Jungle City? Or company town?
A warren of laneways that only the locals could navigate? A place of danger?
I’m not sure what I expected when I joined the Jungle City Walk, a Jane’s Walk led by members of the Lawrence Heights Community Safety Story Circle Group. Read more…
Come and see for yourself
Think of it as a blog in 3-D.
This Sunday, May 6th I will be leading A Fresh Look at Social Housing – a tour that literally walks through 30 years of housing policy and speaks to the hot issues facing Toronto’s social housing today. The tour starts at 2pm at 1555 Queen Street East, just west of Coxwell, and ends at Project Amik around 4 pm.
The tour is one of almost 500 Jane’s Walks held world-wide to commemorate the life and work of Jane Jacobs. There’s other housing walks offered in Toronto this weekend too:
- Jungle City Walk led by members of the Lawrence Heights community
- A Second Look at Regent Park, following on last year’s successful tours
- Or for a different angle on revitalized neighbourhoods, try A Walk on the Radical Side: Gentrification and other downsides of becoming a desirable neighbourhood led by Diane Dyson and Martine August.
Want to celebrate Jane Jacobs indoors?
This spring the City Builder Book Club hosted a blog on each chapter of Jacob’s Death and Life of Great American Cities.
I wrote the entry on Jacob’s chapter on “Subsidizing dwellings.” It’s called “Redeeming Strategic Lunacy.” But don’t stop there. The site is chock-ablock with good thinking.
Afraid to do good
A conversation with a senior civil servant some years ago made a lasting impression on me.
He said, “I see myself as a risk manager.” He knew that politicians of every political stripe were waiting to pounce on procedural errors for political gain. “It doesn’t matter how innovative a project is” he said, “or how brilliant its success. If they find one picky error in the procurement process, my department is on the line.”
His strategy was to hunker down, protect his core programs, and do nothing more. And I thought: “Is there a greater waste of public money than this: to pay for a civil service that is afraid to do good?
I thought of this conversation afresh when I saw the terms of reference for the LeSage Review requested by Toronto Community Housing’s board of directors. Read more…
Towards a theory of displacement
Should Toronto Community Housing tenants in good standing ever be asked to leave their homes?
It’s a question that elicits strong opinions. Read more…
Diamonds in the mud
Last week I emailed a few friends about the Toronto Community Housing’s Regent Park “scandal,” as described by the Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy. Each responded with exactly the same question: “Who is Sue-Ann Levy?”
So for the (apparently) many who have missed the story, here’s a recap. Read more…
Dave, we need you!
I’m a sucker for fairy tales — the kind where the humble but cheery peasant becomes ruler of the land. So I’ve always had a soft spot for Dave, the 1990’s flick that puts an Everyman played by Kevin Kline into the Oval Office.
In one pivotal scene, Dave is attending a Cabinet meeting. (Go ahead and watch the Youtube clip – it’s just one minute long.) Read more…
When cash isn’t the cure
If you’ve been following the lively public debate around TCHC’s stand alone houses, you might have come away thinking Toronto Community Housing has only one goal: raise money to fix up its buildings.
It’s a worthy goal. You can’t stay long in the landlord business if you don’t break even, and you can’t be a responsible landlord unless your buildings are in good repair.
But is this the City’s goal? Read more…
There ain’t no rental housing if there ain’t no rent
Last week Toronto Star columnist Joe Fiorito offered his reflections on TCHC’s eviction prevention policy:
“The point of TCHC’s eviction prevention program is to prevent the poor, the elderly, and those people who are unable to look after themselves, from being tossed onto the street.
All you really need to know about this is contained in one simple sentence, in the letter accompanying the LeSage update: “Good eviction prevention programs cannot be implemented at the expense of rent collection.”
Those are the words of Len Koroneos, the interim CEO. You know what that sounds like to me? Your money, or your life.” Read more…
TCHC house sales: A window opens
Oh happy day!
Last Friday Mayor Ford opened the window to a real solution for TCHC’s deteriorating buildings. He recognized the importance and complexity of the issues by devoting a special Executive Committee meeting on February 17th entirely to TCHC’s proposed house sale, and is said to be “receptive” to Affordable Housing Committee Chair Ana Bailão’s proposal for a comprehensive strategy for TCHC’s buildings.
This is good news for TCHC tenants, and good news for Toronto. Read more…
Good rhetoric. Bad policy.
Hoisted by my own petard!
As someone who has worked off and on in communications, I know the value of the guerrilla statistic – that wham-o number that galvanizes action.
But last week’s meeting of Toronto City Council’s Executive Committee reminded me that catchy communications can sometimes lead us down the wrong policy path. Read more…
