It's always intriguing to read appraisals of what's going on in one's city from the perspective of an outsider, the latest and most popular of which comes from the Guardian regarding the state of cycling in Toronto. In an article posted this morning on the publication's "Bike blog," writer Anna Soper gives her take on some recent local developments, including the removal of the Jarvis bike lanes and Mayor Ford's endorsement of the Good Bike Project, which she positions as "a savvy recognition of an opportunity to curry favour with cyclists and artists."

The view from abroad, it would seem, is not so favourable. Sure it's only one article by one writer, and it really doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things, but it doesn't exactly paint a picture of a forward-looking city, now does it? Some have already characterized this depiction as an embarrassment. I wouldn't go that far. But what does interest me is the fact that there's an idea floating around that a war on cycling is being waged in Toronto. Although the phrase appears in quotation marks in the title of the piece in question, that's still a pretty major claim.

Do you think it's true?