The New Second Cup

Ok, it is not actually very new, but visiting The Second Cup location at the corner of King & John for the first time in years was a new kind of experience for me.

What brought me there was a stroll through the neighbourhood with some time to kill while waiting for my Dad to finish his charity climb of the CN Tower. Why he was expending countless calories and I was lazily seeking a beverage and a snack is another issue entirely. Nevertheless, a dark roast was in order.

What happened in the next ten minutes was a serendipitously pleasant assault on my senses.  From the aromatic fancy (insert yummy or yuppie interchanagebly as needed) slow bar of coffee experiences, to the WiFi and wirelesss charging stations, Canadian content, brass keg like taps for milks and cream pictured below, and more - this was an entirely unique coffee shop experience for me in Canada.

I grant you that the bar is set fairly low in that all I need to be satisfied is a nice affordable brew with a place to connect and charge a device. That said, as someone who increasingly spends is working hours in a virtual space - this is also the kind of place I could see myself parking myself for a few hours to move a project forward with whatever caffiene or fibrous product is on offer.

In short, I wish there were more of them.

Second Cup, being as Canadian as it is, I the coffee chain one wants to root for. In the ultra competitive coffee market they are neither as big as the Tim Horton's, McDonald's or Starbucks of the world, nor as prevalent - but they are showing fight in testing out new models of service such as this and different ways to improve the quality of the customer experience.

If today's experience is emblematic of what can be expected of their future plans, then I am hoping for success and that they can continue on a growth track.   At minimum, they have ensured that I will continue to return as a customer the next time I am around.

A Day At The Ex

We couldn't let August pass by without an annual pilgrimage to the CNE.  

Like similar visits of years past to Toronto's Exhibition grounds, it was a day marked by endless walking, impossible midway crowds, over priced games, poor food choices, and quirky things to shop for. 

While a Pomegranate Punch Booster Juice perhaps salvaged at least some nutritional quality in my food building choices, it in and of itself may not have been enough to make up for the deep fried filet and fries from H. Salt Fish & Chips, and random niblets of sweets, salty snacks, and deep fried ravioli's galore.  No, while curious, there was no waiting in the +30 minute-deep line to try the much hyped chocolate chicken.  

Rounded out by visits to the Direct Energy and Better Living Buildings, winning furry animals on various midway water gun and roll-a-ball games, and strolls through the lineup at Food Truck Alley - before I knew it night was upon us and there were fireworks in the air.  Literally, a solid 10-15 minute light show, with each one being shot from the pillars of the Direct Energy Centre.  I could have watched it for longer, were it not for the infinite other options to keep our eyes and brains jumping. 

Most importantly, what this day had in common with all prior trips to the Ex, was that it was fun!

Thank you Raptors

Thank you Raps for an inspiring and hard fought season. I already can't wait for 2014/2015!  

What is a walkable community?

There are six key elements essential to making a community walkable, courtesy of Canada Walks:

Accessibility - the pedestrian infrastructure is appropriate for people of all ages and abilities including those with limited mobility. Examples include sidewalks wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers, curb cuts for sidewalks and trails, and crosswalks allowing ample time for children and those with mobility challenges to cross safely.

Density/Land Use - medium density areas have a mix of housing types allowing for a higher number of people than areas of low density with predominantly single family dwellings. Mixed use areas have a mixture of residential units, stores, schools, restaurants, and other services. Having at least medium density and a mixture of land use types is essential for walkability. A higher density makes public transit feasible, which in turn promotes walking.

Access to amenities - In a walkable community, the school, grocery store, community centre, park, library, and other amenities and services including access to public transit are a short walking distance from your home. Having the appropriate density and land use mix makes it easier to have access to amenities.

Connectivity - good connectivity occurs when sidewalks, pathways, and trails connect one area to another in a neighbourhood and when adjoining neighbourhoods are connected to each other as well as to amenities in a direct manner.

Aesthetics - a walkable community is attractive to travel through on foot and invites further exploration. The aesthetics that make a community walkable include landscaping, shade trees, lighting, public art, availability of benches, public washrooms, shelter, attractive buildings and public spaces (plazas and parks). Cleanliness and a lack of graffiti are also important.

Safety along Walking Routes - key aspects of safety along walking routes include separation from the road, traffic calming features to control speed of vehicles, clear and well maintained sidewalks, well-marked crossings, adequate lighting, crossing signals designed with the abilities of the most vulnerable in mind.

The Blue Jays are back!

The sold out crowd tonight for the Blue Jays' home opener against the Indians takes me back to the 90's when the Skydome Rogers Centre was packed game in, game out and falling attendance records were annual events.  After what seems like an eternity of mediocrity ever since, to say that fan excitement for our beloved franchise is back would be the understatement of the year.  Win or lose, and yes there is still a full season ahead of us - the millions of us fans across Canada are thankful to GM Anthopolous and the entire front office for putting together a team that we can get excited about!

