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Taste the “World in a City” — Summerlicious is back!
Toronto’s annual celebration of the city’s exceptional restaurants returns this summer. From Friday, July 3 to Sunday, July 19, residents and visitors from around the world can explore Toronto’s diverse culinary scene and treat their tastebuds at more than 240 local restaurants citywide.
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ABCRA Fall 2024 Newsletter
Our Fall 2024 newsletter includes updates and news from the neighbourhood, upcoming events and opportunities to get involved in your City.
What have we been up to? Lots! We have reports on upgrades at Ramsden Park, Avenue Road safety improvements (now under construction!), art in the neighbourhood, updates on various development proposals in the works and ABCRA’s response to them, some upcoming events and opportunities to support local organizations. We’re particularly thrilled to be collaborating with Tapestry Opera to bring their free Box Concert series to Ramsden Park on Sunday, September 15 at 1:15 pm. and hope you’ll attend!
Toronto’s ineffectual enforcement contributes to ongoing gridlock
After years of writing about traffic enforcement and pedestrian and cyclist safety, I became convinced that Toronto police either just don’t like or don’t respect policing the roads, and the leadership doesn’t see good reason to change that.
A former police officer told Habibinia much the same. There is a long-standing culture inside the police service where traffic enforcement is not considered “real police work” compared to “sexy” crime-fighting. Yet city hall, which sets the police budget, believes gridlock is a major problem, for people and for the economy.
Too many pedestrians and cyclists are killed by cars. There are solutions
For too long, society accepted that death was a fact of life on the roads. It was the cost of convenience to move from A to B as fast as possible in a car. We call crashes “accidents,” even when the causes, from driver speed to road design, are deliberate choices. It’s a cultural problem that such incidents are viewed as ordinary.
Cities must redouble their efforts to make change happen.
Push. Pray. Walk: After yet another death, should Toronto replace these dangerous pedestrian crossovers?
There’s a certain anxiety that activates when some of us pedestrians push the button to activate one of Toronto’s standalone pedestrian crossovers.
You take a deep breath as the overhead orange flashing lights activate. You try your best to make eye contact with any approaching drivers. If you’re pushing a stroller, you grip the handles tightly. If you’re the religious type, maybe you say a little prayer. Perhaps you just cross your fingers while crossing the street. And you hope.
City infrastructure projects in our Ward
As well as all the building construction we are experiencing in our area, the City has provided a map and list of road and other infrastructure projects underway or scheduled for the near future in Ward 11.
Collectively these will affect traffic and getting around our Ward, and two are within our ABC borders: Watermain replacement at Yonge/Macpherson and Ramsden Road Park reconstruction.
Jane Jacobs would reject Toronto’s “city of yes” too!
“A green light for cataclysmic development” is how Jane would characterize City of Yes, not the city of gradual change that she observed to be what strengthens cities. If approved, buildings will be constructed on tight lots, out of scale, and high in income. Design contortions will be invented to take advantage of the as-yet-unidentified empty spaces. Buildings will be razed and truly affordable units lost.
Sound familiar? The proposals for NYC will sound eerily familiar to Torontonians.
Resubmission of Development Proposal at 126-130 Avenue Rd.
On behalf of ABCRA, we want to provide feedback on the recent resubmission of the development proposal for 126-130 Avenue Rd
Our primary concern is the omission of a G type loading zone in the resubmitted proposal. Avenue Rd. is already a hazardous environment for pedestrians, a fact acknowledged by the city’s ongoing investments to enhance safety in this area. Allowing street-level garbage pick-up on either Bernard Ave. or Avenue Rd. would only exacerbate existing safety issues, placing pedestrians at even greater risk.
Toronto developer wants to plop a 10-storey tower above Annex’s oldest apartment
An application to build a 10-storey residential building above an existing 4-storey residential heritage apartment building in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood has been submitted to the city by real estate developer ProWinko.
Another One? Mizrahi’s second Yorkville condo project now in receivership
A receivership order granted last Tuesday, June 4, has appointed KSV Advisory as the receiver and manager over the property at 126–128 Hazelton Avenue in Toronto. The order effectively allows KSV to exercise control over the property moving forward.
Constantine Enterprises Inc. (CEI), which has a 50 per cent stake in the condo project at 128 Hazelton Ave., first made a plea for receivership back in February, with court documents showing that CEI filed for KSV to manage and possibly sell the project to recover debts, identifying Sam Mizrahi as the principal of both Mizrahi 128 Hazelton Inc. and Mizrahi 128 Hazelton Retail Inc.