TorontoIAM: Mats Sundin's Future Rests on Next Six Weeks, Fourth Quarter Gains for Toronto Real Estate

This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from TorontoIAM where you will find the best blogs from Toronto, Ontario as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Sundin Wants to Stay in Toronto

Blogging on Hockey Buzz, Howard Berger writes that Mats Sundin has some serious thinking ahead of him.  Sundin told reporters yesterday that “he might have to make a decision about his immediate future before Feb. 26th,” the date of the NHL trade deadline.

Sundin will become a “hot property” if the Leafs don’t significantly improve soon. “The long-time captain of the Blue & White strongly reiterated that he has no desire to move -- even temporarily -- as a ‘rental’ player.” Sundin has a “no-trade clause” in his current contract with the hockey club.

If the Leafs were to ask him about waiving the no-trade clause, he says he’d have to sit down take a look at his options. “I know in my heart that I want to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs,” says Sundin in the post. “I haven't talked to my agent [J.P. Barry] about anything else… I have no second thoughts or hidden agendas…I live in Toronto and I want to stay a Maple Leaf.” Sundin understands that what he wants may not be what the team wants. “If the Leafs are not vastly better in the next six weeks, they'd be insane to ignore the potential windfall for peddling Sundin.”

Museum Breaks Records Despite Criticism of New Design

R. Ouellette, blogging on Reading Toronto, reports that the Royal Ontario Museum hit record numbers over the holidays. The newly opened ROM, had over 66,000 visitors between December 26 and January 6th “after suffering through an array of negative critical reviews.” Libeskind’s Crystal is proving to be “just the kind of cultural spectacle that entices people to a museum.” Although the “exceptional collections are the real draw.”

ROM’s memberships increased to 31,000 area households, with 2,200 new members signing up over the holidays. “That number just does not seem high enough as far as Reading Toronto is concerned,” writes Ouellette in his post. Considering that there are more than 5 million people in the GTA, “the newly reinvented ROM should be able to double that membership in the next few years.”

Award Winning Architect to Speak at OCAD Tonight

Paul over at Blog T.O. announces a special talk tonight at OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) by Tom Sinclair, co-founder of the Open Architecture Network, “an online, open source community dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design.” The project, supported by Architecture for Humanity, is “a means to connect designers and propagate architectural solutions and knowledge to solve problems.” Sinclair will give a talk “about the role of the designer in the pursuit of a sustainable future.”

The Open Architecture Network is only one of his many projects. Sinclair is the recipient of 2006's TED Prize, “which honours visionaries and thinkers” who make positive contributions to the world. He is a contributing writer to Worldchanging and co-edited the book Design Like You Give A Damn. The talk this evening is “When Being Sustainable is a Matter of Survival”, and it's “generating quite a bit of excitement around the OCAD campus.” The post notes that the event is free to attend, but seating will fill quickly, so arrive well before the starting time of 6:30 pm.

Real Estate Posted Solid Fourth Quarter Gains

A recent post on Real Estate Intelligence reports that our nation’s real-estate market showed little signs of any midwinter slowdown, “posting solid gains in the final three months of 2007.” Ontario was right there with it, maintaining steady activity “despite the impact of the strong Canadian dollar on manufacturing in Central Canada.” Toronto in particular had a “busy fourth quarter,” partially due to a rush to purchase before the new municipal land transfer tax took effect on Jan. 1.

According to the post, “a two-storey house in Toronto cost an average of $506,900 in the fourth quarter, up eight per cent from a year ago.” Condos saw an increase of 10 per cent to $280,505. Across Canada, the average price of a bungalow “in the fourth quarter was $337,555, up 11.6 per cent from a year earlier” and the average price of a two-story residence “rose 11.3 per cent year-over-year to $399,738, and standard condominiums gained 11.7 per cent to $240,395.” Activity levels are predicted to “wane” in 2007. Average prices are expected to continue to rise, although at a slower pace.

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TorontoIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit TorontoIAM.com.