The University of Toronto is looking to build new residences to house grad students as well as visiting faculty, and the school's getting creative with its plans given the premium on space at its downtown St. George Campus.

As Metro News reports, U of T wants to add between 40 and 50 laneway houses in the South Annex neighbourhood, across from Robarts Library. It hopes to get started on its first two in 2018. 

The school's working with Baird Sampson Neuert Architects on a proposal for the first two houses, which according to CBC News will be between 800 and 950 square feet (that's still bigger than many of the units in new condos surrounding the university).

This plan will still be subject to city council approval.

In November, Councillors Mary-Margaret McMahon and Ana Bailão announced they were working together to make it easier for Torontonians to bring so-called laneways suites to our city's oft-overlooked back alleys - we do have 250 kilometres of them after all.

Toronto has no shortage of delicious food options to pig out on, and one customer took advantage of this at Fresco's Fish & Chips in Kensington Market. 

After getting what seems like a perfectly reasonable number of mozzarella sticks, the customer felt they needed to explain their super cheesy order.

The customer wrote, "Yes, I meant to order 3 mozzarella sticks. Please don't judge me. I am having  a bad week and was so excited they were back on the menu :)"

Fresco's posted the receipt on their Instagram in praise of the comment and their very own mozza sticks. 

-someone's a fan of our mozza sticks (see comment) we have more than just fish! Hands up for all the mozza stick fans! #frescosfishandchips • • • #foodto #blogTO #kensingtonmarket #torontofoodie #fishandchips #dineTO #yelptoronto #tastetoronto #tripadvisor #hypetoronto #TorEats @to_finest @toronto_restaurantsff

A post shared by Dine In. Take Out. Delivery (@frescosfishandchips) on Mar 3, 2017 at 12:11pm PST

No judgement here! Here's hoping this person's day improved with the addition of mozza sticks!

You can always get vegan-friendly pies at Pizza Pizza, only you had to order them without cheese.

But today, the Toronto-based chain announced it'd be offering vegan cheese at each and every one of its orange-clad pizzerias.

According to a Pizza Pizza news release, the company's welcoming a "new dairy-free menu option that allows Canada's growing vegan community to customize their pizzas with a cheese-like product that respects the vegan diet.

not to be dramatic but pizza pizza offering vegan cheese is the best thing that's ever happened to me

— Maddie (@MaddieTurenne) February 27, 2017

Violife, owned in part by former NBA-er John Salley, will supply Pizza Pizza with its cheese-like product. Apparently, Salley and Pizza Pizza's chief marketing officer, Pat Finelli, met and started working on this project during last year's NBA All-Star Weekend.

Adding vegan options to the menu is a long-awaited offering that follows in the chain's much earlier roll-out of gluten-free crusts.

Now, those who eschew meat and gluten in Toronto have one more place to grab a slice. Plenty of local restaurants, including Magic Oven, Apiecalypse Now! and Za Pizzeria, all have vegan pizza options too.  

One of Toronto's most popular summer electronic music festivals announced some major changes today.

What was once the Digital Dreams Festival has been re-branded as the Bud Light Dreams Festival. Like 2016, it's still happening at Echo Beach, but this year there will be a new layout, three stages - including a waterfront stage - and it's now a 19-plus event.

This year, a new journey begins…Introducing the all new Bud Light #DreamsFestival at Echo Beach July 7 & 8 https://t.co/Rmy24W63xA 19+ Event pic.twitter.com/Ch1kyBzLkh

— Dreams Festival (@DreamsFest) March 7, 2017

Billed as a "boutique luxury festival experience" celebrating Toronto's music and art communities, the lineup has yet to be announced, but headliners last year included major players like Above & Beyond, Armin van Buure, and Axwell Ingrosso.

Dreams Festival takes place on July 7 and 8. Tickets are not on sale yet. 

NXNE has announced the first wave of performers on its 2017 lineup, and things are looking good so far.

Passion Pit, Tyler the Creator and Post Malone are the headliners with other acts like Sleigh Bells, Bleachers, The Soul Rebels Feat. Talib Kweli, Twin Peaks, Cold Specks, Mun and Son Little also on the docket.

