So, Toronto continues to grow in size as well as real estate, contrary to Vancouver’s cooling market Toronto’s housing market continues to rise. The average selling price was up 4.3% in January 2013 compared with January 2012. There has been so much talk about a bubble but it is all hearsay and wishful thinking. Toronto’s real estate market is strong and will continue to be! With the introduction of the tighter lending rules that were implemented last year, Toronto did see a bit of a slow down but now it seems that those people have jumped right back in again, realizing there will be no crash in our fair city’s real estate, or even a slow down period for that matter.

People continue to pour into the city and it seems that most are not lacking in the bank account department. An estimated 100,000 people per year move into the GTA region every year, hence the need for all these area codes.

So, starting next month there will be a total of 6 area codes to cover our Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Obviously the huge amounts of people moving into the city is making this possible. But, I also had an interesting conversation with a colleague the other day regarding simply the amount of phones per households these days. When I was growing up there were no cell phones. We had one phone line. My sister, in her teens, with her part time job decided it would be a good idea to get her own line so she didn’t have to hear my father telling her to get off the phone every five minutes. Today has changed a hell of a lot. Seems to me that the average family of 5, which happens to be what I grew up in, has at least 5 phones. Mom and Dad both have cells as well as all 3 kids and then there is the house line for a total of 6. So twenty years ago most households were sitting on 1, maybe 2 phones but that number has since tripled in some cases quadrupled. 

Having all this information now it is no wonder that we need all these phone numbers and extra area codes to supply the demand. I remember watching a clip on TMZ a year or so ago and they were interviewing a homeless man outside a car wash. I can’t remember why exactly they were talking to him but it had to do with some celeb that had been there the previous day.                        (IMAGE CREDIT:  Toronto Life Article)

Anyhow, he stopped the interview because his cell rang. Need I say more?

So, now we move onto the numbers. Toronto’s 416 was one of the original 86 area codes released in North America back in 1947. There is still a bit of a social hierarchy for this coveted area code but unfortunately for most very hard to come by since the introduction of the 647 area code which was introduced in 2001 and is now very popular but far from holding the prestige of the 416. Next month brings us the area code 437 which I suppose wont be as coveted as the 647 which in turn is not as coveted as the 416. There is also one more on hold for the city proper. That number is 387 and I’m sure it will makes it’s presence know soon enough.

416, 647 and now 437 are the city proper area codes. The suburbs that make up the rest of the Greater Toronto Area include 905, 289 and the new one to be released next month as well will be 365.

So there we have it folks. A whole lot of numbers for a whole lot of people that continue to pour into Toronto, reach their pre teen years or finally decide to get a cell phone.

I have no problem with all these codes, I mean it is a means to an end but damn, continuing to memorize everyone’s number now and its associated area code is going to be next to impossible. I remember dialing just 7 digits, damn I am starting to sound like an old man.

The post Different area codes, area codes! Hey GTA, are you ready? appeared first on .

It’s not too far from Toronto, though I am realizing that kilometers and distance mean hardly the same thing… and when talking small town attitude they’re pretty similar.

I have lived in the city of Toronto for almost six years now, and during this stretch I have lived in six different neighborhoods that us Torontonians would call Steeles, Scarbs, Cabbagetown, Moss Park, Regent Park, and Bloordale.

In all my time, in all these places, I have been a part of a neighborhood  a temporary home, and a place I could find my local spots to complete my abode.

Now, working at Essentia in the Beaches of Toronto (which I live nowhere near by the way), I find a home away from home, and a similar task of finding the little things over here that make the Beaches not only home for my workplace, but a little homelier for the eleven hour days I usually work.

I’ve always appreciated that once you get through the attitude that comes with a major city, you can find a little piece of home that makes you remember what’s so beautiful about infinity size buildings, and cramming into the TTC for couple hours each day.

Relevance? Well, I’ll start where it starts… I survived the holidays and made it up North to show my face at some family stuff, and to see some friends that I’ve been away from. When I recently heard that some of the big city attitude is in my humble small town I didn’t believe it. Back home there are only a few stores that cater to the echo boom generations. It’s hard to find everything from clothing to cocktails that’s age appropriate. I’ve been Hearing that same ole local spots that WE ALL go to, are now subject to a rule of ‘LIMITED TO THOSE WHO FIT IN’ ‘LIMITED TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT SUPPORTING COMPETITION’.

