Finding a place to skateboard in Etobicoke has become difficult these days. As the election draws nearer, one of the hot issues in Ward 6, Etobicoke-Lakeshore is the location of the proposed skateboard park. Councillor Mark Grimes (running for re-election) had originally wanted to place the skate park in Colonel Sam Smith Park. Since then, the proposal has gone back to the drawing board because of community outrage and Scarborough Centre councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker's report encouraging other alternatives. Now, the future of the skate park remains uncertain. Candidate Matthew Day has a smart solution -- ...

Tensions ran high last night at the Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina, all-candidates' debate, as frontrunners Helen Kennedy and Adam Vaughan lobbed accusations back and forth. This ward is being touted as one of the city's tightest races. Kennedy first came under fire for supporting the use of Section 37 funds for the Bloor Corridor visioning study. (Section 37 of the Toronto's Official Plan requires developers to give money to the City in exchange for height or density variations. This money is typically used for community improvement projects.) "We shouldn't be using Section 37 money for that," said candidate Chris ...

What should we save, demolish, or build? Development issues vary greatly from ward to ward. Here's what two candidates in Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence, consider priorities in their area. Steven Bosnick Does Toronto need a design review panel? Bosnick thinks so. The candidate said that the City needs to take aesthetic considerations into account, "moving the debate away from an emphasis on just height and density." According to Bosnick, the panel (complementary to the existing planning process) should consist of architects, planners, and other professionals -- with no direct involvement from councillors themselves. He pointed to two different ways of selecting ...

Politics and planning proved to be inseparable during a forum hosted by the Toronto Society of Architects on Thursday night. The debate, which took place at the Queen Street Theatre Centre in Parkdale and was moderated by Reading Toronto editor Robert Ouellette, soon developed into a bitter argument over why the City failed to designate 48 Abell St. as a heritage site. Councillor Adam Giambrone (Ward 18, Davenport), pointed to the cost of maintenance and repair as the primary reason why City Council voted against the building's heritage designation. Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) attacked Giambrone's stance ...

Which one of our mayors-to-be wants to privatize our streets? From Wednesday night's election meeting at the Etobicoke Civic Centre, the answer appears to be Stephen LeDrew. The Islington Ratepayers' and Residents' Association put forward a proposal to clean and corporatize Toronto streets and asked for comments from Ledrew, David Miller, and Jane Pitfield. A variation of the "adopt a highway" scheme in rural areas, businesses would sponsor sections of Toronto and hire street and sidewalk cleaners--in exchange for highly visible advertising. Ledrew was enthusiastic about the idea. "It's a terrific proposal," he said, as long ...

At a time when new condos and suburban subdivisions seem to be springing up in all parts of Toronto, Ward 44 candidate Donald Blair is frustrated with the haphazard and thoughtless development in Scarborough East. "Our current councillor and her staff support the construction of more homes, more condos, and without any place to school the children who live here, no improvement to public transit or road infrastructure, and with the lack of an indoor shopping mall. Our previous councillor was no different." Blair later clarified that he would only approve development with the community's direct involvement and ...

Urban development was one of the four issues featured in CBC's New Visions candidates' debate. While the most controversial issue on the table was transit, candidates touched briefly on the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the Gardiner Expressway, and condo developments. The five candidates were big on rhetoric but did not present bold, original ideas. Former mayor John Sewell spent the most time talking about development. A favourite topic of the Ward 21 (St. Paul's) candidate, Sewell lashed out at the City of Toronto planning department and the Ontario Municipal Board. "The City doesn't do any planning," ...

Unless you play field hockey, it's likely that most of you have never been to Allan A. Lamport Stadium near King and Dufferin in Parkdale. The giant stadium, which can hold approximately 9,000 spectators, is old, deteriorating, and often empty. On Wednesday night, Parkdale-High Park councillor Sylvia Watson (who is not running for re-election as councillor after running on the Libreral ticket in the recent provincial by-election) and Doug McDonald from the Department of Parks, Forestry & Recreation held a public consultation meeting for the redevelopment of Lamport Stadium. They outlined the City's Request for Proposal (RFP) process that ...