The TTC this year embarks on construction of Transit City, its plan to build a 120-kilometre network of light rail lines over the next 15 years. Peter Kuitenbrouwer begins a series of columns on the $8-billion project, which is almost entirely unfunded and remains largely a leap of faith for city hall.
At first glance, Sheppard Avenue, running east from Highway 404 through Scarborough toward the zoo, seems an unlikely place to pioneer Toronto`s light rail revolution.
Natives and the governments of Canada and Ontario will be back at the negotiating table at the end of January for the first time in seven months.
When negotiations broke off in June, it was suggested that a summer break might be in order but the timeout, as it was called, was extended, with little effort to get back to bargaining.
Federal negotiator Ron Doering said there will be two items on the table: the schedule for the next few months and Canada`s response to the last offer from Six Nations.
The residents of North Gower who crowded into a small community hall to hear about the wind farm proposed for their backyard know the time for green power has come, but that didn`t stop worries about the impact of giant turbines on their health and property values.
The owners of Kemptville-based Prowind Canada held the open house to explain their plans for the construction of 10 turbines on an area farm that would produce 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 6,000 homes. It`s one of more than 15 projects Prowind is developing in Canada and the U.S.
0109OTWA Don`t put the brakes on Laurentian development
I can empathize somewhat with folks who reject the re-zoning amendment proposal for the old Laurentian High School site. I don`t want traffic to get any worse on Merivale Road or Baseline Road either.
But it`s a small price to pay for an important redevelopment, and this project could even help force needed traffic improvements in the area.
Hamilton farmer`s market patrons and Central Library denizens get their first look Saturday at plans for the $10 million renovation of both facilities.
Architect David Premi`s designs for the upgrades at the market and the first two floors of the library above it will be on display Saturday morning in the library`s auditorium at 10 a.m.
0109YRHL New Shoppers holds grand opening Saturday with giveaways
This Saturday the doors will open at Richmond Hill`s newest Shoppers Drug Mart located on Tower Hill Drive, east of Yonge Street and just north of 19th Avenue. The store will create 65 new jobs within the community, which considering the rocky state of the economy, is welcome news.
0109YWSF 5.9 per cent municipal tax hike proposed in Whitchurch-Stouffville
Whitchurch-Stouffville`s draft budget proposes a 5.9-per-cent municipal tax hike, which translates into an increase of $61 per household assessed at $360,000. "It`s a draft budget only," Mayor Wayne Emmerson said at Tuesday morning`s public release of the document. "Council now has an opportunity to go over this."
0109DWTB Development too tall an order for Whitby residents
WHITBY -- Planting two 18-storey buildings in the middle of a medium-density residential neighbourhood will "ruin the image of our town," residents say. The first planning and development meeting of 2009 was launched with a heated debate over whether councillors should allow the proposed development on the east side of Garden Street, north of Consumers Drive and west of Pringle Creek.
0109TNTO Lend and they`ll buy, builders tell banks
The president of the Ontario Home Builders` Association is calling on Canadian banks to loosen mortgage credit to consumers or risk a deepening slump in the real estate market.
Frank Giannone said yesterday that banks are not fully passing on Bank of Canada interest rate reductions to consumers.
0109TNTO Condo Critic: New and old clash on Richmond
For many Torontonians, Richmond St. E. is one of those grimy leftover industrial areas that has seen better days.
Though such an appraisal wouldn`t be entirely wrong, it overlooks one important fact: This part of Richmond is changing fast. Whatever it used to be, it has become a neighbourhood where people live. That wouldn`t have been the case until recently, but now it seems developers can`t build condo towers fast enough to keep up with demand.
The TTC this year embarks on construction of Transit City, its plan to build a 120-kilometre network of light rail lines during the next 15 years. Peter Kuitenbrouwer continues a series of columns on the $8-billion project, which the province has endorsed but not funded, and which remains largely a leap of faith for city hall.
City councillors killed the Front Street extension this week, even as one of its greatest foes spoke of resurrecting it as a local street through Liberty Village.
The city planning and growth committee voted to dump the extension, which became superfluous after the city decided not to tear down the nearby portion of the Gardiner Expressway.
Uncertainty about the economy is taking its toll on home-buyers across Canada, and even first-time buyers are hesitating before stepping on to the property ladder.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.`s (CMHC) recently released Fall 2008 Rental Market Report for the greater Toronto area suggests this moderation in home buying means more people are renting, and that`s pushing down the average vacancy rate in purpose-built rental apartments.
The economic engine that drives the London region has stalled and the area economy lags behind most Canadian cities, a bank study has found.
The region ranked 21st of 24 cities in an index compiled by CIBC World Markets that measures what the bank calls economic momentum -- how the economy is advancing or faltering year to year. While Canada`s overall economy lost momentum over the first nine months of 2008, the London region -- which includes St. Thomas, clobbered by thousands of manufacturing job losses -- has been especially hard hit.
Business vacancies are on the rise in London and the situation will get worse before it gets better. The city has been hit by a double whammy of more building in the office and industrial sectors just as other businesses are closing or shrinking in size, said Peter Whatmore, senior vice-president of C.B. Richard Ellis, the commercial realty firm which has released a report on vacancy rates.
0109WIND Housing Construction Hits 25-Year Low, Cmhc Says
Residential housing construction fell to its lowest level in 25 years across the Windsor metropolitan area last year, down 26 per cent from 2007, according to statistics compiled by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
There were only 453 housing units built last year, compared to 614 the previous year.
The national capital region is spewing out new economic data that points to growing uncertainty in coming months.
Employment in the national capital fell by 1,500 jobs in December as a job gain of 900 jobs in Ottawa was more than offset by 2,400 job losses in Gatineau.
0109OTWA Taking workers out of downtown is no fix to transit problems
Some people seem to think the solution to all of our transit issues -- both immediate and long-term -- is to have fewer people working downtown.
The theory is that if several large employers moved to the suburbs, there would be less rush-hour traffic into the core. Not only would that reduce pressure during the current transit strike, it would supposedly save us piles of money in the long run because we wouldn`t need an expensive light-rail project including a downtown tunnel.
Builders are offering price incentives to sweeten the pot for jittery buyers, but it seems to be a tough sell in these uncertain days.
Before New Year`s, a banner outside one of Holitzner`s model townhomes in Kanata advertised a $10,000 signing bonus. But a layer of fresh snow showed there had been no visitors, though a year earlier many took advantage of the Christmas lull to visit model homes and buy.
