Archive for March, 2010
What will make Toronto better
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010As discussed in my previous post, I find Toronto fascinating and enjoy visiting. But it’s also a city with some immediate challenges that are perhaps holding the city back.
So what changes will improve Toronto and help it evolve faster into a global, international knowledge-economy hub?
#1. Better transit. The metro system hasn’t been upgraded since 1967, […]
Toronto needs a boost
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010This is the first of two posts on Toronto. First, before anyone accuses me of being a self-centered Torontonian (which tends to happen when I say nice things about Toronto), let me say that I’m not from there. I was born and largely raised in Vancouver and after stints elsewhere have chosen to make […]
Does a city (or a country) need corporate head offices
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Three years ago I pondered whether all the fretting about Vancouver losing corporate head offices had merit — and concluded that it did not:
If we look at the causes of head office decline in Vancouver, we see that it comes from a position of corporate success — not failure. Successful companies have been acquired by […]
Worldwide, cities are good for women
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010In honour of International Women’s Day this week, I offer the following argument:
The global shift toward cities and more urban based economies has benefited women — and the status of women — in at least three ways.
First, urban women and girls typically need to spend fewer hours doing household chores, including ensuring basic survival, than […]
Maybe meeting expectations makes “cities” happy
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Richard Florida has a new thought provoking piece on what makes cities happy. Since cities are inanimate and cannot really be happy or sad, he seems to be referring to the aggregate mood of the people.
He and his colleagues look at the positive correlations between happiness and such things as income and having higher education […]