Did You Know…? – Cabbagetown Residents Association

November 2022

This picture was taken by board member Lise Flynn on the first snowfall of the season. Thanks to everyone who cleared their walkways and sidewalks!

Cabbagetown Residents Survey

Thank you to all who completed the recent CRA survey. The board is reviewing the feedback and we will send out a comprehensive review of the results in the next few weeks.

Bill 23

There has been a lot of chatter about Bill 23 and how that could affect city plans and initiatives. For a comprehensive review of potential impact, please review this City Briefing Note – Bill 23 provided by the City.

The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods has identified a number of concerns with Bill 23. This link summarizes the concerns well and provides resources where individuals can learn more, sign various petitions and contact politicians and policy makers.

Transportation Survey

The City of Toronto has partnered with the Ministry of Transportation Ontario to sponsor the Transportation Tomorrow Survey (TTS). The survey, which will be mailed to randomly selected Toronto residents, takes less than 15 minutes to complete, and the results will help plan improvements to transportation facilities for all road and transit users in Toronto and across the region. Residents should watch for a survey invitation in their mailboxes and visit the website to learn more.

Yonge Street Mission Toy Drive

The YSM new toy drive is happening again this year from December 12-16. Find more info here.

Cabbagetown BIA has a new Director

A big welcome to Matt Mohan who is the new executive director at the Cabbagetown BIA.

Childrens Book Bank Auction

The annual online auction for the Children’s Book Bank is on until November 29. This ‘Favourite Things’ online auction, is always a hit.

Calvacade of Lights

The Calvacade of Lights has returned to Nathan Phillips Square from November 26 to January 7th. For the full schedule of activities and events, click here.

Moss Park Hockey League

The Moss Park House League, for kids aged 4-16, is a FREE hockey league aimed at introducing youngsters to the game of ice hockey. All levels are welcomed from absolute beginners to experienced skaters.

Equipment is available for children who do not have equipment, eg. skates, pads, pants, jerseys, helmets.

Games are played on Saturdays at Moss Park Arena, Queen Street & Sherbourne Street, starting in November.

Registration is still Open, just come on down Saturday morning for skills evaluation, sign up HERE

What makes this league unique is that All Kids Play, there is no sitting on the bench. The game periods are 3:00 minutes long and change on a whistle, Line 1 play against the other team’s Line 1, Line 2 play against the other team’s Line 2 and Line 3 plays against the other team’s Line 3.

Thanks to resident Gina for sharing this great info!

Did You Know...? Events Politics

Neighbourhood News September 2022

Post author By admin
Post date September 23, 2022
No Comments on Neighbourhood News September 2022

Hello Neighbours!

Summer has officially ended, and it was a great one. We enjoyed the Parkscape on Parliament (thank you Cabbagetown BIA) and ended the summer with the return of the Cabbagetown Arts and Crafts Festival, after a 2 year absence.

Municipal Election

Toronto’s municipal election is on Monday, October 24. Advance voting is October 7-14. A list of the Ward 13 candidates can be found here. Our friends at the Corktown Residents and Business Association are hosting a Ward 13 All-Candidates Meeting on September 27 at 6:30 at the Cooper Koo YMCA. You can find out more information and register here. If you can’t join in person, the CRBA are live-streaming the introduction and question period.

People, Power and the Park

People, Power, & the Park, a free four-day outdoor festival celebrating the history of Allan Gardens, is taking place this weekend! Starting Thursday, September 22 at 6:00 pm and ending on Sunday, September 25 at 4:00 pm.

The festival will include an archival exhibit by students, staff and community members from Toronto Metropolitan University, poetry readings, guided walking tours and performances. Including music from Lillian Allen & Band: Revving Up the Tea Party, Joaquín Hidalgo’s Caribbean Jazz Trio, and the Counterpoint Community Orchestra.

The poetry portion of the festival will take place on Saturday, September 24 at 6:00 pm, with an open mic session hosted by Lillian Allen and then readings with Clifton Joseph, January Roberts, Robert Priest and Charlie Petch.

