Toronto Engineering & Construction Services (ECS) will be rehabilitating the bridges on South Kingsway between Ripley Avenue and the Gardiner Expressway. This work will start May 16th 2022 with an end date of December 2022. For more information, click here.
Want to be a good Bloor West Villager? Learn about the do’s and don’ts for your lawn and how to grow pollinator-friendly by checking out tips here.
We’ve been advised that Toronto Hydro will be improving the electrical distribution system near our neighbourhood on Bloor Street West, between Pacific Avenue (West) and Dufferin Street (East). Work is expected to begin May 2022. For more information and a map of the work area please see the notice here.
The City is working on a report to respond to various City Council directives since the Noise Bylaw was amended in 2019. Residents of Bloor West Village have been invited to share feedback and comments on things like restrictions on noise from two-stroke leaf blowers and other small-engine equipment and potential strategies to reduce excessive vehicle noise our neighbourhood, including automated noise enforcement and the use of noise radar technologies.
To share any comments, please email MLSFeedback@toronto.ca by April 20, 2022. More information is available at toronto.ca/Noise.
Local volunteers from Techfugees Canada are working with Romero House to respond to the urgent needs of refugee claimants and help families living in transitional housing find stable apartments faster. There are two ways you can help as a Bloor Street West resident:
To learn more about both of these initiatives email toronto@techfugees.com.
Techfugees Canada is a local chapter of the global social enterprise Techfugees, which is an impact-driven organization dedicated to nurturing a sustainable ecosystem of tech solutions to support the inclusion of displaced peoples.
As we all know, our neighbourhood is home to a large Ukrainian population and Ukrainian-run businesses. To show you support, here are three verified charities that will accept your donation:
Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) – Canada Ukraine Foundation
You can now get a free rapid testing kit for at-home use. Ontario will be distributing 5.5 million rapid antigen tests each week for eight weeks through pharmacy and grocery locations across the province, as well as through community partners in vulnerable communities. Here is a list of everywhere you can get them. Use the search bar for a major street or store in our neighbourhood.
Friends of High Park Zoo is pleased to announce the FHPZ Holiday Trees at High Park Zoo; a FREE family friendly event taking place 9:00 am to 5:00 pm from December 5, 2021 through to January 8, 2022.
Fifteen decorated fir trees stand along the boulevard in High Park Zoo for this special event. Each tree has been sponsored and decorated by a local company or organization from across Toronto. Walk through High Park Zoo and admire the decorated fir trees and say hello to your favourite animals too! Zoo visitors can vote on their favourite holiday tree on Friends of High Park Zoo website and share photos of their favourite tree/s on Instagram with hashtag #HighParkZooTrees.
In addition, for two (2) special nights, High Park Zoo will host the Snowflake Walk and be open to the public on Sunday, December 12 and 19th from 5-6 pm. The Holiday Tree and other lights will be sparkling in the dark. Once the event closes on January 8, 2022, the fir trees will be used as enrichment toys for the enjoyment of some of the zoo animals.
Find out more about these two events, here. Tickets for the Snowflake Walk are available here.
| As the final community consultation, City Planning has provided the following documents on the Garden Suites website for review by the public: – Proposed Garden Suites regulations – Draft Official Plan amendments and draft Zoning By-law amendments – A video explaining the regulations with illustrations. A reminder that Bloor Street West residents have until November 30th to submit their comments. Planning will be preparing their Final Report for submission to the Planning and Housing Committee in January, 2022. |
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Imagine walking through your neighbourhood and being able to pull back the curtains of time as you go. What do seniors remember from decades ago? What family anecdotes do they have to tell? What used to be where that condo now stands? What did newcomers experience when they settled in Toronto?
These are some of the questions Back Lane Studios hope to answer with their newest project, Mapping our Memories. Here’s their plan: Build a team to collect memories and historic information about our neighbourhoods in the west part of Toronto, including ours. Then, make the material easily accessible through links to digital maps. They will be focusing for now on Roncesvalles and High Park, Parkdale, Swansea, the Junction and Weston, with
some forays into Etobicoke.
Back Lane Studios decided to embark on this project when one of their videos, Growing up in the Junction, gained more than 2,000 YouTube views in fairly short order. In the documentary, Lois Broad, 94, who has a remarkable memory, reminisces about places and childhood experiences in west-end Toronto. The video showed the strong interest people have in what life in their neighbourhoods used to be like, and they decided to create a way to
continue collecting and organizing seniors’ memories geographically.
Mapping our Memories is supported by funding from the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program. They are using the grant to pay instructors and cover the cost of developing the website mapping platform. Most of the work is being done by volunteers. Current funding runs until February, 2022 however, they are hoping to build a team of volunteers, involve interested partners and seek further funding to continue this as a long-term Back Lane Studios’ project with expanded geographic reach.
If you want to help or support, here is their contact details: info@backlanestudios.ca.
A call out to local landlords: Would you consider renting the apartment to a refugee family?
Techfugees Toronto is working with Romero House on a new project called the Refugee Housing Network to help families living at Romero House transition from temporary to affordable permanent housing faster.
We are looking for landlords who agree to be contacted by Romero House in the event that a settlement worker identifies a potential match with a refugee family living there. Settlement workers will only make tenant recommendations if the tenants have stable income.
Conditions for joining as a housing provider:
Email toronto@techfugees.com to learn more about #VacanciesForRefugees. Techfugees Toronto is a local chapter of the global social enterprise Techfugees, which is an impact-driven organization dedicated to nurturing a sustainable ecosystem of tech solutions to support the inclusion of displaced peoples.