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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 1d

For years, my colleagues and I warned everyone within ear shot in study after study that the situation with DCs was untenable and unsustainable.

Now the city has killed the golden goose despite the warnings. I take no pleasure as a Torontonian in saying this but we're in the FO stage of FAFO.

Damien Moule @damienmoule.bsky.social · 1d

Imo you should ignore the drop in DC contributions. One because of the $2.9B buffer which I think will last us through to a resumption of building and two because DCs (should) fund growth related projects so if the growth isn't manifesting then delaying is fine.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Matt Elliott: How the popping of the condo bubble led to a looming budget crisis in Toronto

Toronto’s condo boom finally going bust isn’t just a concern for developers and investors. The collapse is also causing major financial woes for the city.

www.thestar.com

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 1d

It's not that boomers are any more nimby than any other generation, it's that they have more time than any other generation to spend on opposing housing.

Just look at the nimbys of a new rental project downtown Toronto, or 5 new single-family homes in Aurora - lots of abundance in grey hairs.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 2d

Im sure if the city wanted to be entrepreneurial here they could find away around that.

It may also just make it easier to dismiss this as how does a no asset corp have standing.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 2d

*When* the city wins this case, they better be demanding costs. Historically the city avoids doing this, but screw that, I'm so sick of this as a taxpayer.

If the case is found frivolous, then we the taxpayers should get every dime back as is the right to ask for in court.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 2d

Got married and we're moving to a place that can't handle all the stuff we both have. We each had to do some closet cleaning, so in the shuffle, I had to make my choice.

It's easy to get digital versions of most comics and books, so that's why I gave them up.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 4d

Had to give away my books, comics, and board games today, but I'll never give up my starship collection.

That's the sane rationale choice, right?

Four boxes of starship stacked on top of each other

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 7d

It's October 1st 2025 and despite being told September 2025 is when we could expect the Eglinton Crosstown to be opened....it isn't

Epic fail of all epic fails.

Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 13d

We already have vacant homes taxes in our most chronically unaffordable cities like Toronto and Vancouver, but they've done very little.

Why, because "millions of vacant homes" is a bad misinterpretation of census data akin to a hoax.

The 🍾 socialist left is not serious about housing.

A new article clipping claiming that there are millions of vacant homes in canada

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Reposted by Alex Beheshti

Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 14d

How long a letter can you write about a 4-page report that recommends against doing anything?
Pretty long, it turns out. First, we must have a discussion about what a priority *is*.

I am writing with concerns about this report and in the hopes of better clarity for pedestrian priority at Yonge and Eglinton (IE24.3). The report does not appear to have fully considered pedestrian priority, nor address the issue of crowding at the southwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton. It is also not in line with Toronto’s Vision Zero aims.

What is meant by pedestrian priority?
The report states that a pedestrian priority phase would increase pedestrian crossing time because of the time added to the traffic light cycle for other modes in order to clear them. It is not clear to me why pedestrian priority would include a requirement to retain clearance rates and add time for other modes. Typically, priority means that one mode (pedestrian, in this case) might be treated differently than others. Instead, this report examined what would happen when time was added for all modes and concluded that things took longer, which seems like quite obvious and circular reasoning.

This is one of the busiest intersections in the city. The warrant criteria for pedestrian priority were met. And yet this report concludes that pedestrian priority should not be given. Where in the city, then, would the needs of pedestrians merit priority? A possible hint lies in the report's conclusion, which notes that staff have recommended "the most efficient and effective approach for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic." This implies that changes are most likely to be considered when the efficiency of vehicular traffic is unaffected. This is not a sensible definition of pedestrian priority.

Crowding on the southwest corner not sufficiently addressed
The original motion (MM23.13) requested that staff look at pedestrian priority because sometimes there is so much crowding that pedestrians wait more than one light cycle to cross...

...In addition, the report states that pedestrian counts were done in May, September and November of 2024. It's not clear if the vehicular traffic numbers from the same times were used. However, some 52 Lawrence buses were being diverted to terminate at Eglinton Station during this time because of construction at Lawrence Station. Would it be possible to ask staff (a) what assumptions went into the vehicular traffic model that resulted in the recommendation for longer signal cycle lengths and (b) how much changes in bus traffic would affect the model?

The warrant system as implemented here is not consistent with Vision Zero
One stated reasons for not recommending implementation included an examination of turning vehicle volumes. However, in the City's own criteria, the turning vehicle volume is a separate condition for intersections with moderate pedestrian volumes. Yonge and Eglinton has high pedestrian volumes; in fact, as noted in the report, it has one of the highest pedestrian volumes in the city, so the number of turning vehicles should be irrelevant. And yet it was considered in order to recommend the status quo.

If staff are going to use a completely separate warrant condition that is not required, why are the warrant conditions listed as they are, as though pedestrian volume may be considered on its own? This is far from the first time that I have seen a staff report related to pedestrian safety where warrant conditions were met but staff still recommended against changes due to potential impacts on cars (example on Avenue Road: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-158558.pdf).

The implication seems to be that we have quite detailed requirements for pedestrians to meet in order for intersections to change, but we have very few written conditions for what is required to maintain car priority...

