Spacing will be setting up shop at Jimmie Simpson Park this weekend as part of the Riverdale Art Walk (RAW). If you're in the area, do stop by to say hi, look for that subway station button you've always wanted, or pick up that back issue you still don't have. We'll have individual subway buttons on sale for a buck each. Single issues of the magazine, including our current issue, will go for $5 each. You'll also be able to buy a 6-issue subscription for $25 instead of the regular $29. More than 100 other ...

“Perhaps for the first time in North America since the invention of the automobile, road space for motor vehicles is being reallocated to bicycles,” wrote Andrew G. MacBeth in the Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal back in 1999. In the nine years since then, you'd think providing more pavement for cyclists would have gotten a lot easier, and perhaps it has (at least a bit). One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the fear of what will happen if we trade in parking spaces for space for bikes. Wrote MacBeth back then: “loss of on-street parking is ...

WHAT: The Pee-wee Herman Picture Show, a fundraiser for the Toronto Cyclist Union WHEN: Thursday May 29 — two shows: 7pm and 9:30pm WHERE: Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West) HOW MUCH: $14 “For a wild way to kick off your Bike Month revelry, you could put on your best two-sizes-too-small grey suit and a red bow tie and head to the Bloor Cinema May 29 for The Pee-wee Herman Picture Show,” writes Ed Keenan in the cover story of this week's Eye Weekly. The show will include a screening of Pee-wee's Big Adventure along with a simultaneous ...

Spacing is looking for a few good men and women to help us at events. If you've wanted to get involved in the magazine, but weren't sure how, here's your chance. Throughout the year, we throw multiple launch parties and fundraising events. In the summer and fall, we participate in functions such as the Queen West Art Crawl and Word on the Street. We're looking for people who can help us prepare for upcoming events, help with set-up, sell magazines, subscriptions, and subway buttons, and inform people about Spacing's magazine and blog Though this is ...

I polished off a bag of store-bought chocolate chip cookies before I sat down to write this, but it was hard to enjoy that last bite. The packaging the cookies came in (a combination of a plastic tray, to keep the cookies from crumbling, and a glossy paper bag) could not be recycled, so I was forced to put it into the regular trash bin. Having just watched the documentary, Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home, I feel a lot more guilty about this than I normally would. All I can think about is ...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE4fvwTBtno[/youtube] What is a dense city like Tokyo to do when it runs out of space for cyclists to park their bikes? Build a bicycle parking tower! At about the 40 second mark, you'll see what I mean. I don't remember seeing a lot of cyclists on the streets when I visited Tokyo a couple years ago, but I do remember the clusters of parked bikes that lined the sidewalks when I was in Osaka. What surprised me was how many of them were left unlocked. A number of the bikes also had yellow cards attached to their handles — these were ...

In this week's Eye Weekly, I wrote about a new organization starting this summer called Not Far From the Tree. The brainchild of fruit tree enthusiast Laura Reinsborough (who says she got the idea from similar projects successful in other cities), Not Far From the Tree's “aim is to match volunteer fruit pickers with fruit tree owners who don't have the time to harvest their trees' bounty. One third of the fruit will go to the owners; another third will go to the volunteers and the remainder will be donated to local community organizations, ...

Cross-posted from Eye Weekly. New York's city council approved implementing congestion charge Monday in a “close” 30-20 vote. (According to the New York Times, city councillors in the Big Apple tend to agree on most things, so when it comes to a council vote, “close” in New York, doesn't have the same meaning as “close” in Toronto.) Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who championed the proposal, called the decision “historic,” but the fight for the congestion charge isn't over yet — the proposal still needs the approval of the State Legislature to go ahead. ...

  Cross-posted from Eye Weekly. It's a slow week at City Hall. With few meetings, Rob Ford gaffes or controversies to report, I thought I'd point out all the info that can be mined from the “city council minutes,” which are posted on the city's website after each session of council. If you're geeky enough to go through them, these are the documents where you'll find who voted for what, who puts forward the most motions, and which councillors seems to be on the losing side of nearly every ...

Cross-posted from Eye Weekly. This morning city council unanimously passed its Green Fleet Plan [PDF], which will accelerate the greening of city-owned vehicles by reducing fuel consumption and overall emissions. Through a series of moves — such as greater use of alternatives fuels, a 10-second limit on idling for city staff, the pilot testing of new green truck technology and a bike share program for city employees — the plan should not only result in a reduction of 15,000 tonnes of CO2, but also a projected net savings of $4.032 million. Mayor David Miller described the stragety as “a win-win-win-win-win-win-win,” hailing it for its ability to help save the environment and money. That the plan was passed unanimously doesn't mean it didn't generate a multitude of questions from councillors. A big concern centered around recent reports that the production of ethanol (a bio-fuel made from plants like corn) is taking over farmland and, as a result, leading to higher food prices. As part of the Green Fleet Plan, staff aim to continue to examine the pros and cons of this alternative as well as look into others, such as the possibility of generating fuel from cooking-oil waste. Just to be certain, Councillor Susan Hall added in a motion to emphasize the importance of ensuring that the city continue to follow research in this area. Councillor Mike Del Grande raised concern about low speed electric vehicles that currently aren't allowed to be driven in Ontario, though they're manufactured right here in the GTA (and sold in the United States). Del Grande got council to approve a motion to advocate that the province make them legal, but was hoping for more enthusiastic support from the mayor who didn't seem as familiar with the issue.