The Intangible City
Just back from India, I’m thinking about the intangible thing that is a city. The thing that makes your neck get all hot and prickly when you read Wallpaper’s take on your city or
Just back from India, I’m thinking about the intangible thing that is a city. The thing that makes your neck get all hot and prickly when you read Wallpaper’s take on your city or
Events this week made me think of Tyler Brûlé on Toronto: “He’s got a really nice flat and it’s great that his kids go to a nice school, but shit, it’s boring there.”
CBC’s The Passionate Eye recently profiled “The Passionate Prince” – a work I settled down to watch once I was able to verify that it was not about...
Given the disastrous effects of the subprime mortgage on the world economy, it is easy to forget that many once saw the instrument as an agent of good. Under many US...
Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my views on names, which is that they matter. The big names behind the Leslieville Lofts project, Lamb Development Corp and Hyde...
I have become a great fan of Andy Barrie. It happened the morning he reported on the incredible story of brakes being cut on the cars of Toronto-area Liberal party supporters....
A reader recently wrote in to ask me about the Distillery District following an early post. He's not the only one to wonder about 'emerging neighbourhoods'. While up-and-comers...
Two Toronto communities are fighting the re-appearance of naughty nudies on their strip. Residents of New Toronto and neighbouring Long Branch are home to an increasing number of...
The shopping mall, currently staring as the villain of Leslieville, and frequent associate of the gassy nightmare that is the suburbs, is rarely heralded by urban enthusiasts....
He was a young guy, fresh-faced and eager - to talk to me. Not necessarily odd, but odd for a dimly-lit subway car after a long work day. "Is that what you work on?" he wanted to...
It seems that a week in Toronto is no longer complete without that criminal act which appears to define the word ‘senseless’ as we understand it: the...
Over the weekend, Tom Kent's widely-read piece on Canadian citizenship, "Canada is much more than a hotel," appeared in the Globe and Mail. Kent, a...
Urmi in Urban Issues
Last month, Michael Fenn, CEO of the Metrolinx - the agency charged with overhauling the patchwork of GTA transit systems - had some interesting things to...
Urmi in Urban Issues
Ed. Note: Thanks to a sharp reader for pointing out that the total area of the David Dunlap Observatory Lands is 190 acres, not 90 acres as originally...
Urmi in Urban Issues, Lifestyle
Stats Can's recent release, Dependence on Cars in Urban Neighbourhoods, reveals that car culture is alive and well in Canada - understandable to...
Urmi in Urban Issues, Lifestyle
In case you missed it last month, the Conference Board of Canada issued yet another headline-tailored missive, this one heralding a new report on...
Urmi in Urban Issues
I am grateful for the holidays, however bittersweet, and that all too brief opportunity to catch-up with a bright, wandering tribe I call my friends and...
This week, I find myself having to confront old demons to prepare for a big move. The New Year will find me simultaneously downsizing and upgrading to share a...
Urmi in Toronto Neighbourhoods, Urban Issues
I particularly enjoyed reading Jesse's take on the history and future promise of the Distillery District this week, since I've been...
Urmi in Toronto Real Estate News
Nice to know that my spidey-sense is more than a caffeine-induced health emergency. At the start of this week, I was curious as to why developers...
Urmi in Urban Issues, Toronto Real Estate News
A Bay St. heavyweight's startling prediction for Toronto's real estate market will worry HomeBuyers looking to become a part of the...
John and Urmi in Urban Issues, Toronto Real Estate News, Home Buying
With a major tax vote just around the corner, Mayor David Miller hasn’t exactly convinced Toronto that his ...
Urmi in Neighbourhoods, Lifestyle, In the News
Plans are underway to expand Toronto’s PATH system. Developers and planners would like to extend the network of underground...
Urmi in HomeBuying, Lifestyle
In order to write great fiction, Virginia Woolf opined back in 1928, a woman must have “money and a room of her own.” In observing the limited...
Urmi in HomeBuying, Money, Toronto Real Estate News, In the News
No wonder consumers are confused when it comes to HomeBuying – apparently, they are not the only ones. Departing...
Urmi in Neighbourhoods, Lifestyle, Condos, In the News
Urban planning enthralls me, like so many others, because it holds out that tantalizing promise of agency, that assertion...
Urmi in In the News, Neighbourhoods, Lifestyle
Humans, it seems, can never get enough of parlour games—Monopoly, Scrabble, Name the Most Successful Multicultural City in the...
Urmi in HomeBuying, Money
For the longest time, I put off one of the first steps any potential HomeBuyer is advised to take: get one with your credit score or rating. For most of...
Urmi in Neighbourhoods, Neighbourhood Explorer
Ed. Note. Kicking off a day of free celebrations at Bathurst and Bloor this past Sunday, Mayor David Miller officially declared...
Urmi in HomeBuying, Neighbourhoods, Lifestyle
“So,” Paul concluded, pausing to swirl his caesar-with-extra-horseradish, “I believe I live in the Upper Upper West Annex.” Seated...
Urmi in HomeBuying, In the News, Toronto Real Estate News
Thanks to council's decision not to decide, heated discussions about David Miller, Millerites (the crew not the brew) and...
Urmi in Neighbourhoods, HomeBuying, Lifestyle
Being a bit of a news wire junkie, provocative headlines tend to catch my eye: “Ottawa ranked best place to live in Canada.” Before...
Urmi in HomeBuying, Lifestyle
I have long been committed to low-rent, public transit, downtown living in the belief that having low overhead (no home maintenance, no car, no...
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