On March 8, Premier Doug Ford held a press conference in Milton. During his remarks, he ruled out allowing fourplexes “as of right” across Ontario, saying it would be a “massive mistake.” Back
The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has been described as having the greatest concentration of surviving British Colonial architecture built between 1813 and 1860 of any municipality west of Quebec. It would be nice to
At the corner of King and Mary streets stands a large white building that recalls the early days of the Town of Niagara. In 1800, the renowned Mohawk leader Joseph Brant purchased the
Over the past few years, this column has stressed the importance of sympathetic — and contextually appropriate — design to achieve new developments (or renovations and additions) that integrate into the existing community.
Within the foreseeable future, Glendale will be home to 20,000 – or more – residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake. That’s likely to be over half of the town’s projected population. This will inevitably alter the
So, you’ve decided it is time to paint the exterior of your house and are feeling a little trepidatious. That’s OK – since everyone knows of at least one home painted in colours
Since about 2010, the most popular colour palettes for the exterior treatment of homes have been muted tones dominated by neutral greys and taupes or a mix of the two, commonly referred to
Looking at the letters to the editor published in the Lake Report during the last couple of months, it seems there is a rising tide of acrimony being voiced by Niagara-on-the-Lake’s citizens and
In Ontario, the Residential Tenancies Act is the piece of legislation that — while being very broad, generally — provides explicit, legal requirements governing all aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship. This act also
There is an unspoken but generally accepted assumption among most Canadians that housing is a commodity traded on the open market with the objective of generating profit. This consideration of housing as an
It often amazes me how, once a concept is adopted by the government, the actual success of the concept is rarely – if ever – quantitatively evaluated. It seems to be an axiom
Over the past five decades I have been blessed to work with some pretty brilliant folks, each of whom have freely shared pearls of wisdom with me. I recall a conversation back in
This past Dec. 12, Sean Fraser, the federal minister of housing, announced his government intends to “take a lesson from our history books” by drawing on the incredibly successful example of Canada’s Wartime
Over the past few days, I have been battling a particularly nasty cold, which has reduced my energy levels to a mere ghost of what I consider normal. Work of any sort was
In November of 1947, Winston Churchill stated: “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried, in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or
Before we get into this week’s primary topic, I’d like to extend my best wishes to an individual who served the people of Niagara-on-the-Lake as our principal heritage planner for more than eight
On Nov. 11, I stood at the back of the crowd gathered in Old Town to mark Remembrance Day. I thought that here, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the occasion would reflect the profound influence that
I don’t believe it is an overstatement to say that, for the first time in the history of Ontario, we have a government that is actively mounting an assault on provincial heritage. Whether
Upfront this week, an update regarding our provincial government’s ongoing use of municipal zoning orders. In the Oct. 26 edition of The Lake Report, the Arch-i-text column, “The Greenbelt and the games governments
Were you aware that Ontario has a Ministry of Red Tape Reduction headed by cabinet minister Parm Gill? And yes, that is the ministry’s actual name. Apparently, since 2018, we have had an
Well, the halls of Ontario’s provincial government have certainly staged high theatre since Aug. 16, when the auditor general published her report regarding Premier Doug Ford’s Greenbelt legislation. Her report, reinforced by the integrity
Over the past few weeks I have been experiencing a fierce internal debate around the subject of the proposed Glendale development by White Oaks Tennis World Inc. On one hand, this proposed development
In last week’s column we looked at the Canada-centric expression of Edwardian Classicism. In that article, it was mentioned that during the latter part of the 19th century, “there was growing disaffection with
On and off over the last eight weeks, we have explored a number of 19th and early 20th-century architectural styles that contributed to the evolution of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s existing built heritage. As regular Arch-i-text
When I first began writing the Arch-i-text series back in 2018, my intent was to make this column a place wherein the character of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s community, reflected in its built heritage and shared
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