Damien Moule

You can just break the grid and close off side streets. I promise you can. Fire and Paramedic services will tell you it will be a catastrophe but we should ask them why it works elsewhere and make them justify it beyond hand waiving.

Much of what Toronto needs to improve on the downtown streetcars (and Line 6) can be learned from the 507/western 501. The combination of fewer cross streets, island platforms, wider stop spacing, and no forced slow zones across intersections is enough to provide good speed with weak TSP.

Something to ask John Tory if he runs for mayor again as he decided to dedicate a massive portion of Toronto's budget to this rebuild.

Has occurred for long enough that it shows up on Google Maps satellite view

Some people seem to be parking regularly in the dog bowl. No one even tries to stop them.

Would be odd. He doesn't seem to like cities.

Trinity Bellwoods Park Access & Circulation Study Learn more and provide feedback on recommendations to improve access and circulation in Trinity Bellwoods Park by taking an online survey or attending an open house on March 18, 2026. The survey close...

Was reminded to the Bellwoods circulation study on the weekend and my biggest piece of feedback is they haven't proposed any design measures or circulation strategies to protect people or the park from trucks. They're designing to make it easier to drive through.
www.toronto.ca/city-governm...

graphic showing normal signal cycle, where a streetcar/tram gets stuck at a red light, versus one with phase rotation, where a streetcar/tram is detected, and given a green automatically.

With phase rotation, however, the left turn phase can either come before (leading) or after (lagging) depending on estimated streetcar arrivals.

This *significantly* reduces delays for transit riders!

3/4 stories and 6/7/8 stories are breakpoints you find in every code, but *what* they’re a breakpoint for is very different in NA than elsewhere. In NA, the former is where a stretcher elevator, standpipe, and second stair are required; in Europe it’s often the latter – or taller.

Douglas Todd: Jarring 18-storey tower on leafy Vancouver street a sign of the out-of-scale times About 10 steel-and-glass highrises, much like the one proposed for Yukon and 14th, are set to arise among character homes within the Broadway plan zone. https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-18-storey-tower-vancouver-out-scale-times

Douglas Todd: Hundreds of quiet east Vancouver side streets upzoned for six-storey apartment blocks Some residents in the vast Rupert and Renfrew area did not know their pleasant side streets had been upzoned for six- to eight-storey apartment blocks. It calls into question the city of Vancouver's murky "engagement strategy." https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-hundreds-of-quiet-east-vancouver-side-streets-upzoned-for-six-storey-apartment-blocks

'Monstrosities' or the evolution of housing? Multi-unit buildings on single-family lots gain traction in B.C. cities The number of multi-unit developments on single-family lots is increasing in B.C. neighbourhoods dominated by single-detached houses. Opinions vary over what these changes will mean for communities. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/multiplex-feature

Anakin/Padme meme I oppose this building because it's too tall It's just this building, not all new housing? You are not against all new housing, right?

A storey in four acts as captured by local news media:

18 storeys is too high, we’d be fine with 4-6 storeys

6 storeys are too big, we'd be fine with multiplexes

Multiplexes are monstrosities, we are fine with existing post-Second World War bungalows

...

I still don't really get it. We're hosting 6 games, so we're expecting a bit more than a full Sky Dome concert worth of people per game. What's the big deal? Just that maybe a higher fraction than normal will be coming from out of the city than normal?

Nothing intelligent related to AI to say, but aren't most graduate departments already an army of somewhat untrustworthy research assistants?

Can't get slowed down if no one rides it.

Impossible Toronto — On the Courtyard — Introduction

Don't know if it would have crossed your radar, but for the next size up: impossibletoronto.ca

Some might say the start of the city...

No real surprises about where rental deserts (by this definition) are located in Toronto. Though of course the city itself is much more mixed than any of the surrounding suburban municipalities.

He also says "I live in a decent neighbourhood, you know, families". I know we've all heard this so many times that we're a bit numb to it but I just want to say this is a call for the city government to segregate and only govern for a certain class and it's not compatible with liberal democracy.

YouTube video by CityNews 'It's the end of the city': Battle over sixplexes continues in Toronto

“It’s the end of the city. Toronto sucks.”

“This is the beginning of a quiet decent neighbourhood in our city being destroyed simply because it’s on the new subway line.”

Totally normal reaction to a six-unit, three-storey residence being built near transit.

The Toronto local appeal body or OLT will sort it out and sounds like the mayor is also going to give them a whack too. The rule of law is multi-levelled.

Stop calling housing regulations “small-bore.” Not everything is a conspiracy.

Good to just have the occasional restatement of the basics: housing regulations are a big effing deal.
www.theargumentmag.com/p/stop-calli...

If you find yourself asking "why couldn't they just build the 6 storey building inside the allowed zoning so they wouldn't need variances?" my answer would be they almost certainly tried and failed to make it pencil for a whole host of silly reasons.

Obviously an issue with Scarborough committee of adjustment itself here but the higher level issue is we still have lots of restrictions on lot coverage and setbacks and building code issues on single stair, elevator size etc. that make it too expensive to build without variances.

One of unfortunately several municipal areas where the decision is: make the law so complex that interpretation and enforcement are entirely at the whims of mostly self-appointed locals.

"We don't want to see towers, and we don't want multiplexes in our stable neighbourhoods, it just should be midrise on major streets".
"Ok here's a 6 storey apartment on a major street".
"No... not like that".

A pretty incredible example of an unelected committee of adjustment member just flat out saying they would ignore the city's by-laws in order to reject housing. It's frustrating to fight these little personnel battles everywhere but I guess that's life.
www.thestar.com/news/gta/six...

No surprise who. No matter where you try and put housing, in this case on Major Streets (which he voted for), councillor Kandavel still comes around and says "not here".

Half hour to Islington. A small improvement but not great.

Stop birds from hitting buildings people.

Agree with the choice given Bradford's continued slide. My biggest worry about a Tory-4 term would be that the mushy middle of council (where Tory eventually moved) now consists of much less YIMBY and much less competent councillors. His coalition would be worse than last time.

Waited 2 months for Q4 2025 APTA ridership report and the TTC didn't even send their data in time and aren't in the report.