Toronto's Best Magazine Service

Congrats to everybody who thought of their library card when reading this title!  For the grand annual price of $2 for a membership, it is astounding the range of topics and skills one can learn through the Toronto Public Library (TPL) system.

As a regular commuter between Scarborough, North York and downtown Toronto, I am one of the scores of people who routinely grapple with how best to optimize the mobile learning and productivity potential of the extended time spent traveling through our beloved subway corridors.  With so much time already devoted to writing about issues, working up applications and networking from my computer - I tend to prefer using my commute and 'in between' periods for reading physical pages and other tasks that do not involve staring at a digital screen.  

Which brings me to TPL.  Inspired to renew my previously dormant membership after attending an info session for a business development series later in the year, I stumbled across the magazine racks on my way out and decided to pick up an issue of Popular Science to go.  Fast forward to home that evening following the perfect bit sized commuter read and armed with the knowledge that you can return items to any branch - I immediately began thinking about the next day and that my schedule would take me within close proximity to the Agincourt, Don Mills, Wychwood and Pape branches.  That day would indeed have me take out a total of three magazines and return four, and in the process facilitate a markedly more enjoyable commute for the most minimal of added efforts.  While my rate of new issues read has since plateaued at about 1 every 2-3 days, I am thoroughly enjoying getting caught up on recent trends in data analytics, healthier living and how to mine an asteroid.  Ok so not all topics are immediately relevant to the day to day, but my brain is a little more active, my knowledge base is getting a little bit broader, and until we figure out a real way to address congestion and commute times in Toronto - my train reads are immeasurable more enjoyable.  

Walk in to any branch at any time of the day and you can see people young and old from all walks of life reading for leisure, doing their homework, participating in community group activities, applying for jobs and learning skills ranging from graphics design to english literacy, financial management and just about any other need where someone has offered their time to teach, facilitate or organize.  Far from the traditional perception of being a place to take out books, branches have modernized into full fledged community hubs central to the connectivity, learning and socioeconomic potential of their neighbourhoods.  In less than a month of reactivating my membership, the only thing I kick myself for is having taken so long to have recognized the value of this gem of a service right down the street!        

So what is your best $2 investment?

Priority Neighbourhoods: A letter from John Tory to Community Development and Recreation Committee

I've always felt John Tory was far better in municipal politics than on the provincial stage.  I am in lockstep with his position on the current priority neighbourhood debate working its way through Toronto City Council, and I hope the Community Development and Recreation Committee considers his words below before making up their minds on this one.  For the full link on Civic Action's website, check out: http://ow.ly/5Cm3p


July 12, 2011

Community Development and Recreation Committee
Toronto City Council
10th floor, West Tower, City Hall
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2

Dear Community Development and Recreation Committee Members,

I am writing to you in my capacity as Chair of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance concerning the proposal to rename and review the programs put in place to improve our Priority Neighbourhoods.

Since its original inception as the Toronto City Summit Alliance, one of CivicAction’s principal concerns has been to identify measures we can undertake together, the results of which will be a healthy, prosperous and inclusive city region.

To me, and to most if not all of all of the thousands of people involved in CivicAction’s work, this has meant that addressing the special and often acute needs of some of our neighbourhoods stands high on the priority list. As a result, we have been very supportive of, and have in some instances partnered with the United Way, governments and other non-profit organizations, in efforts like the Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force to help the residents of those neighbourhoods overcome some of the unique challenges they face in trying to build up their lives and build up their neighbourhoods.

As you know, my long history with the United Way predates my return to a leadership role in CivicAction. In all of that time, and in visits to every one of the 13 Priority Neighbourhoods, never once has anyone mentioned to me any feeling of stigmatization as a result of this designation. I recognize that some residents may be concerned about labels, but the many I have met have told me that the Priority Neighbourhood designation gives them a sense of hope, because maybe, just maybe, it will encourage some focus on these areas with their special needs, and might in turn lead to crucial public and private investment. I have often said in my own speeches that the “Priority Neighbourhood” designation may in fact be too polite in that it doesn’t really seem as urgent as is the actual need to help some of our fellow citizens who are struggling the most.

My experience in public life has taught me to be very wary anytime I see people proposing a name change for a government program. I have learned that such a change is often proposed when the real intent is to downsize or eliminate the program. In the case of Priority Neighbourhoods, there are only success stories to tell, many of them modest, but representing a beginning. There have, however, been mentions of these programs being “handouts”, and of making programs available to an even broader range of neighbourhoods. These words seem to hint at the possibility that the real result of a name change would be to see some of these initiatives spread thinner, diminished or abolished and, notwithstanding the city’s financial difficulties, this would be a grave mistake.

