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Newsstand: December 16, 2014
Happy Hanukkah, dear friends! In the news: Pan Am Games organizers spent nearly $500,000 on travel expenses in four years, a restaurant fights to keep its accessibility ramp, and homebuyers pay a premium to live near public transit.
Pan Am Games organizers have racked up close to $500,000 in travel expenses over the past four years, according to expense reports released last Friday. Some 5,000 sheets of expense claims detail trips to far-flung destinations like Athens, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, and New Delhi, as well as less exotic locales, like Atlanta and Colorado Springs. TO2015 spokeswoman Neala Barton says that international travel is a required expense when planning an international sporting event; however, some critics are balking at the idea that attending events like judo competitions in Whitehorse improve the quality of the Games, saying that there were likely instances where teleconferencing could have been used as an alternative to travel. Yes, but when was the last time your teleconference came with a wine tour, flowers, catered meals, and yoga pants? These items all made it into the list of other questionable expense claims, along with $8,220 in Toronto Argonauts tickets and $9,820 in Tim Hortons gift cards. Barton claims that expenses are being reigned in, and steps are now being taken to cut down on travel as the Games move from planning to execution stages.
Signs Restaurant at Yonge And Wellesley streets has tried several times, in vain, to get approval from the City to install an accessibility ramp in front of its location, prompting owners to take matters into their own hands by installing one anyway, albeit illegally. Three weeks ago, the restaurant received a notice from the City of Toronto to remove the ramp because it encroaches into public sidewalk space. Restaurant management say that until the City helps come up with an alternative option to keep the restaurant fully-accessible, the ramp will stay put. “We haven’t removed it because we believe in having full access to the restaurant. If not then the guests would have to come through the back which makes them feel like second-class citizens,” says the restaurant’s general manager Rachel Shemuel. Canada Post helped clear space for the ramp by moving mailboxes that had been placed out front of the location to allow for wider pedestrian clearance, and the owners of Signs hope that a meeting with City officials on Tuesday will lead to a permanent solution.
Location, location, location! It’s a vomit-inducing chant that becomes more nauseating when you apply it to the premium that Toronto homebuyers should expect to pay if they want to purchase a home within walking distance from a public transit station. As sale prices on detached homes in the city near $935,000, more buyers are also factoring in commute times when it comes to property decisions. The desire to be located within easy access of public transit is driving listing prices up in many areas, according to real estate experts. With fewer listings typically available at this time of year, prices are up and pickings are slim.