Experts expected Ontario’s online gambling market to grow slowly. Instead, it exploded. “Those economic impacts are touted by the Ontario government as a win,” writes @robcsernyik. “But politicians aren’t as quick to discuss what Ontarians have lost.” thelocal.to/igaming-ontari…
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The average Canadian university receives just over $16,000 per student. Ontario commits the very least, at just over $10,000. We’re now living with the results. thelocal.to/ontario-post-s…
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Doug Ford became premier with a promise to end hallway health care. Seven years later, the problem is worse than ever. thelocal.to/hallway-health…
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🧵 Our special election issue, “7 Years of Doug Ford,” is now live. From health care to education, online gambling to the Greenbelt, this is the best collection of stories about how the lives of Torontonians have changed during Ford’s time as premier.
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Census data reveals that the number of new immigrants working in construction has gone up nationally by more than 220 percent between 2001 and 2021, and nearly 150 percent across Ontario. Temporary workers in construction have increased nearly tenfold. thelocal.to/construction-l…
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In many of the city’s central neighbourhoods most conducive to growth, there are fewer people today than in 1971. @SimonLewsen on how the city’s density dilemma plays out in two very different Toronto neighbourhoods. thelocal.to/density-the-an…
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In case you missed it: The Local's analysis of 311 requests reveals wealthier Torontonians are more likely to make complaints & ask for city services than low-income wards. A map of 311 calls, then, is a map of civic engagement, confidence, and privilege. thelocal.to/toronto-311-co…
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"The same sense of confidence and...entitlement that leads a higher-income Toronto resident to make requests of 311 also shapes their willingness to show up to community meetings, to talk to their city councillor, to petition local developers, even...vote."thelocal.to/toronto-311-co…
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The Local obtained exclusive data from the City of Toronto on the monthly populations of the 25 largest encampments in the city, 2021-24. The results are striking, with the average encampment size shrinking and more suburban encampments than ever before. thelocal.to/toronto-encamp…
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Data from the city of Toronto reveals the average encampment in March of 2021 contained 6.5 tents across 45 city parks. This year, that average is fewer than three tents, spread across 72 parks, and expanding further into the suburbs than ever before. thelocal.to/toronto-encamp…
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Spending a summer visiting the residents of Clarence Square Park reveals the ways that being unhoused can shape a life: the strain on mental health, the lack of sleep, proximity to drugs, injuries that become infections, and the arbitrary City evictions. thelocal.to/toronto-encamp…
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Come talk life expectancy with us today. Public health experts @StephenHwang, @LauraCRosella, and researchers from @MAP_Health join The Local's editorial team to discuss our neighbourhood-level analysis of life expectancy in Toronto. zoom.us/webinar/regist…
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See life expectancy rates for all 158 Toronto neighbourhoods—the first-ever neighbourhood-level analysis in Toronto, done in partnership with @MAP_Health. thelocal.to/life-expectanc…
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Learn more from the researchers and journalists behind the first-ever neighbourhood analysis of life expectancy in Toronto. Join us for a webinar tomorrow, October 10, at 4:00 p.m. zoom.us/webinar/regist…
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In leafy neighbourhoods along the Yonge Street corridor like the Bridle Path and Rosedale, life expectancy is on par with top countries like Japan. In low-income neighbourhoods, it’s below Bosnia and Herzegovina. 4/8
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A few years ago, when the Local’s editor-in-chief @taimhuynh first saw neighbourhood-level life expectancy data showing striking disparities in major cities in the US, he had a question: why wasn’t this work being done in Toronto? 🧵1/8
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Thanks for stopping by, Mayor @oliviachow! The Local is at Word on the Street @torontoWOTS all weekend (with tote bags and cool new stickers) - come say hi! #WOTS2024
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We’re all set-up here at Word On The Street @torontoWOTS! We’ll be at our booth today at Queens Park from 11am-6pm and tomorrow 10am-5pm. Come by and say hi! #WOTS2024
The Local will be at Toronto's Word on the Street @torontoWOTS festival this weekend! Come say hi to our team in Zone C at the corner of Wellesley St W and Queen's Park Crescent E. #WOTS2024
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The Local will be at Toronto's Word on the Street @torontoWOTS festival this weekend! Come say hi to our team in Zone C at the corner of Wellesley St W and Queen's Park Crescent E. #WOTS2024
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Today, Ontario’s funding per student is approximately a third of what’s spent in peer jurisdictions like New York and Massachusetts. thelocal.to/education-toro…
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Thrilled to win this award! Thanks and congratulations to all the Local contributors, too many to name, who worked with us on this issue!