None of the programs initiated under the Priority Neighbourhood heading amount to “handouts” as most people would understand that term. In many cases they do indeed represent a hand up: a small homework club here to keep kids in school, a recreation program there to give kids something to do. And far from chasing private investment away, the Priority Neighbourhoods program has attracted MILLIONS of dollars of investment, through generous donations to the United Way which have created Neighbourhood Hubs, to corporate sponsorship of new recreational facilities and the beginnings of some business investment.

There is indeed a spending problem at City Hall, but it does not lie in the programs like this which offer modest help to some of our citizens who are most in need. In my view, the Priority Neighbourhood programs may well offer the best rate of return of almost any dollars spent. While I’m sure we can find ways to deliver these programs more efficiently, just like all of the others, I would hope we will protect these initiatives as we go forward since the need is increasing, not diminishing.

One of the other things I have learned in my time in public life is that having a debate about a name change is much easier than actually addressing the real issue itself, whatever that may be. If you think about it for a moment, in the absence of any evidence whatsoever of any feeling of stigmatization, what possible benefit will come from spending even five minutes debating the name, as opposed to addressing the real issues facing these neighbourhoods, whether the dilapidated state of our public housing, the substandard recreation facilities, the much higher school dropout rate or the lack of access to economic opportunity?

I would respectfully advise your committee, and indeed all members of Council, to dispense with the name review and, if there is to be any review of the Priority Neighbourhood initiatives, to do it clearly and unequivocally with a view to maintain and make more effective the current programs, and to continue to treat this as a high priority of the Toronto city government. 

We at CivicAction stand ready to offer any assistance we can in addressing this most important of challenges.

Sincerely,

John Tory
Chair

BEATFACE - "We Don't Need to Pretend"

The Toronto based group, BEATFACE (http://www.beatfacemusic.com), aka my cousin's band just released their first single "We Don't Need to Pretend" off their long awaited debut EP, "Amy". 

Check out the single on 1loveTO's site at:  http://www.1loveto.com/2011/05/08/beatface-we-dont-need-to-pretend/ ... leave a friendly shout out on the comment board if you like!

-Bry

Trustee Laskin hits the right tone

Kudos to Shelley Laskin, local School Board Trustee for St Paul's on her reasoned response to the controversial TDSB proposal to launch an Africentric high school program at Oakwood this fall.  

In her words:

"I will not support this report. I will support referring this back to staff to answer the actual board recommendation (for a feasibility study to include options and recommendations, e.g. school within a school, specialized programs, etc.) and that would include a full consultation process with potential communities (including feeder schools) and recommendations for the timing of implementation that will ensure community consultation and necessary committee and board discussions."

Decisions about big and sensitive changes need to be studied thoroughly, communicated within an appropriate context, and be supported by real community engagement.  Token consultations will not do.  If you agree, then join me in calling or writing the two Trustees who represent most of Oakwood's catchment area with a quick message to urge their colleagues to do the same and ensure a full & inclusive consultation process.
 

Trustee Shelley Laskin: 416-397-3094 or shelley.laskin@tdsb.on.ca  
Trustee Maria Rodrigues 416-397-3069 or maria.rodrigues@tdsb.on.ca

Some links to media reports on the issue:
March 30, in The Star:  http://www.thestar.com/news/article/965530--trustee-seeks-to-delay-oakwood-proposal
March 28, in The Sun:  http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/03/25/17758561.html

More Mayoral candidates than the Media 5

It is unfortunate that of 30+ Mayoral candidates, we only hear of five getting respectable media coverage. Several others have great goals for out city, and in a time where Toronto is facing big challenges - all good ideas deserve to be heard.

This weekend's goal,if you can spare a few minutes: Search online and look up the candidacies of Rocco Achampong & HiMY SYeD

One year on, still no answers in death of Kristian Thanapalan

One year on, still no answers in beating death - thestar.com



Photo originally published by Tara Walton/Toronto Star

TAPPING INTO THE STRENGTH, COURAGE AND TENACITY OF STREET-INVOLVED YOUTH

This story first appeared in the Winter 2009 publication of the YOUTHLINK Connector ...

As the new manager for YOUTHLINK’s Inner City programs, I have been deeply impressed with the passion and commitment shown by my new co-workers, whether they be direct service support workers, counselors, administrative support people, or managers.
Woven through every conversation and every program update has been an excitement about what we can offer to youth.

There are many words used to describe the youth for whom we provide support services – street-involved, homeless, vulnerable, atrisk, marginalized, system shy – and while these terms are useful to help people understand a bit about the circumstances that may have led the youth to our doors, none describe the strength, courage and tenacity they have demonstrated in order to survive.

