Neighbours | torontolife.com

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

All stories relating to neighbours

Cats now prisoners in their own Oakville homes

Toronto city hall has a reputation—deserved or not—for passing more regulations than its suburban counterparts. But while Hogtown thinks about scrapping its pet licensing requirement to save money, the 905 is cracking down on those vicious, sociopathic animals who butcher fowl and furniture alike: house cats.

The Toronto Star reports:

Oakville has joined neighbours Milton, Burlington and Hamilton in prohibiting cats from roaming free. The town has already banned dogs from running loose, but added cats to the list when it consolidated all animal bylaws last month.

Owners whose loose cats repeatedly end up at the Oakville shelter can be fined $105, plus a $30 town surcharge, a return fee of $25 and $15 for each day the cat stays at the shelter.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

From the Print Edition

November 10, 2010 | 8:55 am

23 Comments

Monster jam: Jan Wong on the tear-down real estate trend in Lawrence Park

In my neighbourhood, century-old houses are being knocked down to make room for super-sized faux chateaux. Something is lost, and something gained Jan Wong

(Illustration: Emiliano Ponzi)

When I was house-hunting in Toronto in 1994, my real estate agent routinely pointed out the highlights of each prospective property. At one house, she said helpfully, “There’s a Chinese family next door.” I grimaced. I’d just wrapped up six years working as a foreign correspondent in Beijing. Quite frankly, I’d had my fill of squeezing up against a billion or so neighbours who looked just like me.

What I yearned for, after living in a soulless concrete apartment inside a bleak walled compound, was a bit of green. Lawrence Park, with its wide lawns and winding streets, was the polar opposite of Beijing. I snapped up a 1938 four-bedroom Cape Cod–style house with eight towering oaks and a 95-foot frontage (which was affordable only because it faced Lawrence Avenue and needed lots of work). From my front door, I could see the Don River ravine, and from my kitchen window, I could glimpse a gigantic willow a block away at Cheltenham Park.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Urban Diplomat

November 8, 2010 | 8:49 am

3 Comments

Dear Urban Diplomat: what can I do about fighting neighbours that just won’t shut up?

Dear Urban Diplomat,
I live in a condo, and the woman in the unit neighbouring mine has a nasty habit of screaming at her boyfriend at all hours. She is loud enough for me to hear every highly personal detail of their relationship, as well as her profane vocabulary. I am woken by the antics of this charming young lady several times each week, even with my recently acquired earplugs. How can I regain peace in my home without getting the property manager’s attorney involved?
—Earmuffed and miffed,
YONGE AND EGLINTON

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 14, 2010 | 8:00 am

Comments

Today at TIFF: Good Neighbours, The Debt, Edward Norton interviews Bruce Springsteen and more

Our daily roundup of opening galas, parties and screenings.

• 6 p.m. Edward Norton interviews Bruce Springsteen at Bell Lightbox
• 6:30 p.m. The Debt North American premiere gala at Roy Thomson Hall
• 6:45 p.m. Heartbeats world premiere at Varsity Cinema 8
• InStyle magazine party at Windsor Arms Hotel
• 9 p.m. Henry’s Crime premiere at Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
• 9:30 p.m. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town world premiere gala at Roy Thomson Hall
• 9:30 p.m. Good Neighbours world premiere at Varsity Cinema 8
• 10 p.m. David Morales at Ultra
• 10 p.m. Stiff at The Beaver
• 10 p.m. Kiss Me I’m a Rockstar! with performances by Gene Simmons and The Envy at Tattoo Rock Parlour
• Good Neighbours cast party at Festival Central (148 Cumberland St.)
• Henry’s Crime after party at Brassaii

The Informer

The Yanks

July 13, 2010 | 8:35 am

3 Comments

Huffington Post notes Canada’s existence, job numbers

Keep left is more like it: HuffPo eyes the border (Image: TheTruthAbout)

In a post voiced somewhere between a zoo plaque for children and a swindling travel brochure, U.S. news site HuffPo tells its readership that Canada may be an excellent place to direct unemployed Americans:

Stubbornly high unemployment rates got you down? Not sold on the economic recovery? Look no further than America’s polite neighbor to the north, where jobs numbers are surging and home prices have been rising steadily for nearly a year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Urban Decoder

June 10, 2010 | 11:00 am

Comments

My neighbours are growing pot plants in their garden. Our houses are attached, and there’s only a low fence separating our yards. If they were busted, could I get in trouble? Am I being paranoid?

