As seen on Preston Street, the exterior plug on this building had a piece of paper on it: Upon closer inspection, it bears a message: We appear to have a classic “missed connections” repair in process … Is it really … Continue reading Missed Connections
Huge progress was made in the Monday House this past week. In part, this is because the work force doubled from the usual crew of four carpenters. Add in two electricians, and two plumbers, and lots of visible pipes and … Continue reading Monday House, part ix, heating and plumbing
I surprised and pleased to hear Hizzoner Jim Watson actually mention the Prince of Wales railway bridge on Thursday. And in the same breath, to mention rail transit on it. Of course, you and I and everyone else knows it … Continue reading Watson lets Prince of Wales slip his tongue
I was fortunate enough to join some neighbours on air this morning with Robin at CBC Morning. I was rather alarmed when it became apparent that it was the same panel as last January, and that they had checked out our comments from then, and were going to quizz us on how things changed. What on earth had I said back then? Heck, I can’t remember what I said two minutes ago ! This link might work should you have 15 minutes idle time: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2687682347 http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2687682347 Continue reading Pondering the LeBreton decision
For those of you with high pain thresholds, or who want to hear more than they can read here, I’ll be a short clip on CBC evening news tonight and on CBC Morning right after the 7.00am news, passing judgement … Continue reading More than you want to hear …
Councillor Rick Chiarelli was on the radio yesterday, being the only member of planning committee to vote against a “no parking provided” building. He predicted overloaded adjacent streets, complaining neighbours, and suggested there is too much wishful thinking on the … Continue reading Is a “no parking” building sane?
The new sub-floor is completely laid on the bedroom level. And level it is! With a good base to work from, the new partition walls were quickly installed. They are in the same places as the old original walls. While … Continue reading Monday House, part viii, rooms take shape
I continue to be curious about how much / little parking a stadium or arena can get away with. The shuttle parking at Lansdowne seems to work well, although I dunno if it runs for non-sport events. And that large … Continue reading Stadium / Arena parking revisited
It’s hard to get the City to consider washrooms for even a few of the new LRT stations. Probably because the planners are always close to a Tim Horton’s whilst driving their cars. Sometimes people suggest there could be a … Continue reading Transit Station Spas ??
Older houses from the early 1900’s were made up of numerous small rooms, each with doors, that could be closed off from the hall or other rooms, probably to conserve heating and avoid drafts. This is definitely what most people … Continue reading Monday House, part vii, Dramatic changes
The other day I commented to a neighbour that I hadn’t seen an across-the-street neighbour for a long time. “Oh, she died last year … or was it the year before?” Shocking news, surprising, and yet not surprising. After all, … Continue reading The Friday Traveller: La Dolce Morte
The City and NCC have come up with a revised connection of the Western LRT and Richmond Road corridor. But I don’t think it is complete enough, yet. Just like a complete street is better than just a road, the Cleary … Continue reading I can see Cleary now …
I went to a public talk the other evening. It was soooo depressing. The speaker is an architect and town planner. And professor. And consultant. And urban design reviewer. The secret to better cities? Hire more architects. Not just any … Continue reading Depressing evening with an Architect.
Recall that over time the Monday House had settled in the middle. Sometimes that was natural wood shrinkage and rot; sometimes it was careless hacking away at the supporting structure by plumbers, ductworkers and homeowners. Additional steel support posts are required, and … Continue reading Monday House, part vi, levelling the floors
Stories of the wondrous world tomorrow with autonomous (self driving) vehicles strike me as the latest version of the Jetsons. They are the ‘trying to be positive’ opposite of the global warming alarmists hyper negativity. An early example of an … Continue reading Autonomous (self driving) vehicles in Ottawa, early experience
Critics of Greber’s urban plans for Ottawa can always find things we regret, or sort of regret. Replacing the cross town tracks with the Queensway may not, in retrospect, have been the best course of action. If not, where would … Continue reading When railways ruled Ottawa
Renovating a house includes the hard costs of buying the house, gutting it, fixing it up. It also includes soft costs, like lawyers, planning permissions, and engineering drawings and building plans. When buying a new house, the soft costs can easily be 1/3 of the final purchase price. Much less so when renovating an older house, but there are still costs. During the last week the project coordinator was pushing paperwork through the permitting process and the home owner was busy trying to lay out electrical drawings. Putting the markings on the plan for plugs is straight forward. (shown … Continue reading Monday House, part v, soft costs, planning work
Bayview Station was built on the transitway for the 2001 experiment of having a rail service to the south. That station was only ever a collection of bus shelters on a hillside, with ramps down to the Otrain Trillium platforms at the … Continue reading Bayview Station
Charlestown is now part of Boston, lying north of the downtown. It was laid out in 1629 by the Puritans, a sort of Taliban of the day. Most row houses are on the slopes of Bunker and other Hills. Architecturally, … Continue reading Friday Traveller: Charlestown, MA
I used to be just as scornful as many when it came to synthetic grass. Fake. Artificial. Faux, to be snobby about it. I’ve changed my mind. I’m tired of seeing public playing fields beat to sh__ mud by over-use. … Continue reading The green green grass of … synthetics
Down in the basement, some holes were dug for new support posts. The wooden post shown here, possibly as old as the house (114 years) was totally rotted off where it met the floor. The cement floor had been poured … Continue reading Monday House, part iv, structural repairs
People interested in urban planning and architecture stuff do predictable things when on vacation or travelling. If you are on the west coast of Florida, by all means make a stop at Florida Southern College, home of 14 or so … Continue reading Friday Traveller: Child of the Sun FSC Campus
Out walking the street I bumped into an acquaintance with urban planning interests and we popped into Simply Biscotti for a tea. After listening to Mr Whineypants (me) for a bit, we played a simple mind game. He played devils … Continue reading There are no insurmountable problems
Old houses are full of surprises. Some are good, some are bad. Some are strange, even bizarre. This picture shows some knob and tube wiring in a ceiling, but also something more serious, and bad: The wall on the centre … Continue reading Monday House, part iii – surprises abound
On the first day of new ownership, the general contractor bashed various holes in the ceilings and walls to see what’s inside them. Looking for surprises (more on this tomorrow). Instead of walls being made of 4×8′ sheets of drywall, … Continue reading Monday House, part ii – gutting to the studs
