seems the most variety you'll find here is bacon bits at one vendor versus diced onions at another. The Toronto Star had an article yesterday on how provincial regulations limit street food vending, and the growing interest in changing these regulations. There are a number of people who have ideas about how Toronto's street food scene could be changed in order to allow for healthier and more diverse food choices. The article suggests that if they were allowed ...
The Tape
By Shawn Micallef // 9 Comments
Last week we posted a link to the Globe and Mail story I wrote about the new additions to the Spadina Thimble -- but we didn't have a current picture to show. Finally made it back to the corner with a camera, in the wonderful December dusk on Saturday afternoon. The city seemed extraordinarily alive and happy even, which I think must be due to the holidays. Above you can see the beginning of VicTor's tape, laid over the concrete indentation thimble artist Stephen Cruise made by pressing the plywood form he built ...
December 19th, 2006
Reports of Nathan Phillips’s death have been greatly exagerated
By Shawn Micallef // 6 Comments
Again on Saturday, after checking on the Spadina Thimble and meandering back east through the Queen West cardigan sweater district, I saw a commotion in Nathan Phillips Square. It seemed like a giant happy protest. Hundreds of people were surrounding the ice rink, watching a couple hundred more skate in a wide chaotic circle, lit by a few brightly coloured intellibeams (part of the Cavalcade of Lights) and by the pot lights under the arches, as if the spans rain light down onto the ice.
The amount of people out and about -- some ...
December 20th, 2006
SPACING: Buy our 2007 calendar and holiday gift pack!
By Spacing // No Comments
Spacing is happy to announce two special offers. First off: we've got calendars! Grab yourself a Spacing 2007 calendar that showcases some of the amazing photos that have made their way onto the pages of the magazine. Featured photographers are regular Spacing contributors Sam Javanrouh, Matt O'Sullivan, Rannie Turingan, Miles Storey, Adam Krawesky, and Bouke Salverda.
You can buy a calendar online at the Spacing Store for $10 (includes mailing). After Dec. 15th we cannot guarantee your order will arrive before the 25th. So go buy it ...
Better Know a Building
By Shawn Micallef // 3 Comments
To add to the long and growing list of individuals working on Toronto projects close to their hearts that benefit the rest of us, here is TOBuilt. Local urban-things and architecture enthusiast Bob Krawczyk has painstakingly rode his bike around the city (the whole megacity, not just ye old Toronto) taking photographs of buildings and structures and cataloging them with whatever information he can dig up. This amazing database covers most of Toronto's tall buildings, many heritage properties and lots of other structures -- but it's a work in progress, and buildings and new information are always ...
December 21st, 2006
Perverse Psychogeography?
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
"Psychogeography" seems to be generally considered a relatively benign observational activity -- a random drifting through the city to experience the effect of "the geographical environment on the emotions and behaviour of individuals."
Some inhabitants of London, England have taken an interventionist, and rather less benign, approach. A friend recently forwarded this email invitation to me:
SAVAGE MESSIAH NEW YEAR'S EVE DRIFT....a psychogeographic trawl through London's repressed desires...............................
MAPPING AND SURVEILLANCE ON THE STREETS AND UNDERGROUND NETWORK......................
.................'key themes FOR CONSIDERATION........' may include.......MASS TRESPASS, SPONTANEOUS OUTBREAKS OF MOB VIOLENCE, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, ARSON ...
Bright and Fuzzy Lights in the Big City
By Shawn Micallef // 12 Comments
When my sister and I were kids we would ride around Windsor in the back seats of our parents' cars and rate Christmas displays as we passed them. If Lola Magazine used to do shotgun art reviews, ours were BB-gun reviews. Just a quick number between 1 and 10. Artistry, elaborateness and feats of suburban ladder wrangling got the high numbers. Low marks were given things just bought at the store and plunked on the lawn - today we would give a 0 or 1 to those tacky inflatable snowmen.
Yonge Street is worthy of high ...
December 22nd, 2006
Regent Park Take II — The Bike Man Episodes
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
It's a beautiful cold December day, so watch these three summerish short films from Regent Park TV following the adventures of Bike Man and his battle with The Striped Bandit (if only real bike thieves were this cute). They were shot in and around Regent Park and Cabbagetown, during those oppressive days with the warm sun and the green leaves and the kids playing outside. You can show them to your kids as they're full of Sesame Street wisdom too.
Bike Man on the importance of locking up ...
Last-minute gift tip: Metropolitan World Atlas
By Matthew Blackett // 13 Comments
Some of you may be sitting at your desk today trying to kill time for the rest of the day so you can get out from behind your desk and finish up your holiday shopping. If you're still stumped on what to get check out Spacing's short-list of great book ideas we posted earlier in the week.
One of the books mentioned in that post was the Metropolitan World Atlas [ 010 Publishers ]. Since it arrived in our mailbox it has become a mainstay for me whenever I want to procrastinate. You can check out maps ...
Last-minute gift tip: New Orleans Bicycles
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Spacing contributor and Toronto photoblogging celeb Rannie Turingan will be filled with envy when he sees the book New Orleans Bicycles [ Mark Batty Publishers ]. The book is filled with images of locked up bikes, damaged bikes, bikes with decorated baskets, bikes with different sized wheels, banana seat bikes, rusted bikes. If you love the photos Rannie has collected of Toronto bikes on his Flickr website you will absolutely love this book.
This depiction of the Big Easy was collected in the 18 months before Hurricane Katrina changed the reality of New Orleans. There is ...
December 24th, 2006
Lots of links for the weekend
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
We're not sure how much we'll be posting over the next few days, so here are a bunch of links to articles in local papers and a variety of international publications.
TORONTO ARTICLES
• Other side of the tracks [ NOW ]
• Union Station's silent boogie [ NOW ]
• Inside City Hall feature [ Globe and Mail ]
• BARBER: a mayoral mayday that might bring change [ Globe and Mail ]
• Easy rider: Ian Stevens' TTC-Google map [ Globe and Mail ]
• What's the meaning of Zanta? [ Globe and Mail ]
• ...
Merry Christmess, from Zanta
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Thanks to BlogTO for this tip -- at Queen West and Gladstone (one block east of Dufferin), someone has either paid for a Zanta billboard or has gotten really creative and liberated the space in the name of Toronto's leading public figure.
UPDATE: Fauxreel, a local artist-interventionalist, is responsible for the work. Check out this post to see the making of this installation.
December 25th, 2006
Ye Old Merry Christmas
By Shawn Micallef // 8 Comments
Spacing editor Anna Bowness has said, a few times, that Sesame Street taught us everything we needed to know about urbanism when we were 3. It's true, that street was the perfect idealized Jane Jacobs big city neighbourhood (especially warm and cozy for the 1978 Christmas Special). I realized yesterday, back here in the ancestral split-level house in suburban (nearly exurban) Windsor, that these Christmas displays my mom has been putting out for the last 20 years or so, that I secretly love, are little urban dioramas. They were one of the few instances of urbanity we ...
December 27th, 2006
A tardy alt-weekly round up
By Spacing // No Comments
This week, NOW's Mike Smith writes about TTC development: Other side of the tracks. He focuses on the idea of selling TTC land to developers, as a way of sprucing up its facilities.
In the case of Victoria Park, a planned $26 million rejuvenation of the station faà§ade will provide on-street access, widen pedestrian space, replace much concrete with glass, plant trees and — according to sketched — attract coffee drinking with purposeful strides
Smith also examines the negative by pointing that the development will bring a lot more people into the areas, which will change neighbourhoods ...
Post Christmas Self-Gift Tip: College Street
By Shawn Micallef // 5 Comments
Christmas is done so you probably have money from Grand Ma or Weird Uncle to go "buy a present for yourself" because "you are too hard to buy for." We've already listed a few book suggestions for Christmas last week -- today we'll add College Street Little Italy: Toronto's Renaissance Strip from Mansfield Press to the list of books that are good to buy with that gift-money.
So many books that take a historic look at Toronto or its neighbourhoods (or any city) quickly become overly sentimental and take a slightly boring look backwards, relying on cute ...
December 28th, 2006
Toronto in the news today
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Here are a list of articles that are worth reading today.
• EDITORIAL: Miller faces tests on growth, budget [ Toronto Star ]
• Miller mum on 25% pay hike for MPPs [ Toronto Star ]
• Affluent Beaches residents freeze out homeless [ Toronto Star ]
• GTA a model for all of Canada [ Toronto Star ]
• A national debate on prostitution [ Toronto Star ]
• Cars kill too, York police chief says [ National Post ]
• New approach to TTC streetcar refurbishing [ Toronto Sun ]
photo by Sam Javanrouh
December 30th, 2006
Best of 2006: Tree Pit Liberation
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
All over Toronto in 2006 people and businesses have been removing the cement covers that strangle our street trees, turning that little patch of uncovered dirt into canvasses for green-creativity. We first saw this happen during the summer of '05 when the folks at 215 Spadina (more specifically, the Urbanspace property group) planted flowers in two pits in front of that location. This year they planted some of those tough looking urban cabbages that seem well-suited for the street. It's made walking through the city, from block to block, a stroll through a bit of a ...
Spacing in the media today
By Spacing // 2 Comments
Both Shawn Micallef (Spacing associate editor) and Matthew Blackett (Spacing publisher and creative director) were featured in the weekend papers. Micallef was tabbed by the National Post as one of 30 creative Torontonians to watch out for in 2007. Other public space notables in the article are councillors Adam Vaughan and Adam Giambrone, and architectural archeologist John Martins-Manteiga.
The Globe and Mail featured Blackett (photo above) as one of the new movers-and-shakers for 2007 while highlighting ...
Best of 2006: graffiti
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Graffiti has become the wallpaper of urban life as much of it tends to blend into the city landscape. But a creative person has been doing some fabulous stencil-cutouts and posting them around the downtown core and west-side neighbourhoods over the last month and a half of 2006. Outside of the controversial "Drake You Ho" tag from late 2005, I can't remember a graffiti piece (in this case pieces) that's had so many tounges wagging outside the graf artist scene.
I love this form of graffiti because of the time, energy and thought that has gone into the installations. ...
December 31st, 2006
Best of 2006: lists from around the continent
By Matthew Blackett // 17 Comments
Did you know that for the first time in North America there are more poor residents of suburbs than central cities? Or that America's older, inner-ring first suburbs make up 20 percent of the nation's population and are more diverse? Or that most North American families spend over 19 percent of their budgets on transportation?
You'd know all this, and more, if you went in search of Best of 2006 lists. I thought I'd compile a few which have caught my eye over the last week. Some of these list include topics and items that are not really relevant ...
January 1st, 2007
Best of 2006: intervention
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
The Best Intervention of 2006 goes to the bench installed, without permission of the City, outside of the Parkdale Library on Queen Street West.
In late-March, the City and the Parkdale BIA unveiled a new piece of public art outside the local library and community centre. The World Peace Monument is a bronze globe that contains a water display (only is use during the warmer months). There were a number of complaints about the City allocating $300,000 for a sculpture when the neighbourhood is in desperate need of funding for affordable housing, slum landlord oversight, and the battle ...
January 2nd, 2007
Terminal Two Twilight
By Shawn Micallef // 14 Comments
Holiday week required two trips two days in a row to Pearson's Terminal Two via car to drop off and pick up various current and former Torontonians and their festive parcels. It will be nice when a fixed link is established to our airport and the impulse to use a car is diminished -- but for now when time allows there is still a certain thrill in getting on the 401, during perhaps the only week when it isn't insufferably slow, and negotiating all those lanes of fast moving traffic. It was a sad couple ...
Best of 2006: cyclist-driver fight in Kensington
By Matthew Blackett // 32 Comments
The impact blogs can have on a news story became rather apparent in late January of 2006. Adam Krawesky, a Spacing contributor and one of Toronto's most prolific photobloggers, was wandering through Kensington Market when he witnessed an altercation between a driver and a cyclist. He took a series of photos that would soon launch a local (and slightly global) blog phenomenon.
The story went something like this:
1. driver throws beef patty out of vehicle window
2. Cyclist throws it back into car
3. Driver gets out and yells at cyclist, dumps coffee on her
4. Man drives away, but decides ...
Spacing 2007 calendar still available
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
Now that the holidays are over and you don't have to buy presents for anyone, you should splurge on yourself: pick up Spacing's 2007 calendar that features the work of Spacing photographers who also happen to be some of the best photobloggers this city has to offer.
You can buy the calendar for $7.99 at Pages Books & Magazines (256 Queen Street West), Ballenford Books (600 Markham St., behind Honest Ed's at Bloor and Bathurst) and This Ain't the Rosedale Library (483 Church St., just south of Wellesley).
Or you can buy the calendar in the ...