This is abso-f’ing-lutely baffling to me!

Imagine this: You’re out with your friends on a Saturday night, and you want to check out a bar that you’ve been to before, so  you get there, and order drinks. BUT, before you can get them you’re told: “I’m sorry you just don’t fit in, you should go” … there’s no sign.. there’s no code .. there’s just some crazy pretentious attitude that after 6 years, even I have not seen once in Toronto. When did the small town attitude change?

I have been to dive bars where the locals groaned at me ordering a martini, and on the club street where the staff had to up and down me to decide whether or not I fit the dress code, but never have I been turned down simply because I was not ‘the interesting man’ ‘Jock’ ‘coolness unicorn loving dudester’…

What this really breaks down to, is the sheer fact that small towns are SMALL! Treating your entire hometown like a hypothetical high school makes little to no sense to most adults. I cant fathom being on the other side of a bar, or standing in a retail store, and telling someone that I wouldn’t like to take their money or business because they aren’t exactly like me.

Furthermore; as far as denying someone entry into a clothing store, because the person is wearing another store’s Logo.. It’s just crazy to cut away business and deny someone access to your products because they have had someone else’s. #jealous #psycho #YouCantComeToMyBirthday  ???

Locally owned retailers are taking the low road against each other, bars ban customers based on coolness (not alcohol consumption levels) and worst of all these are acquaintances, friends, and family of everyone I know.
Modest ole Home base has caught a bug….an attitude bug!

I learned a long time ago that appearance meant nothing. I learned this lesson over, and over, and over, and will likely learn it again at some point again. I find it reassuring and comforting in my second home, to be a part of a place that takes pride in this lesson, and I’ve never felt rejected by the City, no matter where my stomping grounds have been.
I always know that I can raise a family and retire in my dear sweet Hometown, but for now, I love me my Big City. We know that business is business, and discriminating against money is foolish, but more than anything… discriminating against people makes you a downright !@#$%. Home is where the HEART is, not the roots.

The post Uprooting the Heart: Small Town Attitude… appeared first on .

Lets pretend.
Lets pretend that Ontario is in a good place with government.
Lets pretend that Ontario government doesn’t create a hate fence bordering our provincial walls.
Lets pretend that doing the same thing over and over will create change, and not provoke the country to think we are insane for expecting a different outcome.

This is the model for the Premier of Ontario.
No pretending about this.

I’ve spent the last few years progressively getting more and more interested in the ways we are governed, and the politicians that do so to us. I have a mother who works in the educational system, and I myself graduated four years ago from an Ontario college, so it makes me a little more inclined to care about the way my tax dollars are spent, who’s spending them, and what kinds of decisions I’m allowing them to make by voting for them in the first place.

At what point do I put the blinders up, and start the pretending again….

I’ve been watching the news obsessively lately, mostly to follow the Ford fiasco and the McGuinty turn over. Of course, these are huge topics of interest for Ontario, and Toronto, but I feel a little empathy for the other provinces watching us battle it out over the dumb choices made by the governing politicians.

There seems to be a trend in Canada when comparing Ontario (and also Quebec for that matter) to all the other provinces: Minority. Why does every other province & territory have a Majority Premier? Sticking to our ways and voting based on attack ads, old views, previous premiers, etc. Where has it gotten us? Yet again, we are in a minority situation where Nay-ing just to Nay makes more sense than giving a ‘YAY’ once in a while. Instead of looking at the views of a single voice, that has the potential to create change, the opposition voice instead bashes and stomps until the public hits mute.

We’re in a bad place with the public opinion of the Ontario premier and government, and this is due to recent events which ultimately affect every citizen of Ontario, and even Canada in the grand scheme of things. Cancelling two power plants, which cost billions, and would have otherwise been useful to brings jobs to the market, not to mention provide alternatives to the Western Sands, was a flop! One that the Opposition parties want picked up ASAP. What ever happened with the Ornge Budget and spending will be a constant inquiry, and also on that list, is the little pesky education system. Just to name a few…

Kathleen Wynne, new premier of Ontario, didn’t get picked because we waaaaaanted her to…Kathleen Wynne was chosen to take over a job that was plagued with ruin from the last man who stood as premier. Dalton McGuinty made it clear that he didn’t want to deal with his mistakes and bad judgment calls, so he passed the buck to Wynne. Now she’s stuck with the burden of trying to bring the parties together for a collaborative solution.

