Jim Melvin

@StephenWickens1 Always thought they should have named Leslie the Toronto Botanical Garden stop.

One of the biggest factors governing Line 5's eventual return on investment will be the amount of non-residential destinations along Eglinton. If the mix is too heavily residential, the line won't be much more than a feeder adding to Line 1 crowding. The OSC should have remained.

@althiaraj @TorontoStar Liberal MP Nate Erskine Smith did lambast his own party for the oversight of this bill. He went on further stating he would support the bill so he can have changes made to the bill at committee. The writing of this bill is so flawed no changes made at committee will save it

My latest: Mark Carney's Bill C-5 is a naked power grab that tramples our democracy thestar.com/politics/polit… via @torontostar

@EmilyFarina5 Liveable for families a close to the ground. Today’s developers and builders are not building livable family spaces but focus on profitability.

Belle of midtown: 150 Balmoral Ave is the epitome of gracious apartment living. Completed in 1969, this coveted address contains only 30 spacious, 2 to 4 bedroom units from 1,500 to 1,900 sq ft. We don’t build them like this any more.

@JasonThorne_RPP Toronto

@jen_keesmaat Jennifer we should also stop building up 50+ storeys and build livable units with accessible public realm. Too many of our builders are good at building a place to inhabit but not many are good at building places to live. European models of modest density with rich public realms

The irony of finding ourselves in this situation as a country is that we are good at building homes. We have a robust and capable home-building industry – one of the most effective in the world – with remarkable skilled tradespeople powering it. So where did we go wrong? And how can we get ourselves out of this mismatch of infrastructure and population growth? All new housing begins with access to land, but for too long, the norm has been greenfield development: building exclusively on undeveloped land. But this model is old and broken. Publicly owned infill sites hold the clue to how to get more homes built, faster. theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…

@jen_keesmaat Congestion charges only work if you have a viable transit option. Currently the TTC doesn’t measure up. Make improvement to transit then seek tolls and congestion charges.

Toronto is stuck in traffic. We can't build more roads, but we can use the road space we have, better. A congestion charge is part of the solution. The time has come.

Traffic congestion in Toronto is hitting some kind of peak. Anyone who gets in a car to go anywhere in the core knows at this point the journey will be insufferable. Cars crawl along city streets, slower than walking - when they move at all. What if there is a simple policy fix - a miracle of sorts...that can make this problem go away? A thread:

@g_meslin An unjustified angular plane. That what the policy diagram showed.

Monument to arbitrary policy.

@alexbozikovic Funny how his observations don’t apply to his Therme structure.

@jen_keesmaat @RE_MarketWatch Bit of a scale problem. 4 storeys would be more appropriate. Materiality is also problem. More detail and forgiving materials required. Not a good example of what you like to preach.

We need to use land better in existing neighborhoods in our cities - places where the parks, schools, and transit are already located. Here, a six storey residence in Seattle (HT @RE_MarketWatch). Would you be happy or sad if this housing showed up on the lot next door? No judgement, just explain your take.

Strange that the EA for Ontario Place excludes the development lands and lake fill proposed by the Government of Ontario project sites associated with Therme and Amphiteatre

@PaulKulig_TO @BMOField @ExPlaceTO A bike parking garage might be handy for big events.

Hey @BMOField and @ExPlaceTO Any plans on installing some basic bike infrastructure at BMO field? This happens week after week and nothing changes. #TFClive

@KGreenbergTO It appears that Therme on the West Island is only able to provide a public realm by lake fill operations. Perhaps Therme should be smaller or not at all!

There are lies, damn lies and architects' renderings. A campaign of deception.

@cbcJillDempsey @metromorning Happy Nowruz Jill

5:24 p.m. marks the first day of spring today. Sunny. High 6 Tonight and tomorrow, 30 per cent chance of rain showers or flurries. Low 1. High tomorrow 8 @metromorning

@tleedesign Time to quit

@alexbozikovic The real disappointment is the replacement architecture. The steel, concrete and glass towers lack any architectural integrity. The towers also miss the importance of contributing to a healthy public realm. Shame on architects & developers who stopped building livable places.

More teardowns, apartment building and office. This is city policy in action.

Visiting @TheAgenda to discuss the state of heritage. The studio is in a big 1960s complex that’s going to be torn down. It’s not heritage, apparently, so the city doesn’t care.

@cbcJillDempsey @metromorning So who takes your pictures that accompany the weather. Nice colour in the pumpkin photo.

Happy Thanksgiving! Clearing with a high of 15 today. Tonight clear with a low of 4. Tuesday sunny with a high of 21. @metromorning

John Lorinc has nailed it. It is glaringly obvious that this scheme is a travesty and the future of Ontario Place must become an election Issue. spacing.ca/toronto/2022/0… via @spacing

@GreggLintern @CityPlanTO I trust all this housing (which is fantastic) will be accompanied by suitable amount open space and rich public realm. Congratulations to the city planning department. Open space is important.

This all starts with our amazing team and giving thanks to @CityPlanTO’s commitment and energy working collaboratively with everyone in the development process to accomplish so much for our Toronto

Great news that Urbanist Gil Penalosa is entering Toronto mayoral race. This is the kind of thinking Toronto needs. thestar.com/news/gta/2022/….