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 15d

Made a mistake. Those werent 1st generation chagres, but 2nd generation. That is the second round of DCs after the intitial legislation went into effect.

Still horrible if you consider thats from 2003 to 2005

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 16d

my mom took tylenol when she was pregnant, which made me super focused on menswear and now i have a million followers on twitter

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 19d

I have to say this is disappointing.

Despite their pleasant-sounding name, CBCs are nothing more than an "apartment tax" because that is what they *exclusively* apply to.

No other housing form pays this tax. Based on their discriminatory nature, on that basis alone, they should be ditched.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · 19d

Doing some research on developers charges and found this treasure in a news article from 1999.

Adjusted for inflation:
Vaughan $34,300
Richmond Hill $32,300...
Toronto $10,250

Ill let you all compare them to their actuals todays, but its clear that DC inflation has been astronomical.

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Reposted by Alex Beheshti

Eric Lombardi @ericlombardi.bsky.social · 22d

🌆🏗️ BIG NEWS🚀

I am thrilled to take on a new (volunteer) role as Chair of @build_toronto, the first municipal project of @build_canada

We’ll be working with civic & business leaders to push for ideas that improve governance, growth, prosperity, and opportunity in Toronto.

(Vid cut to 3M)

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Reposted by Alex Beheshti

More Neighbours Toronto @moreneighboursto.bsky.social · 28d

Last night, the City hosted a public consultation for Craven Rd (Councillor Paula Fletcher's ward).

Staff worked almost a year on a request for bespoke policy, carving out this one road from the City's zoning bylaw permitting as-of-right garden suites, which came out in 2022.
🧵

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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 28d

Sometimes I remember that this started when residents objected to a garden suite at Committee of Adjustment that was refused. That is, the existing rules already prevent the thing that they got upset about, but they want the rules to be more restrictive anyway. storeys.com/toronto-gard...

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Dr. Adil Shamji 🇨🇦 @shamjiadil.bsky.social · 28d

Young Ontarians are disillusioned by sky high cost-of-living, housing insecurity and rampant unemployment.

Doug Ford’s message to them?

You’re not looking “hard enough”.

For someone with so much contempt for education, he sure lectures a lot.

#onpoli

globalnews.ca/news/1140573...

Ford government declines to say if temporary foreign worker program should end | Globalnews.ca

Premier Doug Ford's office declined to take a position on whether or not the temporary foreign worker program should come to an end amidst growing unemployment in his province.

globalnews.ca

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Reposted by Alex Beheshti

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · Sep 8

I commonly hear people say that “rents never fall, at best they’ll stagnate, landlords would never accept less money than before”.

Where does this come from? It’s clearly untrue. Under the right market conditions, prices can absolutely fall.

Rental trends in Canada, showing decreases in rents in most cities

https://rentals.ca/national-rent-report

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Reposted by Alex Beheshti

Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · Sep 8

So what kind of architecture is that precious? The design guidelines tell us, it's basically fetishizing mail-order from the Sears Modern Homes catalog.

What am I missing?

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · Sep 8

Toronto used to charge for safe injection sites, and in the background study made that 100% growth related, meaning all drug users were apparently new to the city according to their math.

There are lot of ridiculous stories like this littered through DCs and CBCs.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · Sep 8

So the histroic data has some wild categories. Some municipalities charge for cemeteries, which Im not sure how that is growth related, other than the only two certainties in life truly are death and taxes.

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Alex Beheshti @alexbeheshti.bsky.social · Sep 8

The services that municipalities are allowed to charge for have shifted around a lot over the years. The current list is inclusionary in that you can only charge for services the province allows.

Before, you could essentially charge for any service except certain services so it was exclusionary.

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Damien Moule @damienmoule.bsky.social · Sep 4

The DC situation is getting completely ridiculous. It reminds me of old internal tariffs in ancien regime France. Economically ruinous but relied on to fund regional governments and can't be reformed because that would necessitate raising taxes on the land owning aristocracy.

More Neighbours Toronto @moreneighboursto.bsky.social · Sep 4

A timely article from @alexbeheshti.bsky.social at MMI on development charge (DC) differences across Ontario, BC and Alberta. Key chart that attempts to summarize the complex pieces of legislation across these provinces. www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/halving-dc...

A chart summarizing what services are eligible to be included in development charges for three provinces. Ontario includes the most services, followed by BC, and Alberta allows charges for the fewest services. There are nuances limiting some charges to certain municipalities or partial collection, as outlined in the article.

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More Neighbours Toronto @moreneighboursto.bsky.social · Sep 4

A timely article from @alexbeheshti.bsky.social at MMI on development charge (DC) differences across Ontario, BC and Alberta. Key chart that attempts to summarize the complex pieces of legislation across these provinces. www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/halving-dc...

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Reposted by Alex Beheshti

Andrew Kurjata @akurjata.ca · Sep 8

My original lede for this was "they caught him ridin' purdy"

Man arrested after driving child-size Pink Barbie Keep through Prince George www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Man arrested after driving child-size pink Barbie Jeep through town | CBC News

Police and a legal expert say driving any motorized vehicle, including a toy, without a licence and insurance is a punishable offence.

www.cbc.ca

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