news
Newsstand: November 9, 2010
Illustration by Jeremy Kai/Torontoist.
It’s Tuesday: Rob Ford thinks gravy is to blame for mould in community housing, Martingrove C.I. wonders princi-“pal” or foe, GO Transit promises to try, and death houses are a tough sell in Markham.
Rob Ford’s chief of staff, Nick Kouvalis, is targetting a little-publicized gravy train station: the city’s plans to update its 1,200 highrises. In 2008, the city published a study that detailed how towers could be upgraded to meet today’s social and energy consumption standards, an initiative that can save money, promote health and happiness, and combat climate change. Despite Kouvalis’ dismissal of the project, it has likely garnered enough support from the province to move forward during Ford’s reign. According to one of the report’s co-authors, “It’s something that’s already embedded in the city and, in a way, decoupled from the mayor’s office. The amount of interest that the province has, in some ways, trumps the city.” In a city where highrise living represents about 13% of all households in the region—often low-income and recent immigrant households—we’re glad higher-ups are paying attention.
Ford is also one of two councillors who voted against revitalizing Lawrence Heights. The Lawrence-Bathurst area community housing complex was built in the 1950s, and was selected for revitalization because of its “mouldy roofs, complete lack of accessibility, and isolation from the surrounding neighbourhood.” But maintaining that isolation seems to be a priority for some local residents, and Ford, who worry about the impact of increased traffic on the area.
GO Transit released a passenger charter on Monday aimed at improving customer service. The goal is to keep passengers happy and safe by “doing [their] best” to keep trains running on schedule, increasing parking at GO stations, and having seats available on 80% of rush hour trips. GO claims they are just 1% off achieving that last one, and provided charts to convince you that you’re just not looking hard enough for a seat on the 5:30 p.m. express from Union.
A former Martingrove Collegiate Institute principal may not be much of a “pal” after all. Terry Baytor has been charged with fraud and theft after he allegedly took $90,000 from student funds reserved for field trips and other expenses. Actually, the students commenting on the CBC’s coverage of this story seem to be pretty fond of Baytor, so maybe that homophone memory trick can live on. And thank goodness, because spellcheck can not save you on this one.
In less-helpful homophone news, a Markham couple wants their house number changed, because “four” is a homophone for “death” in Cantonese and Mandarin. According to Graham Canning, real estate agents told him a number four address could decrease a home’s value by $25,000 to $35,000 in his neighbourhood. The Cannings bought their home in 1984, and in the years since, the “neighbourhood’s ethnic composition shifted to favour people of Hong Kong origin,” as the Star so delicately describes it. Markham has received more than a dozen similar requests since last spring. Some had success, but many, including the Cannings, were turned down by the city. As in most cities, odd numbered addresses are on one side of the street, evens on the other. A change could seriously confuse emergency response vehicles and pizza Italian-American cuisine delivery guys.
And the much bemoaned Bloor Street revitalization is finally complete. The renos widened sidewalks and added cosmetic flourishes like benches and plant boxes (with specially engineered soil to help city trees grow better and live longer!). And it couldn’t have happened to a better street. No, really, because the project was a collaboration between the city and area businesses, which are mostly high-end retailers. The Bloor-Yorkville BIA pooled their resources to contribute to the makeover of a public space, a gesture Briar de Lange, executive director of the BIA, calls “amazing.” Thanks guys.