2023 Toronto Mayoral by-election

[zang]

Don’t know if it has been mentioned yet here but one of the candidates floated an idea to redone all ground level units on main streets to live/work units. Great idea!

I think you’ll find very few wanting those units in the downtown area unless the mental health/homelessness issue gets proper attention, funding and resources.

There are areas of this city which have broken/smashed windows on a weekly basis. The Church/Wellesley village sees a lot of vandalism, even in high-trafficked areas. The owner of Dudley’s Hardware is replacing a smashed window seemingly once a month. Mailboxes have been removed after being repeatedly tipped, broken into or vandalized.

Not living on ground floor immediately gives some security by default. And frankly, I don’t see opening up ground level units actually adding that much to the housing pool.

 

[christiesplits]

A few new campaign announcements.

Ana Bailao promising Presto access for Toronto Island ferries and no fares for children.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1659922697034317825

Mitzie Hunter announcing below-market commercial space in food deserts.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1659972737966780417

 

[Pacer]

 

[SJD_Toronto]

View attachment 478932

No doubt Bailao’s team wants John Tory’s endorsement.

 

[christiesplits]

New Forum poll.

Forum calls the lead "untouchable," which means I'm bookmarking the article for a possible "Dewey beats Truman" moment.

34% - Chow
12% - Matlow
12% - Saunders
10% - Hunter
9% - Bailao
7% - Bradford
15% - Other

Olivia Chow has ‘untouchable’ lead in final weeks of Toronto’s mayoral campaign, new poll finds

Support for Chow remains nearly triple that of nearest rivals Coun. Josh Matlow and former police chief Mark Saunders, says a Forum Research poll conducted for the Star

www.thestar.com

 

[Pacer]

No doubt Bailao’s team wants John Tory’s endorsement.

Absolutely, but how desperate is it from the campaign to try and get the rub publicly, without an explicit endorsement? She's a savvy operator, but without an issue to campaign on she's struggling to be relevant.

Like I said before, if he endorses one, he basically kills his relationship with 2 others (Mitzie/Bradford). His influence is

 

[Northern Light]

New Forum poll.

Forum calls the lead "untouchable," which means I'm bookmarking the article for a possible "Dewey beats Truman" moment.

34% - Chow
12% - Matlow
12% - Saunders
10% - Hunter
9% - Bailao
7% - Bradford
15% - Other

Olivia Chow has ‘untouchable’ lead in final weeks of Toronto’s mayoral campaign, new poll finds

Support for Chow remains nearly triple that of nearest rivals Coun. Josh Matlow and former police chief Mark Saunders, says a Forum Research poll conducted for the Star

www.thestar.com

'Untouchable' is a poor turn of phrase in the best of times...........when your candidate has a plurality, but is far short of a majority..............it may well turn out to be true, but it seems a tad premature.

 

[alklay]

Don’t know if it has been mentioned yet here but one of the candidates floated an idea to redone all ground level units on main streets to live/work units. Great idea!

And we are putting retail on the 10th floor now? (stupidest. idea. ever.)

 

[PinkLucy]

I lived in a building with live/work units. Not sure what the goal would be to make this city wide, but it does nothing for local vibrancy or even interest. Many of our units weren’t actually lived in and were office space for realtors and the occasional lawyer. One was a front for a drug dealer that the police ended up breaking into with a bartering ram. That was fun.

 

[picard102]

All the work/live units I've ever seen in my neighbourhood were dead zones.

 

[christiesplits]

Bailao released more of her housing platform:

As Mayor, Ana will lead a Mayor’s initiative to incentivize intensification, including “missing middle” housing of medium scale that meets needs between condos and single-family homes. To accomplish this she will champion planning, zoning, and land use reforms including:

• Legalizing walk-up apartments on secondary transit routes across Toronto;
• Upzoning avenues to be “as of right” for 8 to 12 storeys;
• Relaxing “Shadow Guidelines” which have, for too long, arbitrarily increased the cost of building in Toronto, and reduced the number of units that could be built;
• Introduce “Rental Zoning” to ensure that there are sites zoned exclusively for rental;
• Prioritize approvals for development applications that include rental homes; and
• Reduce office replacement requirements when buildings are demolished or converted in exchange for affordable housing.

Bold Reforms to Build More Homes

Ana Bailão announced more details on her housing plan with planning reforms that will create more housing options for Toronto residents.

anabailao.ca

 

[Northern Light]

Bailao released more of her housing platform:

Bold Reforms to Build More Homes

Ana Bailão announced more details on her housing plan with planning reforms that will create more housing options for Toronto residents.

anabailao.ca

Bailao released more of her housing platform:

Bold Reforms to Build More Homes

Ana Bailão announced more details on her housing plan with planning reforms that will create more housing options for Toronto residents.

anabailao.ca

As-of-right, 8-storeys might be bold, if it meant along all major arterials; if it applies only to areas having had 'avenue studies' it won't change all that much.

Watch for the difference between 'appears bold' and 'is bold'.

***

Ana has also committed to keeping taxes at or below inflation, which ensures the City doesn't have enough money to deliver core services, let alone build any deeply affordable housing.

As noted, the industry (housing development) has somewhere between little and no slack available to build anymore housing, any faster, irrespective of what permissions are in place. As a result, the best one can likely hope for in the above scenario might be that that builders facing reduced costs would pass some savings on to consumers (renters/owners); but since money is made by charging the top dollar that someone else is willing to pay, I'm not at all clear this achieves much at all.

Which is not to say that its a bad thing; just that it isn't what its advertised to be.

 

[Northern Light]

Now for a couple of links to things we ought to consider as we look ahead to this election.

First, Matt Elliott has an excellent column up at The Star which looks at the issue of property taxes, and which is not behind the paywall.

Opinion | Which candidates for mayor are actually offering real talk on Toronto taxes? So far, too few

You may disagree with the specifics of some of the proposals coming from left-leaning candidates, but at least they’re acknowledging reality.

www.thestar.com

Second. A behind the paywall column by David Parkinson of the Globe and Mail on the link between surging foreign students and high rents:

Opinion: Thank your local university for your higher rent bill

Universities and colleges have aggressively pursued international students but haven’t spent any money to build new student residences

www.theglobeandmail.com

From the above:

Note that the direct issue above is Provincial/Federal; but the importance here is that there is no municipal solution to this.

 

[Rufus8]

Will anyone send in the boots to clear out Allan Gardens? That woman/man gets my vote.

If a firm hand approach can clear Trinity Bellwoods we can do the same to clear Allan Gardens. Downtown East wants its park back.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-homeless-foi-1.6437578

I thought it was illegal, some judge said that it was unconstitutional to deny tents. Look at what that has done in America and tell me that is a good idea. It's not about property it's about safety. It simple is not safe to camp in a public park.

 

[Rufus8]

Got my voters card - advance polls for Spadina-Fort York are at 45 Fort York (2km away) and 155 Crawford (4km away). Not easy for the seniors but 26 June site (85 The Esplanade) is VERY convenient.
I've decided (for now) on Matlow. Chow is a total bust for me, spineless, rhetoric-driven and seems to blow with the wind, we really need someone to stand up to the province - it might Matlow, at least he knows the lay of the land in council. I would love to know what deal Crombie struck to get Mississauga's independence, the timing is just too much! I'm not sure I would want a leader that was obviously so cosy with the opposition.