April 14, 2015

The Toronto Star

Betsy Powell

Unless there is widespread public opposition, the speed limit on hundreds of local residential roads in Toronto and East York will soon be lowered from 40 km/h to 30 km/h.

“From the residents that we’ve heard from, the vast majority are strongly in support of safer roads in our neighbourhoods,” Councillor Josh Matlow said Tuesday after the move was unanimously approved by Toronto and East York Community Council.

He emphasized that the change doesn’t affect main streets or collector roads.

A pedestrian hit by a vehicle at 30 km/h versus 40 km/h is “literally the difference between life and death."

April 1, 2015
City Centre Mirror
Justin Skinner

March 26, 2015

York Guardian

David Nickle

There are no plans to do anything with the two-storey brick building housing the Starbucks Coffee shop at the corner of Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue. But Josh Matlow isn’t taking any chances.

The councillor for St. Paul’s will be pushing to have the structure officially designated a heritage property. It sounds like there’s good reason. The building once housed a general store and post office owned by one John Davis ­— the same Davis that gave the name to the tiny, nearly-forgotten community of Davisville. The second floor lounge of the coffee shop was once home to the first town meeting of Davisville. Up the road, the Davis’ also owned a pottery business.

Sipping coffee on one of the old leather couches in the old town hall, Matlow calls the building “the heart of the area.”

“It’s not just because we get our coffee here,” says Matlow. “Its architecture defines the community — it is iconic. If it were to become a glass and steel condo, the heart of the community would be ripped out. It wouldn’t look like Davisville anymore.”

Mar 24, 2015

Inside Toronto

Justin Skinner

The Yonge and Eglinton area is facing mounting development pressures, but councillor Josh Matlow, the City of Toronto and a variety of local stakeholders are looking to get a leg up on any new proposals.

On Monday, March 23, residents crammed into a meeting room at Northern District Library to get a look at the public realm elements of the ongoing Midtown in Focus process, which will lead to amendments to a Secondary Plan that will shape development in the Yonge and Eglinton area.

City of Toronto planners Paul Farish and Helene Iardas highlighted “five place-making moves” that would redefine the Midtown Public Realm Character Area. Those moves included 12-metre setbacks from the street for new developments along Eglinton Avenue East, landscaping along Eglinton Avenue West, public squares at several intersections, a green promenade, traffic calming on Redpath Avenue and more.

February 13, 2015
City Centre Mirror
Justin Skinner

City offered competitive bid with money secured from development fees from other nearby sites

Faced with a dwindling congregation and a surplus of space, Manor Road United Church has decided to put the Davisville Village community first.

A couple of years ago, the church decided to sever its land and sell a portion off to help renovate its sanctuary space. Rather than automatically looking for developers to buy it up, the church is working on a deal with the City of Toronto that would see the land converted into green space.

“We could have sold the land to developers for housing for seniors, condos or townhouses,” said Manor Road United Church Reverend Debra Schneider. “Councillor (Josh) Matlow had a meeting regarding the (Manor Road) Lawn Bowling Club and we had a couple of members there. They became aware councillor Matlow had funds available for park land and we started discussions from there.”

The church, at Manor Road East and Forman Avenue, will use the money to revamp its 90-year-old sanctuary space. The funds from the city will help make the space accessible and will allow for the installation of glass partitions to help convert it into a mixed-use space that can be rented out.

February 10, 2015
The Globe and Mail
Oliver Moore

An attempt to get more information about the controversial subway proposal for Scarborough was quickly squelched at Toronto city council Tuesday.

Councillor Josh Matlow ‎had put forward a series of "administrative inquiries" asking about costs, ridership projections and other key issues. Some of the answers he got from staff fell short, he argued, and he sought to have the questions referred for further debate.

February 10, 2015
CBC News

Toronto city council voted this morning not to send questions asked by Coun. Josh Matlow about the Scarborough subway extension back to the executive committee, effectively ending any possibility of reopening the debate.

Late last month, Matlow submitted the questions to city staff and council, which focus largely on the sunk costs of the project and how Mayor John Tory's SmartTrack plan might affect ridership.

Council could have voted to forward the information to the executive committee, who could have then theoretically decided to reopen the debate about the controversial project. Instead, they voted to receive the information, essentially meaning it will go no further and will remain shelved.

February 9, 2015  
City Centre Mirror
David Nickle

One thing John Tory said he didn’t want to see happen in 2015 was a rehashing of the 2013 debate over building a subway in Scarborough.

But that is what is likely to happen this week if St. Paul’s Councillor Josh Matlow gets his way.

Matlow was one of the most vocal opponents of council’s 2013 plan to scrap a provincially funded light rail line to replace the crumbling Scarborough RT line running east from Kennedy Station with a three-stop subway line.

Matlow had questions about the plan then, and in 2015, after the election of pro-subway Mayor John Tory, Matlow has more. Broadly speaking, five more.