Dan Seljak

@anotherglassbox.bsky.social For your “buildings like cordyceps” file.

Tweet by @anotherglassbox with 14K likes and a picture of a convenience store interior: In Toronto, we call stores like this “bodegas” and they are unique to this city alone.

People have forgotten the classic texts

That was a very good day

I have no talent for it but if u ever feel inspired by something on my feed, feel free!

Corner store 🥰

I think the missing link would an emerging (presumably less expensive) class of student artist and an explicit mandate to do it instead of blobs when possible.

StreetARToronto StreetARToronto (StART) is a suite of innovative programs designed specifically for streets and public spaces. Initiated in 2012 as an integral part of the City’s Graffiti Management Plan, StART has b...

What drives me nuts is *that program supposedly already exists* www.toronto.ca/services-pay...

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a long continuous stretch of it

I hate it here cc @jamespmcleod.ca

Public disorder is out of control on Toronto’s streets.

I also wanted to explicitly thank @jasonthorne.bsky.social and the EHON team for their efforts on this. It’s already a pretty thankless task dealing with resistance to change, and then a neurodivergent street photographer won’t stop yapping from the other side. Grateful for their grace + patience.

Honestly someone better at this me might’ve stepped up to fill the void if they got frustrated black of action. But, if I’m honest and putting humility aside, I can trace how my intervention directly created this particular outcome.

I told Gord that security had taken the briefcase id handcuffed to my wrist, which contained a recorder playing the names of the petition signatories on a loop. He was amused but earnestly against the idea: “it needs to be SHORT”

The one real barrier is time and persistence. Another Glass Box started as a newsletter almost eight years ago (my tone is softened since, but still recognisable). That's almost a decade of building an audience and learning before a tangible win.

You gotta trust the process.

I had never run a petition before, Finch Store trusted me to go for it.
I had never deputed before, @alexbeheshti.bsky.social suggested I try.
I had never done a Jane's Walk before, @moreneighboursto.bsky.social approached me with a concept.

I want people to try this for themselves!

When I first got mad about this subject because of Finch Store’s potential closure over an espresso machine, it was folks like @markshawtoronto.bsky.social who educated me about EHON’s retail push. It was input from my community that shaped my advocacy and approach to this topic.

Yeah, I did a lot of leg work. I spent a bunch of money on hosting and domains. I am still dealing with bizarre accusations I’m a paid lobbyist for Big Corner Store. But ultimately I just keyed into a groundswell of support and frustration that’s been building for years.

I am really happy (not entirely but that’s a whole other tangle) with this outcome and article. My only caveat is I am given too much credit in this one.

Thank you to everyone who wrote in and helped Toronto get this far, especially to @anotherglassbox.bsky.social for all of his work.

I heard that City just passed some sort of measure that is going to introduce pot shops and 7-11s on neighbourhood streets, so I will be asking them to rescind it.

A win! But it took thousands—including petition signatories, tour participants, emailers, Matlow’s staff, the mayor’s staff, the councillors themselves, and some I surely forgot—to keep momentum and morph this into consensus. Thank you all.

The leftist Toronto media bias towards reality has struck once again.

Most normal thing in the world and they’re presenting it like a dystopia.

I went back to Family Mini Mart today to show you all what neighbourhood retail actually looks like. No AI. No Music. Time to grow up.

Believe the second guy is joking…hoping

nah, he's got a pretty defined worldview. one of the smaller offshoots

what a time to be alive

Unfortunately I can think of at least one of these groups that are against it because I am specifically the most visible champion 😇

Oh I don’t mind. As has been the pattern, the opposition to neighbourhood retail and the choices they make have been my best PR.

"they're making corner stores a culture war issue"