Spacing in today’s Toronto Star

Today’s Toronto Star has a wonderful feature on Spacing. Just in time for tonight’s mayoral event! Here’s a little excerpt (or read the full article):

When it first appeared in 2003, it was with little more than a warm and fuzzy layman’s fondness for the city.

“When I first saw their work, I kind of ended up scratching my head and wondering what it was about,” says Ted Tyndorf, Toronto’s chief city planner. “But I don’t think anyone feels that way anymore. They’ve got a lot of credibility here.”

At the beginning, the sidelines may have seemed a comfortable distance away. But despite Blackett’s protestations to the contrary, he and his pan-urban crew of activists, artists, writers and thinkers have gotten up off the bench and inched closer, to the point where now, they have a toe on the field.

Case in point: Tonight at Revival, a College St. nightclub, Spacing will host Mayor David Miller and Councillor Jane Pitfield, his only real challenger, in a very civilized panel discussion. (Blackett eschews calling it a debate. “People want to know where they stand. They don’t want to see them fight,” he says.)

Getting the mayor’s ear, especially in election season, is no easy task — corralling him for an entire evening to speak about your pet issues even less so. But such has been the trajectory of Spacing. Its central thrust — the improvement and preservation of, and affection for, the city’s public realm, be it parks, sidewalks, bike paths, you name it — is front and centre on Miller’s agenda.

photo by Rene Johnson/Toronto Star