Back in 1986, the fast-food giant McDonald’s opened a new outlet close to the Spanish Steps in Rome. To say that McDonald’s got pushback from the citizens of that city (and Italy in
There is something fundamentally askew when only those of means can live in a town. For example, a place where there are no starter homes for the younger generation (who may have grown
Just what is it that makes Niagara-on-the-Lake unique among Ontario communities? What is it that draws some 3.5 million visitors to this one little town every year? Some may point to the wineries
My wife and I decided to visit a recently opened storefront in Vineland which offers sauces, jams, relishes, etc. made principally from produce grown on the owner’s 53-acre farm. The shop, Cultivate Niagara,
From time to time I am fortunate enough to have readers of this column contact me. Last week, this occurred on several occasions and I’d like to thank folks who have taken time
In a recent conversation, I apparently surprised some folks by defending a developer. Apparently, as I was told, I am perceived as being firmly in the anti-development camp and generally seen as holding
My wife and I moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 2015. We came here because NOTL offered us an opportunity to reclaim the small-town lifestyle we had enjoyed for many years in King City prior
I have always found it odd that the boundaries of Old Town’s national historic district are substantially different than those of the provincially registered Queen-Picton heritage conservation district. The national historic district encompasses
To say that I am not a fan of the Ford government’s More Homes Built Faster Act (Bill 23) is akin to suggesting that Mount Everest is a tall hill. In fact, I
Over the past few years there has been a resurgence in the popularity of mid-century modern design, but what exactly is that? Well, similar to the term “Victorian,” which groups together several architectural
Is architecture art? The majority opinion among experts is that painting, sculpting and architecture are the three branches of visual arts. Architecture has long been considered one of the “high arts,” with fine
The impact of the passage of the Ford government’s Bill 23 has started already. Last week one of this column’s readers sent me an email link to a new real estate listing for
A teacher selected a group of 10 students and instructed them one after another to whisper the sentence she gave the first child into the ear of the next and so on until
For the last two weeks I have written about the Ford government’s Bill 23, the so-called More Homes Built Faster Act. We examined the negative impacts this legislation will have on agriculture, environment,
I recall during one of my parents’ early 1960s cocktail parties overhearing my father state with great disdain that, in the Duplessis government’s Quebec, there was nothing that could not be obtained at
In two columns published in February of this year I wrote a brief analysis of the provincial government’s task force report on affordable housing. It was my opinion then that, if the recommendations
In the late spring of 2021 I wrote a series of pieces about the churches of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Included in the April 21 column was Christ Church McNab, a wonderful example of mid-19th century ecumenical architecture
In the Oct. 13 edition of this newspaper, Evan Loree reported on an action taken by town council to have staff “assess the old Cobbler’s House” at 329 Victoria St. for “historical significance”
In a recent conversation, Jon Kormos described William (Bill) German as the finest crafter of traditional furniture and cabinetry that he has ever dealt with. And, as one of the former owners of
Editor’s note: This column has been updated to correct the locations of the Chautauqua Hotel and Lakeside House. Tourism and Niagara-on-the-Lake, the two are almost synonymous. Since the middle of the 19th century, this
Disero, Goettler and Zalepa offer their views on protecting NOTL’s unique character Over the past few weeks, I had conversations with each candidate for lord mayor. As regular readers of the Arch-i-text column might expect,
The hamlet of McNab out Lakeshore Road toward St. Catharines has a long history within the warp and weave of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Named McNab after its founders, John and his younger brother Colin McNab,
As we move toward the municipal election in October, some of the candidate platforms include short forms and abbreviations that leave folks scratching their heads while trying to figure out just what is
We need to trade ‘developer models’ for community designs that worked in past A few days ago I received an email from SORE (Save Our Rand Estate) that outlined questions they had
By way of full disclosure, in addition to Irish, Welsh, English and French contributors, my family lineage includes Seneca and Mississauga ancestors. But, even if that wasn’t the case, I would still be
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