Originally Posted by somnambulant
I just wish there was room to build a house in Toronto without being stupid rich enough to buy a house and tear it down just for the property.

I'd love to live in a house designed with modern architecture that takes things like sustainability, environmental impact and efficiency into account. The likelyhood of finding something like that in Toronto is slim, and the ability to build it is pretty much nil.
Oh well, I guess it's just not a "toronto thing".

I think modern architecture like that (big windows, lots of light, etc) is probably happier in a hilly area anyway because of the views and "natural privacy" (homes behind you are downhill and therefore can't see into the back of your house) afforded by building on the side of a hill. The only real hills in toronto are the ravines which are either protected (rightfully so) and/or prohibitively expensive.
I'll point to
http://www.livemodern.com/, even though they appear to be having server issues right now.
http://www.cdnarchitect.com/issues/I...262006&btac=no
http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/exhib...fabricated.cfm
Of course, at this stage I'm living in a 1-bdrm apartment so I guess I shouldn't worry too much about not being able to have my perfect modern home, should I? Patience Wesley, patience!
edit for fixie content:
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive...gear_bike.html
have you looked into any of the laneway housing alternatives? toronto's got a lot of em. there are even some bike tours organized around them. i've got a link somewhere.. not the cheapest option (but not as exorbitant as you might think) nor the easiest to zone though. say what you may, but condo living isn't that bad. i think we're pretty spoiled for space in north america..