Hidden Density in Harbord Village: Notes from a Rooming House
By Zoë Johnson (she/her) At first glance, our house — or I should say, my landlord’s house — is a conventional Harbord Village home. On a quick walk, you’d notice little difference between our...
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Opposing the Bloor-Danforth Subway
Toronto’s subway system turns 70 this month. Following the completion of the original Yonge line, there was plenty of debate over what rapid transit system to build next, with ideas ranging from a...
View ArticleTHE FUTURE FIX: Vivre en Ville à Victoriaville
Spacing et Evergreen présentent ensemble une nouvelle série de podcast, Face au futur : des solutions pour les communautés du Canada, d’une côte à l’autre. CET ÉPISODE: Vivre en Ville à Victoriaville :...
View ArticleThe Future Fix: Dipping into water data
THIS EPISODE: Dipping Into Water Data We all know access to clean water is vital. We also know that water quality and access is jeopardized by things like pollution and drought. On the other hand, the...
View ArticleOP-ED: When Process is the Enemy of Progress
Politicians and government bureaucrats love process. Let’s not rush to blame them, though, because there’s a lot to love. Carrying out a series of planning meetings, collecting relevant data,...
View ArticleSpacing investigation: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack, pt. I
This is a five-part series independently produced and investigated by Spacing As a parent to a two-year-old, Markus Harwood-Jones made visiting a Toronto Public Library branch an essential mainstay in...
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Spacing investigation: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack, pt. II
This is a five-part series independently produced and investigated by Spacing On October 29, a Sunday, a TPL branch manager got a call on his cell from his supervisor, who relayed the following...
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Spacing investigation: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack, pt. III
This is a five-part series independently produced and investigated by Spacing At some point in mid-2020, with the pandemic raging, the Toronto Public Library began working with the Gartner Group, a...
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Take the Yonge subway to the future! (expect some delays)
EDITOR: It’s 1954. Fictitious Bert Xanadu is the Mayor of Toronto and owner of the Imperial Six cinemas on Yonge Street. Mayor Xanadu has been governing from his twitter account for many years, and...
View ArticleSpacing investigation: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack, pt. V
This is a five-part series independently produced and investigated by Spacing The Toronto Public Library’s chief librarian, Vickery Bowles, sat down for an extended virtual interview with Spacing‘s...
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The Urban Photography of Arthur Goss, Part 1
Anyone who delves into the visual records related to Toronto’s twentieth-century social history is likely to come across photographs taken between 1910 and 1940 by the city’s first Official...
View ArticleSpacing investigation: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack, pt. IV
By John Lorinc and Sakeina Syed Although TPL officials maintained an official no-comment stance for much of the shutdown — TPL chief librarian Vickery Bowles told The Globe and Mail‘s Oliver Moore in...
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Book Review – The Artful Plan: Architectural Drawing Reconfigured
Editors: Martin Søberg and Anna Hougaard (Birkhäuser, 2020) Architectural representations are more than just visual aids—they are the foundational blueprints for the built environment, embodying the...
View ArticleSpacing investigation: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack, pt. V
This is part five in a five-part series independently produced and investigated by Spacing The Toronto Public Library’s chief librarian, Vickery Bowles, sat down for an extended virtual interview with...
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LORINC: National politics vs. local land use planning
The Liberal’s housing, infrastructure and communities minister Sean Fraser is by far the most entertaining politician on the national scene these days, what with his performatively insouciant policy...
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The Urban Photography of Arthur Goss, Part 2: The Housing Series, 1936-1940
The Housing Series is the product of the last new project Arthur Goss undertook as the City’s Official Photographer. Between March, 1936 and January, 1940, he produced 675 carefully composed photos of...
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What is the cost of ransomware attack on Toronto Library?
This is a follow up to Spacing’s five=part series on the ransomware attack on the Toronto Public Library in the fall of 2023. Part I: Toronto Public Library ransomware attack: Overview Part II:...
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Youth Design Jam for Downsview
Over a weekend in late March, teams of high school students gathered a conference centre in Toronto’s new Canary District for Design Jam, where they were tasked to brainstorm, design, and prototype...
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LORINC: It’s time to talk about the Committee of Adjustment
The building pictured above — a three storey walk-up with five units — is located at the end of the block where I live. I’ve always thought of it as kind of radically non-conforming. The front wall is...
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Dangerous Development: ‘Boulder beaches’ are unsafe and bad for us and our...
I’m one of many who swim and paddle in downtown Toronto year-round. I have no summer cottage. The beach is my cottage. Until our last swim on January 7th, 2024, we swam nearly every day year-round at...
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