ICYMI over the long weekend, my column on the No Jets win. Inspired a bit by some Liberal MP taking an undeserved victory lap when they aren't covered in glory. That, and I don't totally trusts their long term sincerity on all this. It was the people's victory, no one else.

Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 4d ago

🛩️ v 🏖️ People who aren’t used to winning, won. At the same time, people who often win lost for once. The losers are throwing tantrums. Winners should take the win to heart because it truly belongs to them & no one else. My column on this remarkable grassroots mobilization in @thestar.com

Scenes around the West Island beach at Ontario Place fifty years ago in August 1976. A vision of prolific landscape architect Michael Hough. From a file of colour slides created by photographer Ellis Wiley, documenting Ontario Place between 1972-1989: https://ow.ly/cKcX50ZuMP3

Imagine a progressive mayor who gets this

Benjamin Schneider@benschneider.bsky.social · 5d ago

Progressive LA Mayoral Candidate Nithya Raman told Vanity Fair that her main difference with DSA is on housing. www.vanityfair.com/story/nithya...

BikeShareTO is arguably the single greatest Canadian public services success of the 21st century, and I really can't think of another obvious contender that comes even close.

Matt Armstrong@matta7.bsky.social · 6d ago

Recently had to explain to a professional from outside Toronto, that the vast majority of downtown Toronto workers commute by bike, walking, or transit. Some drive, but they are the minority. Perhaps I should show them these bike share stations…

Today’s Billy Bishop post: this argument from Holyday is risible. The negative impacts of airports concentrate with proximity. The population near Billy Bishop is far greater and is planned to grow dramatically. YYZ’s periphery is industrial parks. YTZ: v dense neighborhoods and Toronto’s #1 park.

Matt Elliott@graphicmatt.com · last wk.

Councillor Holyday uses his laptop to show off the operating area for Pearson compared to the island airport area. He argues that the island airport's area is mostly over the water. His point, I think, is that he believes expanding the island airport would affect fewer people than expanding Pearson.

Background: the province is effectively forcing Toronto to allow density near transit. Saxe is opposed to this happening in the Annex, the best-connected neighbourhood in the city. She is supporting heritage measures that will interfere with development, and now this.

Matt Elliott@graphicmatt.com · 6d ago

Councillor Dianne Saxe's motion for the TTC to let the city know when new development applications would strain nearby transit capacity is APPROVED 22-0. (Nunziata was also a yes.) secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Naked electioneering.

Matt Elliott@graphicmatt.com · 6d ago

Chernos Lin's motion to refuse a 7-storey building planned for Millwood Road CARRIES 12-11.

This is a bizarre bit of fearmongering. I was in this park with my kids last night. It was chaotic, but not a hint of conflict among the hundreds of people there. What it needs is a restaurant, coherent design, and a dedicated manager. nationalpost.com/opinion/yoni...

Yoni Goldstein: The decline of Toronto's Christie Pits Park is unacceptable

This gem of the city should be a safe place for families to take their kids, not a hotbed for urban disorder

nationalpost.com

In opposing the Villages Plan, Vancouver mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party repeatedly seems to conflate legalizing more apartments with *forcing* people to build apartments on their property or something?

Oh The Urbanity!@ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · last wk.

Credit to @lucymaloney.bsky.social for being the only Vancouver city councillor (!?!?) to vote in favour of the Villages Plan to legalize medium-sized apartments in a large number of neighbourhoods across the city. Otherwise a major disappointment for the city.

The Vancouver Villages plan was defeated. This is a huge blow to housing policy in the city. This was the easiest part of the Vancouver Plan to implement; Ken Sim directed staff to prioritize it. If we can't pass this, what's the point of any of it? All housing policy work here is in limbo.

Peter Waldkirch 華彼德@pwaldkirch.bsky.social · last wk.

Ok, they severed the SES part, so this is the vote on the main part of it: A-J. And, the Villages Plan is dead. This hurts. ABC, COPE, and the Greens are all unwilling to take even quite modest action on expanding low-rise apartment areas.

Why exactly is this airport valuable? How exactly does it contribute to the local economy while carrying 4% of passengers? No one can ever say. It’s vibes upon vibes. The airport itself can’t even cook up a plausible economic impact statement. www.thestar.com/business/tor...

Toronto business community 'disappointed' Billy Bishop jet expansion isn't moving forward

Business groups call Ottawa decision to halt expansion for jets a missed opportunity that could leave the downtown airport on 'borrowed time.'

thestar.com

“This is another step in the billion-dollar remaking of Toronto’s old port lands. And it is also a lesson in how governments can actually make good places.” My column: www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and...

A bigger Biidaasige Park is another waterfront triumph for Toronto

The project, two decades in the making, is a revolutionary use of space. It’s also endangered

theglobeandmail.com

This is just to say I have eaten the sun god's cattle on the island which you were probably saving for Apollo Forgive me they were delicious and so charred and so warm

Noticing that wins land differently. A committee/council vote feels rather anticlimactic. Getting the news about saving Sneaky Dee’s in the establishment with all parties present was euphoric. But this Billy Bishop celebration? Whole other level. Congrats to all who fought and organized.

