Infrastructure
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LORINC: Trump, Trudeau and the Liberals’ economic agenda
The surrealist performance art show that is the Trump transition process has provided the world with a torrent of distraction that would un-moor even...
By John Lorinc -
The life and death of Peter Dickinson and The Inn on the Park
Peter Dickinson was dying when he designed the Inn on the Park. From a bed in Mount Sinai hospital, his body weakened from cancer, Dickinson listened to...
By Chris Bateman -
Toronto’s Summerville pool is a slice of the Mediterranean
It’s easy to overlook the Donald D. Summerville Olympic Pools. Despite its sturdy presence on Lake Shore Boulevard East, the futuristic elevated...
By Chris Bateman -
The sidepath: a solution for suburban cycling infrastructure
On busy suburban roads, sidepaths offer an appealing alternative to installing bike lanes. But where they have been implemented, there are some major...
By Sean Marshall -
LORINC: The Scarborough subway and the climate change agenda
What will future residents of Scarborough think, 30 or 40 years hence, when they cast their minds back to the craven transit decisions being made today by...
By John Lorinc -
How Toronto built the CN Tower
The CN Tower is one of the most important buildings ever constructed in Canada. Like it or loathe it, the absurd, 553-metre concrete tower, which opened...
By Chris Bateman -
Lost and found in the PATH: the case for new wayfinding
This summer, a pilot project will be launched to test a new wayfinding system in the PATH — Toronto’s subterranean navigation-slash-commercial network of...
By Kieran Delamont -
Who will save Toronto’s old streetcars?
Toronto’s outgoing fleet of streetcars could be the first not to get a second life in another city. Perhaps due to advanced decrepitude, the current...
By Chris Bateman -
Brampton’s Etobicoke Creek: floods, concrete, and new public spaces
The City of Brampton — Canada’s ninth largest municipality — was founded as a small community in the mid-19th century, as the interior of Southern...
By Sean Marshall -
The half-built relics of nixed Toronto skyscrapers
In 1914, John Eaton, the third son of retail magnate Timothy Eaton, began preparing plans for a massive expansion of his family’s empire. Aged 38...
By Chris Bateman -
The modernist Bloor-Danforth line at 50
The Bloor-Danforth line turned 50 today. Five decades ago, on February 25, 1966, the first section of Toronto’s first east-west subway opened...
By Chris Bateman -
Remembering the ill-fated CN Turbo train
On December 10, 1968, a sleek new locomotive glided out from the sooty train shed at Toronto’s Union Station. Streamlined and silver with a bright...
By Chris Bateman