april.lindgren@arts.ryerson.ca

April Lindgren teaches at Ryerson University's School of Journalism, where she specializes in local news and urban affairs reporting.

Media rainbow is only one colour

June 18, 2010

A new study on the representation of visible minorities in the news media concluded it’s pretty much business as usual at major newspapers and television stations in the Greater Toronto Area, which is to say almost everybody is white.

City life can be hostile terrain for the elderly

June 04, 2010

My 78-year-old neighbour Rosa holds court on her front porch every evening with a few of her equally aged friends. They yak in Italian, greet passersby and berate me for not watering my flowers. I think of them as the neighbourhood mayor and council.

Rossi's bike lane policy is stuck in a rut

May 21, 2010

The weather’s bad. I’m hauling too much stuff. The tires need air. I haven’t cycled to work yet this spring, and these are some of my excuses.

Toronto the good -- there, I said it

May 07, 2010

This is a defence of Toronto and the people who live here.

Great cities should also be great for kids

April 23, 2010

Most teenagers don’t spend much time thinking about public space in cities, but Hadley Dyer is trying to change that.

Warm weather awakens sleepy city

April 09, 2010

The sight of little kids wearing bathing suits and spraying each other with a garden hose was odd enough.

Website aids energy conservation

March 26, 2010

Committed Earth Hour observers who spend Saturday evening unplugging appliances and dining by candlelight might also be interested in learning how much they actually contributed to the collective conservation effort.

There's something fishy about Miller's surplus surprise

March 12, 2010

On the face of it, Mayor David Miller delivered great news earlier this week when he announced the city’s 2009 surplus will be $100 million more than anticipated just one month ago. Business and residential taxes won’t have to go up this year as much as forecast. All of a sudden, a balanced budget in 2011 looks within reach. A TTC fare hike next year isn’t a forgone conclusion.

Toronto councillor sets an example for Queen's Park

February 26, 2010

It’s easy to be cynical about politicians, so if that’s your mindset, stop reading now because this is about a politician who is doing something worthwhile. While Coun. Adam Giambrone has been hound-dogging around, describing his live-in girlfriend as a political prop, and fuelling the population’s general disdain for politicians, Coun. Adam Vaughan has been getting affordable housing built in his downtown ward.

Real change starts at top

February 12, 2010

Frontline transit workers are the most visible villains in the uproar over TTC customer service.

Enhancing pedestrian safety takes money and political will

January 29, 2010

The epidemic of pedestrian deaths during the last month has sparked calls for driver and pedestrian education programs and prompted Toronto police to get tough on downtown jaywalkers.

Ontario's mayoral hopefuls give us all reason to be hopeful

January 15, 2010

Ontario’s alpha politicians are suddenly finding city hall immensely alluring.

Toronto's winners and losers of 2009

December 18, 2009

Assessing a year in the life of a city is a challenge because it’s often not clear how events will unfold over time.

Humane Society has a long way to go to rebuild trust

December 04, 2009

The drama unfolding at the Toronto Humane Society is upsetting on so many levels it’s difficult to know where to begin, so I’ll start with what’s bothering me the most: The fate of a young, long-haired, orange cat I dropped off at the place last spring.

Regaining trust can be difficult

December 04, 2009

The drama unfolding at the Toronto Humane Society is upsetting on so many levels it’s difficult to know where to begin.

Privilege begets privilege in H1N1 vaccination campaign

November 20, 2009

The H1N1 public vaccination process reveals some ugly truths about human nature — or more precisely about the nature of some humans.

Well worth the wait for Railpath

November 06, 2009

The West Toronto Railpath is a great addition to Toronto’s limited inventory of car-free transportation routes. The dedicated group of citizens that took up the cause and transformed neglected scrubland along a rail corridor into a new recreational trail that runs southeast from the Junction to Dundas Street deserve our thanks.

On the road for better education

October 30, 2009

I’ve finally started riding my bicycle to work. It doesn’t happen every day. I’m definitely a fair-weather cyclist. And I’m still nervous. But I am cycling and I am loving it.

Signs point to more people being left behind

October 16, 2009

The poverty story in the Greater Toronto Area is well-documented. More than 86,000 people a month now turn to Toronto’s  Daily Bread Food Bank seeking  help. The child poverty rate in Mississauga jumped to 20 per cent from 12 between 1990 and 2005. The middle class is shrinking.

Fate of Miller’s legacy projects in limbo

October 02, 2009

Mayor David Miller’s decision not to run in next year’s municipal election is a graceful exit by a classy guy. Maybe he could have successfully wooed Torontonians for a third time, but the odds weren’t in his favour — the stench of political blood in the air has been overpowering.

Healthy race unfolding for mayor’s chair

September 18, 2009

The fact that George Smitherman and John Tory are both considering applying for Mayor David Miller’s job in the 2010 municipal election is a healthy sign for Toronto’s body politic.

Statistics help explain cyclists’ anger

September 04, 2009

Views on who is to blame for the confrontation between courier Darcy Allan Sheppard and former attorney general Michael Bryant seem to depend on whether you travel on two wheels or four.

Tucked amongst the chaos lies our Humber Bay

August 21, 2009

This hasn’t been the best of summers in the city. The rotten weather, the piles of garbage and the fraying economy are discouraging. Dire warnings about city finances emanate from city hall. Too many young men carry around guns used to kill other young men.

Green may be right colour for Gardiner

August 07, 2009

It doesn’t happen often, but once in a while an utterly captivating idea for urban reinvention comes along. Toronto architect Les Klein’s proposal for a green roof over a seven-kilometre stretch of the Gardiner Expressway is one such idea.

Green ‘mistakes’ tower across Toronto

July 24, 2009

The lull before the next wave of condo construction in Toronto’s downtown is an opportunity to reflect on the type of buildings we want to live in for years to come. Concerns about the environmental sustainability of the city’s new glass towers were largely ignored during the frenzied era of glitzy upgrades, bidding wars and lineups for multimillion-dollar penthouse purchases.

Women, children hit hardest by strike

July 10, 2009

Torontonians are making do as the city workers’ strike drags on. The fact is, though, some people find it easier to make do than others.

Slobs making strike anything but civil

July 03, 2009

Moments of duress — like a municipal workers’ strike — are the real test of a society’s civility.

Who is to blame for a possible strike?

June 19, 2009

The prospect of a city workers’ strike that will shut down many services next week is infuriating. So who should we be furious with?

‘War’ on cars should go much further

June 05, 2009

Critics of Mayor David Miller accuse him of launching a “war on the car” in Toronto.  More power to him.

New vendors gritty and determined

May 22, 2009

There aren’t many places in the world where the arrival of a few new outdoor food carts causes a sensation. The fact that Toronto is one of those places is, well, so Toronto.