Full Metal Junkie
Active Member
Speaking of weeds and guerrilla gardening in medians, reminds me of this gem in Humber Bay Shores:
photo by yours truly from 2018
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- Thread starter junctionist
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Speaking of weeds and guerrilla gardening in medians, reminds me of this gem in Humber Bay Shores:
photo by yours truly from 2018
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
vic
Senior Member
Must be part of some kind of Etobicoke Rob Ford Memorial. Also at Six Points.
Roads: Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration (City of Toronto, UC)
From a walk I took around the site. Posted it too late for the survey though. I guess we'll get what we get! Haha
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Don’t get me started on this area. I used to sail my boat on the pond, but they closed and demolished it for years now.
txlseries4
Active Member
I visited a friend in Vancouver years ago and a street by them had these little roundabouts with a garden in the middle, and they told me they usually end up with weed growing in them
DSCToronto
Superstar
Wow, having a shabby public realm is not unique to Toronto. Who knew?I visited a friend in Vancouver years ago and a street by them had these little roundabouts with a garden in the middle, and they told me they usually end up with weed growing in them
View attachment 658707
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
You know your standards had declined when you see nothing wrong with the level of neglect as it appeared in that photo - certainly it doesn't compare badly against what we see here.
AoD
Northern Light
Superstar
Councillor Carroll has a motion before Council next week to consider adding an additional early season mowing of grass for Parks and Boulevards as well as to better coordinate mowing of adjacent spaces.
From the above:
A couple of notes here:
1) There did used to be one more grass cutting seasonally. That was a budget cut from early in the post-amalgamation era. This is not the first time restoring the additional cutting has come up, there have been at least 2 previous motions on this over the years, probably more.
The City can afford the additional cutting, but it is a material sum.
One option, I think, might be simply to shift all cuttings forward by two weeks. Grass grows much more slowly in the late part of the year.
2) On coordination..... I find it amusing/depressing that a long-time Councillor and two-time budget chief seems unaware that grass cutting was coordinated when it was all done in-house by Parks. It was the City's direction to have divisions do charge-backs ....ie. Parks started billing Transportation for mowing the lawn......
At which point, Transportation dumped Parks as its contractor and contracted out mowing.
Sigh.
From the above:
A couple of notes here:
1) There did used to be one more grass cutting seasonally. That was a budget cut from early in the post-amalgamation era. This is not the first time restoring the additional cutting has come up, there have been at least 2 previous motions on this over the years, probably more.
The City can afford the additional cutting, but it is a material sum.
One option, I think, might be simply to shift all cuttings forward by two weeks. Grass grows much more slowly in the late part of the year.
2) On coordination..... I find it amusing/depressing that a long-time Councillor and two-time budget chief seems unaware that grass cutting was coordinated when it was all done in-house by Parks. It was the City's direction to have divisions do charge-backs ....ie. Parks started billing Transportation for mowing the lawn......
At which point, Transportation dumped Parks as its contractor and contracted out mowing.
Sigh.
DSCToronto
Superstar
Action! (well, maybe!!)
News Release
June 21, 2025
City of Toronto launches cleaning blitz to protect public spaces, streets, and parks
Today, Mayor Olivia Chow launched a new citywide initiative called Keep Toronto Beautiful aimed at keeping public spaces clean, safe and well-maintained. A clean city impacts public health, the environment, the economy and overall quality of life.
From now through fall, 300 to 400-person cleaning blitz crews will harness their energy to clean and refresh specific high cleaning-need areas. This work will include:
• Removal of graffiti, weeds and litter from streets, sidewalks, parks and other spaces
• Tree maintenance on streets and in parks
• Installing more than 600 new garbage and recycling bins in high-usage parks
• Intensified enforcement and clean-up of illegal dumping hotspots
• Street sweeping and clean-up of boulevards and laneways
• Repairs to potholes, bike lanes and bike rings
• Repainting pavement markings, including crosswalks, to improve road safety
These blitzes, planned for several Saturdays over a three-month period, are in addition to proactive daily patrols by City crews to identify and maintain areas in need of attention.
The City is also putting extra care into public parks and pools this summer with daily clean-up efforts that include repairing benches, picnic tables and other equipment, graffiti removal and litter pickup, as well as hiring up to 30 students to join summer park cleaning teams and adding more custodial staff to maintain 21 outdoor pools.
Data will drive the approach to identify neighbourhoods where cleaning blitzes are most needed. Crews will resolve 311 Service Requests as well as applying an equity lens to prioritize cleaning and repairs in historically underserved, low-income and vulnerable communities where the City typically receives fewer 311 Service Requests.
News Release
June 21, 2025
City of Toronto launches cleaning blitz to protect public spaces, streets, and parks
Today, Mayor Olivia Chow launched a new citywide initiative called Keep Toronto Beautiful aimed at keeping public spaces clean, safe and well-maintained. A clean city impacts public health, the environment, the economy and overall quality of life.
From now through fall, 300 to 400-person cleaning blitz crews will harness their energy to clean and refresh specific high cleaning-need areas. This work will include:
• Removal of graffiti, weeds and litter from streets, sidewalks, parks and other spaces
• Tree maintenance on streets and in parks
• Installing more than 600 new garbage and recycling bins in high-usage parks
• Intensified enforcement and clean-up of illegal dumping hotspots
• Street sweeping and clean-up of boulevards and laneways
• Repairs to potholes, bike lanes and bike rings
• Repainting pavement markings, including crosswalks, to improve road safety
These blitzes, planned for several Saturdays over a three-month period, are in addition to proactive daily patrols by City crews to identify and maintain areas in need of attention.
The City is also putting extra care into public parks and pools this summer with daily clean-up efforts that include repairing benches, picnic tables and other equipment, graffiti removal and litter pickup, as well as hiring up to 30 students to join summer park cleaning teams and adding more custodial staff to maintain 21 outdoor pools.
Data will drive the approach to identify neighbourhoods where cleaning blitzes are most needed. Crews will resolve 311 Service Requests as well as applying an equity lens to prioritize cleaning and repairs in historically underserved, low-income and vulnerable communities where the City typically receives fewer 311 Service Requests.
txlseries4
Active Member
Carroll made an off-hand comment at Executive this past week about ~"the only thing that constituents want is for the city to cut the grass" so seeing this I wonder if there's a particularly persistent/vocal group she's dealing with that spurred this motion.
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
Who decided to keep the wading pools closed during this heat wave? Oh, they save money. Guess parents will have to fill the bathtub with water for now.
DSCToronto
Superstar
AFAIK, Wading Pools have usually never opened until after Schools close. This year some were opened a bit earlier.
Wading Pools
Most wading pools open on June 27. Hours of operation vary by location.All wading pools close for the season on August 31.
Extended Season Date and Times
Extended season locations will be open:- June 14, 15, 21 and 22
- Noon to 5 p.m.
Extended Season Locations
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Why doesn’t this city clean up public areas? Today I walked from the Canada Day events at Queens Park to Wellesley and Parliament. The litter and filth in Barbara Hall park alone was an embarrassment, and all along the way there’s litter everywhere. Property taxes are up almost 20% in two years, can we do something about the litter?
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AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Because the committee on clean and beautiful city is still discussing what to do. /s And besides, when is the last time you seen anyone getting fined for littering? That's why.
AoD
picard102
Senior Member
Barbara Hall park just finished a massive week long event, as did most of Church and Wellesley. It might take them a day or two to clean up after teardown.