Harry Keess 🇨🇦
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harrytonorth.bsky.social
Harry Keess 🇨🇦
@harrytonorth.bsky.social
31 followers 41 following 23 posts
I selected "running" from the approved list of millennial midlife crises.
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Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
damienmoule.bsky.social
From the Metro Toronto Planning Board's 1959 draft Official Plan (voted down by Metro Council). You could not say something this obvious in Toronto's Official Plan anymore.
December 19, 2025 at 7:41 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Shout-out to all my fellow runners and cyclists with light-up vests! It's so nice to see a splash of rave-like colours on the roads and trails on dark December mornings #running #winter
December 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Sometimes the memes write themselves
December 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
This item was basically a request to endorse the directions in the report and move forward to the next stage of engagement. It looks like Committee will defer at Councillor Cheng's request. This would be a deferral on the proposed community engagement until more community engagement is done.
moreneighboursto.bsky.social More Neighbours Toronto @moreneighboursto.bsky.social · 29d
If you're interested in making this spine a little chunkier, the latest on the North York Secondary Plan should be at Planning and Housing Committee on December 3rd. No new details available yet but opposition from the low-rise Neighbourhood is expected.
December 3, 2025 at 4:34 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
@graphicmatt.com you may be interested to know that the North York Centre Secondary Plan will be deferred at tomorrow's PHC meeting at councillor's Cheng's request. Stated reason is "not enough consultation". There have actually been several rounds of consultations and surveys on it this year.
December 3, 2025 at 12:06 AM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
@ffsafestreets.bsky.social you may want to consider writing in support of planned speed humps on Maxome in Willowdale, on the agenda at NYCC this week. Those of us advocating for these could use the extra help. Some locals are trying to oppose this needed project secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
secure.toronto.ca
November 30, 2025 at 10:54 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Took me years to realize that one of my life goals was to live somewhere where I could be the rightmost example #urbanism #eggs
October 29, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
Neighbourhood retail will be at Planning and Housing Committee on Thursday. Much of Toronto's traditional retail + residential is being considered for heritage protection. Why is it valued and how could we do more of it? Our letter:
www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis...
Position More Neighbours supports the expansion of small-scale retail, service, and office uses in Neighbourhoods. We urge the Planning and Housing Committee and City Council to adopt the proposed Zoning By-law amendment. More Neighbours has long supported making the Zoning By-law more permissive, especially in residential Neighbourhoods. The strict separation of uses in Toronto’s Zoning By-law, whether retail or different types of housing, has been a major factor in producing the housing crisis. It is time to undo this quirk of our zoning and revert to the more traditional mixed neighbourhoods that Toronto was built around. Making Major Streets Work We note that the majority of new retail permissions that this study proposes to add are to areas classified as Neighbourhoods along Major Streets. This is the second piece of the EHON initiative, along with the Major Streets Study, which is reliant on development along Major Streets to expand the options in Neighbourhoods. It is therefore crucial for the success of the EHON initiative that new buildings actually be built along Major Streets. To that end, it is important to assess residual barriers to the construction of apartments along Major Streets. We encourage City Council and City Planning to investigate the reduction of required setbacks and amenity requirements in Residential Zones along Major Streets. This would reduce land costs, and make it more economical to build along Major Streets. Toronto’s traditional mixed retail and residential buildings, which in many cases are now the focus of heritage preservation, did not have large setbacks, especially at the front and sides of the building. Restoring the permission to build the City’s traditional form could be a major benefit of this study. But only if the City allows it. We also encourage City Council and City Planning to study a simplification or elimination of Site Plan Control for smaller apartment buildings of the scale now permitted along Major Streets. Many of the Site Plan Control requirements are designed for large buildings in Downtown and the Centres with hundreds of units. Many of these requirements are excessive for smaller buildings. Reducing the required studies to something more appropriate for the smaller scale of the buildings along Major Streets would reduce the cost for these buildings which the City is trying to encourage. It would also reduce the time needed for development application review, which would reduce the cost both to the City and to the developer. Next Steps After EHON More Neighbours has strongly supported the EHON initiative. Each step has involved a beneficial expansion of the zoning permissions in Neighbourhoods. This work was long overdue to bring growth to our shrinking residential areas and to chip away at exclusionary zoning. But with the closing of EHON, it is time to start looking ahead to make room for the next generation of residents. With the expansion of permissions to Neighbourhoods, the Residential section of the Zoning By-law has become quite complex, which adds increased effort to both development applications and development reviews by the City. It also makes public understanding of the Zoning By-law much more difficult. ... full text at https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ph/comm/communicationfile-197382.pdf
October 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Strava dropped its lawsuit against Garmin! Great news, since if your run isn't uploaded to Strava, does it even exist?
October 26, 2025 at 1:11 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Biggest life change since entering my 40s? Search history is now mostly inflammation relief and inflammation relief accessories
October 26, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
philmarfisi.bsky.social
From: @alexbozikovic.bsky.social: "Our building codes require every apartment to have two separate... stairs. If you eliminate that rule... everything changes. Buildings become... less bulky. Apartments gain light and fresh air in every room. This means a dramatic improvement in quality of life."
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 11:40 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
A lot of people talk about European cities, "6 storeys everywhere." The Neptis foundation did the work of looking at the current barriers to making that happen in Toronto. You can find more details in the ebook at Impossible Toronto. impossibletoronto.ca
Impossible Toronto — On the Courtyard — Introduction
impossibletoronto.ca
October 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Burst pipe in my condo building resulted in a few units flooding yesterday. Worked with others on our floor to help move furniture away from wet areas in affected units. Turns out condo dwellers can come together in times of need just like anyone else, despite our councillor's insistence otherwise
October 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
I love it when my councillor tells me that my condo, and others like it, have no community. Lily Cheng only sees single family homeowners as "real" residents of Willowdale. The rest of us rabble can get bent, apparently #willowdale #Toronto #housing
October 23, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
thebikinglawyer.bsky.social
Last weekend saw a lot of road closures in Toronto. Great to see ambulances using bike lanes to get people in distress where they need to go quickly.