It’s too bad that the easier solution for these opposition parties is to neglect civil conversation, put Wynne in a box, and present a predetermined view and opinion of what she will make of the new Premier Position.

Unfortunately, not everyone wants change. The proposed good changes that can happen would fill the hate hole that’s been left in the political system in Ontario, which opposition leaders just simply wont allow. If Wynne cannot make friends, she must make her own decisions from a double-edged sword.

THIS, is why I pretend…

The post Wynne-ing is a Losing Game…New Premier of Ontario is in for a Bumpy Road! appeared first on .

Toronto is fast approaching its deadline to totally eliminate plastic bags in retailers, grocery stores, etc. Are we really ready to lose the bags?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Well, First of all -> Without making the assumption that everyone in Toronto is ignorant on this, I can only take the stance from my point of view that, which is that NO ONE is prepared. The Toronto plastic bag ban isn’t a state of emergency situation, BUT this is something that we as a city, need to prepare for. Pretty soon we will start to hear that soneso isn’t following the bag ban.. and soneso is getting fined for selling five cent bags … I might be calling wolf too soon.. But maybe we should start the public awareness and education on alternatives and solutions for shopping. I’ve had the thought of this cross my mind a couple times recently, and my Big question is; how am I to replace plastic bags in my life? I use my plastic bags more than once, usually a few times… to go to parties/ visits so I don’t lose yet another reusable, for my cats litter box, or garbage’s … I’ve never had to purchase a medium size bag because I’ve always had the option to just reuse my (used to be free, but is now 5 cents) bag.

“We’ve made a lot of dumb decisions, but this one takes the cake,” Ford said in June 2012 when the motion was passed.

Maybe the worst thing about this ban isn’t that I now have to go and buy bags for my cats poop, but it could be that buying heavy polyurethane reusable bags really might be taking a step back. I am not alone when I say that I RARELY remember to bring my bags to the grocery store. So, I am ALWAYS buying more. Maybe I need 5 more reusable bags … I’m thinking maybe that’s not the right idea. I personally own enough of these variations of multi use bags, and realistically shouldn’t have to buy another one ever again. If it takes a million (give or take -> I exaggerate) years to break down a measly shopping bag, then what are the stats on these heavy Poly bags??

Secondly… Is “single use” the magic word?? If a retailer can push their bags as Multi use, than what is to stop them from using plastic bags or whatever.

“Coun. David Shiner moved a motion to ban retailers from providing customers with “single-use plastic carry-out [shopping] bags, including those advertised as compostable, biodegradable, photodegradable or similar effective Jan. 1, 2013.” 

I would hate to see an influx of worse bags hit the landfills, due to uneducated consumers. The Biodegradable bags were already eliminated in the past because there were no easy recycling solutions in Toronto, but introducing an entirely new policy against bags could create an entirely new issue against the disposal of “reusable” bags. We don’t want to see them filling up the landfills, and even recycling them isn’t a perfect solution either, if we cant come up with a standard product that is common to everyone in Toronto .

I think this is only the beginning of the storm. In January, we shall see the eye of hurricane bag-ban and we should anticipate some big opinions.  Let it Rain.

The post The Toronto Plastic Bag Ban Baggage appeared first on .

There was ‘Sleep Out’ last night here in our great city of Toronto put together by Covenant House in support of homeless youth in the city.

There was a huge turnout as well as quite a few Local ‘celebs’ including Brian Burke, the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dragon’s Den vixen Arlene Dickinson and the Toronto chief of police Bill Blair.

They and 50 odd others participated in the event and spent the entire night in a parking lot near Yonge and Wellesley eqiupped with a sleeping bag and piece of cardboard. Obviously the idea was to see what it was like to be a street kid.

