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
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-...
Park around the corner. Walk 75 feet. Have some respect. It’s not hard.
Pesky e-bike riders delivering food to people should be ticketed... @tps.ca there appears to be a double standard here because stopping in for some Jerk King, although delicious is not actively responding to an emergency.
The use of the lights here, while clever, is certainly inappropriate.
The use of the lights here, while clever, is certainly inappropriate.
November 8, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Park around the corner. Walk 75 feet. Have some respect. It’s not hard.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
White Christian Nationalist adolescents who think they are living in a comic book movie.
Border Patrol's Greg Bovino just posted a new Batman-themed propaganda video to social media
November 7, 2025 at 8:28 PM
White Christian Nationalist adolescents who think they are living in a comic book movie.
Fresh drawings of the plans for Queen’s Park North by JRALA. Scaled back.
November 7, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Fresh drawings of the plans for Queen’s Park North by JRALA. Scaled back.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
And, of course, it wouldn't be Canada if it hadn't a cluster of apt buildings cornered between two huge arterials and a strip mall.
"TOD urbanism is my passion" meme
"TOD urbanism is my passion" meme
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
And, of course, it wouldn't be Canada if it hadn't a cluster of apt buildings cornered between two huge arterials and a strip mall.
"TOD urbanism is my passion" meme
"TOD urbanism is my passion" meme
Dan says it right: this is a city, and we need leaders who will say so.
I wrote an op-ed on what I think about the fight for local neighbourhood retail (and the grousing about Badiali's) means for the urban vision of Toronto. Gift link here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
When even the humble corner store is impossible to open in Toronto, it’s a sign of something deeply wrong
We need to accept that Toronto is now a big city.
www.thestar.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Dan says it right: this is a city, and we need leaders who will say so.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
November 5, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
It will be interesting how this federal budget frames "infrastructure." Does that mean housing? And for other things, how and where do they envision it? www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Federal budget to include $50-billion local infrastructure fund
Finance Minister to announce funding for housing, transportation, hospitals and emergency services, as well as tens of billions in targeted savings
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:08 PM
It will be interesting how this federal budget frames "infrastructure." Does that mean housing? And for other things, how and where do they envision it? www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
In Jane Jacobs’s old neighborhood, more heritage rules will mean more exclusion and gentrification.
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Will heritage stop housing development in the Annex?
If a new heritage district is created, it should acknowledge the tradeoffs and explicitly define how the area will change
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:54 AM
In Jane Jacobs’s old neighborhood, more heritage rules will mean more exclusion and gentrification.
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Has this firefighters’ union done a comparative study to explain why almost every one of the world’s richest nations allows single stair access? Or are they just making stuff up?
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
There's a push for single-stair apartments in Canada. Calgary firefighters want the city to reject it | CBC News
Calgary’s firefighters union is trying to prevent what it calls a dangerous housing trend — in which multi-storey housing buildings are being constructed with only one stairwell — from making its way ...
www.cbc.ca
November 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Has this firefighters’ union done a comparative study to explain why almost every one of the world’s richest nations allows single stair access? Or are they just making stuff up?
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
In Jane Jacobs’s old neighborhood, more heritage rules will mean more exclusion and gentrification.
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Will heritage stop housing development in the Annex?
If a new heritage district is created, it should acknowledge the tradeoffs and explicitly define how the area will change
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:54 AM
In Jane Jacobs’s old neighborhood, more heritage rules will mean more exclusion and gentrification.
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
We know how the story ends. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Imagine a city of great apartments where everyone knows their neighbours. The Neptis Foundation has a vision: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...
A dense, urban Canada? It’s possible
A specific, provocative proposal for how Toronto might evolve offers good ideas
www.theglobeandmail.com
October 25, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Imagine a city of great apartments where everyone knows their neighbours. The Neptis Foundation has a vision: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
As a resident of one of the mid century towers, I appreciate this piece by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social. It's incredible to have a home at this price point so close to downtown, and rare for a tower to be off main streets as is normal in planning today.
