Hint: longtime CTV Toronto newscaster Dana Levenson and her blended family feature in our top article of 2016!
As the year draws to a close, our team here at Storeys was curious to look back and see which articles attracted you most since we launched back in September.
From city issues to city builders and even city dwellers, our Top 10 list is as colourful and engaging as the city’s real estate sector itself.
Check out our roundup of the most read articles in 2016.
The Port Perry house, with construction well underway.
10. The GTA’s Golden Girls
"The older you get, the better you get. Unless you're a banana." — Rose (Betty White)
The Durham Region ladies featured in this popular Storeys article certainly aren’t bananas. In fact, they came up with a brilliant home-ownership model to take them into their golden years. Who says you’re too old for roommates?
The view of the CN Tower and downtown Toronto from the Islands. (Source: Linda Rosenbaum)
9. Island living, Toronto style
Early in October Linda Rosenbaum invited us into her life on Toronto Island. While it’s a small, secluded and at times inconvenient place to call home, it’s also a warm and inviting community that offers a unique way of life and the preservation of a special piece of this city’s history.
8. Tolls, transit, towers — Hume looks back on Toronto’s year of civic fogginess
Very recently we welcomed our newest columnist to Storeys: Christopher Hume, former architecture critic and veteran urban affairs columnist at the Toronto Star. His second column captures his knowledge of the city, his insight into its future and, of course, his very assertive opinions on it all.
7. The perfect family home, designed with love
Everyone dreams of the perfect family home. In this article, the Schwartz family showed us that the concept comes from a place in your heart rather than luxurious features and finishes when they renovated their home to ensure it would suit the needs of all the members of their family.
6. Is this the most important man in real estate today?
To be honest, we don’t have an answer to this question, but Steve Diamond, president and CEO of Diamond Corp., has an innovative approach to development that is, without question, changing the real estate game in the city of Toronto.
5. Toronto loses one of its most effective city builders
Every year has its highs and lows, and losing former city builder Alan Slobodsky was certainly the latter. Slobodsky may not have been a household name, but he certainly helped shape the Toronto we know and love (not to mention the lives of those closest to him).
4. Moving sideways: The story of one poor little rich home owner
Remember when a million dollars used to be a lot of money in the real estate market? Yeah, neither do we. And now homeowners like Michelle Denise are all over the city, stuck in their million-dollar homes without the income to move up or the patience to move sideways.
3. Toronto’s real estate industry loses an influential voice
Back in September we launched Storeys on a bit of a sad note — the passing of John Bentley Mays, former Globe and Mail architectural columnist. Publisher Danny Roth wrote this touching tribute to a man for whom he had a lot of admiration and respect.
2. Can Toronto keep up with itself
Hume hit our Top 10 list twice, which shows us you’re just as excited to see him back in action after retiring this year from the Star as we are. In his debut column he spoke to city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam about Toronto’s runaway growth and her controversial proposal for a year-long moratorium on tall towers.
1. How one blended family found its Toronto dream home
Here it is, the most read article on Storeys thus far. Frankly we aren’t surprised because who doesn’t love a happy ending? Writer Shawna Cohen spoke with longtime CTV Toronto newscaster Dana Levenson about how she and her partner Kevin Green were able to find the home of their dreams for their blended family.
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Have a great idea for an article for 2017? Send us your tips and suggestions to info@storeys.com.
