Alex Bozikovic

Alex Bozikovic

@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Architecture critic @theglobeandmail.com. Also author, @utoronto.ca Daniels Faculty instructor, husband, father of two city kids. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/alex-bozikovic/

17.4K followers1.7K following2.1K posts

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

“A couple of years ago, this was an emergency… Now that the pressure on wealthier people has softened, it is no longer a wartime effort. Now it’s just inconvenience.” My piece on how we forgot about housing policy:

The Globe and Mail@theglobeandmail.com

theglobeandmail.comThe housing crisis is no longer shaping big-city politics. Why not?In both Vancouver and Toronto, debates about planning and housing have been blunted by a lull in the market and rising housing supply. But experts say that is a temporary reprieve
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Almost everyone in Canada lives in "market housing" and it's always been that way, for better and for worse. Non-market housing was 6% at the high point in the 20c and it's now around 4%. Farha's history simply does not add up. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: Let’s call Canada’s housing crisis what it is: a purposeful, profit-driven industry where people get left behindHousing Inc. treats a home as someone else’s investment, but it’s not too late to change that thinking
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Postwar, "there were... no tax rules steering pension savings into apartment buildings." There was the Capital Cost Allowance provision which made apartment buildings into tax shelters and attracted huge capital flows. It is specifically why 1000s of apartment buildings were constructed 1948-1971.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Canadian policy since 1945 was never anti-capitalist. It has consistently favoured and subsidized homeownership, and has given tax advantages to investment in homebuilding. One should distinguish between *building* homes and *acquiring* homes, but Farha refuses to do that.

Alex Bozikovic reposted

Kenneth Chan
@iamkennethchan.bsky.social

This is Vancouver's very first proposal to build a low-rise, multi-unit residential building on a small single-family lot under the new single-staircase building rules. A 6-storey, wood-frame building with 24 family-sized units. #vanre #vanpoli dailyhive.com/vancouver/21...

dailyhive.comThis is Vancouver's first housing proposal under the new single-staircase rules | Daily Hive | UrbanizedThe housing project at 2150 West 16th Ave. is the very first proposal under the City of Vancouver's new single-egress staircase rules.
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

“The opportunity to stand up to the bully has passed. Too much has been given away with too few consequences.” Exactly right. Doug Ford is weirdly obsessed with certain things in the physical City Of Toronto, his ideas are all bad, and Chow has put up no real resistance. (Bradford is a quisling.)

Spacing@spacing.bsky.social

Olivia Chow could've run a campaign focused on standing up to Queen's Park — she didn't, and now we have to live with the potential consequences, writes senior editor John Lorinc. @johnlorinc.bsky.social #TOpoli spacing.ca/toronto/2026...

spacing.caELECTION 2026: A failure of political imagination - Spacing TorontoA week ago, I saw a widely shared photo of a pair of cyclist demonstrators planted in the middle of the now destroyed Bloor West bike lane, staring down a phalanx of cops, and my very first thought wa...
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Chow made a reasonable calculation that standing up to Ford would not be useful on Ontario Place or the Science Centre. But that has just opened the door for him to push harder, and very nearly destroy the city’s waterfront.

Alex Bozikovic reposted

Rodney 🚧🚇
@chanface.bsky.social

Goes to show we can just build fast and do whatever the fuck we want if we really wanted to without years of environmental assessment, studies, and consultation. Imagine if we put the same energy into housing, high speed rail, renewable energy, etc,

Kanchan@kayehm.bsky.social

I know no one gives a F about safety or the law when the province is involved - but those workers & police should be wearing PPE for this work. Did they cover the catchbasins? Did they warn residents to close windows? The city would never get away with this. www.gazzolapaving.com/files/employ...

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Mandating the preservation of multimillion-dollar houses has helped this area become richer and significantly less populated. This seems bad. But on the other hand “big buildings are kind of ugly” bsky.app/profile/alex...

