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. Leaving the Vampire Rules Behind Will Condo Owners Flex their electoral muscle this October? Edited Version Of This Story To Appear In Torontoist October 25 By Stephen Weir When it comes to talking politics in most condo buildings, Vampire rules are in effect … no politician can cross the threshold unless invited in and best that they come after dark. Hundreds of thousands of voters in the GTA keep their crypts in condominiums – is this the October that a stake is driven through the heart of the condo group apathy towards all things political, and this block of voters takes its rightful place in the sunlight? Some high profile city candidates including both mayoral and city council seat seekers, wonder and worry whether 2010 is the year that condo owners exercise their franchise. A fledging condo association has flagged civic issues that condo owners should take an interest in, and a veteran NDP MPP has once again introduced a private member’s bill that, in effect, will create a c

. Sidebar: Voting by the numbers. Councillor Mihevcfeels that condo residents tend to not take as much of interest in local politics as people who live in houses and apartment buildings. MPP Rosario Marchese (Trinity-Spadina) agrees that Toronto’s condo culture works against residents – owners and renters alike – to get involved in civic politics, but feels that it is changing. “This is one of the things that come out of that culture of living in a condo, it was sold as ‘you live in your unit, you go away for a holiday, and here is your key’. You lock the door and you are gone, you don’t have to worry about a thing. The point of a condo living in the beginning of the boom was that you don’t have to talk to anyone. You don’t have to be part of a community, “explained Marchese. “The culture of it was based on the idea that you have got things you want to do in life and your condominium offers you an opportunity to do just that, and it gives you the privacy you are looking for. That is

. Demonstrators Already Claiming Victory in G20 Battle http://torontoist.com/2010/0/demonstrators_already_claiming_victory_in_summit_battle.php Boarded-up shop windows surround King Station. Photo by Stephen Michalowicz/Torontoist. Unless you've been living under a rock this week—and let's face it, with the security clampdown, lots of people downtown feel as though they are—you've noticed that the core of the city has been brought to a virtual standstill. Some streets are so vacant, you could use them as bowling alleys. Employees have been told to stay home. Shops are closed (some are even boarded up), the daily subway commute feels more like a Sunday afternoon than morning rush hour, and people are talking openly about leaving town for the weekend. Turning the country's biggest city into a ghost town is quite a feat. To some protesters, that's a major victory—and it's been won before the actual summits even begin. "Definitely the Harper government and the