May 10th, 2012
FORD
• Gee: Ford turns back on support community at flag raising [Globe & Mail]
• Rob Ford’s silent treatment [NOW]
• Police find ‘no evidence’ to charge reporter over confrontation with Mayor Ford [The Star]
CITY HALL
•Tempers flare as council debates firearms bylaw [Globe & Mail]
• Adam Vaughn’s ‘special’ jury duty pass [The Sun]
• Councillors choosing sides on waterfront casino proposal [Globe & Mail]
• City says warning over asbestos-laced asphalt an ‘abundance of caution’ [National Post]
TRANSIT
• St. Clair traffic fix could cost more than $30 million [The Star]
REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT
• Affordable homes with hang-ups [NOW]
• Condo owners need more protection, Toronto MPP says [CBC]
• Housing bubble talk dismissed amid Toronto ‘condo craze’ [The Star]
OTHER NEWS
• Memo to Eugene Jones, Toronto housing’s new boss: keep the flak jacket [The Star]
• Yonge Street revival: Looking at competing visions to invigorate Toronto’s main drag [National Post]
• Public art in Canada: Toronto’s best and worst [OpenFile]
• Irish pub owners again looking to replace The Real Jerk [National Post]
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May 9th, 2012
From May 10-12, young movie lovers will take over the TIFF Bell Lightbox for Next Wave, a film festival programmed for and partly curated by cinema lovers ages 14-18.
One film screening that may be of interest to Spacing readers is This Space Available, a fascinating look at the social, political, and economic factors that combine to make illegal billboard advertising as profitable and easy as it is.
In This Space Available, viewers travel from sewers of Brazil, to Sunset Strip (“What did God make first: billboards or LA?”), to our very own Kensington Market, meeting lawyers, activists, and even chiropractors fighting visual pollution, environmental degradation, and lawlessness by some of the world’s largest firms. If you’ve had a recent encounter with the Astral media “Info” pillars that dot the downtown, you might have already asked a few of the questions posed here.
Accessible and smart without being overly slick, This Space Available offers a diversity of perspectives on the history, legality, and morality of billboard advertising worldwide.
This Space Available screens as part of the Next Wave Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, May 10 at 10 AM and Saturday, May 14 at 2:15 PM. More information and tickets are available here. The film is rated PG, and all are welcome!
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Weird Wednesdays on Urban Planet takes a look at obscure, absurd, and curious things about cities around the world.
While it looks like an unused set for the movie Waterworld, Neft Dashlari isn't just the world's first offshore oil rig, it's elevated platforms have become home to a fairly unique urban community with nothing but waterfront property.
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For as long as I've been paying attention, parks have been places where community engagement and stewardship intersect (and sometimes collide) with municipal governance. The evolution of Dufferin Grove, the artistic reclamation of Mabelle, and the formation of parks advocacy group Park People all point to a need to think differently about how Toronto's parks are managed, funded, and programmed. Problem is, conversations around these issues usually position community groups and city staff as adversaries in a turf war, which makes for great storytelling but little progress.
Through last year's inaugural Park Summit, Park People (whose Executive Director, Dave Harvey, was profiled in Spacing's 2011 Fall issue) began the process of making these conversations more productive. The Summit "brings park advocates, city staff, and experts together with community groups, city councillors, and concerned Torontonians to network, brainstorm and work together for better parks in Toronto."
This year's Park Summit is this Saturday, May 12, from 1:30 - 5:30, at the Evergreen Brickworks. The Summit's theme is Connecting Toronto's People and Parks, and focuses on how Toronto residents are improving their local parks. Robert Hammond, Co-Founder of Friends of the High Line in New York City, will give the keynote speech.
The evolving relationship between communities and municipal government will likely touch more and more parks as people begin to demand more of these public spaces, so this year's theme is both timely and important. The event is free (though you have to RSVP), and there is a suggested $20 donation to help Park People continue its work.
More details are available on the event's Eventbrite listing.
