Some facts about City Divisions that may surprise you

The City of Toronto provides a huge number of services to improve the lives of local residents. Keep reading to learn some facts that may surprise you!

1) TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

• Maintains over 5600 km of roads, 8000km of sidewalks, 600 bridges, 600 pedestrian crosswalks, 2159 traffic signals, 1000000 road and traffic signs, 112 km of bike lanes, 168 km of bike trails, 139 km of bike routes and over 25000 pieces of street furniture.
• 600 snow plows, 300 sidewalk plows and 200 salt trucks to deal with winter storms. more »

Highlights from the Toronto City Council meeting of February 22 and 23, 2010.

Security during June’s G20 Summit in Toronto
Council authorized the City to enter into funding agreements with the federal or Ontario governments for the reimbursement of any costs the City incurs when the Group of 20 (G20) Summit is held in downtown Toronto on June 26 and 27. Among other steps, Council decided to ask the federal government to post a bond to cover expenses for potential property damage that could occur during June’s G20 Summit. London and Pittsburgh faced such costs as a result of protests during the world economic summits those two cities hosted in 2009. Council also asked the federal government to post a bond to cover any costs incurred by local businesses. more »

The Social Housing Renovation and Retrofit Program (SHHRP) provides $220 million in federal and provincial funding over two years for repairs and energy retrofits to existing social housing units in Toronto. This funding represents a significant investment in social housing and provides the City a tremendous opportunity to improve the living conditions of some of its most vulnerable members.

Several properties in Ward 35 are eligible for SHHRP funds. In total, these properties will receive over $8.7 million dollars and improve conditions in 1,849 housing units.

The properties are… more »

With a sizeable snowfall expected over the next few days, the City of Toronto is reminding residents and businesses about the levels of snow clearing the City provides.

Large snowfalls require a coordinated approach by the City’s staff and contractors to ensure that City streets and sidewalks are safe.

As soon as the snow begins, Transportation Services sends out its fleet of salt trucks to the expressways and the main roads. After this, the salt trucks will then move on to the local roads. If the City receives five centimetres of snow, the plows are sent to the expressways and main roads and plowing will take place for the duration of the storm. more »

Neighbourhood Link Support Services, located at 3036 Danforth Avenue, is offering a free income tax clinic between February 22 and April 12, 2010 (some eligibility criteria applied).

For more information, please contact Tsvetelina Trifonova at (416) 691-7407, ext. 104; or email Taxclinic@neighbourhoodlink.org.

Last week’s article in the Toronto Star takes a misleading and simplistic one-sided look at the City’s sale of street lights to Toronto Hydro back in 2005.

Here are the facts:

The Toronto Hydro Corporation (THC) is wholly owned by the City of Toronto.

Therefore, any profits made by THC are ultimately a value to the City, either in dividends or an increase in the value of the company. Selling the street light asset to a corporation owned by the residents of Toronto means the money the City pays to the corporation benefits the residents of the city. more »

The City of Toronto today introduced a balanced 2010 operating budget that protects City programs and the delivery of 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week services that are the role of City government. more »

Highlights from the Toronto City Council meeting of January 26th and 27th, 2010.

More leash-free areas for Toronto’s dogs
Council approved the establishment of 29 more off-leash areas in Toronto parks in addition to 30 existing off-leash sites in parks. The new sites are in various stages of development, many of them still requiring public consultation. Off-leash areas in High Park remain under review. The People, Dogs and Parks Strategy that Council adopted in 2007 provides detailed guidelines for establishing off-leash areas in City parks, green spaces and waterfront areas. more »

Today, with the launch of the new online self-service feature, residents now have the option of placing many service requests themselves through the City’s 311 website www.toronto.ca/311.

Many of the most common service requests received by 311 customer service representatives are now available online. The list of the services will continue to grow over the coming months as 311 works to integrate more of them online. Initial online service requests include the following: missed garbage, recycling or green bin collection, metal items or appliance pickup, report a damaged sidewalk or road, a pothole, a leaking hydrant or faded road markings, and requests for a solid waste collection calendar. More online services will be added in the coming months. more »

Bettering the lives of all citizens

Parks and open spaces, along with streets and public buildings, are a significant part of the City of Toronto’s public realm. Together, these elements of the public realm unify our diverse communities and convey the ‘personality’ or image of the city and its neighbourhoods.

The public parkland system is home to numerous facilities and amenities. These include: more »