As long as Mary Jane stays on her side of the property line, the fuzz has no reason to knock on your door. And it’s unlikely a rogue plant will sprout in your yard, since pot can’t reproduce without the presence of both male and female plants (the less potent male plants are usually weeded out early on). Moreover, you are not legally obliged to snitch on your neighbours, so if they were to be busted, you would not be considered an accessory to the crime. Anyway, the chances of said bust are slim. The five-0 doesn’t comb Annex yards in search of drug lords. Assuming your neighbours aren’t cultivating a miniature weed forest, they’re probably safe. Should you want to wreak vengeance on them for, say, hogging the prime street parking, you can place an anonymous tip, which could result in them facing up to seven years in the clink. As for the question of paranoia, it’s a well-known side effect of marijuana use, which begs the question: are you sure you’re just watching the ganja grow?

• Question from Lucy Bazelon, the Annex

The Informer

Cityscape

May 27, 2010 | 1:51 pm

1 Comment

City to Paul Bronfman: tear down this fence

Being robbed is never a happy experience, and people understandably react to a violation by taking measures to improve their personal security. If you’re a person of average income, you might sign up with a security firm or buy a dog. If you’re a billionaire scion of one of Canada’s wealthiest families, you fence in your property with wrought iron and chain-link, then install floodlights that annoy the hell out of your neighbours. In fact, you might just be a Bronfman.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

To Market, To Market

May 18, 2010 | 11:19 am

3 Comments

Cross-border house shopping: six reasons to be cautious of buying up U.S. real estate

Yes, those are actual tumbleweeds (Image: Gail Williams)

It’s official: we’ve weathered the economic crisis better than the Americans. Does that mean we can stop gloating and start taking advantage of our neighbours? Many Canadians are saying, “Yes we can.” With low interest rates, dropping American home prices and a strong loonie, temptation is high for Canucks to snap up foreclosed houses and condos in the States (there’s certainly no shortage of supply). Yet the prospect of a four-bedroom bungalow in Florida for $170,000 still sounds suspicious. Below, six points of caution to Canadians looking to buy up U.S. real estate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Urban Decoder

May 15, 2010 | 10:55 pm

Comments

I’m selling my house, and my neighbours’ unkempt yard is bringing down my curb appeal. Do I have the legal authority to get them to clean it up?

You’re not alone. The city receives thousands of complaints on this subject each year. If you’ve extended a polite request—perhaps a note, passive-aggressively tucked into their mailbox—to no avail, the Municipal Licensing and Standards Division can step in. Property with grass exceeding 20 centimetres is in violation of the grass and weeds chapter of the municipal code. Likewise, any piled-up trash is in violation of the littering and dumping of refuse chapter. Following a complaint, the city will send an inspector to issue a notice of violation and give the residents a week to shape up. If that doesn’t work, the city can take the offenders to court (a rarity, given our lethargic legal system) or send crews to conduct the cleanup, slapping all associated costs onto the home owner’s property tax bill. But keep in mind that the municipal government is not in the business of manicuring yards to meet Martha Stewart standards, so if you’re merely neat-freaking on the neighbours (i.e., your definition of unkempt is clashing flower beds), it’s probably best to foot the bill for a neighbourly make-over. Call it peripheral fluffing, and let your newly pristine view be its own reward.

• Question from Monica Lee Murray, Little Portugal

Wondering about the waterfront? Curious about construction? Perplexed by politics? Ask the Urban Decoder a question here.

The Informer

Gimme Shelter

May 3, 2010 | 10:16 am

2 Comments

House of the week: a $12.8-million customizable Yorkville penthouse

Sky’s the Limit

ADDRESS: Penthouse, 206 Bloor St. W.
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Yorkville
AGENT: Diane Stead, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage
PRICE: $12.8 million
THE PLACE: This unit is the kingpin of the 26 exclusive luxury suites that will sit atop MuseumHouse. The pre-built penthouse will occupy both the 18th and 19th floors, providing 180-degree views of the city. Though all residents will have direct elevator access in their suites, the MuseumHouse team stresses that this building will be all about “community.” With just over two dozen units, occupants will have a hard time not getting to know their neighbours; we hear a mystery rock star, a bigwig athlete and a handful of financial giants are among them.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Gimme Shelter

April 2, 2010 | 9:04 am

1 Comment

House of the week: $4.5 million for this butterfly-shaped mansion on “Thornhill’s Bridle Path”

(Image: RE/MAX)

Are We There Yet?