January 3rd, 2007
What’s old should be new again at transit stops
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
The above image, at Bloor and Jane circa 1937, was used in Spacing's Spring/Summer 2006 issue as part of a feature on bus and streetcar shelters. But what I like about the pic, upon further inspection, is the sign above the woman on the right. It reads, "29 minutes to Yonge St. by streetcar -- 31 mins. in rush hour".
It's a small detail that still should be in use today. At major intersections across the city, each stop should have a similar sign announcing to approximate time it takes to travel to the ...
January 4th, 2007
Segways banned in Holland
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
From today's Toronto Star:
Dutch police banned Segways from all public roads, bike paths and walkways as of New Year's Day, surprising the nation's official importer of the two-wheeled, self-balancing scooters.
Segway Nederland director Piet Kruijt said Tuesday the company was "completely ambushed" by the decision, first announced by national police on Nov. 27, 2006.
"We're working on all fronts to get this resolved," Kruijt said. He estimated that "a number of hundreds" of Segways have been sold in the Netherlands. For the time being, they are only legal on private property.
Police said that with no approval of ...
Calling all Photo/Flickr Bloggers
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
A call that seems made for you:
CALL TO ARTISTS: CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority will present The Built Environment as part of the 2007 CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival. The exhibition, which runs from April 30 to September 30, 2007, will be held in the AirSpace gallery in Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The CONTACT theme for 2007 recognizes hybridity as a fundamental feature of photography. Photographers are incorporating painting, drawing and sculpture into their images, and are creating images that are a composite of multiple scenes or a combination of numerous disciplines, materials and ...
Transit map as a trend chart
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
I came across this cool map hack -- it takes London's Underground Tokyo's subway map and uses it as a chart to show the trends of the internet/tech world. It's a creative way of re-purposing an iconic image. Check out the large version of the map.
UPDATE: Here's a direct link to Information Architects, the makers of the trend map, which explains their goals. They also admit it's rather useless, but fun to look at.
Also, Los Angeles is adding ...
January 5th, 2007
Friday’s links to public space articles
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
• City under fire for secrecy [ Globe and Mail ]
• The sounds of the underground [ Globe and Mail ]
• Scary walkways get some life [ Toronto Star ]
• Councillor wants tolls considered [ National Post ]
Also check out Ian Stevens' wish list for the TTC web site. And Reading Toronto has the Singapore transit system's web site in profile today. Or check out what Spacing Wire readers are suggesting for TTC.ca.
Where would you meet in Toronto?
By Dylan Reid // 73 Comments
I'm reading a very interesting book called The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki. The author describes a fascinating experiment by a social scientist named Thomas Schelling, in 1958, in which he asked a group of university students in New Haven, Conneticut, to imagine this scenario: they had to meet someone in New York City at a certain time, but they didn't know where, and couldn't contact the person ahead of time. Where would they go? The students wrote out their answers without consulting each other, and yet the majority of the students chose the same place: ...
Rustle your bustle for hustle this Sunustle
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
I WANT RHYTHM returns this weekend for another afternoon of free spiriting it up, this time at Yonge and Gerrard. If you're unfamiliar with this open-invite public dancing party, you can read more about it here.
I WANT RHYTHM #8
Sunday, Jan 7
2:30 pm
NW Corner, Yonge and Gerrard
In other public (p)arty news, Vendart, which has had much success with its installations of small multiples in public spaces (as seen in Washington Square, NYC, this October) is looking for submissions for installations in Montreal, Toronto and yes, NYC, this spring. For information on how you can submit, click ...
ROM seeks free ride
By Dylan Reid // 22 Comments
When buildings intrude beyond their private property into public space, they have to pay a small rental fee to the City for that space. The Royal Ontario Museum recently started paying the City of Toronto $2,400 a year because its new "crystal" extension juts over public land [click here to see image], but now the ROM is trying to get out of this obligation, by asking the City to give up this fee.
One of the ideas underlying the request seems to be that this would be a way for the ...
January 6th, 2007
A little history of the TTC’s web site
By Matthew Blackett // 13 Comments
Since we created the subway station buttons over two years ago we've come into contact with a lot of rail fans and people with a real passion to see the TTC succeed. One of our most vocal supporters is a former TTC management employee (who wants to remain nameless for the time being). Over time, he has given us advice on how to approach the TTC and helped us understand the mindset of the commission's senior management.
He was delighted to see Spacing, Reading Toronto, Torontoist and BlogTO challenge the TTC to ...
January 7th, 2007
Best of 2006: bike lanes
By Tammy Thorne // 4 Comments
It's nearly impossible to pick a "best" bike lane for 2006 -- I mean, 10 kilometres were added to the bikeway network last year! (please note my sarcasm). Of that, I believe just over 2 km (1 km on Strachan and 1 km for the Harbord extension, plus the lane on Sentinel mentioned below) are actual on-street bike lanes.
So, I think it's fair to say that the best is yet to come. When car traffic is finally replaced with bike lanes to complete the long-neglected and sketchy section of the Martin Goodman trail from Spadina ...
City Hall sniping, TTC developments, and assorted links
By Matthew Blackett // 27 Comments
CITY HALL articles:
• Councillor decries secrecy of hydro pole deal [ Globe and Mail ]
• Inside City Hall feature [ Globe and Mail ]
• Budget committee meetings set bad tone [ Inside Toronto ]
TTC articles:
• How the TTC will pay its way [ Toronto Star ]
• Adam Giambrone: Riding high on the TTC [ Toronto Star ]
• Streetcar history videos [ BlogTO ]
MISC. articles:
• Pedestrians bear brunt of traffic accidents [ Globe and Mail ]
• CHRISTOPHER HUME: HtO and the waterfront [ Toronto Star ]
• Police turn off street ...
January 8th, 2007
Alley Jaunt wants to flaunt
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Alley Jaunt is seeking five special projects for its 5th anniversary. Here are the deets:
We want to do more than jaunt, we want to FLAUNT our five years of success and survival as an alternative urban art event with ALLEYFLAUNT. Five special ALLEYJAUNT projects will be featured in addition to our usual juried exhibition.
To flaunt is to provoke and parade, but most importantly we want projects that engage ALLEYJAUNT'S diverse community of artists and visitors. ALLEYJAUNT is soliciting unique proposals from curators and artists for five projects that will animate and connect the exhibition garages, and respond ...
January 10th, 2007
Help improve the TTC’s website
By Matthew Blackett // 79 Comments
On New Year's Day, Robert Ouellete, the editor of Reading Toronto, posted a challenge to TTC Chair Adam Giambrone: let the bloggers of Toronto give the TTC suggestions on how to improve their horrible web site. Giambrone has accepted the challenge and it is now up to people like us to come up with great ideas.
There are already a number of cool ideas floating around like Ian Stevens' Google/TTC map and Sean Lerner's Rider Efficiency Guide.
This is a joint effort between Spacing, Reading Toronto, Blog TO and ...
Turning video billboards into public art
By Leah Sandals // 2 Comments
Ji Lee, creator of the Bubble Project, which allowed passerby to alter and respond to advertising billboards, has gone digital - well, sort of. His newest initiative, the Abstractor, turns video billboards into a pulsating, coloured line of "public art" by simply blocking out 99 per cent of the image with black, opaque boards. "All TV programs and commercials look beautiful through the Abstractor," says Lee's website. Bonus: it's nondestructive and simple. Could it even make the weather forecasts and news headlines on your local subway platform more beautiful? Guess you'll have to try ...
Best of 2006: The Waterfront
By Ian Malczewski // 1 Comment
2006 was a year of ups and downs for the Waterfront. We saw an innovative design competition announced for the Central Waterfront with a widely popular winner. We saw an all-too-brief (and heavily criticized) glimpse of the fruits of that competition through the Quay to the City in August. We also witnessed expanded service at the Island Airport and the Federal Government's endorsement of the Toronto Port Authority through the Tasse report, a report many had hoped would bury the Waterfront agency. Popular parties on Cherry Beach proved that the Waterfront was ...
January 11th, 2007
Bikely Redux
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
Back in July I wrote about a new Google map hack called Bikely:
A website called Bikely lets people use Google maps to plot out their favorite bike routes and share them with others. The safe routes, escape routes, direct and indirect routes people take on their bikes can now be followed, step by step, by the rest of us. When Google opened up their maps allowing people to use them for a bunch of different purposes like this, it may have been one of the greatest moments in the history of the Internet. Bikely mentions they ...
TWRC issues Herculean challenge
By Ian Malczewski // 2 Comments
As far as urban planning goes, few things are more exciting than a good design challenge. Take a derelict or declining space, ask some of the world's most talented designers, landscapers, and planners to re-imagine it, and sit back and watch the submissions roll in. Of course, I'm sure it's not as fun for those who have to go through each and every submission, but once a shortlist is named and the renderings and mock-ups begin rolling in, the real fun begins.
Last year saw design competitions announced for Nathan Phillips Square and the Central Waterfront, ...
Portlands Energy Centre to host Canada’s largest solar research facility
By Ian Malczewski // 9 Comments
A press release (PDF) was issued today announcing that the Portlands Energy Centre, the embattled power plant going up in the Portlands, will host Canada's largest solar research facility. In conjunction with U of T and Appropriate Renewable Intelligent Sustainable Energy Technologies Corporation (ARISE), the facility is projected to power 1000 homes and will also provide students with opportunities to research renewable energy sources. The PEC has made some efforts to convince Torontonians that it wants to be a good neighbour, including promises to improve bike paths and plant 3000 trees, but this ...
Dale Duncan heads to City Hall
By Spacing // 2 Comments
Spacing's managing editor Dale Duncan is now writing a weekly column for Eye Weekly on the soap opera that is known as City Hall. Each week we'll post her columns on the Spacing Wire.
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Everyone in green
This column is dedicated to Gord Perks. In his Enviro column in Eye Weekly last year, Perks penned a warning of environmental disaster to come and what all levels of government weren't doing about it. Now that he's city councillor for Ward 14 (Parkdale-High Park), I'd like to think that his influence is already being felt at ...
Librarians do it better
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
While certain civic bureaucracies continue to confound and anger many Torontonians, the Toronto Public Library seems to be doing everything right. They've hosted rock bands, extended their hours (perhaps soon until midnight), continued their general bookishness and today we discover the Toronto Reference Library finally has Wifi. While this is one of Toronto's most wonderful places, the lack of wireless internet has been the only drawback, as laptops get lonely when they can't connect to anything, and sometimes books just aren't enough.
There are little signs around the library directing people to the 1st and ...
January 12th, 2007
In this week’s NOW
By Spacing // 7 Comments
Dylan Reid based his latest NOW article, No place to meet, on the 64 comments made to his recent Spacing wire post, in which he asked: "if you had to meet someone in Toronto, but hadn't arranged a place and could't contact them in advance, where would you go?" What he discovered was that Toronto lacks a convenient, friendly, and universal meeting place. Though many options were given, it seems that none are suitable for both Torontonians and out of towners, and some spots are just downright aesthetically unpleasing.
I wanna be NYC, ...
January 14th, 2007
Canadians & the Common Good report
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
Canada25 has just launched its fourth national policy report: "Canadians & the Common Good: Building a Civic Nation Through Civic Engagement."
From the news release: "The report affirms the value of civic engagement -- defined as the process of interacting more often and more meaningfully with others in respect of civic issues -- as the most promising means to build a shared civic identity and, by extension, a stronger country.
In discussing the importance of civic engagement in building stronger individuals and communities, Canada25 proposes twenty policy recommendations along five themes:
* Develop understanding of a national civic identity
* ...
January 15th, 2007
Article links to kill time on Monday afternoon
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
illustration of 48 Abell, Queen St. W.
I've compiled a bunch of links from blogs, today's papers, and the weekend papers. Also, Robert Ouellette, the editor of Reading Toronto, has written an article in today's National Post about our combined campaign to improve the TTC's website [65 comments and still growing].
PUBLIC TRANSIT
• HUME: TTC losing its way on own land [ Toronto Star ]
• Mayors push for federal transit funding [ CBC.ca ]
• TTC can speak in many tongues [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC token exchange to end soon [ ...
Civic improvements
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
CBC's Metro Morning show this morning features an interview with Toronto's chief planner, Ted Tyndorf, (RealPlayer streaming audio, 4:47 minutes) about civic improvements to Toronto's public realm introduced in 2006. (It also ends by mentioning my NOW magazine article about meeting places in Toronto, with Andy Barrie saying it would be good to have an iconic meeting point.)
January 16th, 2007
Queen West Triangle decision to be appealed?
By Matthew Blackett // 11 Comments
The decision by the OMB to award developers everything they asked for in the Queen West Triangle, despite the wishes of City Hall, local residents and the community group Active 18 has once again verified how insane Toronto's planning process really is.