There are 20 more artists to be announced. 

A post shared by NXNE Festival and Conference (@nxne) on Mar 7, 2017 at 8:00am PST

From June 23 to 25, NXNE will return to the Port Lands, and organizers have (thankfully!) promised to provide free water stations on site this year. Tickets are already on sale.

As per usual, NXNE will spread the rest of its programming around the city. Yonge-Dundas Square will play host to the three-day Game Land part of the festival from June 16 to 18, which will include live e-Sports competitions and gaming demonstrations.

The Club Land portion will include shows scheduled at venues across the city. The programming won't be as extensive as it was before the move to the Port Lands, but larger music venues like the Danforth Music Hall, the Horseshoe Tavern and Adelaide Hall will host concerts, harking back to the early days of the expansive festival.

The Toronto bar scene is thriving. From expertly crafted cocktails to craft beer, video games, pinball, live music and drag shows there's literally something for everyone in neighbourhoods across the city.

Check out all 50 essential Toronto bars in this photo gallery.

One Toronto chef  is getting ready to say au revoir to the booming business he built.

Ma Maison's Patrick Alléguède has put his Etobicoke bakery on the market. Why? Because he wants to retire. "It’s the right time, my business is doing good," he says.

Ma Maison, located at 4243 Dundas Street West is currently listed for sale, and it's going for $500,000. The Etobicoke bakery has been around for about 14 years and Alléguède says it's still growing in popularity.

Alléguède notes that even though Ma Maison's only open five days a week, he regularly puts in 14 hour work days. Now, he wants to take some time for himself.

“I’m 65," he says. "And I’ve been working since I was 16 years old, so I guess it’s time for me to take a breather to enjoy myself.”

But remember, just because Ma Maison is for sale, it doesn't mean it's closing.

The scandals surrounding Rob Ford's time as Toronto mayor seemed endless, but it was the crack smoking video that got worldwide attention. 

So it's no surprise the media circus, characters and stories that came out of it have inspired a feature film. 

"Based on true events," Filth City isabout a crack-smoking mayor seeking re-election.

The putatively dark comedy directed by Andy King shows a power hungry mayor wrapped in controversy who will stop at nothing to make sure the video of him smoking crack doesn't get into the wrong hands. 

Based on the trailer, the movie looks entirely outlandish, but we'll reserve judgment until it's actually been screened. 

Though there's no direct mention of the Ford name (he's called Mayor Hogg in the movie), the storyline and casting quite intentionally give it away. 

Kenny Hotz from Kenny vs Spenny and Melinda Shankar from Season eight of Degrassi: Next Generation star in the film. 

The film is screening at Scotiabank Theatre on March 25 and tickets are available.

Plenty of Toronto neighbourhoods are changing, one condo (or rental building) at a time. But a few weeks ago, some Leslievillians noticed an update on a development application originally submitted back in 2013.

The property in question, at 1130 Queen St. E., is currently home to Leslieville stalwart Stratengers. However, there are plans filed with the city (that are still subject to approval, of course) to transform the one-storey structure into a four-storey mixed-use building.

These plans by Sedun + Kanerva Architects Inc. call for 13 residential units with a restaurant at ground level. 

A representative from Stratengers isn't too worried because new development has been in the works for a long time now. Dan, a manager, says the restaurant's currently on an 11 year lease. 

"There’s nothing happening... we have a long-term lease here," he says.  "So we’re not going anywhere."

And if the development happens earlier than expected, could move back in once it's complete.

Fans of contemporary home design will likely swoon over this recently listed property at 154 The Kingsway. It's one of those houses that has an understated exterior but is a bit of show stopper once you get inside. 

The most obvious attribute of the main floor is its open layout, which makes the place seem huge when you first enter, even as each space is well delineated thanks to bump outs along the right wall.

Cecconi Simone is responsible for the interior design, which also features novel light fixtures, a envy-worthy kitchen, and a slick en suite. In fact, all four bedrooms have their own washroom, which is a nice touch you don't typically find in older homes.