Alex Bozikovic@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

People are living longer, taking up more space, and having fewer children. Three-quarters of old Toronto declined in population 1971-2021; those areas lost *540,000* people.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

People's impressions and intuitions about transportation are reliably wrong. It's our job as journalists (not to mention electeds) to think in systems, understand data, anticipate change. Observed numbers on Bloor top 50% for bike traffic. www.torontotoday.ca/local/transp...

torontotoday.caBikes outnumber cars on Bloor St. W. during rush hour, data showsDuring an evening rush hour in mid-June, a count showed slightly more bikes than cars using the Annex section of Bloor Street West
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

This is such a great opportunity for an old-school columnist. "Where are the secondary routes? I went looking and couldn't find'em. People say the bike lanes are empty, but I counted how many people actually use them." Observation trumps vibes.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

"cycling militants [should accept] a compromise for bike lanes in secondary grids rather than arterial roads" There is no "secondary grid." Because of Toronto's piecemeal growth, it literally does not exist. The lanes reach where people want to go. And there is nowhere else to put them.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Toronto has 5500 linear km of roadways. Protected bike lanes now occupy about 1/4 of the space on 110 km of them. That is 0.5% of the city's road space. If cyclists are 0.5% of all traffic citywide, they're getting their fair share. In fact they are much more numerous.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Feist, the city looks to you.

Isaac Callan@isaaccallan.bsky.social

NEW: Can Blue Rodeo or Rush swing the balance of power in Toronto? It may be unlikely, but both of Toronto’s mayoral candidates are pushing endorsements, hoping rock stars, former politicians and MPs can give them an edge. #Topoli www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.caCan rockstars swing the balance of power in Toronto? How endorsements affect the mayoral race | CBC NewsAs polls show the race to be Toronto’s next mayor is tightening, experts say endorsements can help Brad Bradford and Olivia Chow show they’ve got momentum in the final stretch.
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

“New residents bring in new revenue that offsets the costs associated with upgrading municipal infrastructure and services to accommodate a growing population…. charging high fees… means (cities) that they are hurting their own budgets without recognizing it.”

Ned Resnikoff@resnikoff.bsky.social

Really enjoyed reading and editing this PUBLIC COMMENT guest post on the true cost of California's high development impact fees: publiccomment.blog/p/do-impact-...

publiccomment.blogDo Impact Fees Do More Harm Than Good?Tallying up the significant cost and paltry benefits of California's development impact fees
Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

2003. “Areas With Capacity. Transit, roads, schools.

Pamela Blais@pamelablais.bsky.social

Many such areas across the Toronto region were identified. Unfortunately, the Growth Plan population and employment allocations of growth to municipalities did not take these considerations into account.

Alex Bozikovic reposted

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈
@maxdubler.com

Cars turn people into sociopaths, example ∞

Zach-o'-lantern@zachlipton.com

I, personally, would not go on the record with a reporter to announce I’m in favor of destroying the playground my kid is currently loving because I drive to work once a week (and the road still wouldn’t go there anyway), but everyone lives their lives differently I guess

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

To be clear, this piece is good and fair. But certain pols and civic officials have been spinning this issue for a long time now. Almost all housing here is “market.” All housing, including social housing, demands zoning reform. The city hasn’t done that reform. It has an open runway to do more.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

More housing and more density are the same thing. The story of planning in Toronto 2004- is that provincial policy wants more intensification and the city has obstructed it.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Former chief planner Gregg Lintern is still litigating the city’s anti-growth positions. The city now can’t easily get away with “protect(ing) the character of surrounding neighborhoods.” Nor should they. That particular document was also rewritten on the fly on the floor of council.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Alberta's government showing the deepest contempt for the future, alongside the richest hypocrisy imaginable

Jordyn Marcellus@jordynmarcellus.ca

the king of canadian urbanism, the man who helped set edmonton on the path the UCP crushed underneath their boot just absolutely taking it to the province:

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

Recently outgoing Toronto councillor Gord Perks expressed concern about new development: we need to make sure the sidewalks are wide enough. Meanwhile, Toronto’s urban design department has filled half a new sidewalk with plantings.

Alex Bozikovic
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social

So much housing politics is focussed on “impact” and perceived gaps in infrastructure, which are generally determined by vibes. There is no clear conversation about a city needs or what it wants.