.@TheLocal_TO has WON the Best News Coverage (Community Publication) category for coverage of the Toronto 2023 mayoral election! Congratulations to editors @nickhunebrown, @royinori, @taimhuynh and the team of contributors! #DPA24
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Congratulations to the brilliant @SimonLewsen for winning in the community news category for his story, The Crisis After the Crisis, in the Finch West issue! thelocal.to/covid-pandemic…
The winner of our Hugo Rodrigues Award for Community News is:
🏆 @SimonLewsen, The Local
His winning piece: thelocal.to/covid-pandemic…
Congrats, Simon!
#cajawards
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We're here at the Canadian Association of Journalists awards where the incredible Daysha Loppie, one of our 2023 fellows, has won the Student Award of Excellence for her Local essay, Growing Up on the 36 Finch West. Congratulations, Daysha! thelocal.to/36-finch-west-…
The recipient of our Student Award of Excellence:
🏆 Daysha Loppie, @TheLocal_TO & TMU
Her winning piece: thelocal.to/36-finch-west-…
Congratulations, Daysha!
#cajawards
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It’s our birthday! 🎂 Five years ago today we launched The Local as an independent non-profit publication. Thanks for reading, and look out for some big anniversary projects later this year! 🎉
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Stories about international students-turned-popstars, indie filmmakers, radical young visual artists, and all the playwrights, gallery installers, cultural critics and other workers keeping the arts alive. Get them in your inbox with our free newsletter: thelocal.to/subscribe/
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Harrington Housing says they've pioneered a revolutionary new model of "co-living." Tenants say that means evicting residents, subdividing apartments (including living rooms) into multiple individual units, then renting them out to students. thelocal.to/harrington-hou…
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With all polls reporting, Parthi Kandavel will be the next councillor for Ward 20—Scarborough Southwest. #TOPoli thelocal.to/live-results-f…
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Advanced polling for the Scarborough Southwest by-election is this weekend! We’ve got fact-checked bios of all candidates in every library in Scarborough SW. And with meta blocking news, here’s a handy PDF to share on Facebook with your Scarborough pals. tinyurl.com/candidate-trac…
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Exclusive insights on disproportionate delays in small claims court raise questions about whether “the people’s court” is being neglected to prioritize other systems, where more money is at stake. thelocal.to/small-claims-c…
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“The small claims court is a gong show.” @adinwagner on how massive delays at the “people’s court” is denying justice to the low-income litigants who depend on it. thelocal.to/small-claims-c…
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In 2021 and 2022, Ontario’s civil courts bounced back from COVID delays to operate at 144% of their pre-pandemic rate. But small claims court, “the people’s court” for smaller dollar values, is still stuck at pandemic-era levels. thelocal.to/small-claims-c…
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“Insufficient government support is keeping society’s poorest, including those on social assistance, from climbing out of poverty.” thelocal.to/food-banks-dai…
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Food banks began as a temporary response to a recession. They’ve since become an integral backstop to a fraying social safety net—and since COVID demand is skyrocketing. thelocal.to/food-banks-dai…
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There’s continued concern about the inequities in how Metrolinx runs construction in the suburbs, and whether they’re adequately considering the needs of local lower-income, aging residents. The question, critics say, is: would this be acceptable downtown?thelocal.to/canadas-worst-…
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Gravel pits, torn-up and fenced-off sidewalks, pedestrians forced to walk among cars—Finch West LRT development has left the neighbourhood in chaos, and residents want better from Metrolinx. 📸 @catsarov #metrolinx thelocal.to/canadas-worst-…
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"The food emergency began with the pandemic but didn’t end with it. COVID layoffs increased the number of financially insecure people, but CERB at least mitigated the problem. Now, there’s an inflation crisis, and the income supports are gone." thelocal.to/covid-pandemic…
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In Toronto today, demand for co-op units is so high that most of them have waitlists that only sparingly accept new applicants. Despite this, the number of co-ops built in the past few decades is negligible. thelocal.to/housing-co-ops…
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Already, affordability in the neighbourhood is under threat. In the towering apartment complexes near Kipling and Finch, @khadijaalam_ found that new financialized landlords were applying for above-guideline rent increases multiple times in a single year.thelocal.to/finch-west-lrt…
