Jake Tobin Garrett

Jul 27, 2024 | theglobeandmail.com | Jake Tobin Garrett

Jul 9, 2024 | spacing.ca | Albert Koehl |John Lorinc |Jake Tobin Garrett

If there is a good way to make city streets safe, Avenue Road is a bad example. By the time a proposed interim safety plan for Avenue Road reached City Council at the end of June this year, community groups had been demanding action for seven years; the plan for the two-kilometre segment had been chopped into three shorter sections; and yet another family was mourning the death of a loved one on this dangerous roadway. With more timely action, the story would have had a happier ending.

Nov 24, 2023 | spacing.ca | Jake Tobin Garrett |Cara Chellew |Ian Darragh

When the pandemic hit in 2020, people flocked to city parks. Across Canada, cities observed large increases in park use as people looked for ways to socialize safely, exercise, and de-stress. Despite restrictions being lifted in the years since, park use has not only remained high, it has increased further. Between 2020 and 2022, park use increased 15% across Canadian cities, according to Google location data, essentially setting a new higher baseline.

Aug 1, 2023 | tnq.ca | Jake Tobin Garrett

It wasn’t pretty, but it was theirs. They built it in the ravine one summer, dragging wood planks, rope, and tarp from wherever they could find. They assembled it like a Frankenstein on the flat part above a slope and the first night they slept there a summer thunderstorm cracked above and flashes of lightening revealed the jagged shadows of tree branches and Sam had thrown his head back, stretched out his fingers and screamed: “It’s alive! It’s alive!”They were twelve, twelve, and thirteen.

Jun 25, 2023 | spacing.ca | Ian Darragh |Jake Tobin Garrett

Toronto has a new park devoted to love, and it’s already been the venue for two weddings. The final day of the Park People 2023 national conference held in Toronto from June 21-23 featured a field trip to attend the official opening of Love Park, a two-acre oasis of green and water located on the site of a former off-ramp from the Gardiner, the raised expressway that slashes along Toronto’s waterfront, running parallel to Lake Ontario.