I saw this photo on Jarrett Walker’s excellent Human Transit blog, and was immediately and temporarily confused. It is of a canal in Indianapolis, USA, but has an eerie similarity to  our Rideau Canal, right down to the similar “DND building” and the “westin hotel”.   I am not including a similar shot of the Rideau Canal, because putting the evidence before you makes it easier for your eyes to distinguish between the two. The similarity is a play on the patterns of recognition in the mind. No word on its World Heritage status. Continue reading Rideau Canal Doppleganger

The City has developed three Option plans for the Gladstone CDP. Option 1 seems the preferred option, so let’s look at the roads:   the new Oak Street extension is a big change. It crosses the OTrain cut via a new bridge, marked number 2 on the map. The other Options had this as a pedestrian-cyclist bridge, only option 1 showed a vehicle road. A connection between the Hintonburg neighbourhood west of the study area through to Preston mainstreet and the Plant Pool complex is highly desirable. And Dalhousie residents would find it convenient to go to school (both Devonshire … Continue reading Gladstone CDP (part vi): roads, old and new

The new Gladstone CDP planners had a new community group to deal with this time around. Distressed at the treatment of the low rise neighbourhoods south of the Queensway in last year’s Preston-Carling CDP, and seeing the same fate coming … Continue reading Gladstone CDP (part iii) : dealing with BLISS

  You all recall the big brou-ha-ha when Ashcroft bought the site of Our Lady of the Condos on Richmond Road, just west of Island Park. They already owned the sites on the north side of the street, with several 6+ storey buildings underway or in planning. The agreed with the City to increase the height of the just-completed one on the north side (111 Richmond), and the south side ones are notably higher, as shown in the picture above. The top floors of these buildings are set back a bit, so the top floors are less noticeable when the … Continue reading Gladstone CDP (part i): Ashcroft Canyon … a prototype?

  Looking down the line of bus shelters ( pictured)  at Lincoln Fields quickly reveals which shelter is heated. While the other shelters are awash in slush and cold, the damp floors of the heated zone are welcome respite from the cold. One of the sensitive decisions taken for the first transitway in the 1980’s was to have a heated waiting area at most stations. I mutter a blessing to those engineers when I reach that heated shelter on bitterly cold or windy days. And lament that my local station (Bayview) is merely a bus shelter in windswept isolation. In … Continue reading Which one is heated (for now…)

Ottawa has a public art program. It is run by bureaucrats, with all the rule making, processes, policies, procedures, and cost escalations that entails. The art along Preston and West Wellington, for example, are on independent sunk-below-the-frost-line concrete pedestals. Art that is actually incorporated into other materials — for example, the Chinese zodiac granite figures set in the Somerset Chinatown sidewalks — don’t count as art, and are maintained by the BIA. The Preston BIA broke new ground when it installed their heritage murals in the Queensway underpass. The BIA pays the artist to come back periodically for two or … Continue reading Utility Art

  The Old Colony Rail Trail left the Cape Cod trail at the bike rotary (roundabout, or traffic circle). This was our third cycle date.  It was built to a different standard than the Cape Cod trail so I suspect it wasn’t a state recreational facility. As everywhere, signage was excellent:   The rail line used to run through an area now used for the airport, called Training Field. It is very relaxed: residential houses and backyards back onto the runways, so you can sit on your patio and watch the planes take off. While there were perimeter fences, they … Continue reading Old Colony Bike Trail

  There were several marked places where cyclists could leave the Cape Cod Bike Trail and follow side roads to the coast, coastal villages, or beaches. The north-east end of the trail near Wellfleet offered cyclists the chance to go west to the town and its beaches, or east to the National Seashore. We cycled along the highway east. It was hillier than the rail trail, and the shoulder was non-existent. Traffic was light; but it would be intimidating to cycle here in peak season. After a few miles of cycling past country lots, we arrived at the seashore: The … Continue reading Cape Cod Bike Trail: part v, to the seashore

  The trail follows the bed of the former railway, which was lifeline of the Cape (it was killed-off by government-subsidized highway construction …) and therefore went through many villages. The bike trail then goes through the centre of many villages. It is common to find services along the trail, as shown in the picture above. Many commercial establishments recognized the value of the trail riders, and provided facilities:   Sometimes businesses put their signage on the trail. While this example isn’t of the highest aesthetic quality, it does tell what is available. Note that the roadside restaurant also provided … Continue reading Cape Cod Bike Trail, part iv

The Cape Cod Bike Trail has lots of signage, in several different formats. In some places, mileage markers were painted on the path itself:   The original railroad used granite posts and sign markers, so they wouldn’t rot in the rainy climate. Many are still in place along the trail, and some of the new bike markers are in the same style. The marker below reminds you are on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, at mile 12, en route to Orleans:   There were also information maps and interpretative signage to get the most out of your sightseeing:   Other … Continue reading Cape Cod Bike Trail, part iii

The path follows the course of a former rail line. It is not boring and straight, there are a number of gentle hills and the trail winds it way through a varied landscape that is always interesting. There are farms, some industry, and some backyards. And lakes, and beaches. We started from the Harwich Centre end of the route (south-western end). The first few blocks went through an industrial area dating back to the railway era. Note, however, the landscaping on the left in the photo below, as we approach the first road crossing:   The road crossings were always … Continue reading Cape Cod Trail, part ii

This is the first of several posts about a bike trail trip on the Cape Cod Trail taken in autumn, 2013.  The main paved trail, a Massachusetts state recreational facility, is about 35  km long. There is a branch off to the Old Colony Trail, and several other segments are done but not yet fully connected to the main trail. The trail does not extend all the way to Provincetown (which has ferry service back to Boston) but the public transit carries your bike from the end of the trail to Provincetown for the price of a regular fare. Local … Continue reading Dreamin’ of summertime bike riding: Cape Cod Bike Trail

There was a bunny rabbit that moved into the back walkway of a neighbouring bunch of townhouses. Here’s a picture taken at 10 o’clock at night: In sympathy for it in the bitterly cold weather, we starting putting out bits of carrot and broccoli stems every few days. As soon as it started getting dusk, it appeared at my front sidewalk for munchies. Alas, after a few weeks of the globally-warmed December weather, it ceased coming, and there were no bunnyprints around the neighbours’ either. Nature is a ruthless mother. Rabbits that don’t find a good winter feeding ground don’t … Continue reading Caring for wildlife

  while walking along the Byron tramway park, I raised my eyes for a few risky moments (watch out for the dog poop) and noticed this condo building actually looked like those dreamy artist impressions. The pattern of balconies on the left actually formed a chequerboard. It’s such a rare event that I had to snap a pic. Barry Hobin is the architect. Continue reading Trust the renderings (sometimes)

On a trip last autumn through Massachusetts, I Googled/Binged my way through the internet looking for new urbanist communities to visit. The only one I found was Mashpee Common, on Cape Cod. So we entered the address into the GPS in case we were nearby. Most new urbanist communities fit a similar template, of a quaint village town square and faux historic — or at least traditional architecture —  buildings outlining the shopping district. See previous stories here on Tradition, Fl; Garrison Village, On; Coburg, On;  and Celebration, Fl. These shopping “downtowns” tend to be small, as the new town … Continue reading New Urbanist Shopping Mall