Richard Silver

Public Support for Toronto Land Transfer Tax Repeal is Resilient, According to Poll

Toronto, December 6, 2011 –REALTORS® will be making a presentation on Wednesday December 7 to the City of Toronto’s Budget Committee, and will be providing City Council with results of a recent poll showing that, even after recent difficult debates on the future of City services, Torontonians continue to want fiscal reform at City Hall, including the repeal of the Toronto Land Transfer Tax and concessions from the City’s unions. The poll was conducted by Ipsos Reid for the Toronto Real...Continue Reading...

REALTORS® Respond to Core Services Review at Toronto City Council

Toronto, September 21, 2011 – REALTORS® are following-up on their presentation to the City’s Executive Committee, earlier this week, by providing additional information on why they believe that the Toronto Land Transfer Tax is not part of the solution to the City’s financial challenges. “We are proud that the Toronto Real Estate Board was the only business organization that had the courage to go to City Hall and call for the fiscal restraint that so many Torontonians want and demand from...Continue Reading...

Why George Smitherman should be Mayor of Toronto!

Disclosure: Let me begin by saying that I have known George Smitherman  for years and have been involved in the sale and purchase of his last properties. While he was in the Liberal Government we disagreed completely on the Government's desire to make Home Energy Audits Mandatory within the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and as a member of the Toronto Real Estate Board  of Directors we had some heated arguments on the topic. We often agree to disagree... Also, these are my own...Continue Reading...

Why Toll Roads in Toronto are not such a bad idea….

Here me out on this: First....most of the great large cities in the world have excellent Subways and rail lines. Toronto slowed and almost stopped building Subways and rapid transit years ago and we became more and more dependent on highways for transportation. Second...Toronto is surrounded by bedroom communities filled with people who use the major thoroughfares to come to the City to make their incomes and head back to their suburban properties where they pay the most of their taxes. Some major cities like...Continue Reading...

Toronto: Why Adam Giambrone Should Not Be Mayor!

One word:Meglomania! That a member of  Toronto City Council  and Chair of a very important City Service would think that running for Mayor would not compromise his decisions, shows that Adam Giambrone views himself as other than human and fallible. His recent apology of having a number of sex partners while being in a "supposedly" committed relationship is the next key. Do we need a "supposedly" committed Mayor? The fact that the Deputy Premier of the Proviince  would step down to run for Mayor,...Continue Reading...

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...

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...

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...

When Toronto’s Green Roof Dream Becomes a Nightmare.

Toronto City Council has mandated that as of January 2010, all new construction must have a certain percentage of the roof designated as a GREEN Roof. While the idea sounds great at the onset, I am pessimistic...as usual: Developers are often short sighted. They know that they have a finite time to build and sell the property, making their profit as quickly as possible. Some are often known to take shortcuts and seldom see themselves involved in the property twenty years...Continue Reading...

Common Sense is missed at City Council

Mayor Miller keeps trying to re-invent Toronto as a Bike Friendly City...he forgets that 4 or 5 months of the year it is not prudent to drive a Bicycle. It is called WINTER! Let's have Bike month in January or February and see what support he gets. Until then we need to focus attention in rapid transit that is available 12 months a year. Last night the City voted to close one lane of Jarvis Street to Cars and make Jarvis...Continue Reading...