One of my acquaintances at City Hall absolutely hates when I show a certain picture of the new raised brick intersection for Queen at Bank. “It’s the fault of the snowbank !” he insists. And he is right, assuming we … Continue reading Rain behaving as planned
Back in 2012 I showed you the picture below. The first apartments on the current rebuild of LeBreton Flats (Claridgeland) had been occupied for a year or so, and baby toys were starting to appear in windows. I asked, how … Continue reading Tot Lot Not
I stopped to read the new fare dispensing machines at the Carling Station, Trillium Line. They have an abundance of fare-acceptance mechanisms. Cash, coins, credit card readers, credit card taps, presto cards, bar-coded transfers… plus surveillance and communication cameras? monitor? … Continue reading Tickets, please
First, the good corner. In Beechwood Area, a brick bulbout has been patio’d by the adjacent pub. Notice the sidewalk runs between two parts of the outdoor patio. Do servers cross the sidewalk ? In Ontario ! Ooooohhhhh ! The … Continue reading A Tale of Two Corners
I was wandering a bit far from home, going west of course, and dropped in to “inspect” one of my favorite secret gardens. This is on private property, viewable from a townhouse private lane, but cyclists are pretty innocuous and … Continue reading Deep in the West End, a secret garden
I haven’t been travelling much in the last year, so today’s trip is via Google Earth. Fake travel, so as to speak. I saw a positive reference in a planning blog to a Boston public housing project in neo-Victorian styling. … Continue reading Friday (Fake) Traveller … Boston public housing
Sometimes community groups or neighbours successfully kill a project. One prominent developer told me at a Champagne Avenue area meeting that if they succeed in killing a project, it only goes away to come back bigger. Because the next proponent … Continue reading They only come back … bigger
An ambitious community gardener is working to improve a long-abandonned street verge on the West Side. This particular strip of street edge is the neglected “back” of a large institutional lot that fronts the next parallel street. Their front side … Continue reading Community Gardening works everyday
I met an otherwise nice doctor at the General who told me how to “fix” Bronson Avenue. [As an aside, it is amazing how many medical conversations turn into planning ones, even at the General]. The houses, she said, are … Continue reading Bronson, before Motordom
A few years go I was all keen on the notion of finding some sort of rule, or algorithm, that explained what the next type of development would be in a neighbourhood. Would it improve or drag down the neighbourhood? … Continue reading On the impact of Sally Anne in Vanier
So the city “wants” to extend the Trillium Line south a bit further, almost but not quite to Riverside South suburb. Alas, it can’t afford the cost. Sob. Sob. Let me suggest that it is eminently affordable, the city has … Continue reading Incrementalizing the OTrain
So I was walking at Elgin / Lisgar intersection last week when someone called my name. We spoke for a few minutes. He obviously knew me, and reads this blog, but I don’t know / recall his. [The price of … Continue reading Fixing the Elgin Redesign
Some SLOW signs are appearing around the neighbourhood. I noticed the first ones on Laurel, and then on Primrose: I think they are well intentioned. It will be interesting to see if they work. The City filmed some of the … Continue reading Signs good and bad
Apparently, DIY Decks aren’t the only infrastructures that can be disasters. At the corner of Preston and Laurel a little apartment building infill is almost complete. Landscaping is underway. And soon, I suspect, to be torn up and redone at … Continue reading DIY Sidewalk Disaster
Parks in the old urban neighbourhoods like the west side are often quite small. The one on Elm Street is fairly typical. It is a bit-larger-than-normal pocket park installed when some houses burned down. A few years ago it was … Continue reading From Parking to Parks, a nascent trend?
West Wellington in Hintonburg is a traditional main street (TMS). The community design plan allows for new buildings up to six stories “as of right” along the active shopping and commercial street. It also permits taller structures, upon application, at … Continue reading Another distinctive landmark?
This week yet another community will appear before Transportation Committee asking for STOP signs to slow speeding traffic and make neighbourhood intersections safer. Asking for STOP signs is a tactical error, as it shifts the debate from the road safety … Continue reading Non-stop traffic calming
I like to tell my wife — a mathematician — there are three types of people. Those who can count, and those who can’t. I am among the mathematically challenged. Arithmetic I’m OK with. And I like facts and figures … Continue reading Model apartments and parking
Whatever is happening recently, we have a habit of extrapolating indefinitely into the future. But circumstances change, and what was true before is not necessarily true in the future. Consider the trope: “tiny condo”. If I had a dollar every … Continue reading Return of the large apartment
It is a delight to see the new Bayview and Pimisi Stations taken more “user friendly” shape with the erection of steel framework for the passenger facilities. The stations will signal to the wider community that rail transit is coming … Continue reading Colourful effort
Picture standing on a rail platform in some interesting place. Off in the distance is the tunnel portal where the train appears. It is a pleasant and amusing scene that caught everyone’s attention on this platform. above: Varenna station, Italy. Do … Continue reading See the train coming out of the tunnel? Maybe not.
The west portal of the new downtown transit tunnel is on LeBreton Flats, immediately west of Bronson. For two years, looking down from Commissioner Street into the excavation revealed only a steep slope going down underground. It was a road, … Continue reading Building a tunnel from the outside in
The new Confederation Line LRT is getting mostly new stuff all along its route. New stations, new tracks, new signals, new bridges. Here is a pic of the west portal. The new library will go immediately to the right. To … Continue reading Reusing old stuff for the new LRT
Over on LeBreton Flats there’s an interesting array of fences. The newest one, still under construction as you read this, is along the aqueduct. It’s a stern fence: At least 5′ high, maybe 6′, its a reasonably decorative metal fence, … Continue reading Fence viewing around the Flats
Out on LeBreton Flats, at the corner of Booth and Wellington / Sir John A Parkway, the NCC has reinstalled the Fleck fountain, as part of its Bold Drive By Experience temporary landscaping project. While the landscaping looks a little thin on plant material, maybe it will grow on us over time. Temporary could mean anything at all when it comes to the NCC. The trees might well die of old age. There is an explanatory panel on site: The landscaping and fountain does add some attraction to the otherwise bleakness of the Flats. For some years, the NCC apparently … Continue reading Dry water fountain
