"Until the early years of the 1900s, the city's ability to make certain decisions was curtailed by the province, like choosing where businesses went and what kinds of commercial uses could happen on which plots of land. As a result, those living in the muddy, burgeoning city of 19th century Toronto experienced a mix of business and residential buildings that present-day Torontonians haven't seen for decades."
"Shops and other businesses in neighbourhoods were an important part of the city's early history, according to a planning report before city council earlier this year, but mid-20th century policies stopped new ones from opening. Leaving only those businesses that were grandfathered in, or had applied to the city for a zoning variance, allowed to remain open inside residential neighbourhoods."
Provincial limits on municipal authority until the early 1900s constrained where businesses could locate and what commercial uses were permitted, producing 19th-century Toronto neighbourhoods with mixed residential and commercial buildings. The pre-automobile era featured small factories, bakeries, horse-drawn carts delivering goods and local livelihoods embedded in neighbourhoods. Mid-20th-century zoning policies curtailed new neighbourhood businesses, preserving only grandfathered operations or those granted variances. Recent municipal changes permit some detached houses or multiplexes on selected residential streets in particular wards to convert into retail stores, marking a partial reversal of long-standing residential-only zoning practices.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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