Photo by Katherine Fleitas
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CITY HALL
• Councillor seeks to restore program cuts with new-found surplus [Globe & Mail]
• Clash expected at council Wednesday [The Sun]
• Ford loses vote on outside planners [Globe & Mail]
• Ford, council are all right, Crombie says [The Sun]
FORD
• Mayor Rob Ford loses vote on OMB appeal funding [The Star]
• Ford won't attend gay outreach event at City Hall [Globe & Mail]
• Mayor cuts out after not cutting weight [The Sun]
• Rob Ford's gay outreach snub reminds us of a different Toronto [OpenFile]
TRANSPORTATION
• Falling concrete on Gardiner causes infrastructure headaches [The Star]
• Vaughan proposes tolls to keep Gardiner in good repair [The Sun]
• Yonge, Bay to go one-way? [The Sun]
• Wider sidewalks, one-way traffic floated as ways to improve Yonge Street [Globe & Mail]
• Downtown Yonge BIA wants pedestrian fairs, Public Works chair wants cars [OpenFile]
• City councillor proposes turning Yonge and Bay into one-way streets to fight traffic congestion [National Post]
• OpenRoad: Slower speeds could speed up travel times. Really [OpenFile]
• Pearson International is Canada’s worst airport, again [National Post]
TCHC
• New Public housing boss readies himself to clean up after turbulent year [Globe & Mail]
• TCHC reaches across border to pick a new CEO [The Star]
OTHER NEWS
• Q&A: From toy car to Toronto condo? Charles Moffat tries to make the trade [National Post]
• TOjam at the heart of Toronto’s indie-game scene [National Post]
• A beautiful day in Rob Ford’s neighbourhood [The Grid]
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May 8th, 2012
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
What's tall and full and leafy all over? Vancouver's parking garages. Valcent Products recently signed an agreement with several garage owners to build the 6,000-square-foot vertical farm. The "VertiCrop" farming structure will feature 12-foot-high stacks of growing trays that will move around to catch water and sunlight. (Designing Healthy Communities)
Image from Vertical Theory
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you'd like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
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Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist
Jerry Waese.
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In the fourth part of our series with famous Toronto Historian Bruce Bell around Old Town Toronto we ventured inside the popular St. Lawrence Market. Known as one of the best markets in the world, the St. Lawrence Market is filled with 100+ vendors selling fresh food, local goods and antiques. This 200-year old market was once home to Toronto's City Hall, as well as Toronto's first jail.
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FORD
Mayor Rob Ford marks World Press Freedom Week [The Star]
Ford targets Star on his radio show [The Sun]
CITY HALL
Councillor wants budget cuts reversed [The Sun]
Time running out on tax breaks for Woodbine Live! project touted by Mayor Rob Ford [The Star]
Detroit Housing Commission director to take over as president of TCHC [National Post]
Councillor seeks to restore program cuts with new-found surplus [Globe & Mail]
Toronto wants stores to donate part of 5-cent bag fee to planting trees [The Star]
TRANSIT
Different versions of what happened on a TTC bus [The Sun]
REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT
Developer has no fear of a Toronto condo bubble [Globe & Mail]
OTHER NEWS
Toronto businesses hope to ‘Celebrate Yonge’ by turning famous street over to pedestrians [The Star]
Gee: An upstream battle, but there’s hope for fish in the Don [Globe & Mail]
David Dunlap Observatory Lands issue heads to a Ontario Municipal Board hearing [The Star]
Pearson voted worst airport in national poll [Calgary Herald]
Hidden Toronto reveals the city as you've never seen it [The Star]
As patio season approaches, so does the season for licence requests [OpenFile]
Cumberland Cinemas To Become Nespresso Boutique, Says Real Estate Agent [Torontoist]
Elephants need to move before it's too late [The Sun]
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May 7th, 2012
What: Launch party for the Full Front TO book as well as Contact photo exhibit of a selection of Patrick's photos from the book.
Where: Urbanspace Gallery, Suite 117, 401 Richmond (wander back through the building and you'll find the gallery)
When: Wednesday May 9th, 7-9PM
How much: Free but books will be for sale
Our senior editor Shawn Micallef has collaborated with photographer Patrick Cummins (you've likely seen his photos in past issues of Spacing) on a brand new Coach House published book looking at Toronto's vernacular architecture. Cummins has been walking Toronto streets for more than thirty years, snapping front-facing pictures of homes, stores and garages, often returning to document the changes a few years later. The result is a book that is both a Toronto time machine and one that casts an eye on the everyday built form of Toronto. Micallef's text and captions explore what this Toronto look is and what it means to us. Here are some photos from the book: Continue reading this post
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