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Interesting. As you pointed out, the difference in the numbers between New York and Toronto are hard to pin on any one factor. My first impulse was to look at the fire fatality numbers from other cities/regions with similar residential densities to New York, but I'm having trouble finding useful...

Well, I can see we're probably not going to change each other's minds on this. Perhaps it's ignorant of me, but I'd be happy to see small apartment buildings (which, once again, I'm defining as ~4-6 storeys, ~1-3 units per floor) built with similar fire-safety and elevator requirements to...

On the contrary, if you're correct, and eliminating elevator requirements in small, 4-6 storey multi-family buildings failed to encourage their construction in the way I hope it would, then the policy would be ineffective but ultimately harmless (at least according to the logic I laid out...

I don’t know whether we have evidence or not. But it seems at least plausible to me.

You make a good point, but I think of the issue slightly differently. If there is a certain fixed (or even growing) percentage of the population who need elevators, that also implies the remainder: a segment of the population who do not require elevators, and who might benefit from the existence...

I find the elevator question fascinating. Maybe it really is true that the cost of one or two elevators is negligible compared to typical midrise construction costs. But I wonder how the math would pencil out for a hypothetical 4-6 storey, 25-50ft wide (i.e. one or two Old Toronto single family...

I don't think snow-clearing on a street with no sidewalks is an insurmountable challenge, but maybe I'm misunderstanding your point. If we're able to clear lanes for vehicular traffic, what would be the specific challenge of clearing those same lanes for pedestrian traffic if cars were excluded...

I think the observation that narrow streets in Boston, Philadelphia, etc. fail to meet modern mobility requirements is accurate, but misses the point slightly. It becomes far less important to provide things like accessible sidewalks when the roadway itself is safe and pleasant. The example in...

During a recent visit to the park I was sorry to see that two of the trees along the Front St edge of the park have been cut down. No pictures unfortunately. Hopefully they‘ll soon be replaced.

If somebody doesn’t come along soon to explain why these are unlikely to be built as promised, I’m liable to get extremely excited

For those worried that the peak isn't making quite as strong an impression yet as it does in the renderings, I suspect it'll look more impressive when the portion facing Sherbourne Common is finished. Right now the setback makes it look smaller than it really is. That combined with the...