If you want to know more, check out Active 18's web site. They are holding a press conference at 11:45 at City Hall, today! Go if you can. Here's the email they sent along:
ACTIVE 18 PRESS CONFERENCE
TUESDAY JANUARY 16 AT 11:45 AM
TORONTO CITY HALL , 100 QUEEN ST. WEST, MEMBERS ' LOUNGE
(behind Council ...
You park like an asshole
By Matthew Blackett // 8 Comments
I occasionally drive, borrowing my mom's car once a month to pick up large items out in the 'burbs. This means I also get to experience the road rage that was so common during my college/university years. Its amazing, but its almost like a switch and I start calling anyone who gets within 5 feet of the car horrible, horrible names. Luckily for me, we now find ourselves in the midst of winter and the windows cannot be rolled down, but in better weather I've seen a person or two swivel their head towards me while I'm waiting ...
Small updates to Spacing Wire
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
We'll be tweaking some of the design and functions of the Spacing Wire over the next week (we've updated the logo already, as you can see). We hope that it won't disrupt anything, but who knows.
Urban health research
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
The Centre for Urban Health Initiatives (CUHI) in Toronto facilitates research that examines how the social and physical conditions in cities affect the health of the people who live there. They have an array of interesting publications and events relating to public space and health issues. They also provide funding for research that brings together academics and community activists, such the "Making Toronto's Streets" report published in the fall.
They have an interesting seminar coming up that deals with the ongoing question of whether the built environment (suburban or urban) affects health.
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007, 1:00PM ...
“Paving†the way for a new Four Seasons
By Robin Chubb // 2 Comments
A rough timelapse sequence of the demolition of the old Ford dealership on Yorkville Avenue as part of site preparations for the new Four Seasons hotel/condominium proposal which will stretch from the historic fire station (with the tower visible in the photos) west between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Avenue to Bay Street. The yellow box in the left of the photos is the sales centre (under construction).
The proposal is for two towers, one 46 storeys at the corner of Bay and Yorkville and the other of 30 storeys on Scollard adjacent to the existing recently completed mid-rise residential ...
January 17th, 2007
Radiant core sets the bar on critiquing the TTC’s web site
By James Bow // 14 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
The blog of the design firm Radiant Core was inspired by TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone's call to bloggers for suggestions to improve the TTC's website and the subsequent attention the call received from bloggers in the Toronto blogging community and the national media. As a result, Radiant Core gathered a team of some of the best web designers in the community and sat down for a thorough brainstorming session. The results of their discussions can be found here and are well worth reading.
I would say that Radiant Core sets ...
Public art gettin’ busy on your t-rash
By Leah Sandals // 3 Comments
Most of the manhole cover lovers (er, methinks we need a new word for "manhole") out there are well aware of this already, but last night at Toronto Free Gallery the City announced its winners for the Regent Park Grounds For Art Competition. They are:
Xin Xu, sanitary cover design
Rene Zamic, water valve cover design
DeMuth Flake, storm cover design
You can see the shorlisted entrants by clicking here or by visiting the exhibition of same at the TFG until January 21 (this Sunday). You'll also be able to see them all over Regent Park ...
Help redesign the Lower Donlands
By Ian Malczewski // 1 Comment
If everyone has had their fill of helping the TTC redesign their website, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation would like some of that creative energy sent their way. Yesterday the organization announced that it is accepting submissions from all Torontonians detailing their vision for the Lower Donlands. Following on the heels of an announcement for a design competition for the area, this latest call challenges the average citizen to come up with a new design for the derelict lands, including the Don River Mouth. From the press release:
Submissions must be no more ...
January 18th, 2007
Dale Duncan at City Hall: Jan. 18 2007
By Dale Duncan // 2 Comments
Spacing's managing editor Dale Duncan writes a weekly column for Eye Weekly focused on City Hall. Each week we'll post her columns on the Spacing Wire.
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CITY HALL'S ONE-MAN GANG
The Gang of Six unveiled their plan on Oct. 12, 2006: the election was on and a group of candidates for council led by former mayor John Sewell announced their strategy for reshaping council: meetings ...
If you don’t like salad, don’t do graffiti-ing
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Reno 911 is one of my favourite TV shows. I was watching some of their earlier episodes which featured this excellent public service announcement to anyone doing the graffiti-ing.
Be warned.
Bye-bye monster bins, hello more headaches
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
EUCAN, the owners of the monster bins and silver boxes, have new owners who are re-branding the company Ecomedia. And the new owners have made every attempt to distance themselves from their arrogant predecessors.
Two weeks ago, Ecomedia president Craig Marwood called Spacing to let us know they were not fans of the monster bins and were beginning the process of removing the offending waste receptacles. Marwood even asked us to provide a list of the most offensive bins and he would make sure they were removed. A list of 15 the worst offenders was fired off (we also ...
Thursday afternoon links to articles
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Ken Greenberg has a post on Reading Toronto that outlines his opinion on the Queen West Triangle decision and the OMB. Its a great read from one of Canada's best urban planners.
• Lakefront plans get back to nature [ Toronto Star ]
• Seattle park holds lessons for Toronto [ Toronto Star ]
• Water front designs to be released next week [ National Post ]
• Should plastic bags be sacked? [ Toronto Star ]
• Ravenous shrimp could disrupt Lake Ontario food chain [ CBC.ca ]
• Squeegee panhandling washed out by Supreme Court [ ...
“Public space protection” — but for which “public”?
By Leah Sandals // 11 Comments
I had a bit of a disturbing experience yesterday as I was running errands downtown. First, I was glad to see the south Queen sidewalk east of University finally open. (Months of construction on the new opera house had blocked it off.) As I continued walking eastward past the acclaimed new structure (where I have enjoyed a performance or two) I wondered about why the the sidewalk was so narrow. It seems this stretch of Queen should feel a bit grander.When I reached the corner of Queen and Bay, I saw some police officers and city ...
Can Bike Share live again?
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Dale Duncan, Spacing's managing editor, wrote about Bike Share in this week's Eye Weekly.
In December, the Community Bicycle Network (CBN), BikeShare's parent organization, announced that the internationally renowned, award-winning program would close due to lack of funding. (A mere week after BikeShare announced it would officially close, the city honoured it yet again with the Community Project Award of Excellence for "an original approach to reducing emissions and encouraging cycling.") And last week, Pyjor, who has coordinated the operation since the beginning and has played a large part in its success, announced that she has decided to ...
Sneak a peak at (what might be) Lake Ontario Park
By Ian Malczewski // 8 Comments
Last night I went to the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation's Lake Ontario Park Public Forum expecting the half-full room of journalists and senior citizens that usually makes up the audience at these events. I arrived a little late and was surprised to see the room packed to the rafters, complete with ornery people squeezing in at the doorways. A large part of the audience was composed of members of the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation, who made it clear in the Question Period that they were concerned about losing private property to public development.
Just prior ...
January 19th, 2007
Sunday Scene — City Talk at Power Plant
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
There is an interesting talk at the Power Plant on Sunday, part of the We Can Do This Now Toronto-centric exhibition (go just to check out Luis Jacob's pigeon tribute to Michael Snow's Eaton Centre hanging geese).
In major cities in Europe and North America, notions of creativity have become instrumental for strategies of land valorization and economic competitiveness. U of T professor Stefan Kipfer offers an alternative way of thinking about creativity in the city: French radical philosopher Henri Lefebvre's notion of the city as a collective work of art. Kipfer relates Lefevbre's ideas to the ...
A little history on the TTC’s Timeline service
By Spacing // 30 Comments
Many of our readers have suggested that the TTC go back to providing a phone number attached to a transit stop. When you called the number, an automated service would tell you when the next bus or streetcar was to arrive. The TTC's system was known as Timeline which went out of service on Dec. 31, 1999. Bob Brent, a former TTC senior manager, sent us a little history lesson on Timeline.
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January 21st, 2007
Have a book, leave a book. Need a book, take a book.
By Liz Clayton // 10 Comments
Though it would surely strike fear in the heart of illegal-newspaper-box-hating Mayor David Miller, a recent trip to Chicago witnessed an act of public art and generosity that our own city would do well to adopt — in spirit if not to the letter itself.
The Logan Square Book Exchange — and more recently, the Logan Square Video Exchange — lies somewhere between guerilla gifting and that innocuous cardboard pile of books left on somebody's curb for public rifling. Only Ryan Duggan's idea is more stylish, activistic, and less likely to let all ...
Civic Bandwidth — Wireless Nights
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
The civic-minded nerds and hackers of Wireless Toronto are hosting an evening at their newest hotspot, Lot 16, on Tuesday and invite anybody with an interest in open WiFi everywhere to come by. As we wrote last year, this is more than just getting on the internet for free. It's providing a basic civic infrastructure -- like sidewalks and roads -- necessary today for the vast number of information economy workers in this city.
Civic Bandwdth - Talk/Drinks/Beats
Wireless Toronto is hosting an open discussion/meet & greet with some of Canada's best known community WiFi innovators and ...
City of Lights
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
Spacing Wire readers might enjoy this remarkable 360-degree image of Paris at night (scroll horizontally to see the whole thing). You can see many of the city's landmarks.
January 22nd, 2007
Windsor — heartbreaking city, now blogged
By Shawn Micallef // 16 Comments
Most people have difficult relationships with their hometown. There's a reason you left, but you still probably have a certain amount of love for the place, because it is home. Over the past six years I've been going "home" -- at ever farther apart intervals -- to Windsor. I still have familiar haunts and routes, and some things are still instinctive, like knowing the spot on the Dougall Avenue on-ramp to avoid lest that bump throw your car into a skid. There are also a few folks -- keepers-of-home-fires -- that welcome me back each time, even though ...
London, England pedestrian initiatives
By Dylan Reid // 3 Comments
Pedestrian cross in Kensington, London, England.
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As Toronto begins to work on creating a pedestrian plan, one example it can look to is London, England, which commissioned a remarkable pedestrian plan published in 2004 called "Towards a fine city for people", developed under the direction of the Danish urbanist Jan Gehl. The plan is part of the Mayor of London's vision "for London to become one of the world's most walking-friendly cities by 2015."
London has engaged in some signature pedestrian initiatives in recent ...
January 23rd, 2007
Where Dupont meets Dundas meets Annette
By Robin Chubb // 13 Comments
This enigmatic and forlorn stairway cuts through the retaining wall of the railway overpass crossing Dupont Street where it meets Dundas Street West and turns into Annette Street. A little historic investigation reveals that the old West Toronto CP passenger station (demolished in 1982, in orange on map below) was just along the tracks from here, though this stairway (red dot below) was not the main entrance. It's likely that this was an entrance/exit to the southern end of the CP station's platforms, allowing easier access to the important historic service into Union Station.
Map of ...
January 25th, 2007
Southern Man vs. Fugees
By Shawn Micallef // 3 Comments
At first glance you could file this next story with those comic tales Canadians like to share about how weird and out-of-whack America can get -- like calling french fries "freedom fries" -- but the more you read about this the more complicated it becomes. There are a bunch of kids on a soccer team called The Fugees who are struggling to be allowed to play their sport in Clarkston, Georgia because the tension over immigration and refugees is pouring out into the public parks of this town. The NY Times has a good long article about ...
Indie Mag Revolution in Eye Weekly
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
This week's cover story on Eye Weekly talks about the challenges faced by small magazine publishers, including Spacing (there's Biz Manager Holland Gidney, Associate Editor Lindsay Gibb -- also editor of Broken Pencil -- and managing editor Dale Duncan on the cover).
In the world of small magazine publishing, appearances can be deceiving.
Take Spacing, a magazine about Toronto public space and politics, where I am one of the founding editors and current managing editor. Spacing is widely read at City Hall; some even say it plays a role in setting the agenda. Reporters and producers often call on ...
Dale Duncan at City Hall: Jan. 25, 2007
By Dale Duncan // 3 Comments
Spacing's managing editor Dale Duncan writes a weekly column for Eye Weekly focused on City Hall. Each week we'll post her columns on the Spacing Wire.
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A Registry only a bureaucrat could love
Listening to our new executive committee* debate the lobbyist registry was a little like sitting through ...
Toronto can and must set up an alternative to the OMB
By Dylan Reid // 7 Comments
Christopher Hume, interviewing former Toronto chief planner Paul Bedford, has written one of the best columns I've seen so far about the issue of the Ontario Municipal Board. Essentially, Hume and Bedford point out that under the new Toronto Act, the city can set up its own alternative land use review board, and they say Toronto has to seize the opportunity now. Says Bedford, "The time has come for the city to break free of the OMB and take control of its destiny."
