Nearly everyone in this city says they like the idea of small neighbourhood retail. Many are lying

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To live in Toronto, to be subjected to its politics, is to watch the perfect lay waste to the good over and over again. So it’s tempting to side with the admirably uncynical activists and advocates who championed what passes for a recent major change in this city: Neighbourhood retail, which is to say retail in neighbourhoods, has been “legalized.”

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Partly. Sort of. Chances are, things at least got better rather than worse.

Henceforth if you want to open a charming little convenience store — the sort of place where kids used to buy popsicles for a nickel; or open a little coffee shop or gelato store; or sell your cozy woven hats and mittens; you can.

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In parts of the city, anyway. Subject to myriad restrictions.

The idea is old, not new. You can see buildings that used to house corner stores in older........

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