ADDRESS: 37 Steele Valley Road
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Thornhill (Bayview)
AGENT: Jerry Hammond, RE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc.
PRICE: $4.5 million
THE PLACE: The long driveway gives visitors plenty of time to take in the grounds and striking look of this Markham mansion. Nestled in a ravine on a prestigious cul-de-sac, the property offers utter privacy behind the front lawn’s mini-forest.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

From the Print Edition

March 30, 2010 | 10:24 am

4 Comments

Toronto’s water main nightmare: how we got into this mess and what it will cost to get us out

This winter in Toronto, as many as 70 water mains ruptured every week, causing blackouts, flooding basements to the rafters and creating the perfect recipe for SUV-size sinkholes. How we got into this mess and what it will cost to get us out By Robert Hough

Illustration of Hillary Street by Josh Cochran

(Illustration: Josh Cochran)

Hillary Avenue is a short street spanning the distance between Keele and Rogers Road in a west Toronto neighbourhood populated with Portuguese bakeries, West Indian takeouts and Vietnamese noodle shops. Toward the west end of the street, facing a public school and an adjoining daycare centre, is the tidy, two-storey home belonging to Pedro Lezcano and his family. Lezcano, a 45-year-old native of Paraguay, is the night manager of the Loblaws across the street from Mel Lastman Square. When not taking care of their 15- and 11-year-old sons, Lezcano’s wife, Maria, works as a nanny.

On the night of Saturday, January 2, the Lezcanos spent a quiet evening at home. They ate dinner, watched some TV, and at 10:30 Lezcano went to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, the water main running beneath Hillary Avenue broke right outside his house. For the next several hours, water flowed undetected from the break, slowly spreading across Lezcano’s backyard and the yards belonging to four of his neighbours. By the early morning, the pooled water was beginning to seep through their foundation walls. Around seven o’clock, a tenant living in the basement of one of the neighbouring houses was wakened by the sound of liquid sloshing against the side of her bed and frantically called 911.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Gimme Shelter

March 19, 2010 | 8:17 am

1 Comment

House of the week: $12 million worth of charm in Forest Hill

(Image: Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.)

THE ENTERTAINER

ADDRESS: 36 Forest Hill Road
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Casa Loma
AGENT: Howard Mark Biderman, Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.
PRICE: $12 million
THE PLACE: Part of the Rogers family’s real estate holdings, this sprawling brick mansion has enough party-friendly permutations of gardens, rooms and patios to make Gatsby gasp. A 2008 renovation added modern features—exercise room, glass front door, gas fireplace, domed ceiling—but this is a property for party lovers who get a contact high from expensive antiques, crystal chandeliers, flawless landscaping and ornate mouldings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Urban Decoder

September 1, 2009 | 11:23 am

Comments

My neighbours host parties every weekend and blare music all night. What can I do to stop the racket permanently?

If earplugs and the 5-0 have failed to silence the Ibizathons next door, you can sue the boisterous bastards. Sort of. Because noise is regulated by a municipal bylaw, it’s the city (rather than the police) that can really give your neighbours the what-for—a slow, bureaucratic, moderately effective what-for. Complaints can be filed with the district office. An inspector will open a formal investigation and issue a written notification to the offender by mail. Should that be ignored, you’ll be asked to complete a noise log (e.g., “10/09/09. 3:05 a.m. Hyena-like laughter. ‘Groove Is in the Heart’ on repeat.”). You’ll then have to face your noisy nemeses in court, which pretty much guarantees sidewalk awkwardness on garbage day. The whole process takes about a year, and the typically puny fines (often as little as $100) may not be worth the trouble. Vigilante vengeance may have to compensate for both peace and justice. In the spirit of John Cusack and the U.S. invasion of Panama, the strategic use of some boom box Yanni can send a very strong message.

• Question from Toby Shaw, Beaconsfield

All stories relating to neighbours

Contests

Links and Offers

The latest from across the St. Joseph Media network