{"id":58938,"date":"2018-06-12T11:00:04","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T15:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=58938"},"modified":"2018-06-12T11:58:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T15:58:15","slug":"revived-bureau-municipal-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2018\/06\/12\/revived-bureau-municipal-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I revived the Bureau of Municipal Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago, as a grad student researching the history of Toronto\u2019s waterfront, I came across a study, published in 1977, that could very well have been written today: \u201cShould the Island be an Airport?\u201d<\/p>\n

The report, I came to learn, was produced by a long-lived, but largely forgotten, citizens group known as the Bureau of Municipal Research.<\/p>\n

The Bureau was established in 1914, as the Toronto Daily Star<\/em> reported at the time, as a centre of \u201cgeneral municipal intelligence.\u201d Its mission and motto was to produce \u201cbetter government through research,\u201d and for seventy years that\u2019s what it did, publishing over 800 research bulletins and reports on more than a hundred different topics, before closing its doors in 1983.<\/p>\n

The more boxes I cracked open, the more Bureau reports turned up. Almost all, it seemed, hit on today\u2019s hot-button issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt,\u201d concludes one report<\/a>, \u201cthat something drastic needs to be done about rapid transit.\u201d The year? 1945.<\/p>\n

Housing, taxes, poverty, sprawl, garbage, libraries, road tolls, even mental health \u2014 the Bureau covered it all. Many of the questions it raised, in some cases a century ago, still don\u2019t have good answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf proportional representation secured more representative government,\u201d asked the Bureau back in 1919<\/a>, \u201cwould it not be time well spent?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy the apathy in local elections?\u201d (1957<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cMunicipal services: Who should pay?\u201d (1980<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Before I knew it, I had lost track of what was then, and what is now.<\/p>\n

So I did what any good historical researcher working in the late aughts would do: I pulled out my point-and-shoot digital camera (remember those?) and started \u201cscanning.\u201d Every time I came across another Bureau report, I\u2019d take a photo.<\/p>\n

A 1977 study of proposals to reorganize Toronto\u2019s metropolitan government by Anne Golden<\/a>, now chair of Ryerson\u2019s City Building Institute. Click.<\/p>\n

A 1971 report on the impact of the Ontario Municipal Board by Susan Schiller<\/a> (n\u00e9e Fish), now a member of the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal. Click.<\/p>\n

Bit by bit, I began building my own little archival collection. Turns out, I wasn\u2019t alone. In 2011, electoral reform activist Dave Meslin organized an unofficial \u201cBMR day\u201d<\/a> at the City of Toronto Archives with the same idea. A handful of volunteers chipped in, but there was too much material to sort through.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bureau was forced to close in 1983 for lack of money, not output.<\/p>\n

Originally funded strictly by public-spirited individuals, the Bureau eventually came to depend on donations from business and labour groups, contributions from academic institutions, and, in the latter years, government grants. When those grants dried up, in the late 1970s, the Bureau\u2019s fate was sealed, its work transferred to the archives.<\/p>\n

Inspired by these efforts, I set myself a new goal: to digitize the Bureau\u2019s entire research library.<\/p>\n

The work began in earnest in 2014, what would have been the Bureau\u2019s 100th anniversary. With the help of six U of T students, from the School of Public Policy and Governance as well as the departments of history, information studies, and computer science, we began the laborious process of systematically digitizing, coding, and cataloguing all 830 Bureau publications in the archive\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n

Four years and hundreds of hours later, the Bureau of Municipal Research digital archive is now complete, available for all to explore at www.bomr.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether you are a city nerd, a history buff, a policy wonk, or just curious, it\u2019s all there waiting for you to immerse yourself in over a century of Toronto heritage.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll find summaries of the Bureau’s work<\/a> on popular topics such as housing, transit, education, waterfront redevelopment, and the environment. You can also browse the collection<\/a> by theme, or search the catalogue<\/a> for a particular title.<\/p>\n

My hope is that the Bureau becomes a resource for writers, researchers, educators, and everyday citizens to learn more about this great city, and importantly, the countless public policy decisions that have contributed to its making.<\/p>\n

The collection is a reminder that many of today\u2019s most pressing urban challenges \u2014 and indeed, most of their solutions \u2014 have all been studied before.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Spacing<\/em> contributor Pamela Robinson mused about the benefits of reviving the Bureau <\/a>as a tool for civic engagement and innovation. I believe the Bureau\u2019s potential stretches even further.<\/p>\n

In its heyday, the Bureau was respected as \u201ca constructive force for civic betterment.\u201d It championed the public\u2019s right to know, demanded fairness and honesty from local leaders, and produced the kind of high-quality research necessary to keep government accountable.<\/p>\n

It was, at its core, a guardian of good governance. For the sake of all Torontonians, its legacy must live on.<\/p>\n

\n

Gabriel Eidelman (<\/em>@GabrielEidelman<\/em><\/a>) is director of the <\/em>Urban Policy Lab<\/em><\/a>, a teaching and research hub at the University of Toronto\u2019s School of Public Policy and Governance, and creator of the Bureau of Municipal Research digital archive. Learn more about the Bureau\u2019s history, and explore the complete digitized collection, at <\/em>www.bomr.ca<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago, as a grad student researching the history of Toronto\u2019s waterfront, I came across a study, published in 1977, that could very well have been written today: \u201cShould the Island be an Airport?\u201d The report, I came to learn, was produced by a long-lived, but largely forgotten, citizens group known as the BureauContinue reading “Why I revived the Bureau of Municipal Research”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8377,"featured_media":58956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[157,24,33,2,20,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civic-engagement","category-history","category-housing","category-politics","category-urban-design","category-waterfront"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I revived the Bureau of Municipal Research - 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