Toronto Star

For years, planners have been trying to encourage the idea of intensifying the city's main streets with five- to six-storey buildings. Ground-floor units would be given to shops and restaurants, the upstairs apartments to residences and offices. It is a simple model, one that has worked brilliantly in Europe from London to Paris to Berlin. Here, however, the concept has never taken off. Why? According to eminent Toronto architect Eb Zeidler, it has nothing to do with desire and everything to do with fire. Specifically, he argues, the trouble lies with the Ontario Building Code. It requires mid-rise structures to have two exits, one at either end of corridors that run the length of the building.