Stop everything you're doing and go look at this gingerbread house of the Uni Prii classic, the Jane-Exbury Towers on Jane St.
#TOpoli
Great stuff
@ToSoArch
!
We've obtained documents that show Ford gov wants to bundle proposed 5-storey parking garage & the relocated Science Centre in a single P3 deal that will see a for-profit consortium design/build/finance/maintain facilities for 30 years.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Given the RCMP criminal investigation of the Greenbelt & Ontario’s AG probe into the use of MZOs to expand urban boundaries, there's no ambiguity about what comes next: Ontario’s AG needs to open a file on the Ontario Place redevelopment.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
After the Ford government's announcement that they are going to start cutting down trees at Ontario Place,
@Ian_Darragh
argues that the Auditor General needs to investigate the Ontario Place and Science Centre imbroglio
There’s been virtually no public or political attention on what will happen below the waterline to enable the construction of Therme’s $350 million spa, writes
@JohnLorinc
.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Today,
@MSiddiqi
outlines that if the redevelopment of Ontario Place into a mega-spa is actually about tourism, then the plan should be scrapped on that argument alone.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
A new document revealed by the ON NDP, dated Jan/28/2021 — a full 7 months before Ford gov unveiled the winners of Ontario Place Call for Development process — seems to indicate that the 3 winning bids had already been selected.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Toronto is seriously under-funded as a government, but
@JohnTory
cannot go begging to the province & feds asking for a bailout when he spends billions on a highway fixer-upper. And that's only ONE of many budget items we can dispute.
Hey
@Spacing
readers — we need your help to stay afloat. Need new subscribers & our old subscribers need to renew (will add on to current sub).
A special pandemic issue is about to go to printer; buy sub today and you'll get it in the mail soon. 🙏👏
Ontario Place for All, a 30k-member grassroots org fighting the Therme deal, this morning launched a lawsuit against the Ford gov, alleging prov officials failed to obey Ontario’s enviro assessment rules by exempting the mega-spa.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Tomorrow we will have an update on this article that includes another document unknown to the public about the Ontario Place/Ontario Science Centre parking garage.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
We've obtained documents that show Ford gov wants to bundle proposed 5-storey parking garage & the relocated Science Centre in a single P3 deal that will see a for-profit consortium design/build/finance/maintain facilities for 30 years.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Therme Canada’s proposal for a spa is better suited for Woodbine Entertainment’s renewal plan in Rexdale instead of at Ontario Place, writes guest columnist Chloe Brown [
@chloebrownTO
].
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
The "pedestrian blood sacrifice": We shouldn't have to wait for a pedestrian to get killed at a location before we institute safety measures there, says
@dylan_reid
Who is behind the Therme Group, the spa company redeveloping Ontario Place? Therme Canada is an opaque organization, privately held, with no publicly disclosed source of financing besides entry fees to its spas.
#TOpoli
#onpoli
Therme’s likely carbon nightmare at Ontario Place: The Austrian spa company has run into opposition from U.K. environmentalists over a facility in suburban Manchester, writes
@JohnLorinc
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
#OntarioPlace
EXCLUSIVE: What is the source of Therme’s financing? Senior editor
@JohnLorinc
examines how Ontario Place mega-spa owners make their money.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Mayor
@JohnTory
is trying to re-re-brand himself as a housing warrior. Except it is *his* Housing Now program — with goal of 10k units of purpose-built rental — that has yet to break ground on a single one of these sites 4 YEARS LATER. Not one.
#TOpoli
There's been a lot of talk about how Toronto's construction zones are unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists, so
@MischaYoung
did a systematic study - and it's as bad as you thought.
#walkTO
#bikeTO
The end of the
@JohnTory
era marks a generational opportunity for
#Toronto
city council and the city itself to break away from the insidious incrementalism and tight-fistedness of the past 12 years.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Yonge-Dundas Square needs renaming, but
@dylan_reid
argues we should follow the originally planned process and let the public weigh in on the choice between the 4 shortlisted options, to make sure the new name of this significant public place resonates.
"What distinguishes the Ontario Place deal, but provides further cause for an arm’s length AG probe, is that an ostensibly fiscally conservative government is willing to allocate untold amounts of public funding to ensure that its client..."
The mega-garage plan & facility on the Ontario Place grounds comes with significant environmental risks & cost. ALSO: it is the type of project Infrastructure Ontario has never carried out previously.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Can the Ontario Science Centre save Ontario Place?
Details about Science Centre plans on waterfront have been scrubbed from gov docs, but attraction may provide exit from Therme saga, writes
@JohnLorinc
.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
The new issue of Spacing magazine is out! With a cover section on the Ontario Line, plus our usual range of fascinating front of magazine features. Available
@SpacingStore
, soon in other fine bookshops, and on its way to subscribers.