"For decades, Toronto has planned the city one skirmish at a time, treating each policy choice as isolated from the rest. The outcome is a spiky geography of privilege: towers on one block, fossilized affluence on the next."
Will heritage stop housing development in the Annex?
If a new heritage district is created, it should acknowledge the tradeoffs and explicitly define how the area will change
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:00 AM
As a resident of one of the mid century towers, I appreciate this piece by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social. It's incredible to have a home at this price point so close to downtown, and rare for a tower to be off main streets as is normal in planning today.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
We’ll always have Ontario’s Ring of Fire
November 2, 2025 at 1:10 PM
We’ll always have Ontario’s Ring of Fire
Hanging out in a hotel bar, watching the bottom of the 9th with a bar mitzvah party-turned-World Series event.
13-year-old boys huddling in the doorway, craning necks at the TV.
13-year-old boys huddling in the doorway, craning necks at the TV.
November 2, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Hanging out in a hotel bar, watching the bottom of the 9th with a bar mitzvah party-turned-World Series event.
13-year-old boys huddling in the doorway, craning necks at the TV.
13-year-old boys huddling in the doorway, craning necks at the TV.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Everyone who talks about bail reform but also everyone who funds the carceral system (so, all of us) should read this.
Everyone who talks about bail reform should also have to read Brendan Kennedy’s investigation of the abuse “akin to torture” of people awaiting trial, and the cover-up at Maplehurst jail.
www.thestar.com/news/investi...
www.thestar.com/news/investi...
Inside the many lies told by Maplehurst jail officials trying to cover up the ‘torture’ of inmates
The deceit ranged from serious attempts to conceal what happened, to absurd, easily disprovable lies that left an Ontario judge stunned.
www.thestar.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Everyone who talks about bail reform but also everyone who funds the carceral system (so, all of us) should read this.
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Some good vibes from a walk around the neighbourhood!
November 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Some good vibes from a walk around the neighbourhood!
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Decided to scare pedestrians for Halloween!!
Oooooo!! Beg to cross the 8 lane stroad!!! Spooky! 👻👻
Oooooo!! Beg to cross the 8 lane stroad!!! Spooky! 👻👻
October 31, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Decided to scare pedestrians for Halloween!!
Oooooo!! Beg to cross the 8 lane stroad!!! Spooky! 👻👻
Oooooo!! Beg to cross the 8 lane stroad!!! Spooky! 👻👻
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Considering its extreme scarcity, its provenance, and its immaculate condition, the Lincoln Bathroom's now-destroyed #Vitrolite walls—original to the 1949-51 Truman reconstruction—were considerably more valuable than Trump's common marble-by-the-yard.
#HistoricPreservation #20thCenturyPreservation
#HistoricPreservation #20thCenturyPreservation
October 31, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Considering its extreme scarcity, its provenance, and its immaculate condition, the Lincoln Bathroom's now-destroyed #Vitrolite walls—original to the 1949-51 Truman reconstruction—were considerably more valuable than Trump's common marble-by-the-yard.
#HistoricPreservation #20thCenturyPreservation
#HistoricPreservation #20thCenturyPreservation
Is he okay?
Councillor Stephen Holyday suggests permitting more neighbourhood retail will… increase residential break-ins? So, like, people who are in a neighbourhood to go to a store will decide, on a lark, to commit some spontaneous burglary? www.thestar.com/business/tor...
October 30, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Is he okay?
Revised plans for the waterfront ampitheatre at Ontario Place: now PARTISANS with @genslerdesign.bsky.social
www.newswire.ca/news-release...
www.newswire.ca/news-release...
October 28, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Revised plans for the waterfront ampitheatre at Ontario Place: now PARTISANS with @genslerdesign.bsky.social
www.newswire.ca/news-release...
www.newswire.ca/news-release...