Ontario

Faced with paralyzing gridlock, North America's fourth-largest city is studying several potential solutions for easing congestion - including traffic lights that think for themselves.

March 25, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Jennifer Keesmaat is "on her way to becoming modern Toronto’s first celebrity bureaucrat," says Marcus Gee, who profiles the city's new chief planner. Can she succeed in her quest for change without offending those whose support she'll need?

March 6, 2013 - Globe and Mail

Since it began in 1999, Toronto's condo boom has added 120,000 units to the city and, in the process, transformed its urban landscape. City leaders are just now beginning to address how to accommodate these new residents.

March 4, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

High cost of living and lack of jobs are driving urban populations out of cities, and simply increasing density requirements might not be enough to reverse the trend, argues Jim Russell.

February 19, 2013 - Sustainable Cities Collective

A new report documents the tremendous growth of Toronto's core, as it outpaces the surrounding suburbs. Downtown's growth is welcome news, but it won't come without substantial challenges.

January 25, 2013 - The Toronto Star

"Canada is getting hotter faster than ever before and at a faster rate than almost any other country," reports Anna Mehler Paperny, and the country's infrastructure, public health, and economy are vulnerable to unforeseen impacts.

January 24, 2013 - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Following the arrest of Dr. Tomislav Svoboda for obstructing the removal of Jarvis Street's bike lanes last November, the doctor and his colleagues have joined together to ask Toronto to speed up the installation of bike lanes to save lives.

January 22, 2013 - Torontoist

The decade-long transformation of Toronto's historic Maple Leaf Gardens into a new centerpiece for its neighborhood may serve as a model for one of the trickiest types of adaptive reuse, reports Mark Byrnes.

January 18, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

A decade ago, a landmark study proposed alley-side infill development, or laneway housing, as a way to provide Toronto with thousands of affordable units. Despite significant obstacles, some developers and architects remain committed to the idea.

December 28, 2012 - The Toronto Star

By unanimous vote, Ottawa's city council approved the contract to build a $2.1 billion light rail system for the Canadian capital this week, reports David Reevely. The vote comes after the failure of a similarly bold rail plan approved six years ago.

December 21, 2012 - The Ottawa Citizen

As the full extent of the instability of Toronto's elevated Gardiner Expressway, and the city's apparent cover-up of the information, becomes clear, the new chief planner has weighed in on what the priorities should be in addressing the problem.

December 19, 2012 - The Toronto Star

In the aftermath of controversial Mayor Rob Ford's ouster this week, architecture critic Christopher Hume looks at how Toronto's next mayor can begin to "deal with issues that matter."

November 29, 2012 - The Toronto Star

After two years of making enemies in the city's planning, design, and transit communities, Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford has been given the boot for violating the city's conflict-of-interest law.

November 26, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

“Despite long ago having fallen from favour among North American city planners and traffic engineers, the multi-lane, multi-use, tree-lined avenue will soon return to our fair burg,” writes Christopher Hume.

November 24, 2012 - The Star

Efforts to remove a bike lane from Toronto's Jarvis Street did not go exactly as planned this week, as protesters prevented city crews from completing their work by blockading the street, reports Lissette Valdez.

November 14, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

An official body - the Graffiti Panel - made up of five Toronto city staffers met for the first time this month to try to answer the long debated question: what is art and what is vandalism?

November 13, 2012 - The Art Newspaper

The intersection of Yonge and Harbour is just one example of the dangerous conditions that confront Toronto’s pedestrians daily. Are the police to blame for the city’s lack of pedestrian safety?

November 7, 2012 - The Star

A lethal combination of a rapidly expanding modern skyline and the intersection of several major migratory flight paths have rendered Toronto one of the world’s most deadly cities for migratory birds, reports Ian Austen.

October 29, 2012 - The New York Times

Christopher Hume delivers a forceful argument for why density is necessary for maintaining a prosperous Toronto in the decades ahead, and why the alternative, sprawl, is environmentally unsustainable and economically ruinous.

October 26, 2012 - Toronto Star

By a ratio of two-to-one, Toronto is far outpacing NYC in terms of high-rises and skyscrapers currently under construction. As other Canadian cities follow suit, Jim Flaherty, Canada's Finance Minister, is taking measures to cool the market.

October 24, 2012 - The Globe and Mail