Business Regulations in Toronto

I believe one of the biggest problems with the city of Toronto is the business regulations, or lack thereof. One of the most prominent traits of Toronto is it's strong cultural niches, such as the Annex, Little Italy, The Fashion District, The Gay Village, Yonge St Tourist district, etc. Each of these niches has their own codes and conventions in terms of the business regulations. The problem with this is that there is very little government control over what businesses go where. This becomes an even larger problem when the 'Big Box' stores come into the picture, and place their shops in the center of these beautifully cultured areas.
I work at a local, independently owned shop in the middle of the tourist driven fashion district on Queen St. West. While the shop I work at has been located in the same building for almost 20 years, the vast majority of other shops in the area have come and in some cases, quickly gone. I spoke to my boss about the business regulations that she follows, and what verbal agreements she has made with distribution companies in terms of which shops in the same vicinity are allowed to carry the same brands that you would find in her shop. Being the owner of an independently owned company proves to bring some serious challenges to her in terms of regulating brand distribution. Over the years she has taken on brands, and now carries over 100. She has agreements with most of the companies that she is the only shop in a particular section of Queen Street that is allowed to carry certain brands. The long and short of it, it is in no way affiliated with government and on the other hand, is a monopoly brought on by her fervor.
This situation of her owning brand rights over other smaller shops, can be compared, on a far larger scale, to big box stores coming and placing themselves in a district of independent companies, essentially driving them away. Since I have been talking about a section of Queen street between University and Spadina, I will continue to give examples relating to that area: There are many locally owned convenient stores (such as Gardenview, St. Patricks, etc) that survive because of the tourist industry. They provide things for people who are traveling through the area to shop, such as water and snacks, yet they also provide a basic grocery store for people who live close by. Living in the area as I do, I do find myself often going to these stores for things that I need to survive. These small companies, who often jack up their prices because of their locations, survive on the fact that it is a good distance to walk elsewhere to stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Wal-Mart or Loblaws, and the convenience of their locations forces people to shop there. The large Urban Planet found in between John and Beverly on Queen West is closing due to a lease end, and there is talk of the very large, two story space being rented to Shoppers Drug Mart. Envision a Toronto with stronger business regulations: Perhaps something like putting in a huge Shoppers drug mart in this area would not be allowed to happen. I worry for the owners of these local stores, who will undoubtedly suffer as a consequence of the arrival of this Big Box corporation.
Another example, even more painstaking, would be the proposal to put a starbucks in the center of Kensington Market. While this proposal has caused an uproar with local residents, there is little stopping starbucks from opening a location in the area. Simply put: There needs to be at least the most basic of moral codes and conventions put into place to assist in the placement of corporate stores that will prevent them from taking over the world, or simply just continuing to take over our streets.

Arepanrix H1N1 Vaccine .pdf Exposed

"If you are Canadian and you are thinking about taking the H1N1 vaccine that was approved by Health Canada, you may want to consider reading the .pdf file before you do because I don't think they did."

china's no jolly green giant

I know this is from the Sun but i found it very interesting. check it out!

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/lorrie_goldstein/2009/10/04/11284411-sun.html

Four Square

Is now in Toronto!
http://foursquare.com/
and OCAD is on the Map - both sLab and DFI are here. Watch it grow.

thefuntheory.com

see this site and the initiative - people motivated by fun. Design is the provocation.
www.thefuntheory.com
and a youtube video: funstairs

nice.

Here is an article explaining why the rape tunnel was a hoax:

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2009/09/artlurker_explains_rape_tunnel.php

One of the pictures was taken directly from this website:

http://www.geversaircraft.com/wt/wt5x7.htm

Compare-

http://www.artlurker.com/2009/09/the-rape-tunnel-by-sheila-zareno/

Green transport...

A few years ago a friend of mine returned from a trip from Holland and was sharing all their cycle stories with me. I was shocked to know how seriously cycling was taken. I discovered that Holland is pretty advanced in comparison to Toronto in terms of a cycling infrastructure. Why they even have a Cycle Parking Station. Yes, Cycle parking, like I've never seen it before at a Railway station. They also have much more designated cycle lanes, most are seperate from motorist lanes.

Here's a video to give you an idea of how many cycling commuters there are. (sorry about the music...)

Why can't Toronto do that? Well it turns out that they were planning something neat called Bixi, which is currently being used by our neighbors in Quebec. It's a bike rental system situated all over town. Of course not comparable to Holland but definitely a start. Bixi has been delayed due to the City Worker's strike which occurred over the summer, but it's a great alternative to those who don't own bikes and need to get from point A to point B. Also convenient for those experiencing transit delays; you'd have the option to cycle to your destination instead of taking a cab or waiting for a shuttle bus. Bixi stations are out of service during the harsh winter season from Nov-March, but still a great green transport alternative.

I think that if Bike lanes were barred off with road medians all over town it would make cyclists feel safe. Possibly even encourage more. A median would make it harder for cabs and reckless drivers to run cyclists off the road. Yes an expensive project, but in the long run better for the environment. As for Bixi, hopefully it will reach Toronto soon.