Unsurprisingly, the list price exceeds $3 million. With a finished walk-out basement, there's a lot of living space on offer here. While the west end neighbourhood won't attract downtown prices, a new build like this one will be in hot demand in today's market.

Specs

• Address: 154 The Kingsway
• Price: $3,100,000
• Lot Size: 41 x 122 feet
• Bedrooms: 4 plus 1
• Bathrooms: 6
• Parking: 3
• Walk Score: 63
• Transit Score: 62
• Listing agent: Paul Johnston, Right at Home Realty
• Listing ID: W3721668

Good For

A family that likes to entertain. The main level can accommodate a sizeable gathering with its open layout. This would also be ideal for people who don't believe in having to walk more than a few feet to get to a washroom.

Move On If

You don't drive. For all of The Kingsway's charms (it really is a pretty street), its transit access isn't great and you won't be walking to the store for your milk and eggs. 

Thanks to Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage for sponsoring our house of the week. All editorial written and selected by blogTO.

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in North American and Toronto is finally catching on. 

The tennis-like sport  played with a plastic ball and an undersized racquet has spawned  Ontario and Canadian associations that help explain the rules and keep fans up to date on tournaments. 

The only problem? There aren't a ton of places in Toronto to play it just yet but a few gyms and rec centres have started hosting drop in games.

Here's where you can try your hand at pickleball in Toronto.

U of T Athletic Centre

On Fun Fridays U of T hosts Pickelball tournaments and encourages you to bring friends along to play. Check their website before heading out as Pickleball doesn't happen every week.

Edithvale Recreation Centre

This Finch Avenue rec centre hosts Pickelball every Tuesday for folks over 60, but every Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m., players 18 and over are invited to drop by and whack a ball around. 

Mayfair Club

It makes sense that this fitness club with a concentration on tennis and squash would host Pickleball games from time to time. They host doubles pickleball tournaments on weekends. Check the website for a club near you. 

Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre

Drop in and play Thursdays and Sundays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at this community centre on Spadina. It's free to play and all ages are welcome.

Milliken Park Recreation Center

On Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, you can drop in to play at this McCowan Road community centre. There are also games happening from noon until 3:45 p.m. with a limited number of participants allowed, so call head for that slot.

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre

Every Wednesday until the end of May, from 12:15 to 2:45 p.m., drop into this state-of-the-art sports centre for a game. It's an open-game type situation so it's first come first served, and you need to be a member to play.

Don't have the equipment you need to play Pickleball? There are several stores in Toronto that can suit you up, and the best part is not much is required to play.

ATR Sports

The Queensway store sells basic paddles and balls to get you started with the game. This is a good spot to go to if you're simply curious. 

Brownssports

This Bloor West sports shop carries a wide range of paddles, balls, grip tape, and starter kits.

Merchants of Tennis

Head to this tennis pro shop on Bayview for limited but high end selection of pickleball paddles. If you want to show up to a game and intimidate just by walking onto the court, shop here. 

Sportcheck

Good old Sportcheck carries rackets and sports equipment including pickleball packs, paddles and starter kits. 

Today in Toronto, it's International Women's Day. There's an action-packed burlesque show to celebrate as well as the New Ideas Theatre festival and a Frank + Oak warehouse sale to keep you busy.

The Sam the Record Man sign is finally set to return. After years spent disassembled in a flatbed trailer waiting for a new home, this iconic piece of Toronto history will finally be installed at the top of 277 Victoria St., the site that was chosen almost three years ago.

"We are very pleased to announce the iconic Sam the Record Man signs, with their spinning neon discs, will once again illuminate downtown Toronto," said Ryerson President and Vice-Chancello Mohamed Lachemi in a press release.

The school has secured Sunset Neon to restore and reassemble the sign after undertaking a thoroughgoing feasibility study on whether or not it was safe to install the sign at this site.

That process, it would appear, is being cited as the main reason for the delay. Over the years, many feared the sign would never return, despite Ryerson's agreement to preserve and reinstall the spinning neon discs.

