Toronto Residents Organization
Research, Education, Analysis and Tools
BY JOHN LORINC | AUGUST 7, 2020 | It took council and city planning officials almost exactly a year to adopt a policy meant to make Toronto’s abundant, overpriced and increasingly depopulated low-rise neighbourhoods safe for so-called missing middle housing types. The narrative arc here extends from a motion last July by Mayor John Tory and housing czar Ana … Read more
By Jennifer Pagliaro | Star Reporter | July 13, 2020 | Council is about to wade into one of the most contentious planning debates that has been percolating during an ongoing housing crisis — whether to allow more density in stable, low-rise neighbourhoods. City planning staff are recommending a work plan spanning 18 months or … Read more
ALEX BOZIKOVIC | ARCHITECTURE CRITIC | PUB: JUNE 23, 2020 | Armour Gardens is a neighbourhood where you’re allowed to live, but you’re not allowed to die. That is the lesson that certain members of the community are sending this week. They are gearing up to prevent a new hospice from being constructed in their … Read more
To fix Canada’s affordable housing crisis, we must take out the profit motive, say experts. Can the massive scale of the COVID-19 emergency response shake us out of complacency?
By KERRY GOLD | PUBLISHED APRIL 17, 2020 | What will Vancouver look like in a post-COVID-19 world? That question, and the controversial issue of density, has been on a few minds lately. A report from the New Policy Institute, published April 12, reveals that areas of England where people are crammed together with fewer … Read more
The GTA has a housing crisis, but residents are often opposed to things like new semi-detached homes. That’s something the Tories will have to reckon with
By IAN MCGUGAN | PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 | If you asked people to name Canada’s two biggest economic challenges, many would list stratospheric home prices and plodding growth. Perhaps, then, it’s time to consider an idea that takes aim at both problems. The notion is simple enough: Do away with single-family zoning restrictions in … Read more
By Tess Kalinowski | Star Reporter | July 29, 2019 | Rob Thompson has given up the fight to sever his Long Branch property. His decision clears the way for a monster home to replace his tiny bungalow. Instead of supplanting the rundown 1939 cottage with two family homes — Thompson had hoped to live … Read more
By Laura Bliss | July 26, 2019 | Susan Kirsch’s backyard is, predictably, beautiful. Past the sunny wooden patio, tomatoes, blueberries, and poppies blossom between rugged pathways. A birdbath draws sparrows to the center; a lemon tree drapes over the back fence. But all is not perfect. Next door, her neighbors recently added a detached room, … Read more
By May Warren | Star Reporter | July 16, 2019 | The problem: While Toronto needs way more housing in the coming decades, it also has tens of thousands of garages that may becomeredundant as private vehicle ownership becomes less necessary. When the car was king in the Golden State, the garage was its castle. … Read more