[PHOTO] Great Hall of Union Station, after 1 in the morning

[PHOTO] Five photos taken on an early morning trip to Gate 20, Union Station

[PHOTO] Back, Union Station

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links

• Urban Toronto looked at indigenous uses being proposed for the West Don Lands, here.
• That Toronto has become a major hub for Shopify is a significant economic factor. Global News reports.
• There will be an emergency exercise held at Union Station. Global News reports.
• Transit Toronto notes the opening of a new York Regional Transit bus hub at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.
• Transit Toronto shared video of a recent TTC public art project, “A Streetcar Called Toronto”, here.
• Venerable Toronto movie rental store Videoflicks will be closing. blogTO reports.
• The Evergreen Brickworks in the Don Valley will be hosting a winter village this season. blogTO reports.

[PHOTO] Back at Union Station

I am back in Toronto fter a thoroughly enjoyable four-day vacation in Québec. More on that later. For now, see what I saw after I disembarked onto the VIA Rail platform at Union Station last night.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Toronto Monopoly, signs, public art, Portlands, Union Station

• blogTO notes that there is, for a short while, a Toronto-themed version of Monopoly available for sale.
• The iconic Toronto sign in front of City Hall is set to be replaced with a more cost-effective one. The Toronto Star reports.
• I like the controversial statue of a man 25 feet tall placed in front of a new condo development on St. Clair Avenue West. The Toronto Star reports.
• The National Post reports in depth of the plans of Google’s Sidewalk Labs to transform the Portlands.
• Sean Marshall looks at how the concrete barriers put up in front of Union Station disrupt, particularly, non-car traffic there.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Eglinton Avenue, Union Station, Highway 401, cookie dough, Meadoway

• This imagining of what Eglinton Avenue West will look like after LRT construction is done is actually pretty compelling. blogTO has it.
• Union Station renovations might actually be complete by the end of 2020. Global News reports.
• Highway 401 is being widened in the GTA to allow for recent increases in traffic. blogTO reports.
• Queen Street West is getting a cookie dough cafe. blogTO reports.
• The Meadoway, a vast linear park connection downtown Toronto with Scarborough, looks fine in this imagining. CBC Toronto has it.

[PHOTO] Three photos of the Great Hall, Union Station

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: transit, Yorkdale, Sully’s, buried, David Silber, Justin Haynes

• Steve Munro takes a look at future transit connections for the waterfront centered on Union Station.
• The location of the vast parking lot of Yorkdale Mall is under consideration for transformation into a new high-rise neighbourhood. CBC reports.
• Sully’s Boxing Gym, on Dupont in Dovercourt Village, is fighting to–if not remain in its current location–survive somewhere. The Toronto Star reports.
• Metrolinx has offered to restore direct bus service to York University if that university, in turn, paid students nearly one million dollars to compensate them for their added transit costs. The Toronto Star reports.
• blogTO identifies five particularly odd objects found underground in Toronto, here.
• Toronto Life reports on David Silber, a Scarborough-born man who has become one of the world’s most remarkable and innovative chefs.
• The Ottawa Citizen reports on the tragic death of musician Justin Haynes, who came to my attention with his moving writings in NOW Toronto on the affordable housing crisis.

[URBAN NOTE] Five notes about cities: Airbnb, NIMBYism, sinking, soil, anti-tours and Jane’s Walk

• This article at The Conversation examines the adverse effect of Airbnb on urban housing markets worldwide.
• CityLab looks at how NIMBYism advanced to the point of blocking progress in cities generally.
• JSTOR Daily looks at how many vulnerable cities, especially on shorelines, are at risk of sinking.
• Oliver Milman at Guardian Cities looks at how New York City, and other metropolises, are starting to study the soil they lie over. (I compost; at least I try to.)
• Oliver Balch at Guardian Cities takes a look at anti-tours, tours of cities which self-consciously consider elements and areas of urban life often overlooked by regular tourists. (I love the mention of Jane’s Walk–I went to the very walk by Union Station mentioned in the article!)