Goliath, Again

First bee of the season; Allan Gardens, April 13, 2023

The struggle this time is with the City of Toronto.

But I'm not in search of a solution that affects me directly, except for my sense -- a hangover from my twenty years as a public servant -- that government is there to look out for our collective interests.

During the pandemic a plot of dirt on Sherbourne Street between the bike lane and the sidewalk (where a tree once grew) took on the aspect of a sink hole. The dirt in the plot would wash away in the rain and reveal beneath the road surface a quite shockingly large hole. The kind of hole you see on the news with a half-submerged car sticking out of it. 

This plot of dirt is directly in front of our condo complex, so my neighbours and I felt we had something to lose if the hole were to grow.

We have, over the past three years, contacted the City maybe half a dozen times asking that they fix the hole and plant a new tree in the plot.

So far the City has placed a series of hazard cones on the dirt plot (many of which have grown legs and walked away) and dumped some clean fill down the hole.

We knew that approach was futile, as this video, recorded on April 5 2023, shows:

I have written my local council member a time or two about this matter. 

The video may do the trick.

Maybe some day soon, this week's picture will be of a nice new tree on Sherbourne Street. Failing that, perhaps the photo will be of a car sticking out of a sink hole.

Thanks for reading!

Karen