[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: 29 Dufferin, Metrolinx, drugs, Jarvis/Carlton mural, #Vegandale

• blogTO reports TTC plans to further improve service on the 29 Dufferin route.
• This lawsuit lodged by the companies building the Eglinton Crosstown against Metrolinx for breach of contract is unwelcome news. The Toronto Star reports.
• The apparent trend to prescribe injured workers not medical marijuana for their pain but the potentially much more dangerous opioids sounds like a mistake to me. CBC reports.
• The giant Okuda San Miguel mural on the wall of a student resident at Jarvis and Carlton is now complete. CBC reports.
• Samantha Edwards at NOW Toronto has written a fascinating long feature on the rise of veganism in Toronto, not only as a popular and visible food style but as a force responsible for gentrification (the block of Queen between Dufferin and Brock is home to a new vegan district).

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[PHOTO] Shopping for the World Cup in the parking lot at Galleria Mall

Every summer, a kiosk selling soccer merchandise sets up on the northeast corner of the Galleria Mall’s parking lot, at Dufferin and Dupont. In World Cup years like this one, the array of merchandise offered becomes particularly diverse.

[URBAN NOTE] Twelve Toronto links

• Edward Keenan is entirely right to praise the idea of exploring the cherry blossoms of Toronto by foot. The Toronto Star has it.
• Mark Cullen noted last week the struggle to keep what may be the oldest tree in Toronto, a red soak more than three centuries old, alive, over at the Toronto Star.
• John Tory is quite right to note that Toronto needs to prepare for possible surges of refugees. CBC reports.
• A Scarborough mansion that has been abandoned for years has just sold for $C 3.8 million. The Toronto Star reports.
• The infamous Giraffe building on the northwest corner of Dundas West and Bloor may be set to disappear, finally, under a wave of new construction there. Toronto Life reports.
• blogTO makes the case that west-end Rogers Road is becoming the new centre of the Portuguese-Canadian community, here.
• Orfus Road, off Dufferin Street near Yorkdale, is a place to go for outlet stores and discounted merchandise. blogTO notes.
• The TTC has cancelled its weekend closures of parts of different subway routes after disputes with the union. The Toronto Star reports.
• By one metric, Toronto falls behind only New York City in the race for the Amazon HQ2. The Toronto Star reports.
• NOW Toronto tells the story of someone who grew marijuana in their backyard, here.
• An AI Weiwei show will be coming to Toronto in 2019. NOW Toronto reports.
• Peter Knegt profiles Toronto drag queen Sofonda Cox, over at CBC.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: #yongeandstrong, Bloordale, rental housing crisis, Green Line

• Toronto Life has a nice photo-heavy feature sharing the experiences of some of the witnesses and survivors of the North York van attack.
• NOW Toronto reports on the discontent of Bloordale residents with the latest proposal for development on the southwest corner of Bloor and Dufferin.
• Prices for rental housing continue to rise beyond the city of Toronto, in the wider GTA. CBC reports.
• The idea of a crisis of affordability for Toronto renters, with one-quarter having to pay half or more of their income in rent, is very real. The Toronto Star reports.
• Public consultation on the plan for a Green Line network of parks, extending from Bathurst Street up to Earlscourt Park, will close on Friday. Submissions can be made here.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Kanagaratnam, Bloordale, Bloor and Dundas, Etobicoke, Bloor West

• Fatima Syed and Wendy Gillis tell the story of Kirushnakumar Kanagaratnam, a Sri Lankan Tamil whose failed application for refugee status in Canada after travelling on the MV Sun Sea led directly to his death at the hands of McArthur. The Toronto Star has it.
• The developer hoping to transform the southwest corner of Bloor and Dufferin has opted to redesign the development following community criticism. CBC reports.
• The sheer scale of the planned development on the southeast corner of Bloor Street West and Dundas Street West is such that a new neighbourhood would come into being. Wow. The Toronto Star has it.
• The plan for SmartTrack would leave the residents of an Etobicoke development next to a GO rail yard subject to terrible levels of noise and air pollution. The Toronto Star reports.
• Is Bloor Street West going to become the next Yonge Street, an uninterrupted string of high-density development? Not without differences, at least. The Toronto Star looks at the issue.

[PHOTO] Electric blue to the west, Bloor at Dufferin

Coming home yesterday evening, outside of Dufferin station, I was struck by the view to my west.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: incubators, Bloordale, real estate, migration, Rosedale

• The universities of Toronto–U of T, Ryerson, York–turn out to provide some of the best university-based incubators of high-tech business in the world. CBC reports.
• blogTO notes that a new condo development at Bloor and Dufferin, in Bloordale just where it meets Bloorcourt, is being criticized for excessive density and a lack of community facilities.
• Edward Keenan notes that Patrick Brown was right in talking about real estate affordability in Toronto as a problem. Why aren’t other people following him (in this, at least)? The Toronto Star has it.
• Royson James reports on how a Seventh-Day Adventist church in western Toronto not only helped integrate immigrants from the Caribbean, but set a model for others. The Toronto Star has it.
• Dave Leblanc writes about how Rosedale was introduced to the International Style by the 1944 Hobbs Sun House, over at The Globe and Mail.