Richard Silver

Downtown Toronto Category

What Kind of Mayor Does Toronto Need Now?

With David Miller deciding not to run in the upcoming Toronto Mayoralty race, it begs the question "What kind of Mayor does Toronto need now?"  Mayor Miller has left us with a wonderful City in decline... If you, like me, are wondering why it took a 5 week summer Strike to end up with a City Workers contract that could have probably been negotiated without a Strike, I would tell you that it is symptomatic of what is wrong with Mayor...Continue Reading...

Real Estate: Downsizing with Style and Grace: Part Two

Thanks for the great response and ideas from the first post on Downsizing...before I add some more thoughts, let's talk about some of the issues generated after Post One: There seems to be a universal response to the negative naming of the difficult process: Downsizing. However, I remembered with some friendly prodding that Barry Lebow, Founder of  The Accredited Senior Agent Designation refers to it as "Rightsizing", a term defined as "to undergo a reduction to an optimal size". I like referring...Continue Reading...

Toronto: Saturday Night on St. Clair Avenue West

Last Saturday night we dropped in on the new location of one of our favorite Italian restaurants: Acquolina Ristorante. They moved to 760 St. Clair Avenue West recently from their original on Mt. Pleasant Road. As usual, the food and service were great however... It has been a while since I drove the length of St. Clair Avenue West from Yonge Street to Christie Avenue without construction...and now we could truly experience the finished product of the past three years, including special...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board Releases Canadian Consumer Price Index August 2009

Click on the Full Screen Button at the bottom of this slide to View. Then press ESC or escape when finished. Canadian Consumer Price Index August2009View more documents from Richard Silver.Continue Reading...

Some Video of the Cabbagetown Festival 2009….Why people love Cabbagetown!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6N7RTCu0R0[/youtube] Every year, the weekend after Labour Day in Toronto, Ontario, the residents of Cabbagetown get together and celebrate the neighborhood. It starts early in the morning with Blair's Run in support of the Cabbagetown Youth Centre, a Parade and then the Cabbagetown Arts and Crafts Show in Riverdale Park! There is great eats at the Park, Farm and on Parliament Street that really highlight the diversity of the neighborhood. It serves to remind us all that Cabbagetown is just a...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board Launches Housing Market Stats

Great News! The Toronto Real Estate Board is providing us with housing market information in graph format that will help you be up-to-date about what is really happening in the Toronto Real Estate Market. Let me know what you think, or if you need more clarification and know that I will be updating these graphs on my web sites as they are published by TREB.... so please come back for next month's updates. Click here for Toronto Real Estate Board Market Stats Toronto...Continue Reading...

Downtown Toronto: The Difference Between Cyclists and Bicycle Couriers…

Over the past few days there has been lots of sadness and anger from the Car and Bicycle community over Monday night's altercation that ended in the death of a bicycle courier. It is hard to forget the personalities involved, who they were, what they did and what would have lead to this horrible result. Yes, this City was built mostly for cars and we now have a strong movement to make the streets more bicycle friendly. I don't cycle anymore because...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board Releases August Sales Figures

GTA REALTORS® Report August Resale Market Figures TORONTO, September 2, 2009 - In August 2009, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 8,035 sales, up 27% per cent from August 2008. The average price for August transactions was $387,921 – up by six per cent compared to the same month last year. "The increase in demand for existing homes has been widespread across different housing types and price ranges," said TREB President Tom Lebour. "This suggests many categories of home buyers have chosen to make...Continue Reading...

Great Annual Cabbagetown Fundraiser to Benefit the Riverdale Farm.

Riverdale Farm 2010 Calendar Is Back By Popular Demand! Produced by the Riverdale Farm Advisory Council, the Riverdale Farm 2010 Calendar features fabulous photographs of the Farm’s buildings, gardens and animals throughout the year and includes not-to-be-missed dates of events in the community. The Council is very grateful to all the local merchants who kindly sponsored the calendar and to all the visitors to the Farm who allowed us to use their photos.  Joel Rotstein and Associates Inc. volunteered their great design...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board Releases Half Month Figures for July, 2009.

GTA REALTORS® report sales up first two weeks of July TORONTO, July 20, 2009 - In the first two weeks of July, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,437 sales up 27 per cent compared to the first two weeks of July 2008. The average price for these transactions was up four per cent year-over-year to $394,750. "The resurgence in home ownership demand experienced in the spring has continued into the summer. Home buyers continued to take advantage affordable market conditions in the first...Continue Reading...