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Organizers like Anna-Kay Brown from @JFCFCentre and Butterfly Gopaul from @JFAAP mark the LRT'S decade-long progress against milestones in their kids' lives. The line's future shapes their kids' futures, impacting affordability, connectivity, jobs, culture.thelocal.to/finch-west-lrt…
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The Finch West and Eglinton LRTs were resurrected in 2012 by Toronto city council, but both have been plagued by delays upon delays. In that time, community organizers have been fighting to have a say in how the lines will shape their neighbourhoods. thelocal.to/finch-west-lrt…
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In our latest city hall column, @neville_park puts Olivia Chow's new council committee appointments in context, and reveals how power has shifted from Tory allies. thelocal.to/olivia-chow-ci…
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Full analysis of last night’s mayoral results, including a ward-by-ward breakdown of the vote and maps of everything from voter turnout to Chow’s 2014 support to where her competitors performed best. thelocal.to/olivia-chow-ma… #topoli
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"Chow’s biggest accomplishment of the night—besides becoming the city’s next mayor—was her success in Scarborough." Here’s how she performed in last night’s mayoral election compared to her 2014 run. thelocal.to/olivia-chow-ma…
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Olivia Chow is going to be Toronto's first racialized mayor, first woman in the role since amalgamation, and first progressive in more than a decade. In a tight race, Chow won by a 5% lead, or 33,000 votes. Here's a breakdown of her win across the city:
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In a close win, 96% of polls are reporting Olivia Chow will be Toronto's next mayor. Here's how her support panned out across the city: thelocal.to/live-results-f…
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Our live election results now feature a ward-by-ward breakdown of polling numbers, updated as new figures come in. thelocal.to/live-results-f…
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What are the mayoral candidates promising on housing? Read @neville_park's analysis, or just use this chart. #TOpoli thelocal.to/toronto-mayor-…
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📢 Candidate Tracker is now a printed handbook, available at all 100 branches of the Toronto Public Library.
Part of our effort to make fact-based election info more accessible, especially in areas with historically low voter turnout.
Part of our effort to make fact-based election info more accessible, especially in areas with historically low voter turnout.
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Local Journalism Matters.
Support non-profit journalism: $10/mo. donation includes a tote bag and tax receipt.
Come visit us at @torontoWOTS.
Support non-profit journalism: $10/mo. donation includes a tote bag and tax receipt.
Come visit us at @torontoWOTS.
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Day two at The Word on The Street @torontoWOTS! Come by booth 15 at the south end of Queen's Park to say hi and check out our brand new merch.
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We’re all set up here at @torontoWOTS! Come out to Queens Park and say hello to @nickhunebrown and @taimhuynh. Booth 15B, close to College!
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Doing a walk-along with Jane & Finch community members, exploring local stories for our upcoming Finch West LRT issue.
Local writers/artists along the route: email us if you’re interested in contributing info@thelocal.to
Local writers/artists along the route: email us if you’re interested in contributing info@thelocal.to
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This week we kicked off our election coverage with Candidate Tracker. Over the next months we'll have in-depth profiles, analysis of the big issues, and reporting from overlooked corners of Toronto. Subscribe for free to get the latest in your inbox: thelocal.to/subscribe/
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10 of the 13 routes most affected by the TTC’s latest service cuts are located in Scarborough, and most of them are already plagued by delays. thelocal.to/for-scarboroug…
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Jennifer McKelvie, city councillor for Scarborough-Rouge Park since 2018, will be interim mayor after John Tory’s departure. But don’t expect big changes while she’s in power: between 2018 and 2022, McKelvie voted with Tory 97 percent of the time. thelocal.to/tory-resigns-t…
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Vision Zero was initially slated to get $40+ million/year in 2023 and ‘24. That has been scrapped in favour of $20m yearly through 2026, pushing capital spending down the road despite continued injuries and deaths, and failure to meet safety targets.(6/7)thelocal.to/toronto-budget…
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With 90 percent of polls reporting in most wards, the races to watch are in University-Rosedale, where Dianne Saxe has a 130 vote lead over Norm Di Pasquale, and York South-Weston, where Nunziata has a less than 100 vote lead over Padovani.
