Housing
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Parks, policing, and the pandemic
Park People’s national COVID-19 survey shows that parks have become more important than ever to Canadians during the pandemic. While many have been using...
By Adri Stark -
LORINC: Slaying the NIMBY beast
It took council and city planning officials almost exactly a year to adopt a policy meant to make Toronto’s abundant, overpriced and increasingly...
By John Lorinc -
REID: Examples of east side gentle density
One of the things I started looking out for on my local walks during the our locked-down pandemic spring (in addition to former corner stores) was...
By Dylan Reid -
LORINC: Is Toronto missing the middle or missing the mark on housing?
A thought experiment: Imagine Toronto is a big city experiencing a housing affordability crisis and steadily worsening polarization. Municipal officials...
By John Lorinc -
COVID-19 pushing homeless into encampments
According to a 2018 Toronto Street Needs Assessment, there were 533 “rough sleepers” in Toronto — that is to say, those homeless Torontonians...
By John Clapp -
PODCAST: Spacing Radio 046, Toronto City Council is buffering
There have been two full, virtual City Council meetings since the COVID-19 outbreak in Toronto. Those meeting saw near-unanimous votes about building...
By Spacing Radio -
REID: Spotting (and reviving?) the neighbourhood corner commercial building
Like so many people during the current pandemic lockdown, I’ve started to get to know my neighbourhood much more closely on daily walks for exercise...
By Dylan Reid -
Why isn’t there more proactive testing for COVID-19 in the shelter system?
As of May 14, Toronto Public Health (TPH) and the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) have identified over 299 cases of the COVID-19 among...
By John Clapp -
Change and continuity in the COVID-19 city
Everything has changed and nothing has changed since the arrival of the COVID19 pandemic. Understanding the new dynamics of cities is the first step...
By Brian Doucet -
City officials obfuscate while COVID-19 cases spike in homeless shelters
On April 8, Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, and Mary-Anne Bedard, general manager of the City’s shelter, support and housing...
By John Clapp -
PODCAST: Spacing Radio 045, What matters in a pandemic
In a time of snitch lines, and shuttered park space, we dive into what we’re prioritizing in this pandemic, and what, and especially who, is...
By Spacing Radio -
COVID-19 is a wake-up call for Toronto to act on housing and homelessness
In order to flatten the COVID-19 curve, Canadians have been advised to stay home as much as possible and, when going out, to engage in social distancing...
By John Clapp