Those fears can finally be put to rest as preservation work on the Sam's sign is set to begin this spring and installation is expected later this year.

Jason and Bobby Sniderman, the sons of store owner Sam Sniderman, thanked Ryerson for honouring its commitment to find the sign a new home and praised the site plans.

"The relocation to Yonge-Dundas square is the perfect 'home' for them, and it should be known that our first record store in downtown Toronto opened on the east side of Yonge Street just south of Dundas, so our signs will now be mounted above and shining down on the original location," they said.

When the sign is finally installed, it'll conclude a saga that goes all the way back to the store's closure in 2007 and Ryerson's purchase of the site a year later.

Many people fought for its preservation along the way, including councillors Josh Matlow and Kristyn Wong-Tam, ex-pat architecture professor Jeff Balmer who leveraged support through a petition and Facebook group, and numerous members of the music community.

The return of the sign is a testament to their passion and good news for the city in general.

Last week, the city revealed that the cost of the one-stop Scarborough subway line had jumped to $3.35 billion.

But yesterday, John Tory and his executive committee voted in favour of the one-stop plan. As the Toronto Star reports, only Ward 43 (which is in Scarborough) Councillor Paul Ainslie voted against it.

City council, of course, has the final say on what happens and still has to give its approval.

Critics, even at yesterday's meeting, have been loud and clear about their apprehensions with the Scarborough subway, especially in its current iteration.

The executive committee also voted voted to go ahead with a $187 million underground bus terminal at Scarborough Town Centre Station and voted to align the subway with McCowan Road.

The bus terminal is what made the cost of the transit plan jump from $2.9 billion to its current price tag. 

The best fish and chips in Toronto come from kitchens that do not only one, but two great things right. Crispy battered fish and greasy artery-clogging chips go together like peanut butter and jam, milk and cookies, the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre, and fortunately this pairing can be found all over the city.

Here are the best fish and chips in Toronto.

Nobu is opening its first ever Canadian location in Toronto. But it's not only bringing Japanese food to the city; it's also opening a hotel and condo building in King West, a first for the American luxury brand.

The so-called Nobu Residences, Hotel and Restaurant Toronto will be located between 15-35 Mercer St., and the multifaceted project will include 700 units in two 49-storey towers as well as a slew of swanky amenities.

Of course, the Nobu restaurant component will take up a whopping 15,000 square feet and will feature a bar and lounge, outdoor seating and private dining rooms.

Madison Group, Westdale Properties and Nobu Hospitality are behind this newly announced project. Toronto's Teeple Architects and Studio Munge are also on board. 

It's common to talk about how much Toronto has changed over the last half century, but it's doubtful many of us truly appreciate the sheer scale of this transformation. Now, you can get a sense of it thanks to an amazing new interactive map.

Created by Yuriy Czoli, the aerial view overlays present day Toronto with a map of the city from 1954, the year the subway opened. The historical images come from the Map and Data Library at U of T, which has aerial photos covering much of southern Ontario.

"I was really curious to see what the data looked like once compiled into a stitched map," explains Czoli. "Ask yourself what Toronto looked like in the 1950s or the 1980s, or any decade, and it's really hard to get a sense of the city from a single photo."

It's amazing to see how parts of the city we now take for granted are missing on the 1954 map. For one, the entire 905 region is farmland, but so too are neighbourhoods like Don Mills, north Etobicoke and huge swaths of Scarborough.

There's no Leslie Street Spit, Humber Bay Shores or Ontario Place. Ditto for the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner. You can see the 401 taking shape, but it's still under construction.

The Railway Lands look absolutely huge, and lost relics like Maple Leaf Stadium and the original Trinity College can be discerned if you know where to look (the foot of Bathurst Street and Trinity Bellwoods Park).

It's not really a huge surprise that the aerial images date back to 1954. It was a seminal year for Toronto development. With the addition of a subway line and major highways on the way, the path was paved for the modern city we have today.

I could get lost zooming in and sliding around on this map for hours.

The former Leon's furniture store at Roundhouse Park is going to look a lot different this summer. That's because Cineplex is transforming it into a Rec Room, its latest entertainment concept.

