Sign in

Alex Bozikovic

@alexbozikovic.bsky.social
17K followers 1.6K following 2.1K posts

Architecture critic @theglobeandmail.com. Also author, @utoronto.ca Daniels Faculty instructor, husband, father of two city kids. www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/ale…

PostsRepliesMedia
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 26m
And if things continue on their current path, that new centre will be $150-million, paid for entirely out of development charges, for the benefit of all
010
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 1h
When does he say this?
100
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 2h
This is true!
010
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 3h
Also: wow, California is screwed.
121
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 5h
2003. “Areas With Capacity. Transit, roads, schools.
061
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 7h
“New residents bring in new revenue that offsets the costs associated with upgrading municipal infrastructure and services to accommodate a growing population…. charging high fees… means (cities) that they are hurting their own budgets without recognizing it.”
1164
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
So €3052 PSM. $450 CAD PSF, $316 USD PSF. mid to high-end in both Toronto and New York, but not out of line bsky.app/profile/jjle...
060
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Do you have an hour?
160
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
That’s cheap. The building is about 8500 m². The 20m figure works out to about $350 PSF CAD hard costs.
141
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Gehry’s Forma tower in Toronto
8453
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Would be curious to know the actual hard costs for this in Paris. Surely not cheap.
320
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 11/10/2026
Cars turn people into sociopaths, example ∞
532830
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Vague policy-making that faces no real scrutiny. Especially on the capital side.
020
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
To be clear, this piece is good and fair. But certain pols and civic officials have been spinning this issue for a long time now. Almost all housing here is “market.” All housing, including social housing, demands zoning reform. The city hasn’t done that reform. It has an open runway to do more.
0193
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This is the whole ballgame. The city won’t do it. The province was going to force them to do it but backed down.
1122
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Former chief planner Gregg Lintern is still litigating the city’s anti-growth positions. The city now can’t easily get away with “protect(ing) the character of surrounding neighborhoods.” Nor should they. That particular document was also rewritten on the fly on the floor of council.
190
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
More housing and more density are the same thing. The story of planning in Toronto 2004- is that provincial policy wants more intensification and the city has obstructed it.
191
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
TLDR: Toronto can make it easier to build new housing. Not the opposite. Some city people want to frame this as a complicated matter of “collaboration.” It’s not. www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
thestar.com
Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford have big housing ideas. But in Doug Ford’s Ontario, do they have a say?
Planning experts say the city’s role has become more “constrained” under Doug Ford, but it still has some levers to pull — if the premier lets them.
13413
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The problem is ultimately political. Nobody likes having their kid be redistricted. The pattern of growth is, of course, also political, concentrating all new arrivals into a few areas.
030
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Spotted: Chris Alexander in a flannel shirt rolling office chairs down Yonge Street
0191
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
To clarify: that 540,789 number is for population loss across the entire "census metropolitan area." It's almost all in Toronto, but there are pockets outside. Interestingly, there is population decline across many postwar neighbourhoods as well. This is not only a phenomenon of old places.
180
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Why are there new condos only on that street? Why are they mostly 1-bedrooms? These are complex policy questions worth asking.
020
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Etobicoke is Toronto. Otherwise you're correct - it is the CMA, the story makes that clear, and my post was not clearly worded.
100
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Which is why, in my personal view, it is time to introduce major physical and fiscal change that makes apartment living easier and more attractive.
110
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Alberta's government showing the deepest contempt for the future, alongside the richest hypocrisy imaginable
0362
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
70% of the census dissemination areas - basically, blocks - that were built up in 1971. As you will know, that is predominantly old CoT.
200
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Yes, that’s exactly right
030
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
What if a solution to the housing crisis is right in front of us? My long read on the shrinking neighbourhoods of Toronto and Vancouver and how we could fill them up with people again. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
98723
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
For that, you need to go sit in the little park around the back of this building, surrounded by a poorly maintained pollinator garden
080
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
So much housing politics is focussed on “impact” and perceived gaps in infrastructure, which are generally determined by vibes. There is no clear conversation about a city needs or what it wants.
2260
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Recently outgoing Toronto councillor Gord Perks expressed concern about new development: we need to make sure the sidewalks are wide enough. Meanwhile, Toronto’s urban design department has filled half a new sidewalk with plantings.
7340
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
That's why the province has to make this change, and the feds need to force their hand with fiscal policy. With intention.
180
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is a challenge for municipal planners and for the profession: Why do we push growth into a few convenient places? Why aren't we building housing in the walkable, amenity-rich neighbourhoods we already have? @brenttoderian.bsky.social @canurbanism.bsky.social @canurb.bsky.social
3492
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Instead we are pushing new residents to suburban districts - or to corners of the city that lack amenities. Delivering "housing-related infrastructure" is a big lift. Last year Ottawa pledged $50-billion.
1261
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Is there excess capacity in these areas? We don't know. Governments don't count it. One visible example: the main Toronto public school board has almost 70,000 empty seats and half its schools are below capacity.
3303
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
People are living longer, taking up more space, and having fewer children. Three-quarters of old Toronto declined in population 1971-2021; those areas lost *540,000* people.
55514
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
What if a solution to the housing crisis is right in front of us? My long read on the shrinking neighbourhoods of Toronto and Vancouver and how we could fill them up with people again. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
98723
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Yes! A genius, one of one.
040
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Toronto conservative group endorses @diannesaxe.bsky.social. Along with their usual suspects.
1151
Reposted by Alex Bozikovic
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“Good design is rooted in human dignity” -- Spring House, Toronto’s new supportive housing building, sets an important example, tackling homelessness while attending to the details that make a good home, by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com
theglobeandmail.com
Designing a solution to homelessness
Spring House, Toronto’s new supportive and transitional housing building, sets an important example of how to serve a marginalized population while attending to the details that make a good home
04218
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This is so obvious to anyone who is actually looking at cities. Sadly that's a small crowd.
1528
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“Good design is rooted in human dignity.” My piece on Montgomery Sisam Architects’s Spring House, which will serve a population in need and actually deliver beautiful architecture. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
Designing a solution to homelessness
Spring House, Toronto’s new supportive and transitional housing building, sets an important example of how to serve a marginalized population while attending to the details that make a good home
0155
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Jesus
021
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This place was beautiful, even its “ruined” state, and Francesca‘s attention is beautiful too
2414
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Kudos to Fadi Masoud, Nina-Marie Lister and all the contributors. Chris Glaisek/Waterfront with a list of lessons:
230
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The Ookwemin Minesing team: Rasmus Astrup/SLA, Angie Jim Osman and Alfredo Caraballo/Allies & Morrison, Terrance Radford/Trophic, with Trina Moyan and Zahra Ebrahim/Monumental
140
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Lisa Switkin of Field Operations, revisiting the “Lake Ontario Park” plan of two decades ago
110
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Adriaan Geuze of West 8
110
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Marc Hallé speaking for CCXA, whose work transformed the city.
130
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Leading With Landscape: a heartening day taking stock of Waterfront Toronto’s 25 years. With MVVA, West 8, Field Operations, PUBLIC WORK, Ken Greenberg and many others. It’s been a successful run building landscape, urbanism, and a richer design culture.
1150