Bear in mind that Hume is no "NIMBY" type -- on the ...
January 26th, 2007
Toronto in print
By Josh Hume // 1 Comment
If you're killing time in front of your computer while waiting for better weather to come, you might want to browse through the 185-page PDF bibliography of Toronto history published since 1990, compiled by City of Toronto Museums and Heritage Services. It features academic articles, novels, dissertations, government reports and biographies of prominent Torontonians and is divided into subject categories such as architecture, neighborhoods and transportation, along with a section devoted to "Social History - Parades, Street Festivals, Protests, Riots and Public Spaces."
If one were to go by the selection available at Indigo, one might get the impression ...
Freezing my public art off
By Leah Sandals // 1 Comment
OK, I'll admit it; after writing a piece on art relating to climate change earlier this month, and still believing that climate change is happening (dangerously) 100 percent, I have to say I have been freezing my freakin' art off over the past few days. Luckily, besides reassuring me that winter can still exist (for a few weeks at least) there's a bunch of public art things going down that make the wintry weather feel a little more creative.
First, there's B.C. artist Gordon Halloran's ice sculptures or "Frozen Paintings" in full effect at Nathan Phillips Square. Though the ...
Mapping our urbanism – water mains
By Robin Chubb // 2 Comments
In the Toronto Star last weekend was a special 2-page spread on the sorry state of Toronto's water mains with emphasis on who's to pay for upgrades (see story online here). However, the maps included give a fascinating glimpse into the history of Toronto's development seen through the age of the water mains. Divided into four periods, 1859-1900, 1901-1940, 1941-1960, and 1961-2000, these maps are indispensable for anyone interested in the history of urban infrastructure. To see a little more detail, follow these links (maps 1+2, maps 3+4) - if you prefer, a much ...
January 28th, 2007
Calling all creative transit fans: come to TTCamp!
By James Bow // 3 Comments
Crossposted to Transit Toronto.
A self-described “ad-hoc gathering of designers, transit geeks, bloggers, visual artists, tech geeks and cultural creators†will be meeting next week in order to brainstorm further ideas on how to improve public transit in Toronto. It is hoped that this demonstration of creativity could act as a “solutions playground†that the TTC would be hard-pressed to ignore. From their website
We will not be changing bus schedules, talking about stop locations, complaining about creaky infrastructure or otherwise telling the TTC how to do its core business. The organizers respect ...
A bike-tastic vision for the waterfront
By Tammy Thorne // 18 Comments
Paris bike lane pic by Gadl
Last week I attended the first public meeting for the Central Waterfront redesign. I am happy to report that the presentations were very bike-focused. We were all given a waterfront workbook, along with the Quay to the City summary report, available online here.
TWRC VP, Planning and Design, Christopher Glaiseck said the numbers clearly showed a “pent up demand†for cycling infrastructure on the waterfront. The graph on page 30 of the report illustrates the massive increase in bike traffic during the Quay to the City "test drive" in August. ...
January 29th, 2007
A tax for artists? Gallery director’s public poster campaign says yes.
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
In today's Star, Christopher Hume gives column-inches to Kyle Rae's push for investment in "the arts." Interestingly, in Rae's push (or maybe, to be fair, what can be read just in Hume's description of it) features exactly zero mentions of investments in "artists." You know, those people who make "the arts"? Yeah. They somehow seem to have escaped the attention of councillors and bureaucrats, even as the city yearns for a more artistic image with which to boost its tourism and revenues.
Interestingly, Hume's column was published just as I was getting ready to post on a recent ...
We are an intersection
By Shawn Micallef // 12 Comments
There has a lot of discussion about the new Live With Culture ads that are playing in various US alternative weeklies. City Hall on Friday saw a media frenzy, with cameras from various stations getting shots of print-outs of the ads in the Live With Culture office. On that day's CBC evening newscast, a humourless "image consultant" they had wrangled up looked over the ads and shook her head in a serious way, saying "these send mixed messages." I assume she'd be more comfortable with a more glossy, on message, tourist approach we saw with Toronto Unlimited, ...
Bloggers effect change on the TTC’s website
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
As many of the regular Spacing Wire readers will know, a few blogs here in Toronto teamed up to gather feedback for the TTC on improving their horrible website. Last week we submitted all of your comments as well as a letter [ read it on Reading Toronto ] outlining some of the most sought-after features. One of our main suggestions in the letter was to re-open the RFP (Request For Proposal) because many of the suggestions made by our readers were not being considered in the original RFP.
We just received word from TTC Chair ...
Where in the GTA?
By Shawn Micallef // 24 Comments
In its march of progress, Toronto and the GTA have consumed many small Ontario towns and knitted them together in one big sprawling quilt. There are still some pedestrian oriented small-town centres -- oasis's of tiny urbanism -- found throughout that haven't been bulldozed for a big box yet.
The photo above was taken yesterday during a exploratory romp on various King's highways and lesser arterials, hithertofore known only as mysterious names read aloud by traffic reporters. This town centre must look cozy and quintessential at Christmastime.
I suspect longtime Toronto-ish residents will know it. Even after six years ...
January 30th, 2007
Why “Toronto: You belong here” belongs here
By Leah Sandals // 16 Comments
Well, dress me up in a three-piece suit and call me a Rotman School of Management professor! According to a Star editorial today by RSM marketing prof David Dunne, I am exactly on the same page as MBA-trainers when it comes to those dismal Toronto: Live with Culture ads. (Spacing's own Shawn Micallef critiqued these on the Wire yesterday; you can scroll down a couple posts down for his thoughts.)
Dunne says, "Great brands must be clear, distinctive, and stand for something." Exactly. While the developers of those sad recent ads aimed (and the aim is honorable) ...
Toronto Diaspora
By Shawn Micallef // 3 Comments
In this photo, taken last September, a proud former Torontonian spreads the royalty-free Gospel of Toronto Iconography in the tourist town of Bugibba (Boo-jibba), Malta. Throughout Malta there are Canadian and Toronto references, usual the work of returning migrants. Folks that left Malta for Canada in the 50s, 60s, and 70s only to return to the homeland in later years and open more relaxed Freedom 55ish enterprises. This is one of the most overt displays, and one most likely to annoy Paul Godfrey.
I was always happy to walk by this place ...
Magical skating moment
By Dylan Reid // 9 Comments
In medieval European chronicles, the authors would make a special note of years in which the local river froze over, which might happen once a decade (depending on where you were, of course). Inevitably, an impromptu festival happened -- everyone went out on the ice, sliding, skating, playing games, even lighting bonfires (which was perhaps not entirely wise). It was a rare and special event.
A few years ago, during the last deep freeze we experienced in Toronto, some friends and I walked into High Park one night and found ourselves at an apparently frozen Grenadier Pond. After a ...
January 31st, 2007
I get so emotional baby, every time I think of Lat 51°4N Long114°4W
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
While I've been getting emotional at other places on the Wire lately, I find it's nice to get a little more geographically diverse in emotion from time to time. So at some point in the next few weeks I'll likely be going to check out You Are Here: the emotional geography of place, a group show at Eastern Front Gallery. There's about 30 artists in the show, with a few names I recognize from the east coast as well as from here. The psychogeographicoartistically inclined can find more information on this Saturday's opening by clicking ...
Wednesday’s mid-afternoon link to articles
By Matthew Blackett // 7 Comments
Word out of City Hall today is that Astral, Clear Channel, and CBS have submitted their applications for the street furniture program. More to come, I'm sure. In other news....
TRANSIT
• Vandals add to GO woes [ Toronto Star ]
• Looming strike threatens GO [ Toronto Star ]
• Transit heritage site to be transformed [ Toronto Star ]
• Greenhouse and galleries in old TTC barns [ National Post ]
• First stage of St. Clair streetcar ROW to open Feb 18 [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC to consider new streetcar purchase [ Globe ...
Urban Field Speakers Series: Notions of public time
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
The Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, in association with the Visible City Project, is hosting a series of talks on how art can transform the experience of the city (I'll be moderating one of the panels in April). The series also has an extremely good looking squirrel mascot. The talks run every 3 or 4 weeks -- we'll post a reminder each time -- and the one tonight (Thursday) is about notions of public time.
Maaretta Jaukkuri on notions of public time
Moderated by Saara Liinamaa
Thursday, February 1 at 7:30 PM
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
401 Richmond Street ...
February 1st, 2007
Toronto’s public spaces in the news
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
TRANSIT
• Can GO get going? [ Toronto Star ]
• GO unveils strike plan [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC, supervisors charged in noxious gas case [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC drives for sleek new streetcars [ CBC.ca ]
• Driving least of TTC drivers' worries [ Globe and Mail ]
• Turn behind the TTC wheel like steering a humpback whale [ Globe and Mail ]
• Fare increase ruled out, streetcars get green light [ Globe and Mail ]
• Union slams TTC cop plan [ Toronto Sun ]
WASTE MANAGEMENT + ENVIRONMENT
• City's top ...
Spacing Photos back!
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing Photos, our daily photoblog of Toronto's public spaces, has been on hiatus since the municipal election. But as of today, its alive again! Each weekday we'll post a new photo until the end of the month.
To coincide with the theme of our upcoming issue (more details on that soon), photobloggers have submitted hundreds of images of Toronto's intersections. The theme will run until the end of February, when we'll change things up.
If you're interested in helping to curate a theme for a three week-period (15 photos), please contact us at photos@spacing.ca . Tell ...
February 2nd, 2007
Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb. 1, 2007
By Dale Duncan // 9 Comments
Spacing's managing editor Dale Duncan writes a weekly column for Eye Weekly focused on City Hall. Each week we'll post her columns on the Spacing Wire.
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Fewer homeless, more mobile homes?
Always on the lookout for ways to pump more cash into the city's coffers, Councillor Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth) has been busy drumming up ideas on how to attract more tourists to Toronto. His solution? First, get rid of panhandlers. (We wouldn't want them to ...
Does the Redpath have to go?
By Ian Malczewski // 26 Comments
John Barber's article in the Globe the other day compared the Redpath Sugar plant to the Island Airport as a major stumbling block on the road to waterfront revitalization. Since the column is in the subscriber section of the paper I'll post a few highlights here:
People say that nothing is happening on the waterfront -- and they're mostly right. Despite a smattering of local improvements, huge tracts remain amazingly derelict -- most prominently the parking lots and old sheds of the central waterfront east of Yonge Street.
But government isn't alone to blame. An arrangement with private enterprise has ...
February 3rd, 2007
Parliament when the ears hurt because it’s so cold
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
Sometime around 1:30 AM tonight while walking/running quickly up the super-cold and windy Parliament Street just north of Dundas, by the part of Regent Park that's been turned to rubble, I found this smashed bus shelter (right about at Oak Street). As I was taking this picture a bunch of people walked by quickly, but one guy in the group stopped, and later I figured out he probably wasn't part of that group, and was more of a freelance follower. He had a very runny nose and only a baseball hat on, but ...
February 4th, 2007
An artist’s rendition: TTC makeover ideas
By Craig Cal // 19 Comments
If you mixed these two together, what would Toronto get?
Anyone who knows me well knows that my biggest pet peeves are bad public transit and bad design.
Unfortunately for me (and you), the TTC represents both in abundance. More unfortunate is the fact that the importance of an improved TTC, along with its wide ranging economic, environmental and cultural benefits, is lost on the majority of people in power.
Even in its dilapidated state, the TTC is a tremendous source of civic pride -- just imagine what it would be like if the powers that be actually took ...
February 5th, 2007
Toronto Transit Camp wrap-up
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
On Sunday, nearly 100 Toronto transit enthusiasts converged on the Gladstone Hotel to take part in Toronto Transit Camp. The gathering was called an "un-conference" because the schedule and topics of discussions are dictated by the participants on the day of the event.
The morning sessions took a while to get started, probably due to the frigid temperature and all of the sleepy eyes I saw. I took part in the "TTC Art Projects" session lead by illustrators Julia Breckenreid (a regular Spacing contributor) and Sandra Dionisi. A lot of the suggestions that came out of ...
Let’s call it Spadina North
By Matthew Blackett // 36 Comments
There are a few stations in the subway system that have a sibling station with a connection to another subway line: St. George, Yonge-Bloor, Kennedy, Sheppard-Yonge, and Spadina. The St. George and Sheppard-Yonge stations are right on top of one another so if there is any confusion you just have to run up or down the stairs to find yourself in the right station. Kennedy's subway and RT stations are distinctive enough as they use different forms of transit (I hear "Kennedy RT" used by my Scarborough friends), while Yonge and Bloor have different names to make it ...