There's already a Rec Room in Edmonton, but Cineplex is opening up these multi-faceted spaces all over the country, including in Toronto.

Rec Room Edmonton

Unlike the one in Edmonton, the Toronto location won't feature axe throwing or a bowling alley, however, there will be 75 games, a massive sports bar, a massive patio and a theatre auditorium for live programming on site.

Rec Room Edmonton

The Rec Room will probably attract the post-aquarium crowd and to keep everyone satiated, it'll feature two restaurants. A Cineplex rep describes Three10 as an "upscale casual sit-down restaurant" with Canadian cuisine.

Quick-service spot The Shed will have a poutinerie with a slew of toppings, such as porchetta, smoked brisket and lobster.

Rec Room Edmonton

The Rec Room complex will be free to enter, but you'll have to play to participate in games and activities. Cineplex hasn't announced an opening date, but it should be up and running sometime this summer.

Rec Room Edmonton 

Toronto's gallery landscape is forever evolving and surprising us. New gallery spaces come and go, and established venues often adapt to whatever neighbourhood they've moved into, but sometimes something unexpected comes along and creates a shift.

Dais is that something. To call it a straight up art gallery isn't fair because it's more of a creative hub made up of different artistic components. This is what makes Dais' West Queen West gallery space so exciting. 

"Ultimately the gallery is a space to make room for visual artists to be accepted in more commercial spaces like radio, music, film and TV, the focus areas of Dais," says Dais fonder Sol Guy. 

The gallery space is host to all kinds of talks and events.

Dais is an artist-first launch pad for creative people. With some funding from Bell Media and a passionate team, it's created a hub with a gallery on the ground level, a recording studio in the basement and co-working spaces and production facilities on the upper two floors. It's like a beehive of artists.

"It’s been important to connect with a wide range of the communities that give life to creativity in the city," says Chris Penrose, Dais' managing director. 

Dais produces its own iHeart Radio show to highlight Canadian musical talent. It also helps create web series, talks, and of course, art shows. 

"Art shows are part of what we want to do in the gallery, but it’s also about having a safe, creative, collaborative space," says Penrose.

A street view shot of an event inside Dais.

This means if there's an art show, there will be talks and other associated events to support it. It's all about creating multiple experiences.

The Dais Gallery section of the Honest Farewell art maze at Honest Ed's was the weekend's most politically charged exhibit. Photo by Jesse Milns.

Dais was behind the more political room inside the art maze at An Honest Farewell. Giles Monette curated that show and used the Dais space as a stage for local artists.

"As a curator, I’ve never played it safe," he says. "If I like it aesthetically, if it’s important, I’m going to push it and that’s not always profitable. Dais is Latin for platform and I want to give [artists] a platform to get the message out."

This means you never really know what you're going to get when you walk into Dais, and as an artist it means so much more.

At Dais, it's all about putting artists first, says Penrose. He continues, "Having artists first and sharing the creative process is at the heart of how we look at events."

Artist Mathew Borrett is no stranger to Toronto's parallel universe, a place where nature has taken over after some sort of imaginary apocalyptic event.

Borrett's images of Toronto have captured the imagination of many, but his latest pieces are really turning heads.

Hypnagogic City is the follow up to his previous series Future Toronto? and shows City Hall and the surrounding area in an eerie, dream-like state of decay. You can check out close-up details via Borrett's Twitter.

Hypnagogic City by Mathew Borrett.

"I find it really engaging to imagine a present day place I know so well and applying long term time scales to it," says Borrett.

"It's not meant to be a plausible scenario even though it's vividly realized. I didn't spend a lot of time dwelling on what I was doing... I was just trying to have fun."

A zoomed-in detail for Borrett's Hypnagogic City.

Borrett spent almost three months creating the piece, which measures 39 by 72 inches. He made it using a publicly available 3D digital model of Toronto.

Hypnagogic City and Hypnagogic City #2 (created exclusively for this show) as well as Future Toronto? are on display at the Red Head Gallery until March 25.