All happening in the heart of the park!

For more information and the full event schedule, visit www.torontomu.ca/peoplepowerpark.

Dixon Hall Amazon Wishlist

Our friends at Dixon Hall have an Amazon Wishlist for school and music supplies, journals, health and wellness supplies, crafts items, tablets, and everything in between. If you want to help them out with a purchase, you can see their wishlist here.

Many Cabbagetowners are fans of Suppli, a reusable food delivery service. They have recently launched a food delivery service that includes some of our local favourites, such as Haldi, Shalom, Noushe, Gushi and Daniel et Daniel. Check it out here.

Nuit Blanche 2022

Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s all-night celebration of contemporary art, returns from 7 p.m. on October 1 to 7 a.m. on October 2. The long-awaited event is city-wide for the first time ever and will feature works by more than 150 artists. Explore exhibition areas in Etobicoke, North York, downtown and Scarborough. This is a great, family friendly event and a wonderful way to celebrate art in out city.

Did You Know...?

Check out new Toronto tools for garbage and recycling

Post author By admin
Post date February 7, 2018
No Comments on Check out new Toronto tools for garbage and recycling

Confess: how many times have you been stumped about what’s recyclable, and not? Don’t know if you should throw out skates or other sharp objects? Where do you dispose of a dirty paper plate?

The City of Toronto has developed the Waste Wizard, an online search tool that provides information on how to properly dispose of more than 2,000 items. A city publication promises “it’s quick and easy to use. Simply go to toronto.ca/wastewizard and enter the name of the item you’re wondering about.”

The same newsletter also reports that garbage tags are now available online (shipping is free) and at Toronto Shoppers Drug Mart and Canadian Tire stores. A garbage bin should never be overflowing; Excess garbage must be bagged, tagged and set out beside your garbage bin for collection.

For excess garbage, use a regular black garbage bag and attach the garbage tag around the knot of the bag, like you would a luggage tag. Garbage tags are $5.11 each [don’t blame the Cabbagetowner for the odd number; we just report the news!] and cover the cost to pick up and dispose of the extra garbage.

Did You Know...? Issues Safety and Security

Did you know… you can call 311 if you find hazardous materials like needles?

Post author By The Cabbagetowner
Post date October 6, 2017
No Comments on Did you know… you can call 311 if you find hazardous materials like needles?

Some things are not just meant to be left lying around, including hazardous materials including needles/syringes and other types of paraphernalia. Staff at our Ward 28 office and Toronto Public Health have advised us that we can contact 311 to pick up hazardous material like needles or other paraphernalia. They move pretty quickly when it is reported that needles or pipes have been found in our parks and laneways. 311 is staffed 24/7.

They have also suggested that people can use a pair of kitchen tongs to safely pick up an item if you need to dispose of it before the city arrives. If you are attempting to pick up a needle, please put it in some kind of a hard container (ex. metal coffee can, Tupperware container) before throwing it in the trash. When contacting 311, make note of your reference number and if making multiple reports keep referencing that prior reference number. This helps the city track requests and ultimately deploy more resources where they are needed.

Disposing of a small baggie that might have contained drugs requires less caution than a needle. Certainly do wash your hands after handling, and you may wish to use gloves or tongs, but there is little danger to just picking up and throwing away an empty bag. Street drugs, even when cut or laced with fentanyl and other adulterants, do not pose a significant risk of opioid toxicity unless ingested. However, spotting a bag might be a sign that a needle or pipe is nearby.

Below are images of what a harm reduction kit might contain. In the images you will see two “spoons” used in the injection of drugs, as well as a blue tie off, alcohol wipes, and needles. Spotting one of these items on the street might mean there is other paraphernalia nearby. Other kinds of spoons are illustrated in the other image.

Did You Know...? Local Interest Tree Canopy

Did you know…you can have a LEAF arborist visit your yard virtually?

Post author By The Cabbagetowner
Post date April 11, 2017
No Comments on Did you know…you can have a LEAF arborist visit your yard virtually?