The executive director of Covenant House is Bruce Rivers (no relation to Joan – I love her by the way). He explained that $500,000 was raised through donations. Tell me that Toronto doesn’t care about the homeless? That is a huge number people. The money will help out the many thousands of homeless youths that count on the shelter for help.

My question about all this is where was our Mayor Rob Ford? I mean come on with this guy already. Can I get an Amen?

Great cause, great city, great people. I may have to try that one day.  We have far too many creature comforts and useless materialistic items in society these days.

The post It’s cooooold on the streets of Toronto: Covenant House Sleep Out! appeared first on .

So the winter is creeping up on us quick. I was driving down the 400 yesterday morning and sure enough there was a multi vehicle crash. The roads were slippery and speed was a factor….not to mention i’m pretty sure the drivers hadn’t switched to winter tires as yet.

I had to take a big detour due to the fact that they closed down the 6 lane highway. I had left about 20 minutes earlier than usual for some reason that morning and actually made it to work right on time even though I detoured for 30 minutes.

So people, now is the time to get those winter tires on. I don’t understand why some people wait until the first snowfall to clue in because it can be too late by then. I mean if you’re planning on putting them on anyways do it early!

Another note and huge tip to people driving anywhere this winter is to drive slooooowly in wet, snowy, icy conditions. Your destination isn’t going anywhere and it is better to arrive alive than 5 minutes late.

DRIVE SAFE and SLOW DOWN. So many accidents can be avoided by just taking the proper precautions and driving responsibly.  Winter tires can increase your stopping distance by 25%!

Here is a video that shows you some car accidents. You will be able to see how pretty much all of these accidents should have been avoided.

Drive safe to Essentia Toronto and have a nice lie down on the worlds only natural memory foam mattresses.

Mention that you have put your winter tires on and there will be something special in it for you!

The post Get those winter tires on! appeared first on .

Separate these are two annoying factors; but together they create my question, Why do I continuously pay more and more, for the saaaaame set of designers shows.  Has the value of their fashions rose? Has the promotion cost been hiked? Or did the cost of a ticket just simply go from $175 / week the first time I attended fashion week, to $175 / day for kind of the same thing….

Today, I did what I would normally never recommend for any social situation, and that’s attend an event via Google.  Sat in my couch groove and saw some of my favorite Canadian designers for FREE.  Seriously, after feeling like Fashion Week is inaccessible, I got to watch it all and to top it off ended up feeling like I need to go and purchase half of Vawk or Lucian Matis‘s Spring 13′ collection.

(Lucian Matis 2013)

I guess in the end, I’m still turned on by the clothes I saw, whether same-same designer every season, or not.  I liked what I saw for the price I paid.  I wonder when the less than general public (seeing most people cannot afford the shows) will stop paying the inflated prices, and just start buying the clothes a couple months later in store.

Does it make sense to keep the same customers by raising prices that only they can afford,  or is it more cost effective to keep the shows open to the PUBLIC, and maybe introduce someone to a new line, and make a permanent profit margin.

(Vawk 2013)

The post Toronto Fashion Week from the Front Row…Thanks Google! appeared first on .

Take it away David …

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post Soupstock ? Take stock ! appeared first on .

We are hosting this in conjunction with Soupstock. Let THE MAN tell you himself. Watch below.

The post You are Invited to Soupstock by David Suzuki appeared first on .

Dalton McGuinty seems to think the best solution is to step down, and let someone else do the thinking.

What is this all about? and why the sudden resignation??

In the recent months we’ve patiently waited for the dirty Liberal laundry to be aired, and now we are left with a Prorogued Legislature. I still haven’t forgotten the Ornge scandals, or the multi million dollar power plant closures that have quietly been swept under the liberal rugs.

Six months; This is the amount of time the Liberals have to come up with a new leader.  I cant help but wonder if McGuinty is stepping down from his Premier position as a time buy, or if its as he claims “time for renewal”.  Whether he needs some time to clear the liberal laundry machine, or just wants to spend time with his family, I think we can all agree that NOW IS NOT THE TIME!!!

Watch Dalton McGuinty’s Resignation speech here

Read Dalton McGuinty’s Resignation speech here

The post Wave Goodbye to Dalton … sha nah nah nah .. hey hey hey appeared first on .