Irritating to see the Toronto island airport battle framed as NIMBYism. This was a project with zero business case that would have destroyed economic value and soft power – and stopped homebuilding! It was a terrible project that deserved to die. When people say no, sometimes they are correct.

“This is another step in the billion-dollar remaking of Toronto’s old port lands. And it is also a lesson in how governments can actually make good places.” My column: www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and...

A bigger Biidaasige Park is another waterfront triumph for Toronto

The project, two decades in the making, is a revolutionary use of space. It’s also endangered

theglobeandmail.com

We won. The criminally stupid proposal to attack Toronto’s harbour is dead. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Federal government declines to allow jets at Billy Bishop airport ‘at this stage’

Ottawa’s rejection delivers a major blow to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s agenda

theglobeandmail.com

Biidaasige Park West, Toronto, opening day. MVVA and waterfront toronto win again.

An interesting proposal, but the Robson Square projects would be v difficult and complex. Also… The architectural expression of these (theoretical) projects is beyond banal. Diamond Schmitt’s urbanism is so weak.

Kenneth Chan@iamkennethchan.bsky.social · 2w ago

A new cultural precinct is proposed for Downtown Vancouver, with 4 new concert/performance halls of 400, 850, 1750 & 2000 seats. Eyed for Robson Square, Queen Elizabeth Theatre area and False Creek. It has early support from governments. #vanpoli #vanre dailyhive.com/vancouver/va...

Toronto summer ✨

“Big cities have a unique power to literally bring people together. Where else, in a country dominated by social media and solo car commutes, do we actually get to look one another in the eye?” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...

Globe editorial: Violence can’t be allowed to destroy the best of cities

Brazen shooting shakes the confidence that brings residents out in public, allowing cities to thrive

theglobeandmail.com

Thinking about the fact that Toronto has two 70MM IMAX projectors - at Ontario Science Centre and at Ontario Place, the world's first IMAX theatre - that have been closed by Doug Ford for nonsensical reasons.

Nina Metz@ninametz.bsky.social · 2w ago

Why Aren’t There More Imax 70mm Screens for ‘The Odyssey’? variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Are you one of the 69% of Vancouver residents (63% Metro) who wanted Granville Street to STAY a pedestrian zone & people-place after the #WorldCup ends? WEEK ONE of the 7-week extension starts TOMORROW, with emphasis on day-time & families. JUST BEING ON THE STREET SUPPORTS ITS SUCCESS! Come see!

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 4w ago

How will a pedestrianized Granville Street during the #WorldCup quickly evolve into a successful people-place EVERY day? This week I’ve started advising the very impressive @downtownvan.bsky.social leadership team planning the 7 week extension directed by City Council last Thursday. Challenging!

The World Cup activation of public space in Toronto really was magic. But John Doyle thinks Montreal has missed something… Montreal has vibrant public life all summer, every summer, and none of it has to do with sports. www.thestar.com/sports/socce...

John Doyle: FIFA runs the World Cup but in Toronto it belonged to the streets. And it was magic

As Toronto found out, the World Cup does not belong to FIFA or corporate sponsors. It belongs to the people.

thestar.com

Lots to say, but the idea that Toronto “has no money” to repair an existing pool, even as it’s about to spend ~$150-million on an athletic complex two miles away, is wild. The idea that the city holds title to the site, didn’t know it, and now can do nothing about it.. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Ownership questions between city and TDSB around Toronto building prevent revitalization | CBC News

An ambitious plan to re-develop a prime piece of public real estate into an elaborate community hub, complete with a pool, gym, concert hall and movie theatre, is in limbo, partially because of confus...

cbc.ca

These images of First Nations community members evacuating Collins, Ontario on motorboats are absolutely surreal www.facebook.com/reel/1548244...

Luke LeBrun@lukelebrun.ca · 3w ago

These photos of FNs community members fleeing their homes by boat are genuinely apocalyptic (Photo via Wayne Wastaken of Collins, Ontario, who says his “hometown is gone”) www.facebook.com/share/r/1ArN...

Touring the new section of Biidaasige Park (MVVA) on Toronto’s waterfront. Under apocalyptic skies.

I happen to be in New York today, and this extraordinary piece will be be on my mind: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Most Iconic American Artwork Is the Hardest to See

The Statue of Liberty is caught between the sublime and the souvenir, our critic Jason Farago explains. Look again: She’s much stranger than you think.

nytimes.com

Clear evidence of the fiscal advantages of building infill. We need this research for Canada.

Matt Hutchins AIA@matthutchins.bsky.social · last mo.

“ …building homes near existing jobs, stores, and transit saves public dollars, in both up-front infrastructure and ongoing maintenance costs, and produces more revenue in property taxes per acre than local governments can expect from development at the edge of town.” www.pew.org/en/research-...