We’re deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Eb Zeidler, architect of the Eaton’s Centre, Ontario Place & many other
#Toronto
& Canadian architectural landmarks. He was a friend to us at
@Spacing
& we’ll miss his visits to
@401Richmond
. RIP
Do you have someone in your life complaining about the King St Pilot Project? You this informative tweet thread by
@g_meslin
to show how lucky those businesses are to be on King Street.
The
@WorldMonuments
fund has condemned the proposal for Ontario Place. In 2020 they put it on their list of 25 of the world’s most significant heritage sites in need of immediate attention. 👍🏼
"The reason is as plain as day," writes senior editor
@JohnLorinc
. "The pattern of political behaviour that led to the Greenbelt fiasco... maps precisely onto the chain of events that have brought us to the very cusp of an unfixable disaster on the waterfront."
Back in the day, a Rob Ford controversy delayed
@Spacing
’s next issue going to press 5 or 6 times. We never thought a Tory sex scandal would enter into the pantheon.
#TOpoli
#Tory
The
@Spacing
cargo bike was stolen overnight. It's a custom-build, been spray-painted yellow, still displays on side. Last seen on St Joseph between Yonge&Bay this morning. Only interested in getting bike back.
@SpacingStore
rewards! Share widely!
#BikeTO
"Black Canadians deserve a formal apology for the history of the enslavement of African people in colonial Canada, accompanied by structural changes that address enslavement’s ever-present legacies," writes
@NHenryFundi
today on
@Spacing
.
#CDNpoli
For
@bravo_alej
, the last year of knocking on doors has revealed a growing fear, rage, or despair running through
#Toronto
’s neighbourhoods. She says it’s time for the Left to listen & tap that anger w/ an urgency missing in our civic leadership.
#TOpoli
Tomorrow we will have an update on this article that includes another document unknown to the public about the Ontario Place/Ontario Science Centre parking garage.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
"Kensington Market is already a pedestrian-dominant zone. It’s an exemplary neighbourhood."
Dominique Russell, who lives and works in Kensington Market, argues place-making is fun, but place-keeping is more important.
Ford’s pledge to upload the subway system will become the Brexit of Toronto politics: a promise balanced on the most dubious of mandates, barely scrutinized during the election and certain to deliver administrative chaos for years to come.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
"There is a massive, hidden, unmet need for safe walking and cycling space, in suburbs as well as downtowns. If we want both a vibrant city and physical distancing, we must turn road space into safe spaces for cycling and walking." writes
@shoshannasaxe
Big congratulations to our contributor Adam Bunch (
@TODreamsProject
) for receiving a 2023 Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: The Pierre Berton Award. Adam wrote what remains, a decade later, the most popular post ever on online Spacing:
The anatomy of a bus shelter removal: after the City & TTC took away the shelter at Dundas & Sherbourne, the ripple effects extended across Moss Park, writes Daysha Loppie.
#TOpoli
#TTC
cc:
@ttcriders
Maybe the "potential" of Ontario Place isn't in new developments & spas open year-round, but in maintaining & enhancing the vital diversity of wildlife that the park & grounds already supports, argues
@frantasticx
.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
@JohnLorinc
"All the leitmotifs present in those other scandals are also visible in the Ontario Place plan: the government’s contempt for process, transparency and environmental stewardship; the quid-pro-quos; and the utter lack of daylight between the proponents and the premier’s office."
A visit to Hong Kong and Japan revealed plentiful public toilets to Spacing's
@shawnmicallef
, a situation that puts Canada to shame. There's no excuse why we can't do this too, he says.
"Hundreds of millions will be spent replacing pipes and sewers to bring Therme's fantasy spa to life — when will Queen's Park provide a truthful accounting of how much?"
"Rural Ontario is beautiful and it should not only be possible to visit by transit, but normal to do so. But is it?"
@matt_a7
gets to Parry Sound without a car, but finds a lack of coordination and information about how transit options can work together.
Landscape architect and urban designer Walter Kehm worked on the original plans for Ontario Place. On Spacing today, he digs into the origins and key principles of the visionary design.
In 2013, we dug into Doug Ford's accomplishments as a city councillor:
• Motions passed for a developer to erect 3-times as many A-frame ad signs as allowed & blocked creation of a pedestrian walkway
• [insert sound of crickets]
#TOpoli
The Ford government repealed all the environmental rules governing the Ontario Place redevelopment. But will Therme's $350 million project survive a shift in the location of the parking garage? Senior editor
@JohnLorinc
investigates.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Another good day for us — our pandemic issue cover was nominated for BEST COVER in 2020 at the National Magazine Awards. Thanks to
@MagAwards
for the nod!
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Congratulations to the winner of the $60,000
#BalsilliePrize
for Public Policy,
#JohnLorinc
“Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias”
Creating or maintaining walking connections should be a basic goal in all infrastructure projects. Here's the situation this initiative is trying to address.
