Toronto Life February 2025

DIGITAL EDITION FREE FOR PRINT SUBSCRIBERS Your Toronto Life subscription now includes free access to the Toronto Life and FASHION digital editions. In your digital newsstand store, search “toronto life” and “fashion magazine,” download/open the apps, and follow the prompts. SUBSCRIPTION EXPIRY To find out when your current subscription expires, check the mailing label. BILLING AND RENEWAL NOTICE Invoice and renewal notices are printed one week before they are mailed to you. With delivery time, it’s possible that your payment or renewal order will cross in the mail with our invoice or renewal notice. FRAGRANCE-FREE ISSUES Some issues of Toronto Life include perfume strips. If you prefer to receive your copy without perfume strips, write to us at the address listed below. MAIL PREFERENCE On occasion, subscriber names and addresses…

When is a bike lane more than a bike lane? When it’s in Toronto. In her reporting on this fraught subject, Kate Lunau heard a common refrain from the anti camp: “Look, it’s not that we’re opposed to bike lanes…” I believe them. Who opposes pavement? And who has it out for cyclists? Really, what they’re saying is that they’re opposed to gridlock, chronic lateness and the paroxysms of road rage that have become an inexorable part of our daily lives. Anyone with a frontal lobe knows that modern cities shouldn’t rely on cars as residents’ main mode of transport. Think about how people navigate New York, London or Tokyo. It takes will, vision and money to design functional cities. Boston spent nearly $15 billion on its “Big Dig,” burying…

“Toronto police should be the highest paid in Ontario” —Clayton Campbell, p. 16 Back in 1959, when the population was roughly a quarter of what it is today and Line 1 still had that new-train smell, Toronto outlawed corner stores in areas earmarked for single-family homes. Since then, density—and the diversity of people and businesses that come with it—has permeated almost every neighbourhood, the telltale sign of a thriving city. And Torontonians like it that way. A survey conducted this past summer revealed that a staggering 92 per cent of citizens want more small-scale retail on residential streets. But, in December, when city hall floated the notion of reversing the retail ban, NIMBYs complained, predicting an invasion of cannabis shops, lurid bars and (god forbid) coffee houses. So council did…

As police union boss, you represent 8,000 uniformed and civilian members. You campaigned as No More Mr. Nice Guy. Why was that necessary? I’m not afraid to speak up. Politicians tend to support police when it’s convenient. There are councillors who voted to defund us in 2020 who now support a larger budget because public sentiment has shifted. I tell the truth, and if it hurts, fine by me. You have the floor. Toronto’s biggest challenge right now is response times. Recent 911 callers have been left on hold between eight and 12 minutes. Average answer times were 28 seconds pre-2022. We need more dispatchers and more officers. So when I argue for a modest budget increase, it’s because the data supports it. You’re asking for a $46-million hike. You…

“I’m still renting at pandemic-era prices” REGULAR EXPENSES RENT: $1,733 a month. “I’ve been living here for three years. It’s rent-controlled, so I’m still paying pandemic-era prices. It started at $1,650.” INTERNET AND PHONE: $115 a month with Virgin Mobile. “I got a package deal.” GROCERIES: $450 a month. “Loblaws is only a two-minute walk from my condo.” PRESTO: $25 a month. “Everything I need is close by, so I rarely take transit.” CLOTHING: $100 a month. “I just bought a heated vest from Amazon, and it was worth every penny. I’m a very practical shopper.” TREATS: $50 a month. “I’ll go to the Drake Hotel for drinks or grab a pastry from the Dessert Lady Cafe and Bakery in Yorkville.” TAKEOUT: $100 a month. “With Uber Eats or Skip the…

Full House This couple raced to find a starter home in the west end before the birth of their first child THE BUYERS: Alexandar Ciric, 33, an underwriter at an insurance company, and his wife, Sarah, also 33, a private client coordinator at an asset management firm, with their dogs, Draper and Chester. THE STORY: Last year, Alexandar and Sarah were paying $1,600 a month for a one-bedroom rental at Avenue and Wilson. They wanted to start a family and had been saving for a larger place—ideally a detached house with two bedrooms, a parking spot and a yard for their dogs. They set their sights on the west end north of St. Clair, which was equidistant from Alexandar’s family in Parkdale and Sarah’s family in North York. Then, in February,…