I’ve decided to do a once a year update on the city I live in. They used to be somewhat random, but once a year seems right.
First up is local politics. In a month Torontonians will go to the polls for the 2026 municipal election. The key thing I’ll be watching is whether or not Olivia Chow gets to be mayor for another term. The mayor and her challengers have already had a debate and perhaps because of that the race has tightened. Whoever wins, two things to pay attention to are, 1) whether or not we see the new mayor using strong-mayor powers 2) whether or not we see new councillors continue / ramp up opting out of initiatives.
Not on the ballot but always in the mix is premier Ford. He all but endorsed Chow in a recent press conference, which must have been unpleasant for her right wing opponents. Let’s see what if any the effect of that is.
Ford looms large in anything to do with Toronto. Some of his Toronto MPPs got into trouble for expenses this year, which led Ford to axe the rule that allowed Toronto MPPs expense hotel stays in city. Then there is the ongoing saga of Ford wanting to take over Billy Bishop airport (which has too many links to insert here). Not to mention the even longer ongoing saga of Ford and the Toronto bike lanes. The man likes to get involved with running the city. It would be interesting if the Premier was from another part of Ontario, say Kingston or London….I wonder if we would see the same involvement?
Moving on from politics to food, lots of dining news has been happening in one particular part of Toronto: Mirvish Village. One of Toronto’s best bakeries, Blackbird, just opened its biggest location there. Next door to it is Book Bar, which Toronto Life says “is the perfect mix of books, booze and schmooze”. As well, Pizzeria Badiali’s opened a new Mirvish Village location and yes, it is busy with line ups out the door, just like it’s original location. Mirvish Village is still in the process of opening, but it already is a great destination for food.
Not far from Mirvish Village is the very difficult to get into Brasserie Cote. If you can’t get in and perhaps you just need a slice, then head over to Nice Slice Toronto with it’s New York-style za’atar and pickle pizza. Rose’s Pantry is another great spot close by to grab and go some fantastic food. Indeed Harbord Street is packed with great places to dine and sip wine (hello Canary Counter!)
Not only is Toronto a really a great city to dine in, it doesn’t have to be too expensive either. To see what I mean, check out these 10 restaurants with prix-fixe menus for $60 or less or this list of Toronto’s best 100 restaurants under $100. Or maybe you just want to grab a great doughnut? If so, Yonge and Eglinton has what you need.
If you head downtown, you can great tickets to see Toronto’s newest professional sports team: the Toronto Tempos of the WBNA. Here’s a story of their debut game in May. Were there celebs in attendance? Of course!
In other entertainment news this past year was Sneaky Dee’s. There was plenty of fear that it could be demolished for condos. In fact, there still is. But it won a reprieve and it seems it will live to rock on for another day.
Also at risk is the Hot Docs theatre on Bloor near Bathurst. Here’s a piece on “the high-stakes ‘long game’ to bring Toronto’s Hot Docs back from the brink”. Let’s hope that happens. I’d hate to see it demolished, the way Toronto’s abandoned planetarium was torn down this year.
Besides restaurants and entertainment, other things good and noteworthy about Toronto this year were:
- Toronto’s Union Station being named one of the most luxurious train hubs in the world. It really is great down there. It’s like a mall in itself.
- U of T ranked #32 in a listing of best schools in the world. Well deserved. And it’s just part of the great education you can find in the city.
- Toronto now boasts the world’s third best tech talent market, ahead of New York City but behind San Francisco and Seattle, according to this piece in CNN Business.
- I thought this was cool: the underground farm hiding in this Toronto parking garage.
Some noteworthy things that were less than good about Toronto:
Thanks again for reading these Toronto stories. Come back next September and we will see how the new mayor and other municipal politicians are doing. Will there be stories about restaurants too? Of course there will. 🙂
Smart People I Know 