The Wallace-Emerson community is holding a Pizza Party in Campbell Park on Sunday at 1 pm to push the City to create a Lappin-Antler walking path under the new Davenport Diamond rail bridge
@CanadaRobin
@TO_nuisance
@DianneSaxe
This can cause soil compaction: the forcing out of pore space between soil particles, which can contribute to tree decline and even death. The situation pictured is in contravention of the City’s own tree protection bylaw. I have attached excerpts from the City’s specifications.
For this election, John Tory's campaign slogan has been "Working For You". We would like to hear suggestions from our readers about a more accurate slogan.
During Rob Ford's reign, his reckless actions delayed
@Spacing
going to the printer on 7 occasions. Nearly 4 years w/o RoFo or DoFo at city hall = no delays. BUT NOW, our election/city hall issue is again delayed due to not knowing WHEN the election will proceed.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Predicted at Therme Manchester: "The carbon released by natural gas is almost 22,000 tonnes, equivalent to emissions from 22,000 cars over a 3-month period. The water consumption... is equivalent to the amount used by more than 6,000 typical homes."
What we lose when we lose Ontario Place is fantastic op-ed by Elizabeth Renzetti [
@lizrenzetti
] that helps contextualize what other cities have done with similar spaces.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
These people come from away and slag Toronto yet again w more “everyone hates TO” … wait he likes it, he really likes it! (Nice to be reminded of some of the good w outside eyes)
Last month in Toronto, I was shocked by how dense and well designed it was.
Coming from Ottawa, there’s so much smaller cities can learn from Toronto.
🧵Thread on the great urbanism of Toronto
"Asking overburdened staff for reports is one of the favourite pastimes of Toronto city council." The result is hundreds of overdue staff reports that will likely never be completed.
@dylan_reid
asks if there might be a better way.
Spacing senior editors
@JohnLorinc
and
@shawnmicallef
will be hosting a walk-and-talk about the future of Ontario Place, on Sunday Sept. 11 at 10:00 am.
Toronto now has a much more pro-cycling mayor and council, but will they be able to accelerate Toronto's cycling plan implementation? Thomas van Laake analyzes the challenges.
#bikeTO
Our latest issue is about to come out (at the printer currently) but we wanted to share our cover. We've been covering Ontario Place on our web site a lot but we dive deeper into the muck with this cover section. Pic by Timothy Neeesam.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
On
@Spacing
today,
@JohnLorinc
writes: "I do wonder whether our collective exposure to a more peaceful kind of pedestrian experience [on our streets] will produce a shift in our transportation politics and practices. It should."
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
No one should be fooled by all those patios now on parking spaces. Our surprise that these amenities exist at all shouldn’t obscure the City’s seemingly boundless capacity to micro-manage public space hasn’t abated; it's merely in hiding.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Senior editor
@JohnLorinc
says we shouldn't be surprised by the Trinity-Bellwoods encampment fiasco on Tuesday — the paternal & moralizing trait of civic leaders from the era of "Toronto The Good" still permeates today's city hall.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
After Toronto introduced regulations governing short-term rentals, Airbnb moved most of its rental stock - now 12,000+ units - to monthly rentals.
@twieditz
analyzes the problems Airbnb’s long-term shadow rental market creates for tenants.
Surely the most fitting tribute to Eb Zeidler & his urban imagination would be a proper reimaging of Ontario Place — one that restores the sense of joy he constructed at the edge of a city that still hasn’t learned how to have fun without making money.
Foundry building demo in West Donlands reveals how bad relationship between Toronto & ON gov has sunk. The list is long: pandemic response, size of council, conservation policy, heritage policy, carbon policy, transit planning....
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Yesterday’s big transit announcement created far more questions than answers: about funding, technology, stations, & planning. And whoever conceived of this hare-brained idea evidently didn’t spend any time looking at Google maps.
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
Sr. editor
@JohnLorinc
doesn't hold back: "It is time to name what ails us: a governance and electoral system that has proven repeatedly to be incapable of delivering responsible policy-making to its residents. Something’s got to give."
#TOpoli
#ONpoli
It's been 4 years today nearly to the minute since the driver of a 300HP 4,600lb SUV made a negligent left turn and slammed her oversized, overpowered vehicle into my body while I was riding my bike to work. I have been living with the fallout ever since.
#BikeTO
Recap of last 2 days of Ontario Place news:
👉 Documents show Ford gov wants to bundle proposed 5-storey parking garage into a single P3 deal that will see a for-profit consortium design/build/finance/maintain facilities for 30 years.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
We've obtained documents that show Ford gov wants to bundle proposed 5-storey parking garage & the relocated Science Centre in a single P3 deal that will see a for-profit consortium design/build/finance/maintain facilities for 30 years.
#ONpoli
#TOpoli