Cities need to make space for transportation alternatives

person on an e-scooter

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered how people work, move and interact with each other. Patterns of employment, shopping, food consumption and leisure have shifted markedly.

One of the most visible changes, particularly in big cities, is the embrace of e-bikes and other micro-mobility devices (scooters, hoverboards, e-skateboards, e-trikes, Segways and more).

Investing in the dream of University Park

University Avenue

The City of Toronto is in talks with two foundations to fund studies for University Avenue revitalization.

“The dream of modifying the roadway of University Avenue and transforming and connecting its patchwork of green spaces into a major park in the city’s downtown core came a bit closer to the possibility of being realized last month after a number of stakeholders committed to fund the studies necessary to push the project forward.” ~ Novae Res Urbis (July 14, 2023)

Noise Bylaw Review underway this fall

loud-quiet road sign

The 2023 Noise Bylaw review will focus on the outstanding issues related to the bylaw and will include virtual and in-person public consultations in late summer or early fall of this year. The appropriate regulations for two stoke small engine equipment such as gas powered leaf blowers are proposed to be dealt with separately in 2024 in the context the proposal to ban them.

Ford Government wants to weaken the provincial Planning Policy Framework. Now everyone is asking why?

Ontario farmland

On April 6, 2023, and again on June 16, the Province proposed more destructive changes to provincial planning laws.

The Alliance for a Livable Ontario (ALO), based on a comprehensive review by expert planning advisors, concluded that if implemented, the proposed changes will turbocharge sprawl and fatally harm Ontario’s agricultural sector and environment.

Think your property assessment is too high? Here’s what to do

ABC area houses

An ongoing Toronto Star investigation into the accuracy and fairness of property assessments found that the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) consistently under- and over-assessed homes’ worth compared to their sales prices.

ABCRA Summer 2023 Newsletter

ABC Summer Newsletter 2023

Welcome to ABCRA’s summer 2023 newsletter. In this edition, we share with you news from our neighbourhood and upcoming community events, including ABCRA’s 65th Anniversary celebrations in Ramsden Park on Sunday, June 25.

Ramsden Park: A Park that Built a Community

Ramsden Park sign in winter

The ABC Residents Association believes Ramsden Park has an interesting and important story to tell. Since the City of York’s earliest beginnings, this unique landscape has had a meaningful connection to this community. We believe that Ramsden Park meets the criteria for designation as a Cultural Heritage Landscape.

Ontario Place for All invites province to consider a Better Idea

Ontario Place

Ontario Place for All has released “A Better Idea,” a proposal for a new way to approach the revitalization of Ontario Place. Given the recent addition of the Science Centre to the site, the new proposal leverages the Ontario Line at both ends, connecting the natural features of the Don River Valley and Lake Ontario, while revitalizing Ontario Place, enhancing and expanding the mandate of the Science Centre, while building affordable housing.