Toronto is a multicultural city. I remember reading a few years ago that by 2010 the “minority” groups that make up the population will actually total more than 50% of the city by 2010 – that’s just next year. The Toronto Star produced a map (pdf) that shows the concentration in ethnic groups and where they live. The full article gives more detail as to how this has been shifting over the last few years. The article based much of it’s work from “Evolution of Ethnic Enclaves in the Toronto Metropolitan Area” soon to be published in The Canadian Geographer.

Find out how “walkable” your neighborhood is. Walk Score calculates a score based how easy it would be to walk to do all your errands instead of taking the car. The higher the walk score, the more walkable your neighborhood is. They describe the score below:

The Walk Score^TM Algorithm

Walk Score uses a patent-pending system to measure the walkability of an address. The Walk Score algorithm awards points based on the distance to the closest amenity in each category. If the closest amenity in a category is within .25 miles (or .4 km), we assign the maximum number of points. The number of points declines as the distance approaches 1 mile (or 1.6 km)-no points are awarded for amenities further than 1 mile. Each category is weighted equally and the points are summed and normalized to yield a score from 0-100. The number of nearby amenities is the leading predictor of whether people walk.1

My neighborhood scored 98! I guess I really shouldn’t drive everywhere.

The Toronto Star has been running a series of online maps on their website in a column titled Map of the Week. From mapping crime and accidents, to health and STDs, these maps mashup data with the tracts that make up Toronto. The latest map is about neighborhoods – they’ve been asking for input into what are the boundaries of all the neighborhoods people use in the city. Names like “Rosedale”, “East York” and “The Annex” these neighborhoods make up the fabric of the city. Curiously, where my condo is an area without a neighborhood name at all. Apparently, we don’t qualify under for titles of our neighbor neighborhoods.

Well, many reports of Google cars driving up and down Toronto are coming in. It’s true, Google Street View is finally coming to Canada. Originally blocked by the country’s various Privacy Commissioners because of privacy concerns, Google has pledged to blur faces and cars from the Canadian images in order to comply with our laws. So, don’t smile when you see their cars, wave instead.