February 3rd, 2012
STREET SCENE: West of Roncy
By Jerry Waese // No Comments
Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist
Jerry Waese.
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Urban Planet: Super tall
By Hilary Best // No Comments
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Mark Lamster and Alexandra Lange at Places:The Design Observer discuss Supertall - a recent exhibit on the world's tallest buildings at New York's Skyscraper Museum. The exhibition focuses on buildings built between 2001 and 2016 that are taller than the Empire State Building (100 stories plus) - a total of 48 projects worldwide. Lamster notes, "The irony is that these supertall buildings are designed to be iconic, memorable signs for the cities that build them, but their similarity works against that desire, and instead we seem to be creating placeless modern places that look great in ads for luxury automobiles."
Image from Places:Design Observer
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you'd like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
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Toronto in Berlin in Toronto: the Andrew poster project continues
By Shawn Micallef // No Comments
I was in Berlin in December for a few weeks wandering around. It's a good walking city. East. West. Amazing differences and amazing activity going on there right now. Walking up one of the central avenues (see map here, and the picture below, for context) I had a brief feeling that I was still in Toronto when I saw the remnants of an Andrew poster pasted to a wall. Torontonians noticed 1000 of these posters put up around the city in 2010. Everybody wondered who was responsible, until BlogTO broke the story that it was artist Shaan Syed's project, a memorial to his late partner Andrew Hull who was killed while cycling in London. He has continued the project in the last year, putting 1000 posters up around Berlin. Check out Syed's website to see photos of the posters, and the alterations people have done to them -- ephemeral public art can take on a life of its own.
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Friday’s headlines
By Laura McConnell // No Comments
CITY HALL
• Majority of Toronto residents don't approve of 'jobs for life' clause: poll [The Sun]
• Toronto labour fight: as lockout date looms, CUPE reports 'significant progress' [The Star]
TRANSIT
• The state of Toronto transit [The Grid]
• Fact check: Ford on traffic, Forum on subways [The Grid]
• How to pay for the Sheppard subway [The Star]
• James: what transit needs is better politics [The Star]
• Hume: Ford digs himself a hole on Eglinton [The Star]
• Road tolls, parking fees needed to pay for Sheppard subway, Chong report concludes [The Star]
• Transit adviser backtracks on touchy subject of road tolls [Globe & Mail]
• Rob Ford opposes tolls to finance subway [National Post]
• Critics rail on Sheppard subway report [The Sun]
• Toronto falling behind pack in averting bicycle collisions, data reveals [Globe & Mail]
• Use Ontario Place to generate transit funding [The Sun]
OTHER NEWS
• Hazel McCallion: conflict of interest hearing involving Mississauga mayor moves to Brampton [The Star]
• Toronto zoo eager to get Chinese pandas - and will find the cash, vice chair says [The Star]
• Kensington Market stalwart is on the block [Globe & Mail]
• Kensington Market's pedestrian Sundays to be more frequent [Torontoist]
• Here's what $1-million will buy you east of the DVP [National Post]
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February 2nd, 2012
Fowl neighbours: Growing up next to backyard chickens
By Mairin Piccinin // 4 Comments
Editor's Note: Last week, Toronto's liscencing committee voted against the idea of lifting the (rarely-enforced) ban on owning backyard chickens. Although the debate inspired a large number of egg related puns by councillors and the media, the idea didn't get a lot of serious consideration. While some concerns seem completely legitimate (especially concerning the role of Animal Services), a lot of the contention seemed to circle around the notion that chickens would be a pest. Mairin Piccinin has spent years living beside an owner of urban chickens and shares her experience with us.
Like many Torontonians, I’ve become aware of the growing debate over whether to lift the ban backyard chickens in the city. We’ve all heard the arguments about noise, smell, and attracting vermin. We’ve heard the dire warnings about avian influenza.
These arguments seem like no brainers to most city folk. But I find myself wondering how many are basing their views on first-hand experience. So, for those fellow citizens who have only had the pleasure of getting to know a chicken on their dinner plate, I’d like to share a bit about my own fowl urban experience.
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Sim City: Welcome to Spacington
By Dylan Collie // 17 Comments
Well, here it is: Spacington. The new look of 21st century urbanism- well, kind of. The truth is there is nothing here yet, and that is because this is just the beginning. Every week this plot of land, slowly or quickly, will become our Sim City version a 21st century urban city.