February 6th, 2007
A Sunday of immodest proposals
By Shawn Micallef // 6 Comments
The Sunday Star had a few articles of note (since Tuesday is the best time to reflect on the Sunday paper):
Why not shop the better way? Andrew Chung wonders why the TTC isn't looking at retail to inject more revenue into the system.
Around the world, mass transit systems are learning, as airports have done, that public dollars are finite, and that it's essential to find other ways to generate revenue. TTC general secretary Vince Rodo, who's in charge of the budget, understands this. Subways are terribly expensive, and so "you really have to do all these ...
If only Margaret Wente could have watched these in her youth…
By Shawn Micallef // 7 Comments
We may have discovered where the inclination to spend an entire Sunday at TTC Camp comes from: the public transportation propaganda put out in 1970s by the Jim Henson Hippies at the Children's Television Workshop. The seed was planted with a magnum opus like this one above -- it's everything I hoped the big city would be (the TTC has delivered on occasional late nights, complete with chorus) and probably why I wished, as a child, I lived in a city with a subway. This one is ...
Walk21 Conference call for papers (and ideas)
By Dylan Reid // No Comments
In October, Toronto is hosting the major international conference on pedestrianism, Walk21. For contributions to this conference, they are looking for a wide range of ideas -- not just academic papers, but workshops, walkshops, forums, poster presentations, etc., and they are looking for contributions not just from the usual specialists, but from anyone who has experience of and insight into walking. Full details, including descriptions of the formats and themes, are available here. You can get a sense of the kind of stuff they've had in the past by looking at presentations from previous ...
February 7th, 2007
Meet our Kindergarten Council
By Matthew Blackett // 26 Comments
Our new City Council has only had a few meetings since their November election, so I momentarily forgot how immature and dysfunctional some of our finest city councillors are. Yesterday, council was to have their group photo taken. The mayor and his executive committee were to take up the front row. But some of the most strident opponents of Mayor Miller (Case Ootes, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Rob Ford, and Mike Del Grande) showed up early and sat in the front row and refused to move when asked by the mayor and the photographer to vacate their spots. Makes you ...
February 8th, 2007
Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb 8, 2007
By Dale Duncan // 6 Comments
Getting out the muzzle
Allan Crawford isn't allowed to talk to me anymore. The outspoken Parks, Forestry and Recreation employee faced a disciplinary hearing Feb. 1 for blabbing to me about an idea he had for breathing life back into BikeShare, Toronto's now-defunct, popular bike-lending program. I wrote about Crawford's plans in Eye Weekly on Jan. 18 (“Can BikeShare be saved?â€).
The problem, I'm assuming (since Crawford's been reprimanded, he's a little short on details), wasn't that he was spouting bad ideas, but that he was saying the city had the capability — and cash — to ...
I am the walrus… uh, crossing sign
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
I only dug up this image as a segue into an announcement about a new public art show opening on Toronto's streets this week, but, gazing at it a little longer, I start to wish we really did have walrus crossing signs here in Portugal Village.
I guess I'll leave that one to city council. (A field trip to the zoo to learn about more socially intelligent life forms seems like just what they need right now.) And rather than hitching a ride to the aquatic mammal house, I'll just keep an eye out for Myself as Chevron, a ...
February 9th, 2007
Articles to help kill a Friday afternoon
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
TRANSIT
• GO urges commuters to make own plans as strike looms [ Toronto Star ]
• For City, TTC's a big ticket [ Toronto Star ]
• Gimme shelters [ Toronto Star ]
• GO plans for conductors walkout [ Toronto Star ]
• Transit wins big in new budget [ Globe and Mail ]
• TTC bites budget bucks [ Toronto Sun ]
• Camp-out with TTC geeks [ NOW ]
• PM's green plans bouy Miller [ Toronto Star ]
• Yonge-Bloor to get new tower [ Globe and Mail ]
• HUME: Changing the civic ...
February 10th, 2007
World’s Ten Most Dynamic Cities, according to Newsweek
By Matthew Blackett // 6 Comments
Newsweek magazine has an article in their current issue which highlights the 10 most dynamic cities in the world. While Toronto is not included on the list, I don't think we need to start the regular cycle of self-loathing. Why? Because the list of what makes these places dynamic isn't really dynamic. The criteria seems almost entirely based on economics. It mainly focuses on topics like shipping, automobile and aeronautical manufacturing, high finance, and locations of corporate headquarters, but puts very little stock in the intangibles of a city like architecture, planning, public space usage, environmental ...
This week in NOW
By Spacing // 4 Comments
In this week's NOW, Mike Smith writes about last weekend's TTC camp in Camp-out with TTC geeks. If you missed Matt Blackett's report on the event, you can read it here. Here's a bit of Smith's take on the day's activities:
If organizers' obvious passion for the cause holds, similar endeavours could help communities expand as well. This group is mostly educated, white downtowners; if we start dealing with how to make the system accessible to the suburbs, to newcomers, to people without laptops, then the democratic promise of the city could be kept.
Spacing's subway ...
Saturday’s headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
TRANSIT
• GO Transit on track as CN conductors strike [ Toronto Star ]
• GO riders should plan for CN strike, official says [ Globe and Mail ]
• GO buses to be called in if CN strikes [ National Post ]
• Students can't opt of of transit pass [ Globe and Mail ]
• Road dangers feared, CAA warns [ Toronto Sun ]
CITY HALL
• $6-million reno for City Hall blasted as needless [ Toronto Star ]
• City Hall's $6-million remodel [ Toronto Sun ]
• Politicians seek detail on landfill deal [ Toronto ...
February 11th, 2007
Logo Cities
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
I thought I'd bring Logo Cities to your attention. It's a really interesting project out of Montreal that deals with the lettering, signs, and logos we see daily in urban settings. There will be a conference about it early May. Spacing will be taking part in a panel discussion as well. The conference is also looking for papers, films, panels, etc.
Logo Cities: An International Symposium on Signage, Branding and Lettering in Public Space
May 4-5, 2007
Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
Cities are awash in 'public lettering': street signs, newspaper mastheads, road signs, high-rise corporate logos, store/shop/restaurant signs, engravings on buildings ...
Sunday’s headlines
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
• CN disputes strike's legality [ Toronto Star ]
• Escaped slaves helped build Toronto [ Toronto Star ]
• Mayors endorse GST scheme, national transit strategy [ Toronto Star ]
• HUME: Reality rendered [ Toronto Star ]
• Neighbourhood Watch: Kensington Market [ BlogTO ]
• Don Mills Road corridor EA [ Donwatcher ]
images from the Toronto Star
Minding the gap for the Better Way
By Matthew Blackett // 1 Comment
Today's Toronto Star has a full-page feature on last weekend's Toronto Transit Camp. It's a good feature that tries to show the rest of the city why people like us care deeply about making our transit system better.
These ideas emerged during last Sunday's Transit Camp, a day of out-of-the-tunnel thinking on how to improve the Toronto Transit Commission, specifically, its clunky website, its shelters, its subway cars and the way it communicates with its riders.
The 100 or so campers were young, in their 20s and early 30s, mostly people who work in the communications and tech ...
New York creates the Jane Jacobs Medal
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
In 1997, a conference here in Toronto called "Jane Jacobs: Ideas That Matter" gathered hundreds of the world's most prominent thinkers and community leaders to exchange ideas and celebrate Jacobs' work in the areas of cities, economies and values. The event culminated with the announcement of the Jane Jacobs Prize.
Today, the New York Sun and other media outlets are reporting:
The The Rockefeller Foundation announceed today the creation of a $200,000 award, called the Jane Jacobs Medal, to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to thinking about ...
February 12th, 2007
Toronto, before and after
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
I love before and after photos. It shows how much things change and how much they stay the same. The above images are looking west on Queen St. West from the top of the Gladstone Hotel at Dufferin. The top image is from 1898 and the bottom one was taken in 2005. Click on either photo to see a larger version.
Toronto is lucky to have a great collection of images in the Toronto Archives, and we're just as lucky to have a blog like Toronto ...
Illegal Signs blog launches!
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
Here at Spacing, we've been using the term "ad creep" for years to help illustrate the impact of intrusive outdoor advertising in Toronto. These ads really are creeping on to our streets as a large percentage of them are completely illegal. The offenders often neglect to get the proper permits and completely ignore the bylaws the City has in place. The ad companies then often ignore the City's "Notice to Comply", which is a bureaucratic way of asking the perpetrators to take the sign down. And often, folks at the City's Licensing and Standards ...
Boost for pedestrians in 2007 capital budget
By Dylan Reid // 2 Comments
I just came back from the capital budget open house at City Hall today, and there is good news for pedestrians in the City of Toronto's 2007 capital budget.
First, the first stage of the Pedestrian Crossover Review recommendations, for pedestrian crossovers on major arterial roads, is fully funded ($3.63 million). That means that by the end of the year, we can expect to see crosswalks on major arterial roads made much more visible, with the most dangerous ones converted to full traffic lights.
Second, the city is going to fund the Bloor Street revitalization project to start this year ...
February 13th, 2007
Nathan Phillips Square design competition display
By Dylan Reid // 9 Comments
The designs of the four finalists in the competition to re-design Nathan Phillips Square will be presented to the public next week.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West
6 - 7 p.m. Public Exhibition Opening
Main Floor Rotunda
7 - 9 p.m. Design Team Presentations
Council Chamber
The public exhibition will remain on display at City Hall from Wednesday, February 21 to Monday, February 26, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
photo by Jacques Barbier on Flickr
[murmur] Winter News
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
(We sent out the following [murmur] newsletter today. If you'd like to sign up for it directly, you can do so here, just scroll down. Please check out the Fort York bit, as we're currently looking for people with stories, memories or ideas in and around the Fort)
It has been a while since we've sent a newsletter out. We've been busy in Toronto and internationally, so there is some catching up to do and, as always, ways for you to participate. This newsletter here is in six parts:
1. [murmur] in Leith
2. [murmur] in San Jose
3. [murmur] at ...
February 15th, 2007
Goodbye Toro
By Shawn Micallef // 1 Comment
As magazines go, Spacing doesn't (or didn't) have much in common with Toro Magazine. We generally covered different things, though one could argue their well done fashion shoots contributed to a better dressed populace, making for a more attractive public space experience (if one wanted to argue such a thing -- maybe we don't -- but Donald Sutherland in french cuffs is an inspiration to us all). Our start-up situation were also direct opposites -- they started with a big well-funded bang, Spacing started while sitting on the picky grass in a streetcar loop on Bathurst. ...
Turn your attention to Spacing Photos, please
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Spacing Photos, our daily photoblog of Toronto's public spaces, has been up and running again for the last two weeks (we took a little hiatus after the city election and the holiday season). Each weekday we'll post a new photo until the end of the month.
To coincide with the theme of our upcoming issue, photobloggers have submitted hundreds of images of Toronto's intersections. The theme will run until the end of February, when we'll change things up.
If you're interested in helping to curate a theme for a three week-period (15 photos), please contact us at ...
Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb. 15, 2007
By Dale Duncan // 2 Comments
Everyone's bored of the board
If there's one thing city council can agree on these days, it's that the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) sucks. Even Rob Ford, council's notorious dissenter, says the provincially appointed body, the final word on development applications in Toronto, should be scrapped. His opinion didn't prevent him from voting against the motion to appeal the OMB's decision to allow developers in the Queen West Triangle (QWT) to build a cluster of towering residential units. Not that his vote made any difference — the motion passed with flying colours. And though chances of actually winning the ...
A non-crosseyed vision for 2011?
By Leah Sandals // 3 Comments
Today, Artscape launched a new campaign called Vision 2011: Thinking Big About Culture-led Regeneration aka A Roadmap for Toronto's Future.
Now, we may all have our own personal roadmaps for Toronto's future, but as recent problems with the OMB, and ongoing ones with the TTC, demonstrate the key is to combine all those personal roadmaps into something we can all agree on. Not an easy task, by any means.
The main thrust of what Artscape is proposing -- you can see if it matches up with your own wee grid -- is aggressive expansion of creative spaces and places ...
February 16th, 2007
A northern flight up Bathurst Street
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
Spacing's associate editor Shawn Micallef wrote the lead City article in this week's Eye Weekly about the life and times of Bathurst Street. Shawn's bi-weekly Stroll column has now morphed into a once-a-month feature in a similar style as his previous columns, but longer now. As usual, he paints a colourful picture of Toronto's intriguing history.
At first glance, Bathurst is not a pretty street. They don't sell postcards featuring it, but it's a street that means a great deal to Toronto. Particularly so for the Jewish community, which has roughly followed it while migrating around the city ...