Cabbagetowners have told us that the tree canopy in the neighbourhood is important, and that’s why we support worthwhile organizations such as Cabbagetown ReLEAF (cabbagetownreleaf.org) and LEAF (yourleaf.org).

We noticed an article in The Bulletin (thebulletin.ca) describing a new program by LEAF that might be of interest to residents. From the article:

With the support of The Regional Municipality of York and the City of Toronto, LEAF is launching a new, subsidized Do-It-Yourself Tree Planting Program that offers personalized advice from an arborist through a virtual consultation.

The new Do-It-Yourself program gives trees the best chance to thrive by providing residents with:

– a 20-minute virtual consultation with a LEAF arborist to choose appropriate species and location
– 5 to 8 foot tall native tree (2 to 4 foot tall native evergreen tree)
– Delivery to your door
– a tree care guide
– Follow-up tree care advice by email/phone

Read more about this new program… (thebulletin.ca)

Did You Know...? Issues Local Interest Programs Traffic and Parking

Did you know…T.O. INview is an interactive map showing planned infrastructure work?

Post author By The Cabbagetowner
Post date April 10, 2017
No Comments on Did you know…T.O. INview is an interactive map showing planned infrastructure work?

We noticed this interesting mapping tool today while reading a City of Toronto press release. The City of Toronto’s T.O. INview (INview stands for “INfrastructure Viewer) shows where water, TTC, utlities and other major capital works are planned for each year.

We don’t see the repaving of Carlton Street east of Parliament Street on here for 2017, but we have been assured that this long-anticipated work will be completed this year.

toronto.ca/inview

Note: A separate but equally useful tool is the Toronto Road Restrictions map which shows ongoing and emergency road construction, travel conditions on Toronto roads and special events that affect roads.

toronto.ca/roadrestrictions

Did You Know...? Issues

Did you know…the City’s Water Department will notify you before flushing watermains?

Post author By The Cabbagetowner
Post date March 30, 2017
No Comments on Did you know…the City’s Water Department will notify you before flushing watermains?

A resident alerted us that they were seeing discoloured (brown) water coming out of their taps on the morning of March 28 and at the same time, a City of Toronto worker had opened a fire hydrant across the street. After some investigation, it turns out that the City has a “Watermain Flushing program” where every few years depending on testing results, watermains are cleaned by way of sending water at high speed through the pipes to produce a scouring action that removes built-up sediment. After flushing, the water exits through an attachment to a fire hydrant.

During watermain flushing, residents should not open taps, flush toilets or use water-based appliances during this time to avoid drawing in discoloured water during this procedure. It isn’t clear if this particular incident was actually related to watermain flushing since the City Dept. responsible has advised us that they don’t have a record of this work being conducted on that day. Normally, residents would be notified two days in advance via visits and door-hanger notices. They are going to investigate further and get back to us.

Learn more about the water main flushing program (toronto.ca)

Did You Know...? Issues Safety and Security

Did you know…the City of Toronto has a “Good Neighbour Guide” for residential construction projects?

Post author By The Cabbagetowner
Post date March 15, 2017
No Comments on Did you know…the City of Toronto has a “Good Neighbour Guide” for residential construction projects?

The City of Toronto has an interesting set of resources related to residential infill projects available online.

Renovating your house? Living next to construction? Want to search the status of a building permit application?

Learn more at: toronto.ca/infill

Did You Know...? Programs Safety and Security Schools and Children

Did you know… you can get texts from TDSB for reminders, notices and alerts specific to local schools?

Post author By The Cabbagetowner
Post date February 23, 2017
No Comments on Did you know… you can get texts from TDSB for reminders, notices and alerts specific to local schools?

If you would like to be notified via text message of important notices specific to a local school, you can subscribe by texting the school name (all one word without PS or CI) to 647-496-0956. Very handy!

Over 100 parents/guardians in #TorCen already signed up. Don't miss out on important reminders, notices, and alerts. Sign up now! #TDSB pic.twitter.com/MvOkFCkQ9O

— Chris Moise (@ChrisMoiseTO) February 23, 2017