Results tagged “demographics”

       

There was a movie that played at Hot Docs called Reporter. It was about Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times columnist who globetrots to the sites of the world's worst humanitarian disasters in an effort to provide original reporting that will draw attention to crises of which very few people are aware. Most interestingly, Kristof stays up to date on all the latest psychology literature on the subject of compassion; he is obsessed with crafting stories that will move his readers to action. Anyone can write something that will prompt people to respond "oh, that's a shame" before moving on; it takes a special talent to rouse a readership to demand change or intervention or support. What has been concluded from various experiments is that humans' innate capacity for sympathy is extremely limited: we are more likely to be affected by the suffering of an individual than that of a group. Kristof therefore tends to focus on very particular tales of one person's exceptional affliction.

It's hard to know quite what Toronto will look like by 2030. Detailed plans become harder to formulate the further into the future one goes: contingencies multiply upon contingencies, and predictions are rendered ever more tenuous. There are, however, some trends that seem fair to anticipate and some others that are fair to hope for.

The Toronto of 2020 will be a different, but recognizable place. Between now and 2020, immigration will have made the world’s most multicultural city even more diverse, new building projects will have altered the city’s landscape, and Transit City will have broken down many of the city’s spatial barriers.

View Torontoist's 2010 Toronto map (1.9 MB .PDF)

Birthdays, it goes without saying, are occasions to celebrate. Sometimes parties are involved. Sometimes cake. (Or cupcakes!) But they are also moments to reflect, to think about where you are and where you're heading, to make plans and dream of birthdays to come. And so, on the occasion of Toronto's demisemiseptcentennial, we've decided to step back, take stock of the big picture, and start imagining what the future might hold for our fair city.

Today is Tartan Day. This is the day customarily used for the first time ever to celebrate Scots who have moved to North America. Torontoist recommends that you celebrate by eating a deep-fried Mars bar and staggering out of a soccer game, swearing loudly.

When searching for a new place to live, what is the first thing you look for? Location? Lifestyle compatibility? Enticements? A blank slate to shape in your unique style? Groovy wallpaper?

In the face of continued male violence, the Toronto Police is one of a few organizations beginning to use more public campaigns against male sex criminals. This particular poster is likely directed at sex workers (it's plastered around the Church-Dundas-Jarvis areas), but the idea can never be overemphasized in a broader sense.