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Mayor Olivia Chow's Toronto

While not exactly Toronto......when looking for a place to deposit return-to-office info, I see more recent discussion here than most other threads....

I offer the following, Dell has issued a directive from on high than anyone within commuting distance of a Dell office is expected in 5 days a week beginning March 3rd, 2025.

Tech was thought to be one of the less likely to impose this by many, so I think its news worthy and relevant to this thread in respect of everything from Toronto office vacancy to TTC ridership.

While I expect Canadian business will continue to lag vs some U.S. giants, we seem to be following their trendline closely, just about six to twelve months behind.
 
While not exactly Toronto......when looking for a place to deposit return-to-office info, I see more recent discussion here than most other threads....

I offer the following, Dell has issued a directive from on high than anyone within commuting distance of a Dell office is expected in 5 days a week beginning March 3rd, 2025.

Tech was thought to be one of the less likely to impose this by many, so I think its news worthy and relevant to this thread in respect of everything from Toronto office vacancy to TTC ridership.

While I expect Canadian business will continue to lag vs some U.S. giants, we seem to be following their trendline closely, just about six to twelve months behind.
My office simply does not have the capacity for it. Unless they are expecting AI to start letting them shed jobs... if anything we are adding headcount.
 
So while it seems like the common sentiment is to move everyone to in-office more than 3 days a week now. Our company after years of only doing 1 day every 2 weeks today decided to not renew the lease and go WFH permanently.
to be fair it was in markham at hwy 7 and town center. not exactly prime real estate.

I think its a point to how "aaa office space" like the well and 160 front is doing so much better than lower tiers like in industrial parks. Banks are included in this. If you dont invest in your offices your employees will be less inclined to visit the office.

Even up there in Markham, the company had to pay for free breakfast and lunches to encourage people to commute
 
While not exactly Toronto......when looking for a place to deposit return-to-office info, I see more recent discussion here than most other threads....

I offer the following, Dell has issued a directive from on high than anyone within commuting distance of a Dell office is expected in 5 days a week beginning March 3rd, 2025.

Tech was thought to be one of the less likely to impose this by many, so I think its news worthy and relevant to this thread in respect of everything from Toronto office vacancy to TTC ridership.

While I expect Canadian business will continue to lag vs some U.S. giants, we seem to be following their trendline closely, just about six to twelve months behind.
What's considered commuting distance?
 
So while it seems like the common sentiment is to move everyone to in-office more than 3 days a week now. Our company after years of only doing 1 day every 2 weeks today decided to not renew the lease and go WFH permanently.
to be fair it was in markham at hwy 7 and town center. not exactly prime real estate.

I think its a point to how "aaa office space" like the well and 160 front is doing so much better than lower tiers like in industrial parks. Banks are included in this. If you dont invest in your offices your employees will be less inclined to visit the office.

Even up there in Markham, the company had to pay for free breakfast and lunches to encourage people to commute
I'm not surprised by the necessity of such bribery. Having to work in (never mind commuting to) the suburbs is one of my nightmares.
 
In this week's Economist.

Walk down the passage connecting the subway on 34th Street-Herald Square to a commuter line bound for New Jersey and you will almost certainly see people sleeping rough. The tunnel is a warm spot on a bitter January night. A team of police officers and psychiatric clinicians approach the sleepers to check how they are doing, and if they agree, transport them to a shelter. The clinician may also determine if they need more pointed help, whether they want it or not.

This is part of the city’s overnight homeless-outreach programme, Partnership Assistance for Transit Homelessness (PATH). They offer a bed, often giving the person a choice of borough and type of shelter. If a team determines someone might be in severe mental distress, and may be a danger to themselves or to others, their consent is not needed.

Involuntary commitment laws in New York state go back decades, but the idea fell out of favour after the closing of asylums. Over the past few years politicians in New York who were opposed have embraced it. Since 2022 Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, has instructed police and first responders to hospitalise people with severe mental illness who are incapable of looking after themselves. Kathy Hochul, the governor, has announced plans to “add more teeth” to the state laws on involuntary treatment and is promising more money. This builds on what is already happening in New York City.
Here a culture change is under way, says Brian Stettin, the mayor’s adviser on severe mental illness. “It’s just not going to be acceptable anymore to walk by people who are in a psychiatric crisis and are in desperate need of medical care.” It takes a lot to rattle New Yorkers. But seeing someone on the subway who is in distress, is not wearing shoes and may also be shouting profanities at passengers will do it. Straphangers have been shaken by attacks on the subway: at the end of January a homeless man shoved a woman into the path of a moving train; on New Year’s Eve security cameras recorded a man in Manhattan being shoved onto the tracks just as a train entered the station. Subway riders used to stand near the platform edge to quickly hop onto the train. Now they have taken to hugging the walls until the train arrives. Although subway crime has fallen and Mr Adams has deployed police to ride the rails overnight, the perception is different.

Mr Stettin says there are relatively few people who require involuntary care: the health department maintains three lists of 50 people who have been identified as the most challenging cases (he knows most by name). Police and clinicians also haul off other people if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others. Still, the number of people with severe mental illness ought to be manageable, and the programme can already point to successes.
 
I used the SafeTTC App this morning to report someone exposing himself (pants hanging much too low, rather than something more deliberate) in Dufferin Station. They responded within 2-3 minutes and said they were sending someone, though since the guy was doing it right next to the ticket booth, someone should have been there already.
 

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