During the week the Spacing team and myself will attempt to develop Spacington into a walkable, densely populated, diverse cityscape. Borrowing some suggestions from urban theorists such as Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, and Ken Greenberg, as well as the LRT focus of 21st century urbanism, Spacington will become a simulated version urban city we all want. Check the blogs every Thursday and keep on track with our city's evolution.
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Urban Planet: Witold Rybcyznski vs Richard Florida
By Hilary Best // 1 Comment
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Grist talks to urbanist Witold Rybczynski about his recent efforts to call out Richard Florida for playing "fast and loose" with income statistics for American urban centres. Florida posited a positive relationship between density and household income, using figures for metropolitan areas rather than city centres. Rybcyznski wants to shed light on what we believe to be true about the city and whether we have the data to back up those beliefs.
Image from The Atlantic
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you'd like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
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NO MEAN CITY: Atelier Kastelic Buffey, Clearview Chalet
By Alex Bozikovic // 1 Comment
Cross-posted from No Mean City, Alex's personal blog on architecture
The architects Atelier Kastelic Buffey are definitely worth watching. I wrote last week for The Globe and Mail about a chalet they designed, at a ski resort near Collingwood, that is minimal and extremely well-detailed - all on a reasonable budget.
More pictures after the jump.
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Thursday’s headlines
By Laura McConnell // No Comments
CITY HALL
• Integrity commissioner scolds Mayor Rob Ford and Councillor Doug Ford in separate reports [The Star]
• Doug Ford violated code of conduct with 'intimidating language,' integrity commissioner says [The Star]
• Doug Ford refuses to reissue apology despite integrity commissioner's request [Globe & Mail]
• Doug Ford: integrity commissioner's call for apology a 'bunch of horse s--' [National Post]
• Doug Ford blasts code of conduct violation ruling [The Sun]
• Doug Ford may be forced to apologize to activist [Torontoist]
• The Fords vs. the integrity commissioner [NOW]
• Rob Ford to take a pass on cost-of-living raise [Globe & Mail]
• Council pay raise draws fire [The Sun]
• City offers union workers annual raises, while seeking concessions [The Star]
• Holyday to Ferguson: let's talk [The Sun]
• How catchphrases took over city hall [The Grid]
TRANSIT
• Timeline: how Toronto's transit mess unfolded [The Star]
• TTC timeline [NOW]
• Mayor Rob Ford goes on the offensive for his transit plan [The Star]
• Ford to Stintz: it's the subway or the highway [Globe & Mail]
• Doug Ford says TTC needs a shakeup - 'a complete enema' [Globe & Mail]
• Checking Rob Ford's polling: do Scarborough residents want a subway? [The Star]
• Ford makes push for transit below ground in Scarborough [National Post]
• Rob Ford did not have the authority to cancel Transit City, Hazel McCallion says [National Post]
• Mississauga mayor says Ford transit plan can't come at other cities' expense [The Star]
• Ford: Eglinton LRT promise sticks [The Sun]
• Thumbs up for Sheppard subway extension: report [The Sun]
• TTC not serving T.O.: Chong [The Sun]
• Adam Giambrone: Picking up the pieces [NOW]
• TTC in tatters [NOW]
• Cost confusion on the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown [Torontoist]
ONTARIO PLACE
• John Tory to head Ontario Place revitalization [The Star]
• Casino not ruled out as an option to revive Ontario Place [Globe & Mail]
• Much of Ontario Place to close indefinitely; John Tory to lead revitalization charge [National Post]
• Surgery needed for Ontario Place [The Sun]
OTHER NEWS
• The Fixer: 'cyclists dismount' signs will soon ride away [The Star]
• Real Jerk wins injunction to delay eviction [The Star]
• Sandra Bussin having a hard time saying goodbye to politics [National Post]
• Derelict Delights: West Toronto railpath buildings [The Grid]
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February 1st, 2012
NO MEAN CITY: The Globe and Mail’s new building
By Alex Bozikovic // 1 Comment
Cross-posted from No Mean City, Alex's personal blog on architecture
It's out: The new Globe and Mail building will be designed by KPMB, with Marianne McKenna as partner in charge.
It will be at the corner of Front and Spadina, on the site of the Toyota dealership in the picture above.
See my previous post on No Mean City here. Full details to follow as they emerge.
