Toronto Life January 2024

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Neighbourhood Watch Sifting through the comments on our neighbourhood rankings was a romp. Torontonians are obsessed—obsessed!—with their postal codes. There were loads of shout-outs to this year’s No. 1 (Danforth), North York (which had two neighbourhoods make the top 10), West Queen West, Bloordale and many more. Here, a small sampling of the cacophony. “The fact that two neighbourhoods along the Yonge stretch between Sheppard and Finch made the top 10 feels like vindication. I cannot recall any time in the past when Toronto Life praised an area that far north. But the way that area has developed really should be an example for all subway-accessible neighbourhoods. Instead of tearing down the low-rise storefronts to build cookie-cutter condos, they densified one block behind the retail. Yes, it means they displaced…

And Slumlord of the Decade Goes to… The most notorious address in Toronto is 500 Dawes Road, a 14-storey apartment building in the east end. It’s owned by a woman named Carolyn Krebs, who also goes by Carolyn Goodman, except when she goes by Marian Linton as a way of evading justice. You see, it’s hard to be held responsible for the mistreatment of hundreds of low-income tenants when no one knows your real name or where to find you. And a lot of people wish to find her. While the exterior of 500 Dawes is bleak—peeling paint, rusted-out balconies, broken windows—the interior is heartbreaking. Residents live with bedbugs, roaches and mice. The ceilings leak, and the windows are drafty. When appliances break, repairs take ages if they happen at…

“I keep my gold medal in my sock drawer” —Sarah Nurse, p. 26 THE BIG PICTURE True Crime Cyber bandits are targeting Toronto’s public institutions It happened in the night: cyber criminals infiltrated the Toronto Public Library in late October, stealing staff SINs, home addresses and other data, threatening to make it public. The attack also laid waste to the TPL’s digital infrastructure, rendering services like its free computers useless. The library is the latest in a long line of recent victims—SickKids, Indigo, the TTC and Michael Garron Hospital have all been hit—which means that every Torontonian is at risk. Though the TPL didn’t pay the ransom, most victims see it as the only way to avoid bad publicity and get back to business. Real solutions are elusive. While companies…

Sarah Nurse has won gold, inspired her own Barbie doll and earned a fan in Drake. Now, she faces her biggest test: bringing glory to the Professional Women’s Hockey League You tallied a whopping five goals and 13 assists en route to winning gold at the 2022 Olympics. What were those two weeks like? Beijing brought up mixed emotions. It was during the pandemic, and I was coming off a knee injury, so being able to hit the ice was exciting. I just wanted to play and be free. Where’s that gold medal now? I bring it out when I’m meeting kids or if I’m with family who haven’t seen it yet. Otherwise, it’s in my sock drawer. You’re now the face of the new PWHL. Any reason to think…

IT HAPPENED LAST MONTH: A LOOSE CHRONOLOGY…