I’ve always considered myself fortunate, having been able to turn my personal passion for all facets of shelter into a career that allows me to explore Canadian social history, urban studies, the psychology of housing and home, and residential design – and much more! Now, I’m a top producing realtor celebrating my 28th year in the shelter industry. What more could I ask for?

Spacing Magazine is one of my ‘go-to’ magazines for its commitment to covering multiple facets of Canadian city-building, so I was absolutely delighted when this noted national publication featured me in one of their articles.

Canada Is Fortunate To Have Spacing Magazine

Spacing Magazine’s tagline is : “Canadian Urbanism Uncovered”. Although much of the content focuses on Toronto, it does cover several other Canadian urban markets. They publish two issues a year specific to Toronto, plus two a year focusing on national issues, available for purchase through subscription or on newsstands.

Their national and regional content is both informative and award-winning, being named best Canadian Small Magazine of the Year in 2007, 2008, and 2009. If you primarily consume your media online, you’ll take note of the fact that the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors named Spacing.ca Best Magazine Blog and Best Magazine Web Site. They also offer podcasts and full-length books to check out.

Spacing Magazine is a bit of a pioneer in its focus on urban issues and living, challenging influencers and planners to change the way that we think about building and using public spaces.

In 2003 journalists and advocates for the advancement of public spaces came together in 2003 to create a forum for discussion and introduction of new ideas, which have continued for almost two decades now around public transit, urban design, public art, community planning, and sustainable development.

While much of the content is centred on Toronto, there is a recognition that many of the issues in urban planning and design are common to many urban centres, hence the collaborative focus on cities like Ottawa, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver and Atlantic Canada.

It’s Always Great When Urbaneer Is Noticed

I was excited and humbled to be included in this piece: REID: Piketty And The Decline Of “Dirty Mansions”.

The article talks about the life cycle of residential properties in several of Toronto city neighbourhoods, originally constructed for the wealthy as grand gracious single-family dwellings in the late 19ths and early 20th century when Bay & Gable Victorian Architecture – and – Edwardian architecture was the fashion. Within decades, as Toronto’s growing commerce and industry exploded, along with its population, the expanding affluent merchant class relocated beyond the original city to the expanding early suburbs that were being promoted as exclusive pastoral refuges from the ills of crowded city life, including the increasing pollution from factories. As the affluent left the city for greener pastures, fueled by the rise of the modern transportation options including the railways, streetcar lines, as well as the automobile, many of the original grand single-family dwellings were converted into rental units. This began as early as the Great Depression and would continue well into the 1980s and 1990s, depending on the location.

However, over the past three decades – coinciding with the growth of Toronto’s post-industrial economy – affluent professionals have been purchasing these merchant class dwellings and deconverting them back to grand single-family residences. This has impacted housing affordability and availability for Toronto renters, who occupy about 50% of Toronto’s housing stock.

Take a peek at this paragraph taken from the article:

“An increasingly larger pool of people once again have the wealth to buy and the income to maintain a large old house for a single-family (and, with modern conveniences, servants are no longer necessary, although many of these households employ cleaners and if they have children, nannies). As well, for various reasons, the suburbs have lost some of their appeal, and more people want to live closer to downtown. So they have gradually been buying up these ramshackle old rental houses, taking out the dividers and multiple kitchens, and making them single-family homes once again. They also have the wealth and income to restore them to a very high level of maintenance– the visible outward sign of gentrification”.

This article links out to my piece, Gentrification, Densification, And The History Of Toronto Real Estate, which chronicles a lot of what the Spacing article explores with the transition of wealth and the subsequent impact on housing development and gentrification. I also explore some of the history of urban neighbourhoods and the relationship between development and densification.

Sharing My Insights

With a multi-disciplinary education in housing, an insatiable curiosity for all facets of housing and home, plus over 28 years in real estate sales, marketing and development, I enjoy sharing my views and observations on housing and market trends – right here on my Urbaneer blog and on my sister site, Houseporn.ca which celebrates residential architecture, interiors, landscape, design, and products in Canada.

Many of my own observations complement the content you’ll find in Spacing Magazine, including commentaries that provide extensive facts and figures on matters of shelter, while others simply instill ideas for conversation around matters of urban planning, design, and housing. Here are a number of posts that you might enjoy- if you haven’t read them already – which explore Toronto’s City Of Neighbourhoods including A Brief History Of Toronto’s Little India Neighbourhood  – and – A Brief History On The Old & The Emerging New Dupont – and – Realtor Steven Fudge Has A Nose For Leslieville, On Toronto’s East Side

More recently, I’ve been tackling how the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how we live and use our built environments. This new series called COVID-19 & Toronto Real Estate addresses a range of topics such as Exploring COVID-19, Urban Planning And Toronto Real Estate,  The Need And Demand For Live/Work Properties In Toronto and The Movement To Hipsteading During The Covid-19 Pandemic & Toronto Real Estate

** Looking for a unique holiday gift? Order Spacing magazine for a friend! Just $22 CAD for the year, which includes 4 issues sent to their door! **

What are your housing curiosities and concerns? Whether you’re a Buyer seeking a realtor to assist you with your real estate wishes, wants and needs, or you’re a Seller looking for counsel or guidance on how to elevate your property to achieve top dollar, or perhaps you need advice on your own particular conundrum in making your residence work efficiently and effectively for your family, I welcome offering my assistance to Canadians across the country.

I’m here to help and grateful to share my insights with you, dear readers, so don’t hesitate to contact me at Steve@urbaneer.com.

–> If you enjoyed these posts, check out:

•Excavating The History Of Toronto’s Avenue Road

•From Brownfield To Playing Field: A Brief History Of Toronto’s Davenport Village

•A Brief History On The Intensification Of The Danforth In Toronto

•Garden City: The History And Revitalization Of Toronto’s Regent Park Neighbourhood

• Gentrification, Densification, And The History Of Toronto Real Estate

• A Short History Of Toronto’s Fashion District And Art Deco Architecture

 –> Love Toronto architecture as I do? Check out these blogs:

• Edwardian Residential Architecture In Toronto

• Bay & Gable Victorian Architecture In Toronto

• On The History – And Popularity – Of The Open Concept Space Plan

• Trending In Toronto: Single Family Houses Replaced By Boutique Condo Townhomes

Thank you for reading!

-The Urbaneer Team

Steven Fudge, Sales Representative
& The Innovative Urbaneer Team
Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage – (416) 322-800

– we’re here to earn your trust, then your business –

Celebrating Twenty-Eight Years As A Top-Producing Toronto Realtor

*Did you know we were recently listed as one of The Top 25 Toronto Real Estate Agents To Follow On Twitter! – The Top 50 Blogs On Toronto – and The Top 100 Real Estate Blogs In Canada? Consider signing up in the box below to receive our FREE monthly e-newsletter on housing, culture and design including our love for unique urban homes and other Toronto real estate!

*Love Canadian Housing? Check out Steve’s University Student Mentorship site called Houseporn.ca which focuses on architecture, landscape, design, products and real estate in Canada.