February 17th, 2007
Passing by Lower Bay
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
For the next six weekends, starting next Saturday, riders on the Bloor-Danforth line will have to transfer trains at Museum station because Bay station is receiving some much needed structural work. Passengers will have to cross the platform and board another train. University-Spadina riders should use Museum for eastbound trains (since the train you'll be getting on at St.George will terminate at Museum). This also means lower St. George will not be in use as the upper platform will handle all trains. The logistics might be slightly confusing so I suspect TTC conductors will announce all ...
February 18th, 2007
Snow Days
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
Yesterday, the sidewalk along Dundas at the south end of Regent Park was covered in snow, four days after the snowfall. The street was dry as a bone, as the snow was pushed onto the sidewalk, where it stayed. Streets need to be cleared, but stuff like this forces people off the sidewalk and onto the street, and underlines that pedestrians still don't really matter. In the short time we were there, we observed a few people climbing over the hump and into traffic. Further east, the hoarding for the new Regent Park development provided a safe tunnel ...
February 19th, 2007
SPACING: announcing the Winter-Spring 2007 issue
By Spacing // 45 Comments
SPACING: announcing the Winter-Spring 2007 issue
ON NEWSSTANDS:
Wednesday, February 21
RELEASE PARTY:
Thursday, February 22nd
Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W.
8pm, $10 (includes mag), DJ Chris Thinn
The eighth issue of Spacing is about to hit the streets. On Wednesday, Feb. 21st, the new issue will go on sale at the newsstands, followed by our release party the next day (Thursday, Feb. 22nd) at the Gladstone Hotel. Subscribers should have already started to receive the issue.
The cover section of the winter-spring 2007 issue takes a close-up look at our intersections and what our crossroads reveal about our city ...
Ice Days
By Shawn Micallef // 6 Comments
There was some talk recently about skating on Grenadier Pond in High Park, and what the ice might be like. Today we discovered the ice was very cold and windy but brilliantly sunny. It wouldn't be Toronto without warning signs, but once on the pond all officiousness dropped. People had cleared away a large area to skate in, and there was a steady stream of people out until they couldn't take the cold anymore. There were some weird homemade shovels laying around that people seemed to have left for others to use and clear more if they ...
Monday afternoon links
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
On Sunday, I wanted to catch the 4:43am ride on the newly opened section of the St Clair right-of-way (ROW) but I came down with a serious flu bug. Instead, I soothed my disappointment by spending the early morning looking at images from the Toronto Archives of the original St. Clair ROW when it opened in 1914. The above photo is looking west on St. Clair near Spadina. Also, I've compiled links to articles from the weekend papers.
• Blueprint green [ Toronto Star ]
• New towers paint the town green [ Toronto Star ]
• ...
February 20th, 2007
Is Toronto coming around on road pricing?
By Matthew Blackett // 16 Comments
It was exciting to read today that Mayor Miller is sending councillor Brian Ashton to London to study congestion charges. If you remember back in the election, Miller seemed to back off his stance on road tolls, while our election columnist John Lorinc was all over the idea of road tolls/pricing (read his columns on the topic here, here, here, here, and here). I think Miller made some valid points on the campaign trail: while it makes sense to implement road pricing, Toronto doesn't offer the transit service options that allow ...
Public Space Invaders III: Call for films
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
Spacing is now accepting submissions for the third installment of our Public Space Invaders film night to be held at the Drake Hotel in late March.
We are primarily looking for films that deal with public spaces in and around Toronto. They can be fun, arty, serious, very serious, beautiful or even ugly. Student films are fine too — we want to show Toronto from a variety of angles. Archival films are also great — tell us if you have some old shots of the CN Tower being built or maybe a home movie of Uncle Johnny's first day ...
Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization Designs (Part 1?)
By Dylan Reid // 14 Comments
I just got back from viewing the four proposed designs for revitalizing Nathan Phillips Square. I only saw the designs and models -- I didn't go see the oral presentations by each team -- so what I will write here is purely a gut reaction. I am calling this "Part 1" because other Spacing Wire contributors are going to look at the designs, and they may have very different reactions, and may want to post their own analysis rather than just making comments on this one. I think that this is an important enough subject -- the ...
Rick Mercer drives a TTC streetcar
By Dylan Reid // 4 Comments
In today's Rick Mercer Report, Mercer does a feature on the TTC where he learns to drive a TTC streetcar, subway and bus. It's fun, especially if you've always wondered how to drive a streetcar. He also chats with TTC chair Adam Giambrone. You can watch the video in the program archives for Feb. 20, 2007.
February 21st, 2007
Renderings for Nathan Phillips Square re-design
By Matthew Blackett // 14 Comments
Spacing associate editor Dylan Reid has already posted a critique of the four finalists, so I'll spare you my opinions (they don't differ too much from Dylan's, though I did enjoy the work of Plant -- their presentation tonight at City Hall drove home some points that were not readily apparent in their mounted renderings, especially their fantastic knowledge of trees, the urban forest, and landscaping).
So here are a variety of renderings provided by the City. Each link will take you to a large version of a rendering. Looking forward to your comments [though, make sure to see the ...
Is City Hall’s climate change buzz for real?
By Keith Stewart // 9 Comments
Spacing is happy to have Keith Stewart join the Spacing Wire team. Keith spent many years keeping tabs on City Hall as a key member of the Toronto Environmental Alliance. He'll write periodically on climate change issues in Toronto.
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The buzz on climate change may yet turn out to be more than just hype. Not only do we have it percolating through both the city's arts community (see Coach House's GreenTopia project) and the city's establishment (see next week's Toronto City ...
February 22nd, 2007
Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb. 22, 2007
By Dale Duncan // 15 Comments
Paving bike lanes with good intentions
It isn't often that people in Toronto pine for the days of former Mayor Mel Lastman, but take a look at Mayor David Miller's track record on building new bike lanes and you may find yourself fighting a bout of nostalgia. Good ol' Megacity Mel managed to create twice as many bike lanes as our current bike-friendly mayor, who saw a mere 26 kilometres implemented over the past three years.
“All the easy parts were done before I was mayor,†said Miller in his defence to a crowd filled with a number ...
New issue release party tonight!
By Matthew Blackett // 9 Comments
RELEASE PARTY: TONIGHT!
Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W.
doors open at 8pm
$10 includes mag, Toronto-centric games, a 2007 Spacing calendar, and well-spun tunes by DJ Chris Thinn.
photo by Kevin Steele
Better than Phil Collins in the Paris subway
By Matthew Blackett // 12 Comments
Somewhere on the Paris subway.
February 23rd, 2007
The waste land of King Station, morning rush hour
By Matthew Blackett // 18 Comments
King station after the morning rush hour. See it larger.
Someone on Sam Javanrouh's blog wrote: "Recycle, they say. Wouldn't it be better not to produce this kind of litter?" Nicely put, I say.
Photo by Sam Javanrouh
Cars and Cigarettes
By Shawn Micallef // 19 Comments
Late notice, but the folks from Streets are for People are holding a press conference at noon today at Queen and Bay (NW corner) regarding the Canadian Cancer Society's "Driven to Quit" challenge, and the "counter-challenge" they're calling for. From their press release:
The Canadian Cancer Society, in collaboration with local Public Health departments have challenged Ontarians to quit smoking. That's great! It's a filthy disgusting habit that's bad for public health.
However, their Driven to Quit Challenge is a contest to quit smoking and win a new car.
When smog and air quality is at a crisis ...
February 25th, 2007
Mars Attacks
By Shawn Micallef // 8 Comments
Anybody out and about on one of Toronto's east-west streets today between approximately 4-6pm surely noticed that the sunset is perfectly aligned with those streets right now. It makes it impossible to see west as there are few buildings for the sun to hide behind, but it makes for a strange and beautiful end-of-the-world fireball effect. At King and Spadina the sun was reflecting off the giant building-sized iPod ad, turning everything in the vicinity red. These pictures probably don't do the weird atmosphere justice, but everything -- my hands, the asphalt, the cars, the ...
Railfans Delight: Lower Bay diversion brings out cameras
By James Bow // 15 Comments
Less than twenty-four hours after the TTC began diverting Bloor-Danforth subway trains through Lower Bay and Museum stations, railfans have posted a number of videos on YouTube. In my opinion, the best one I've seen is below.
The video shows the train's departure from Yonge, its operation through the switches and down into Lower Bay as well as beyond, around the curve and into Museum station. You can clearly hear the announcements on the PA explaining the diversion as well as some oohs and aws from the passengers as the train passes through Lower Bay.
Other videos include:
Passing ...
February 26th, 2007
Postal
By Shawn Micallef // 13 Comments
It's confounding that so many Toronto condo projects are given such unfortunate names that have nothing to do with this city or this geography. Like The Malibu at Lakeshore and Bathurst, "Toronto's first California condo" (which I mentioned in a Toronto Flaneur column three Spacing's ago). The reference takes us out of the local, and throws us to California. Sure, one million Canadian ex-pats live in the Los Angeles area so there is a weak connection -- but the name just comes off so desperate and of the boardroom-lifestyle genre that has some poor sad sack copywriter ...
Your chance to talk trash
By Dale Duncan // 3 Comments
Got ideas for how Toronto should handle it's waste? This week, the Community Environmental Assessment Team (CEAT), is seeking public input across the city.
"The round of consultation is the best way for other citizens around the city to come out and speak their minds and provide input as to what they'd like to see done with their city's waste issues," says CEAT member Dan Boulos.
Here's a list of meeting dates and locations. For more information, visit the city's website here.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Central YMCA Auditorium
20 Grosvenor St
TTC Station: College
Open house: 6:30pm
Presentation ...
February 27th, 2007
TORONTO SUMMIT: Creating the momentum for change
By Julie Yamin // 5 Comments
Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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It's time for change, and the City of Toronto is all ears for new ideas this week at the Toronto City Summit 2007. Nearly 600 people registered for the event to take part in panel discussions and workshops on various issues affecting Toronto, the goal being to collect the ideas produced and implement some of those ideas in the future.
Among the discussions on yesterday was affordable housing, closing the fiscal imbalance, Toronto's waterfront revitalization, and culture. ...
TORONTO SUMMIT: Take a penny, leave a penny
By Julie Yamin // 4 Comments
Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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Just a few moments after the morning workshops ended on day-one of the Toronto Summit 2007, Mayor David Miller unveiled to the crowd his One Cent Now campaign aimed at creating permanent funding for cities across Canada.
In a nutshell, what the Mayor is proposing is that the federal government return one cent of the existing GST to municipalities. This has the opportunity to secure Toronto and other municipalities all across Canada with a reliable source of funding that ...
TORONTO SUMMIT: Time for a change
By Julie Yamin // 1 Comment
Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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You don't need to live in the heart of Toronto to know the waterfront, the Gardiner, the Island, social service downloading, and transit are just a few of the issues that have befuddled City Hall for years.
But this week, the Toronto Summit 2007, a two-day conference of panel discussions and workshops, gathered professionals and non-profit directors to brainstorm together and bounce new and innovative ideas off each other.
A couple of the eight workshops on Feb. 26 2007 were the Waterfront Revitalization and Beyond the Gas Tax. The summit is oversubscribed, so if you made a game time decision and switched rooms, you were sadly left without a seat at one of the many round tables.
In each workshop, attendees were asked to answer three big questions as a group and then report back. Although broad, the questions allowed for each table to come up with a few ideas and also created some healthy debate, always a good sign during a roundtable discussion.
In the Beyond the Gas Tax room, most people were into the idea of GTA green taxes, a pay-per-use system would greatly help with garbage, water and electricity waste. Another idea was to implement tolls on the city-owned highways. Although many disagreed with placing the tolls with bumper-to-bumper traffic during peak periods as they felt this would both increase the gridlock and increase car emissions.
It was nearly unanimous is all workshops that the city needs to seek help from other levels governments: stop downloading, start uploading and look for more ways to generate revenue without increasing income or property tax. If the issue is tackled properly, Torontonians would warm up to user fees and other funding strategies.
There was also talk of making services cost effective. Toronto needs to make its services and departments accountable from the hours they log to how much they spend on paperclips annually. As Joe Berridge, from Urban Strategies put it, “If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.†With the baby boomers slowly heading into retirement, it is Toronto's chance do a lot of management restructuring.
“If the province wants these services to exist, than the province needs to pay for them,†said Roger Anderson, Regional chair of the Region of Durham during his six-minute speech for Beyong the Gas Tax. He would like to see more independent local government, less band-aid solutions, long-term federal and provincial funding, not short-term help. He says true solutions will be long-term.
Shelley Carroll, Chair of the Budget Committee for Toronto made a really good point early into her speech says that the budget isn't unbalanced, it's been balanced every year. It's the measures needed to make it balanced that is the problem, she says.
Spacing’s MySpace and Facebook pages
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
UPDATE: We also opened a FaceBook account. You can find us at this page. And here's the Spacing group.