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TDSB chair Alexander Brown is currently two points behind trustee challenger Weidong Pei in TDSB Ward 12. Pei is a dentist and dental professor at U of T—this is his first time running.
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The Race in Ward 11 — University-Rosedale is incredibly competitive, with Norm di Pasquale leading Dianne Saxe by a percentage point, with 90 percent of polls reporting.
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In Ward 23, now an open race after the passing of incumbent Cynthia Lai on Friday, Jamaal Myers is in the lead with more than 50% of the vote, and 95% of polls reporting.
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Incumbent Michael Thompson, who is currently facing charges of sexual assault, currently has a more than 40% lead on his challengers in Scarborough Centre.
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The race is incredibly tight in York South-Weston, with challenger Chiara Padovani nearly neck in neck with incumbent Frances Nunziata, who’s been in municipal office for 34 years. This is Padovani’s second time running.
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It’s a tight race in Parkdale-Highpark, where incumbent Gord Perks has a slight lead over Chemi Lhamo and Siri Agrell with 79 percent of polls reporting.
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In Ward 3, with 87 percent of polls reporting, Amber Morley has a 6 percent lead over incumbent Mark Grimes, who has been in office since 2003.
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Polls in most of the city are closed. We’ll be watching the election results and tweeting along. The first official (sad) results are already in. 🧵
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Another key factor in Vision Zero is requests from the public. So, where are they coming from? Data we received from the city through FOI reveals that wealthier, whiter neighbourhoods are more than 1.5 times more likely to make requests for speed cameras and safety improvements.
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Our analysis of speed monitors from school zones revealed that the top twenty sites with the highest rates of speeding are all in the inner suburbs. Four of the top five, where most drivers are going 20km over the speed limit, are in North York. thelocal.to/vision-zero-in…
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We read through hundreds of 2018-22 council meeting minutes featuring road safety keywords, and found that downtown councillors motioned for measures like speed humps, speed limit reductions, crosswalks & stop signs far more often than suburban councillors.thelocal.to/vision-zero-in…
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Ahead of Monday's municipal election, we wanted to see how Toronto's city councillors were doing on Vision Zero. What we found was a massive disparity between downtown and suburban councillors' engagement on road safety. A 🧵on our #TOpoli investigation: thelocal.to/vision-zero-in…
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It's a tight race to replace Mike Layton in Ward 11 — University-Rosedale. Here's where the candidates stand on the big issues. #TOpoli thelocal.to/ward-11-univer…
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Last election, the race was tight in Ward 5 between longtime incumbent Frances Nunziata and challenger Chiara Padovani. Read where all three candidates in York South-Weston stand on the big issues. thelocal.to/ward-5-york-so… #topoli
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With the election just a few days away, check out our Candidate Tracker to see where mayoral candidates stand on the big issues. #topoli thelocal.to/mayoral-candid…
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Hi there, this is your campaign’s time-stamped response to our survey. If you made a mistake in your responses, we can discuss making a clarification. Email us at elections@thelocal.to. thelocal.to/wp-content/upl…
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Hi there, this is your campaign’s time stamped response to our survey. If you made a mistake in your responses, we can discuss making a clarification over email. thelocal.to/wp-content/upl…
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With no incumbent, the race in Ward 9 — Davenport is wide open. Use Candidate Tracker to see where the candidates stand on the big issues. #topoli thelocal.to/ward-9-davenpo…
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Next question, about businesses, interrupted by an audience member who approached the stage to confront Tory.