The trope touted by Ford and his like that bike lanes delay EMS response times has been proven false time and time again.

#bikelanessavelives
Ambulance uses bike lane to get around traffic Ambulance uses bike lane to beat traffic
October 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
It's like a mini race expo on the Yonge night bus! Good luck to all my fellow racers #torontowaterfrontmarathon
October 19, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
ffsafestreets.bsky.social
📢DIRECT ACTION ALERT! SHARE WIDELY!
Join us to "circle the strollers" around the speed camera at Bloor and Dundas to protest our Premier's reckless attack on road safety. Tens of thousands of kids will be defenseless against speeding drivers in school zones!!
More info: www.ffsafestreets.ca/events
September 30, 2025 at 1:59 AM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Stopping at stop signs as a cyclist is mildly inconvenient, but I do it anyway because it's the law here in #toronto and #ontario.

It's much easier for motorists to obey stop signs, yet I'm still doing a better job than 90% of them on my commute. Why the hell is cars rolling stops normalized?
September 29, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
With fall drawing near, civic life in the city reinvigorates with more public consultations- there's never been a better time to advocate for more housing!

Want to get involved, but not sure how? We made a video to help you get started!

Funded through #MNTOgigs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvUc...
Toronto City Consultations 101: How to Advocate For More Housing In Your Neighbourhood!
YouTube video by More Neighbours Toronto
www.youtube.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:52 AM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Fantastic news!
July 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
ohtheurbanity.bsky.social
Funny when people argue their country is "too big" for transit. Cars aren't great for long distances!

You don't drive from Montreal to Calgary (if you care about speed), you fly. It’s 5 hours instead of 37 hours.

And what's useful when you arrive? Transit.
But only one problem: the USA is a HUGE country, where the land mass of the Lower 48 is essentially as big as Europe minus European Russia and the Scandinavian countries. You really need a car if you want to travel around the country. Not owning a car is great if you live in a place like New York City, but outside of that...
July 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
harrytonorth.bsky.social
Trying to think of a term for the anxiety of seeing that the nearest bikeshare dock has 1 bike left and hoping you make it out of the office in time to grab it. #bikeshare #toronto
July 30, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
michaelhoffman.bsky.social
Pretty big number of letters about RapidTO so far and the meeting isn't until Wednesday! Sign up to speak to Executive Committee now. They may still yet water this down, but they're going to have to hear from us first. #topoli secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
July 11, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
thestar.com
‘I don’t know why we are debating this’: Inside city hall’s scrappy argument over speed cameras
‘I don’t know why we are debating this’: Inside city hall’s scrappy argument over speed cameras
After an hour of bickering over whether the cameras are speed traps and if there’s proper warning for new ones, council voted to look into limiting the number of tickets a driver can be issued before ...
www.thestar.com
June 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Harry Keess 🇨🇦
michaelhoffman.bsky.social
4/Dishonorable mention to Lily Cheng. 61% of her constituents rent in mid-/high-rise buildings. She just called the home of thousands of them "dystopian".

What's important to her is Willowdale, Willowdale, Willowdale, but only certain people in Willowdale, y'know? #topoli bsky.app/profile/grap...
June 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM