Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social
Architecture critic @theglobeandmail.com. Also author, University of Toronto Daniels Faculty instructor, husband, father of two city kids.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/alex-bozikovic/
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/alex-bozikovic/
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Toronto deliberately killed apartment construction in the early 1970s, after a generation-long building boom.
Almost all of that housing was built by “the market.”
Almost all of that housing was built by “the market.”
Charting number of rental units in apartment buildings in Toronto by year of construction
(This is a quick update to a similar chart I made ~2.5 years ago)
#toronto #housing #dataviz #NationalHousingDay
(This is a quick update to a similar chart I made ~2.5 years ago)
#toronto #housing #dataviz #NationalHousingDay
November 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Toronto deliberately killed apartment construction in the early 1970s, after a generation-long building boom.
Almost all of that housing was built by “the market.”
Almost all of that housing was built by “the market.”
Seeing a tent doesn’t put anyone in danger. Being uncomfortable is not the same as being unsafe.
November 22, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Seeing a tent doesn’t put anyone in danger. Being uncomfortable is not the same as being unsafe.
Toronto's planning culture is so broken. Every argument here is backwards. www.thestar.com/news/gta/law...
Toronto community rallies to protect beloved Lawrence Plaza from redevelopment plans: ‘They become like your family’
Plans for Lawrence Plaza’s demolition and redevelopment were unveiled last year. “We recognize the plaza’s significance, and community engagement remains a priority,” the developer says.
www.thestar.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Toronto's planning culture is so broken. Every argument here is backwards. www.thestar.com/news/gta/law...
Last night at U of T, Alfredo Caraballo explaining Allies & Morrison’s position on tall buildings. Varied components don’t just break down the scale up close, but also provide different views from different directions, so that the tower has a different presence across the broader landscape.
November 21, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Last night at U of T, Alfredo Caraballo explaining Allies & Morrison’s position on tall buildings. Varied components don’t just break down the scale up close, but also provide different views from different directions, so that the tower has a different presence across the broader landscape.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
On Trump‘s extreme makeover of the White House: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Trump’s ballroom turns the People’s House into a monster home
The President has always understood the symbolic power of architecture, and is rewriting the story of the White House
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
On Trump‘s extreme makeover of the White House: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
On Trump‘s extreme makeover of the White House: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Trump’s ballroom turns the People’s House into a monster home
The President has always understood the symbolic power of architecture, and is rewriting the story of the White House
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
On Trump‘s extreme makeover of the White House: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
What a ride. This piece, about AI-powered scamming in journalism, is crucial.
“Every media era gets the fabulists it deserves.” Stories at four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, were removed after an investigation by The Local. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 20, 2025 at 2:09 PM
What a ride. This piece, about AI-powered scamming in journalism, is crucial.
Public policy has aggressively favoured suburbanization for 100 years. Still, today, central cities are expensive. What does that say?
Right, this is true, but the OVERWHELMING evidence of the past 100 years of American life is that vastly more people want space and a car than a smaller unit and a car-free lifestyle. This is mostly why the suburban share of US population has grown relentlessly for the entire 20th and 21st century
Some people put a premium on space in my experience, others put a premium on not having to have a car and not being isolated out in the suburbs
November 18, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Public policy has aggressively favoured suburbanization for 100 years. Still, today, central cities are expensive. What does that say?
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
alright folks - you have until midnight pacific time on 11/16 to snag my book, Building For People, for 50% off. grab an extra for your favorite mayor, council member, or legislator!
and not just mine - numerous other
@islandpress.bsky.social books are on sale.
islandpress.org/books/buildi...
and not just mine - numerous other
@islandpress.bsky.social books are on sale.
islandpress.org/books/buildi...
Building for People
islandpress.org
November 16, 2025 at 1:39 AM
alright folks - you have until midnight pacific time on 11/16 to snag my book, Building For People, for 50% off. grab an extra for your favorite mayor, council member, or legislator!
and not just mine - numerous other
@islandpress.bsky.social books are on sale.
islandpress.org/books/buildi...
and not just mine - numerous other
@islandpress.bsky.social books are on sale.
islandpress.org/books/buildi...
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
Phyllis Lambert, still posting.
November 14, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Phyllis Lambert, still posting.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
The NOTL city council drama around the Shaw Festival's proposed new Royal George theatre is getting spicy. Some wild demands for a theatre and the mayor filing a complaint with the integrity commissioner. www.niagarathisweek.com/news/council...
Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors reject Royal George Theatre planning application — for now
After a break following the 6-2 vote, councillors introduced a motion calling for staff to “keep talking” with festival officials.
www.niagarathisweek.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The NOTL city council drama around the Shaw Festival's proposed new Royal George theatre is getting spicy. Some wild demands for a theatre and the mayor filing a complaint with the integrity commissioner. www.niagarathisweek.com/news/council...
This man has just described the quality that makes cities distinctive and wonderful - and he hates it.
Councillor Holyday worries about retail stores that "sell some zany thing that has very little value." He wants to know if council could define a list of what stores can sell.
Staff say they can regulate things like size, noise and property standards, but generally not what stores sell.
Staff say they can regulate things like size, noise and property standards, but generally not what stores sell.
November 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
This man has just described the quality that makes cities distinctive and wonderful - and he hates it.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
richard daley could give mamdani some advice here
Moral of this story is that squatting is legal… if you’re rich enough and famous enough — www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/n...
Adams Makes It Harder for Mamdani to Build Over Elizabeth Street Garden
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:53 AM
richard daley could give mamdani some advice here
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
The folks at IntegrityTO have finally weighed in on neighbourhood retail with AI generated scenes of creepy faceless loiterers congregating outside a 7-11…
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
November 11, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The folks at IntegrityTO have finally weighed in on neighbourhood retail with AI generated scenes of creepy faceless loiterers congregating outside a 7-11…
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
The North American strain of this dates to the immigration and industrialization of the late 19c
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 9:17 PM
The North American strain of this dates to the immigration and industrialization of the late 19c
Jane Jacobs’s house, now with Audi SUV
November 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Jane Jacobs’s house, now with Audi SUV
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Shawn Micallef: How Toronto killed ‘Sesame Street’ with its heritage rules — and how we can bring it back
In the face of opposition from even small groups, the city ends up watering down even the best ideas.
www.thestar.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM
How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Some random group of NIMBYs, claiming to speak for all of Toronto, is deeply concerned about neighbourhood stores.
The spokesperson (frequent activist vs planning reform) lives in a wealthy, deeply suburban part of Etobicoke.
These people speak for no one, and ought to be ignored.
cot-ra.org
The spokesperson (frequent activist vs planning reform) lives in a wealthy, deeply suburban part of Etobicoke.
These people speak for no one, and ought to be ignored.
cot-ra.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Some random group of NIMBYs, claiming to speak for all of Toronto, is deeply concerned about neighbourhood stores.
The spokesperson (frequent activist vs planning reform) lives in a wealthy, deeply suburban part of Etobicoke.
These people speak for no one, and ought to be ignored.
cot-ra.org
The spokesperson (frequent activist vs planning reform) lives in a wealthy, deeply suburban part of Etobicoke.
These people speak for no one, and ought to be ignored.
cot-ra.org
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
People want to be with other people. A recent event showcased the wisdom of William H Whyte, and I ask: why don’t our public spaces follow his lead? www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...
Parks should be made for people. Why does such an obvious idea elude us?
We need to create spaces where people want to gather, as William H. Whyte argued, but the central requirements are sadly absent in Canadian public spaces
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:50 PM
People want to be with other people. A recent event showcased the wisdom of William H Whyte, and I ask: why don’t our public spaces follow his lead? www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...
Seven weeks ago, it was 30c and I was swimming in an outdoor pool.
We get it all
We get it all
November 9, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Seven weeks ago, it was 30c and I was swimming in an outdoor pool.
We get it all
We get it all
People want to be with other people. A recent event showcased the wisdom of William H Whyte, and I ask: why don’t our public spaces follow his lead? www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...
Parks should be made for people. Why does such an obvious idea elude us?
We need to create spaces where people want to gather, as William H. Whyte argued, but the central requirements are sadly absent in Canadian public spaces
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:50 PM
People want to be with other people. A recent event showcased the wisdom of William H Whyte, and I ask: why don’t our public spaces follow his lead? www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...