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We’re at The Carlu for the mayoral debate, hosted by @TorontoRBOT. It features 5 candidates: Chloe Brown, Sarah Climenhaga, Gil Peñalosa. Stephen Punwasi and John Tory. Follow this thread for live commentary, fact-checking and analysis, starting at 2PM. 1/
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Want to know where your candidate stands? We combed through council records, found 12 telling votes, and surveyed candidates on how they would have voted. Our updated Candidate Tracker has head-to-head comparisons of candidates in every ward. #topoli thelocal.to/candidate-trac…
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Election signs going up, voting pamphlets in the mail, advanced polling in a week―election season is upon us. If you're struggling to decide who to vote for, check out our candidate tracker, where we've researched everyone running for mayor & city council. thelocal.to/candidate-trac…
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A quick peek under the hood: as part of our election coverage here at The Local, we’ve developed a City Hall Simulator—a tool to determine where candidates stand on the issues that matter. #ElectionsTO #TOpoli 🧵1/5
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We believe Toronto’s lagging voter turnout could be improved by accessible, comprehensive knowledge of who’s running for office. So we built a tool that shows you who's running for mayor and city councillor by ward, and what they stand for. (2/4) thelocal.to/candidate-trac…
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From the new Cherry Street South Bridge, people will be able to clearly see the length and breadth of the work that has been done at Villier’s Island. "I think they are going to be gobsmacked when it opens." 4/4 thelocal.to/villiers-islan…
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When complete, Villiers Island aims to be one of the first "climate positive" communities in the city, producing more electricity than it consumes, with housing for 10,000. 3/4 thelocal.to/villiers-islan…
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Right now it may just look like massive mounds of dirt, but the ambitious vision for Villier’s Island could be precedent-setting for Canada—a way to adapt to an extreme climate future. 2/4 thelocal.to/villiers-islan…
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Read more about climate, vulnerability, and resiliency in our ongoing collaboration with @thenarwhalca, "Toronto's Climate Right." thelocal.to/issue-15/
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But we can't rely on AC alone. We need to build a more resilient city. Toronto's Green Standard for new buildings seeks to do that, with mandates for green roofs and cool building materials. But what about roads, industrial spaces, older buildings? (9/11) thelocal.to/toronto-heat-w…
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The city has cooling centres in public spaces for days like this, but advocates say they're often inaccessible. Toronto's most vulnerable residents have limited mobility, are isolated from their communities, and hesitant to go out to these spaces.(7/11)thelocal.to/toronto-heat-w…
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In the St. James Town highrises, volunteers check on vulnerable residents on the hottest days of the summer. Residents without AC sit in the cooled lobby. But this response to heat can't reach everyone who needs it—a more systemic response is vital. (6/11) thelocal.to/toronto-heat-w…
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Unequal design and infrastructure in Toronto mean that lower-income and racialized neighbourhoods have older buildings made of less resilient materials, more industrial land, & less access to tree cover, worsening their experience of heat events. (3/11) thelocal.to/toronto-heat-w…
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In the summer, Toronto gets hotter than rural Ontario because of urban heat island effect. The way cities are designed—using building materials that absorb and re-emit heat and sunlight, with lack of greenery and shade—increases local temperatures. (2/x) thelocal.to/toronto-heat-w…
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🚨🗞️ New issue alert! This week we're launching "Toronto's Climate Right Now," a series about vulnerability and adaptation in Canada's largest city and a collaboration with our friends @thenarwhalca. Watch for the first stories tomorrow!
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Happy birthday to us! 🎂🎉 Exactly 3 years ago we decided to launch our first issue and throw a party on the same day. It nearly killed us. We're gotten smarter, but no less ambitious since. Thanks for reading, and please support Local journalism: thelocal.to/support/
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And excluding pandemic support, most transit funding from the provincial and federal government is for shiny rail expansions largely built to bring people downtown —a pre-pandemic vision of work that isn't necessarily going to improve the lives of suburban essential workers. 6/9
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The TTC's operational budget comes largely from riders' fare revenue, to a greater degree than any comparable city in North America. This was never particularly sustainable, especially not during a pandemic that has reduced ridership indefinitely. 5/9 thelocal.to/for-ttc-bus-ri…
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The 52 Lawrence West bus, with the highest rate of delays in the city, has 10 times more delays than the system-wide median. Seven of the ten worst routes are in North York, Etobicoke & Scarborough. Check out our searchable list of routes and delays ⬇️ 3/9 thelocal.to/for-ttc-bus-ri…
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