Spacing just got itself a MySpace account. If you're into this type of thing, our homepage is located here. For the time being we'll use it for our event announcements.
February 28th, 2007
Where have our streetcars gone?
By Sean Marshall // 20 Comments
It has been a bit of a mystery to me why the TTC (and Toronto for that matter) doesn't take its transit history as seriously as it should. London, New York and Philadelphia operate transit museums and gift shops, and San Francisco practically operates a rolling museum of cable cars and a fleet of 1940s-era Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) and antique streetcars. Meanwhile Toronto can't even muster a merchandise selection that pay our system justice, but many are delighted by the weekend diversions through Lower Bay.
The two PCCs the TTC maintains are conspicuously absent from our ...
TORONTO SUMMIT: Day two brings in bigger crowds
By Julie Yamin // No Comments
Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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Day two of the Toronto Summit 2007 began with remarks from John Tory, Leader of the Official Opposition. He didn't have a lot to say, but he made a point of delivering his own big idea for municipalities.
He began with saying he'll soon be writing a letter to Premier McGuinty's municipal funding review committee to let them know that an 18-month time-frame is unacceptable to him, and that if he is elected Premier of Ontario in the ...
TORONTO SUMMIT: Making Toronto the greenest of them all
By Julie Yamin // 6 Comments
Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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Many aspects of the 2007 Toronto Summit were centered on the idea of tranforming Toronto into a green city. The big question posed to every attendee: can we become North America's greenest city? Someone needs to be the greenest, so why not Toronto.
It's not like you can turn on a television, read a paper, or listen to the radio in Toronto without hearing some mention of waste management, urban sprawl, green technology, and carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. These ideas have been slowly introduced to Canadians across the country. But what does it mean for this city?
In the past few years we've seen a some green initiatives such as the Greenbelt, and the green organic bins implemented in Toronto and the GTA. But Toronto and the GTA are Ontario's largest producer of waste, sprawl, and gas emissions. With hundreds of thousands of cars coming in and out of the city everyday it's no wonder the number of smog alert days goes up every year.
Louise Comeau, Director of the Sage Climate Project and former Director of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, delivered a speech to the group before sending them into discussion. Her speech however, had very little mention of waste management, and focused mainly on greenhouse and carbon gas emissions.
Fact is that the Ontario Government has recently admitted they will not be meeting their 2008 target of a 60 per cent landfill diversion. In 2005, over 18 per cent of the solid waste dumped into Michigan landfills came from Canada, and the majority coming from Toronto. The city needs to begin working harder to continue increasing our landfill diversion percentage, the city is currently at 40 per cent. Our optimistic Mayor would like to see that number reach 70 per cent by 2010.
The organic green bins have been a great help as organic waste accounts for 30 per cent of all household waste, this means about 100,000 tonnes, or more simply put: 2,750 truckloads of organic waste is diverted out of landfills annually. The recent LCBO initiative to allow wine and liquor bottles to be returned for a deposit refund will be another huge step in terms of diverting waste. You can now return empty bottles of Corona, for example, and other clear glass beer bottles -- these are all glass and plastic bottles that in the past made their way into landfills. This was brought up at many tables as a good step forward.
But our waste management problem will only get worse if we don't continue to fight urban sprawl. The GTA population is expected to soar to 10.5 million by 2031, a 43 per cent increase of today's population. If nothing changes in the near future, this will mean a 50 per cent increase in car ownership, meaning more cars on the roads, meaning more traffic in and out of Toronto, more cars idling in traffic, and yes, a 42 per cent gas emissions increase into our already damaged air. Urban sprawl is also an issue Louise Comeau seemed to skip over during her speech, but it wasn't forgotten once the table talk began. You could overhear people talking about the positive effect the greenbelt legislation has already had on the region.
Worthy Wednesday activities
By Dylan Reid // 3 Comments
Here are a couple of events in support of good causes taking place next Wednesday, March 7.
What Trees Give Back
(Presented by LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) and the Ryerson University Department of Geography)
An evening of discussion with Dr. David Nowak of the United States Forest Service about the impacts of climate change on our cities and how urban forests can combat these threats while saving us money!
Wednesday March 7, 2007
7:00-9:00pm
Metro Hall, 55 John St, Toronto
Room 304
Suggested Donation: $5
Our urban forests provide a multitude of benefits that both improve the environment and reduce costs to the ...
March 1st, 2007
Help Build a Transit City Workshop
By Craig Cal // 14 Comments
The Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) is currently in the midst of a series of community workshops centred on the City/TTC's Transit City plan for a network of light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) lines across the city. (see above image)
Focused on reaching communities in Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke that have been underserved by transit until now, TEA's workshops were designed to educate citizens, increase public engagement, create discussion and generate support for an improved Transit City plan.
TEA would like to engage Toronto's knowledgeable transit advocates and enthusiasts in a mini TorontoTransitCamp ...
New ghost bike to go up at Finch-Keele
By Matthew Blackett // 2 Comments
Eco-Art Groups at York University is putting up a ghost bike at the corner of Keele and Finch, in honour of Bianca Gogel, the 16 year-old that was killed by a turning truck in the spring of 2006.
People are asked to come out on Friday, March 2nd, and meet at the HNES building at York at 11:00 AM.
The aim is to avdocate clean air and bike safety up at Keele and across Finch.
photo by Brandon Seifert
TTC addresses cleanliness issues at stations?
By James Bow // 21 Comments
AM640 Toronto is running a report stating that the Toronto Transit Commission's record of cleanliness at its subway stations is improving, although the commission still has some way to go before returning to the cleanliness that commuters may remember in days of yore.
According to the TTC's report:
Of the 69 stations in the system, 23 have been deemed to be in a “good†state of cleanliness.
And while that is a long way from a system-wide rating of ‘good', the report argues that it is still an improvement:
Two years ago, only one station was rated “good.â€
The goal is to ...
March 2nd, 2007
Dale Duncan at City Hall: March 1, 2007
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
Putting money on the arts
News flash: investing in arts and culture is good for cities! This is the message Greg Reed, board member of the group Business for Arts, delivered to the economic development committee Feb. 21. “Arts and culture funding used to be driven by public money,†Reed said. “Now the conversation starts with: how do we get the private sector involved?â€
His answer: if governments pony up the cash first, the private sector will follow. He gives the example of the SuperBuild fund, the $325 million that the federal and provincial governments forked over to grand cultural ...
Friday Headlines
By Julie Yamin // No Comments
• Stonewalled at landfill gate, councillors still want details [ Toronto Star ]
• Ontario 2007 budget date set [ cbc ]
• Asian long-horned beetle claims another 800 trees [ Globe and Mail ]
• C. difficile strikes three more seniors [ National Post ]
• Phone booths are close to becoming a symbol of our recent past [ Toronto Sun ]
• Throwing Pizza at Garbage Cans, and More [ Blog TO ]
• The Daily Photoist: Cherry Beach [ Torontoist ]
• Gettin' Gassed [ Reading Toronto ]
photo by Jay Morrison
Spadina Expressway Affair exhibit opens tomorrow
By Matthew Blackett // 3 Comments
SPADINA EXPRESSWAY AFFAIR
exhibit runs from March 3 to July 8
Market Gallery, South St. Lawrence Market, 95 Front St. E.
Opening reception Saturday March 3, 1-3pm. Remarks at 1:30
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We're happy to announce the opening of The Spadina Expressway Affair, an exhibit curated by Spacing contributor Tim Whalley and sponsored by the City of Toronto and Spacing.
One of the most contentious episodes in Toronto's recent history -- the Spadina Expressway affair -- revolved around a stretch of highway. From the late 1960s until its cancellation on June 3rd, 1971, ...
Take cover and run
By Julie Yamin // 15 Comments
Walking along Front Street around 10:30 a.m. on Friday, I was briskly instructed by a Intercontinental Hotel on security guard wearing a bright red hard hat to cover my head with my laptop bag and quickly take cover under a canopy as large chunks of ice were reportedly falling from the CN tower.
He chased after me when I didn't take him seriously, dismissing him as a potential hidden camera show host. "You think I'm joking," he repeatedly said with bulging eyes.
I looked around and could not find the so-called pieces of ice on the ground, nor could I ...
Replacing one bad habit with another
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
Streets Are For People did a great job of highlighting the hypocrisy of the recent campaign of the Canadian Cancer Society: if you quit smoking you can win a car (you can see Streets Are For People's public outreach in the video above, but be warned that the sound is a little quiet). In essence, you are replacing one bad dependency with another. NOW had a little feature on the counter-campaign in this week's issue.
March 3rd, 2007
The award for ‘most commented on post’ goes to…
By Julie Yamin // 4 Comments
Since we're at the start of a new month, we've decided to bring back our monthly feature: most commented upon posts. During the months of January and February, readers were very passionate over some posts.
People had a lot to say about how they would revamp the TTC website, but they also had a ton of comments about where they meet in Toronto. The kindergarten city council generated a good amount of discussion, as did our suggested renaming of Spadina station on the Univeristy line to Spadina North. And from the sounds of it, most ...
Cold and cool public art on the island today
By Leah Sandals // No Comments
Vancouver artist Nicole Dextras, who has been doing a Gibraltar Point residency in public art involving ice, text and textiles, will be having an open house today on the Island between 1 and 4 pm. Though it might be a bit of a slog, especially with the storm cleanup, it could be worth it -- her work, especially involving words, is really interesting. To take a look at more of the work she's been making for the residency click here, and for more information on the centre and getting to it, click here.
OPEN HOUSE
with ...
Full moon riding
By Tammy Thorne // 2 Comments
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of activist Tooker Gomberg's death. To commemorate his life there will be a full moon Take the Tooker group ride leaving at 10 p.m. from Bloor and St. George streets tonight.
Meet up earlier to participate in a ritual to honour Tooker's passing, tale-telling to celebrate his life, as well as a special screening of the 2006 documentary Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs.
Moon gazing is also on the agenda as there is a rare full moon lunar eclipse tonight.
Please see the full release below. This event is ...
Endangered Species
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
Last year we wrote about the struggle to save the beautiful half-round Riverdale Hospital (pictured here) built on the edge of the Don Valley. Modern buildings are endangered because they haven't yet become popularly precious -- "in fashion" -- the way things Victorian or Edwardian have in Toronto. So it's easier for these places to disappear. Dominion Modern has organized a quick two-day exhibition called Endangered Species to launch a book of the same name to explore what modern architecture means to our city. It's not far from St. Lawrence Market -- so you can see ...
March 4th, 2007
Got your Giambroney?
By Julie Yamin // 16 Comments
UPDATE: There is blogger controversy on the origins of the Giambroney. Check out the comments section, and this Torontoist post.
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In honour of the newly unveiled TTC token, a transit rider has come up with a new name for the token.
Alexandra Dodger, a McMaster University grad student, called it the Giambroney. Along the same lines as the Canadian Loonie and the Twonie, the Giambroney is now being called Canada's most valuable coin currency. She has created a group called "I call my new TTC tokens ...
In-Site Montreal
By Michelle Kasprzak // No Comments
In-Site Montréal is a collection of site-specific art presented on the portal pages of five wireless internet hotspots. Artists Nicolas Fleming, Maria Legault, and Virginie Laganià¨re have created site-specific art works that can be viewed simply by connecting to the àŽle Sans Fil network at the selected hotspots. Though the project is best viewed in-situ, you can also view the works produced by the artists for the hotspot locations at the In-Site Montréal micro-site.
From the curator's essay:
The virtual spaces that In-site Montréal inhabit are amorphous areas around several accepted gathering places such as cafés, galleries, ...
Spadina subway extension clears funding hurdle
By Robin Chubb // 83 Comments
The Toronto Star is announcing on its front page that a final $697 million from the federal government has sealed the Spadina Subway Extension deal (see their article here). The money comes as part of a large package of funding for transit in the GTA including:
A Mississauga transitway, a bus-only road along Highway 403 and Eastgate Parkway from Burnhamthorpe Rd. to Eglinton Ave. E.
Brampton's $280-million Acceleride project, meant to speed bus service. Ontario has already committed $95 million for the improvements.
An expansion of York Region's Viva bus system. York Region officials want ...
Subway movies?
By Dylan Reid // 18 Comments
Someone recently told me about a Hungarian movie called Kontrol, which is set in and is all about people who work in the Budapest subway system. It made me think of the French movie Subway, one of Luc Besson's first movies, which is set almost entirely within the labyrinthine corridors of the Paris Metro.
It made us wonder about other movies that are set primarily in subway systems. I'm wondering if our readers can help us in coming with other such feature films (in the spirit of Spacing's upcoming "Public Space Invaders" evening of public space ...
Broke and have electric heat?