The social exclusion faced by many of the youth because of generational and/or situational poverty, mental health issues, racism, abuse, neglect, cognitive and/or developmental challenges, family conflict, substance use, and/or conflict with the justice system is profound.

Many youth have a history filled with reasons to be wary of service providers. And yet, every day I see youth opening up, trusting in the staff at Inner City and Youth Skills Zone, accessing support and creating the links they need to move from simply surviving, to thriving. The youth are compassionate, intelligent, caring people whose lives have often been filled with heart-breaking challenges.

The dynamic support flowing through all aspects of services provided by the staff members of Youth Skills Zone and Inner City Drop-In makes a huge difference in the lives of the youth.

At Inner City, our message to youth is, “you don’t have to leave your past at the door—it is a valuable asset in building your future.”

The Peer Educator Program is just one example of how Inner City programs honour the youths’ pasts and help them use the skills developed through crises as
strengths they can build on to move forward in their lives.

I believe strongly in our ability to reach young people through our Inner City programs with this message and to provide real opportunities for them to develop these strengths. We are providing essential services for youth who have rarely, if ever, found the support and acceptance they have needed through mainstream systems.

As we continue to enhance our programming through computer training curriculum development, health promotion programs and new partnerships to support youth living with mental health issues, we will be reaching out to public, non-profit and private sectors for support.

We want to show street-involved youth that there is a wider community that believes in them as much as we do.

--Sabina Chatterjee, Manager, Inner City Drop-In and Youth Skills Zone


http://www.youthlink.ca

BLUESLINK

On May 14th I'll be attending Blueslink - a Toronto fundraiser in support of some wonderfully effective inner-city programs supporting street-involved youth.

If you're going to be in the city, it's gonna be a fun night of Blues, giveaways and live music in support of a great cause. Check out the link for more info ...

~Bryan

http://www.youthlink.ca/BluesLINK09_eflyer.pdf

Great running routes Toronto: Warden Woods - TNRL

Length: 18Km
Time: 99min

Weblink to map of route: http://www.runningmap.com?id=45638

Description: Warden Woods to Toronto Nike Runners Lounge (TNRL)@ Summerhill,
via Taylor Creek Park - DVP - Riverdale Park - Rosedale Valley

Black-focused schools: What do you think?

In response to disproportionately high dropout rates and poor academic performance among black youth, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is debating the idea of piloting an "Afrocentric" school.

My initial reaction is to oppose the plan. This is a serious and complicated problem that the TDSB should be working hard to do something about. But to frame this issue strictly as a failure of the education system somewhat misses the point, as it deflects attention away from the broader social issues at the heart of why so many of these kids do not succeed.

Poverty, stable housing, food security, knowledge of risk behaviours, access to healthcare and key services - the "social determinants" per se, or the indicators of socioeconomic status which are all linked to educational performance by a vast body of evidence. It might not come as a surprise that these are also among the chief determinants of health, as well as crime.

The 13 "priority neighbourhoods" as identified by the City of Toronto and major stakeholders (e.g. United Way) were acknowledged for being grossly underserved urban areas requiring a greater investment of resources. These communities also have a few other things in common, such as:
- High percentage of low income earners
- High percentage of low income single parent families (that single parent is usually a woman)
- Poor access to health and social services
- High rates of Homelessness
- High rates of Type 2 Diabetes
- High rates of Tobacco use
- High rates of school drop out
- High concentration of Afro-Canadian residents

Even if we were to achieve the best and most engaging schools in the world, I am inclined to think the overall improvements would be limited. Unless there is a strong effort underway to address the underlying socioeconomic determinants affecting these communities, too many kids will fail to meet their academic potential and decide that the classroom isn't for them.

Now these are just my early thoughts on the subject based on some reading and experience with underserved youth ... It's a tough issue to be confident with though, and I am still trying to talk it through with anyone I can to help firm up my position. Publicly or privately, I'd love to hear your thoughts if you care to weigh in.

Street Health Report 2007

Last week Streethealth launched the Street Health Report 2007 – a community based research study that interviewed 360 homeless individuals & reviewed extensive literature to assess the health status of the homeless population in Toronto, the root factors impacting on their physical/mental health, and the barriers preventing them from accessing needed health services which (in theory) are available to them. The report is available for free at http://www.streethealth.ca/Downloads/SHReport2007.pdf

I had a chance to review it over the weekend and the changes in the health profiles of this community have shifted remarkably in the past 15yrs. While some of the recommendations they promote aren’t necessarily realistic – the survey results in the body are highly informative and is a good read for any of you working or involved with homelessness or at-risk low income earners in Toronto.