Good morning. This is the Monday, May 1 edition of First Up, the Star’s daily morning digest. Sign upHere’s the latest on a destroyed community garden, Ontario’s auto industry and Toronto’s vacant home tax.A lush midtown community garden was a source of peace and joy — now, it’s a pile of dirt
A 2,400-square-foot garden on a residential street was once filled with dahlias, tulips, lilies and petunias. The green space — which also had a koi pond, 200-year-old terracotta urns and antique chairs — brightened the front of a building in an area that had been plagued by noisy construction. It provided residents with a space to host events like barbecues, parties and even a wedding. It was the culmination of one artist’s decade-long effort and at least $20,000 of his own money.
potential impact of Volkswagen’s new battery plant and why autoworkers are “finally seeing an upswing.”Each auto assembly job creates up to an estimated nine more jobs, making the industry a key driver of the Canadian economy as the federal government prepares to ban the sale of fossil-fuel vehicles by 2035.Unifor is counting on the EV battery and related plants becoming a “landing spot” for autoworkers who lose their jobs as gas-powered cars are phased out.
According to one expert, the number of vacant homes in the city “is much smaller” than many housing advocates think. The fact that so few properties have been claimed vacant through a new policy suggests Toronto is not a “ghost city” of vacant units, another said. So where does Toronto’s housing problem lie? May Warren reports on the initiative andBy the numbers:
A city spokesperson said 96 per cent of Toronto residential property owners have submitted their mandatory declarations. Of 775,000 properties, 2,100 have been claimed vacant.Toronto’s vacant home tax was modelled after one introduced in Vancouver that contributed to a 36 per cent decline in empty properties, according to a report. Of the 1,755 vacant residential properties there in 2020, 49 per cent were occupied in 2021, the report found.