By Keith Stewart // 6 Comments
It has always bugged me that energy conservation programs are almost exclusively targeted at the relatively well-to-do, who need the help the least. Well, for 270 lucky low-income Toronto households, that is about to change. And with a little effort, we could be fixing up all of the poorly insulated, low-income homes in the city as part of Toronto's climate change plan in order to cut back on both greenhouse gases and the energy bills of those least able to afford to heat the great outdoors.
Anyone who's tried to run an environmental program knows that the coveted 'early ...
March 5th, 2007
East Toronto Greats
By Shawn Micallef // 5 Comments
Eminent Easterners are being featured along Queen Street over the next few months (by current and former Spacing contributors, would-be Lytton Strachey's, both of 'em):
East Toronto Greats
A Collaborative Window Display Project
East Toronto Greats is a collaborative project featuring the work of artist and curator Tim Whalley and writer Sheila Heti. Consisting of a series of six representations of historical figures from 19th century east Toronto, the works, created by Tim and interpreted by Sheila, will be exhibited in window display galleries at the Drake Hotel, Pages Books Art Window and Toronto Free Gallery during the spring of ...
Monday’s Headlines
By Julie Yamin // No Comments
• Threat of chunks of ice falling from CN Tower closes area [ National Post ]
• Cities seek transit cash [ Toronto Star ]
• Candy Land Rapid Transit [ Torontotoist ]
• PM offers Ontario cash for transit, environment [ Globe and Mail ]
• Big bucks from PM cut off mayors' strategy [ Toronto Star ]
• Councillors to give photo one more shot [ National Post ]
• People see red at Don't Walk on a green light [ Toronto Star ]
• Abu Dhabi ups the architectural ante [ Toronto Star ]
• ...
Subway Life
By Craig Cal // 4 Comments
Ok, I'll admit it. I have a staring problem.
Whenever I ride the TTC, I look at people's faces and wonder what their story is. It helps pass the time and helps me humanize the otherwise monotonous commute. What is going on in their life? Why isn't anyone smiling? What are they listening too? What are they reading? Where are they going? Where are they coming from?
Looking at the photos of Bill Sullivan makes me feel the same way.
Sullivan is a New York-based photographer whose "More Stops" project (pictured above) captured people as they passed through the turnstiles ...
Google time machine
By Shawn Micallef // 2 Comments
Google Earth is perhaps the most wonderful thing I run on my computer. Just two or three years ago, the way I can sit here and swoop down and look at nearly anything in the world from above -- from the house I grew up in to Warren Beatty's house on Mulholland Drive -- would have seemed like a sci-fi fantasy. And the best part is it's free, and not too different from the industrial-strength version Wolf Blitzer uses on CNN's melodramatic Situation Room. It's one of the few programs I run on this G4 PowerBook that ...
Let the chips fall where they may
By Matthew Blackett // 4 Comments
As our intrepid Spacing Wire reporter Julie Yamin wrote on Friday, there are pieces of ice falling from the CN Tower. So much so, that the Gardiner was closed this morning and will remain closed during rush hour tonight. If you travel east-west or west-east through the downtown core, be as patient as you possible can. It took me 45 minutes to get from Lansdowne to Spadina (about 3km) this morning.
Read the Toronto Star article on the situation (it is being updated periodically). Here are some highlights:
Police closed the Expressway in both directions during this ...
March 6th, 2007
What trees give back
By Dale Duncan // No Comments
This Wednesday, join LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) and the Ryerson University Department of Geography for an evening of discussion with Dr. David Nowak about the impacts of climate change on our cities and how the urban forest can help combat these threats and save us money!
Here are the details:
Wednesday March 7, 2007
7:00-9:00pm
Metro Hall, 55 John St, Toronto
Room 304
Suggested Donation: $5
Our urban forests provide a multitude of benefits that both improve the environment and save money. Dr. David Nowak, esteemed scientist with the United States Forest Service has done the research to prove ...
Tuesday’s Headlines
By Julie Yamin // No Comments
• Arborists tackle 4,860 calls like a 'triage unit' [ National Post ]
• Gardiner closed for 2nd day [ Toronto Star ]
• Drivers hope towering pain over [ Toronto Sun ]
• Highway to reopen after pileup chaos near Barrie [ cbc ]
• Whiteout blamed for pileup on 400 [ National Post ]
• Cop mounts bus rescue [ Toronto Sun ]
• Bitter winds cause havoc [ Globe and Mail ]
• No transit via barricaded doors [ Toronto Star ]
• Not a boo from riders in ghost station [ National Post ...
TAKE A GUESS: name this intersection
By Matthew Blackett // 60 Comments
Since our current issue is all about intersections we thought it would be fun to play a game (Shawn Micallef tried it out a few weeks ago).
We want you to identify this intersection. Leave your guess in the comments section: we'll hold on to your opinions until 3pm when we'll unveil the answer. If you want to see a larger version of the photo check it out on Spacing Photos.
UPDATE AT 3pm: The guessing game is now closed and the intersection is revealed in the first comment. Thanks for taking part. We'll do this again each ...
And the Gardiner is back in business
By Julie Yamin // 1 Comment
UPDATE: Gardiner reopens [ Toronto Star ]
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If you're a driver and the thought of Monday's Gardiner closure sends shivers down your spine, then you'll be glad to hear that as of 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, Police determined that the Gardiner Expressway was ready for business as usual.
We first wrote about this fiasco last Friday when the threat of falling ice from the CN Tower began. The Gardiner was then shutdown early Monday morning (and for the rest of the day) between Spadina and Yonge, both directions, causing ...
You can name a North York condo
By Julie Yamin // 2 Comments
Last week, Spacing associate editor Shawn Micallef wrote about unfortunate condo names around Toronto which generated a good discussion from our opinionated readers.
On Thursday March 8, Concord Adex will hold a press conference under a 20 by 30 foot heated tent that will announce that North York residents will have a chance to name the new 42-acre condo development near Sheppard and Bessarion. Construction begins this spring.
The event is rain or shine, and begins at 10:00 a.m. and headed by Dennis Au-Yeung of Concord Adex, and Willowdale-Ward 24 councillor David Shiner.
If you wish ...
Upholstering a tree stump: A how-to guide
By Julie Yamin // 2 Comments
You can create a how-to guide for anything these days, and Madelon Galland has done just that, with the help of SuperNaturale, a website dedicated to the do-it-yourself culture.
Galland started a project called STUMP in New York City. Since 1999, Galland worked hard to take NYC stumps under her wing and upholster them. According to SuperNaturale, she is currently in India, but still spreading the word on the STUMP project. She's inviting people worldwide to join her in giving abandoned urban tree stumps a second life. Her website offers fanatasitc examples of post-upholstered work.
The Spacing ...
March 7th, 2007
Wednesday’s Headlines
By Julie Yamin // 6 Comments
• Is subway really the better way? [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto area gets $1B for transit [ cbc ]
• For the good of transit [ Globe and Mail ]
• PM courts Toronto on transit, climate [ Globe and Mail ]
• Spadina line to end in Vaughan [ National Post ]
• $4.5B big ticket [ Toronto Sun ]
• Ice-free with a flick of switch [ Toronto Star ]
• Officials stress ice precautions taken [ National Post ]
• The signs they are a changin' [ Toronto Star ]
• Curvy new ...
TAKE A GUESS: name this intersection, March 7th
By Matthew Blackett // 46 Comments
Since our current issue is all about intersections we thought it would be fun to play a game. Everyone did quite well yesterday, so I hope this a little more challenging.
We want you to identify this intersection. Leave your guess in the comments section: we'll hold on to your opinions until 3pm when we'll unveil the answer. If you want to see a larger version of the photo check it out on Spacing Photos.
UPDATE at 3pm: The guessing game is now closed. The intersection is Bathurst and College. The bank is the Scotiabank on the ...
Come to my Virtual Yard Sale
By Julie Yamin // 7 Comments
I live in an apartment, meaning I don't have a yard. This also means I can't have my much needed yard sale this coming summer.
I've tried putting all my treasures on eBay, but I find once shipping costs are factored in, I'm just not impressed with my financial results.
The other day I began looking into this phenomenon of craigslist. I know it's been around for awhile, I'm just behind on the times. I'd assumed it was just another version of eBay.
I was wrong. This is the virtual yard sale. Items are separated by their location, so we've eliminated ...
U of T’s Bikechain referendum
By Dylan Reid // 1 Comment
Attention University of Toronto students:
The Bikechain program, the great University of Toronto program that provides free bike repair services and education to U of T students, is holding a referendum right now trying to get student approval for a $0.25 (yes, just a quarter) student tuition surcharge to provide continuing stable funding to the program.
The referendum is being held March 7-9 (that's Wednesday to Friday of this week) as part of the U of T student union elections. Students can vote at the following locations: Sydney Smith, Old Victoria College, Gerstein Library, Woodsworth College, Bahen Centre, ...
March 8th, 2007
Predictions for Nathan Phillips Square re-design
By Spacing // 8 Comments
Spacing has collected the predictions from a variety of Torontonians on who will win the Nathan Phillips Square re-design competition. The winner will be announced tonight at 6pm in City Hall's rotunda. We plan to have a report with some quotes on Friday.
If you want to look at renderings of the four finalists check out the Spacing Wire post from the day the finalists were announced. And please feel free to add your thoughts and predictions in our comments section of this post.
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Thursday’s Headlines
By Julie Yamin // 1 Comment
• Moscoe sees gushers, gets trickle [ Toronto Star ]
• How Castlefrank got its name [ Toronto Star ]
• Duo chip away at CN Tower ice [ Toronto Star ]
• Workers carefully chip away loose pieces of ice from CN Tower [ National Post ]
• City spares the salt to save environment [ Toronto Star ]
• 'We have to be ready' for an election, says Rae [ cbc ]
• Ontario supply improving but still tight, says Imperial [ cbc ]
• Premier says gas shortage a wake-up call for Ontario [ ...
TAKE A GUESS: name this intersection, March 8th
By Matthew Blackett // 67 Comments
Since our current issue is all about intersections we thought it'd be fun to play a game.
We want you to identify this intersection. Leave your guess in the comments section: we'll hold on to your opinions until 3pm when we'll unveil the answer. If you want to see a larger version of the photo check it out on Spacing Photos.
UPDATE AT 3pm: The intersection is revealed! Looking east on Bloor at Sherbourne. That's the road leading to the Viaduct.
Dale Duncan at City Hall: March 8, 2007
By Matthew Blackett // No Comments
The Scarborough guy
“I'm a small 'C' conservative and a small 'L' liberal,†Councillor Michael Thompson tells me when I ask where he sees himself on the political spectrum. “People ask me about that all the time.â€
This doesn't come as a surprise, really. The controversial councillor hit the ground running when he was first elected in 2003, aggressively pushing an anti-gang and anti-gun agenda well before Toronto's media proclaimed 2005 “the year of the gun.†His outspokenness garnered him nationwide attention when he suggested the police be allowed to stop and search black youth at random, ...
A wee bit of Toronto found in South Korea
By Julie Yamin // 8 Comments
Last summer I spent some time in South Korea. Nearing the end of the trip, I was feeling homesick and decided to head for a very touristy attraction. I figured taking a tour of miniature sized world landmarks would cheer me up, and it certainly did.
After strolling past the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and the Leaning Tower of Pisa I came across a landmark I was not expecting. Mini Miniland on the island of Jeju-do, the most southern part of Korea, doesn't have the CN Tower as part of their display. Instead, they've chosen Toronto ...
There’s a new blog in town
By Dale Duncan // 11 Comments
Eye Weekly lauched Eye Daily today, a web-exclusive partner to the free alt weekly mag. As the name implies, it'll be updated daily with feature stories, such as Chris Bilton's investigation into the campaign to raise the minimum wage. It also includes a new and improved blog, which will provide book, theatre, restaurant and music reviews, sports updates, arts info, as well as reports and discussion on City Hall by Eye Weekly city editor and Spacing contributor Edward Keenan and Spacing managing editor Dale Duncan (that's me! -- note personal bias here).
PLANT wins Nathan Phillips Square competition
By Robin Chubb // 39 Comments
Plant Architect & Shore Tilbe Irwin were announced the winner of the Nathan Phillips Square competition. For more information on the competing schemes see the Spacing Wire post or the City of Toronto's website.
Also, check out the Toronto Star article.
The rest of the team members were:
Peter Lindsay Schaudt Landscape Architecture, Inc. (landscape design collaborator, Chicago)
Adrian Blackwell (urban design collaborator and art consultant, Toronto)
Blackwell Bowick Partnership Limited (structural engineering, Toronto)
Blanche Lemko van Ginkel (historical guidance, Toronto)
Crossey Engineering Ltd. (integrated mechanical and lighting systems ...