Good morning, Etobicoke! I'm Bri, and after last week's soaking we have earned this one: sunny and mid twenties straight through the weekend, starting tonight, when The Kingsway shuts down Bloor for its 28th street party. Here's your week.

In this week's newsletter:

🚌 Night Moves: two new overnight bus routes, and both are ours
🔑 Rent Check: a $1,763 one bedroom opens on Gibbs Road
🌳 Still Cleaning: 3,000 storm tree calls, and counting

Plus: the Kingsway's 28th street party, and 53 storeys at Islington 🍢

🚌 The Night Bus Finally Comes To Kipling 🚌
The TTC's fall service changes took effect Sunday, and Etobicoke did well out of them. Two new overnight routes: the 345 Kipling runs Long Branch Loop to Steeles every 30 minutes, seven nights a week, and the 373 Royal York does the same up to Steeles and Kipling. Peak service on the 508 Lake Shore is back too. If you have ever paid for a 2 a.m. ride home, this is your week.

🔑 Affordable Rents Land On Gibbs Road 🔑
The City and the federal government joined KingSett Capital yesterday to mark the opening of new affordable rentals at West Square Parkview, 15 Gibbs Rd, just south of Dundas and Kipling. A one bedroom goes for $1,763 with an income cap of $84,624. Next door at 25 Gibbs, the market one bedroom is $2,295. You submit interest online, then a random draw picks who gets in.

🌳 The Storm Bill Is Still Being Paid 🌳
Nine days after the September 2 storm, the City is still working through roughly 5,700 storm related service requests, more than 3,000 of them about trees. Just over 1,000 were finished as of Tuesday, and there is no completion date. If a City tree on your street is still leaning, 311 is the move. Trees on your own property are yours to sort out, arborist and all.

🍢 The Kingsway Throws Its 28th Party 🍢
Taste of the Kingsway is back on Bloor West, opening tonight at 6 p.m. and running through Sunday. On the bill: two music stages, a car show, a canine circus, and Leafs alumni meet and greets with Rick Vaive on Saturday and Shayne Corson on Sunday. Parking on that stretch becomes theoretical, so walk, or take the 66 Prince Edward and let someone else circle the block.

📌 Quick Hits A new owner has filed to build the long stalled tower site at 35 Mabelle Ave near Islington station taller and entirely as rentals: 53 storeys and 685 units, up from 49 storeys and 580 condos. The retail is gone. Fall rec registration for Etobicoke opens Tuesday, September 15 at 7 a.m., and waitlist invitations expire after 36 hours. TIFF opened yesterday and runs through September 20, so downtown streetcars will be a mess if you are headed that way.

Finding a good contractor in Etobicoke shouldn’t feel like a gamble. Meet Scoop Approved ↓

Schools are back, and so are the school zones. The City is running more than 950 crossing guards this year, plus 660 marked School Safety Zones and 1,700 intersections with a pedestrian head start signal. Toronto police are doing targeted enforcement around schools this month on speeding, distracted driving and illegal parking at pickup. "Every child deserves a safe walk to school and a safe walk home," the Mayor said in the release. Consider the drop off loop a photo radar zone and act accordingly.

🍽️ The Kingsway Draft

Taste of the Kingsway opens tonight and you get exactly three stops before you tap out. What's your order?

A) Something on a stick you cannot identify 🍢
B) Whatever has the longest line, because the line is the review 🧍
C) Dessert first, then dessert again 🍩
D) Front row at the canine circus, because that's the actual reason you came 🐕
E) Straight to the main stage, no food, no regrets 🎸

➡️ Hit reply with your three and we'll run the tally next week!

Like being in the know? Share the love! Forward this newsletter to friends and neighbors who’d enjoy staying up-to-date on all things Etobicoke. 📬

Thanks for reading! See you next week for more of what’s happening in Etobicoke.

-Bri