“It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times” The Loan Loss Provisions of Canada’s eight largest lenders now exceeds $15 Billion and escalating. This bewildering fact has happened during what most would concede has been “the best of times”. Just consider the following: land and home prices have skyrocketed for nearly […]
Cars Outduel Bullets Killing > 42! Toronto drivers have now killed more individuals than all the loudly pronounced shootings through 2019. Yet, this scope of mass murder has mysteriously remained a benign issue with all levels of media, except till the Christmas week massacre at Centennial College. One can only ask the rhetorical question of […]
Missing Middle Key to Housing Affordability Toronto just hosted the National Housing Innovation Event Series; several salient points were forwarded. The City of Toronto announced a $24B housing action designed to deliver 40,000 housing units over the next decade. The chairman of CMHC, Evan Siddall lampooned JFK`s famous lunar landing speech by stating, “putting a […]
Toronto is still defying all housing expectations! Presently, there are 162 residential high rise cranes operating throughout the city; this is more than NYC, LA & Chicago combined. Despite this decade-long building boom, prices across the board continue to percolate upward. So where does one find affordable entry level housing in the core of the […]
What explains this new frothiness in the G.T.A real estate market? Is it as simple as diminished supply versus an insatiable demand? Can it be attributed to purchasers becoming acclimatized to the federal government’s 2017 stress test? The 15% drop in value of Terra Firma properties through 2107/18. Some semi suburban pockets experienced greater percentage […]
Many ask, how does a property become a Heritage listed home, property or site? 1: It must be rare & representative of an older style or construction method. 2: Have a direct association with someone or something significant to the community. 3: Potentially yield information that contributes to an understanding of a culture. 4: Reflect […]
Why has Vision Zero Failed? If statistical projections hold true, then sadly, 2200 pedestrians will be struck by a vehicle (other than a bike) by the end of 2019 in the City of Toronto alone. 70% of these accidents will occur between the fall & spring equinox, due to shortened daylight hours, and apparently, more […]
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands – one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.” – Audrey Hepburn In one of our blog posts from July 23rd, 2019, titled Living in the City and Loving it! we had discussed various community-focussed non-profit initiatives in the Toronto area. […]
How is your King Street Commute? It seems that the pilot study of deterring vehicles from utilizing King Street as a primary commuting artery has, by all accounts, succeeded beyond almost everyone’s expectations. The recent review (see link below) states that streetcar ridership is up by 16% to more than 84,000 per day, and commuting […]
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of watching a program which featured vast numbers of community minded organizations which are shaping the landscape of what we call the communities of “Toronto”. Programs such as NOT FAR FROM THE TREE, which focuses on picking and sharing fruit from the backyard, to LEAF, where […]