Archive for May, 2010
Building suburbs in “the city”
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010Are some cities starting to transform into suburbs? Here’s how I see the dynamic (and then I welcome your responses):
Aside from their frequent auto-dependence, suburbs often offer the characteristic of “sameness.”
Homes in each subdivision all tend to be the same, or at least very similar.
The same type of people tend to purchase them–one subdivision will […]
A whale in the city:unexpected eco-consequence
Thursday, May 20th, 2010A few weeks ago a grey whale swam into Vancouver’s narrow, False Creek inlet. It swam, fed off bottom dwelling critters, and generally delighted hundreds of spectators who came to watch it swim past the new Olympic Village and over to the condo community of Yaletown.
In my childhood, this was a dirty, aging heavy industrial […]
Renting in dynamic cities
Friday, May 14th, 2010Richard Florida’s work, The Great Reset, has launched a great discussion about the place of home rental in American life and the American economy. I’ve been doing a lot of research and thinking on apartment renting myself, and have a few thoughts on what could be happening now, and in the future.
I would argue that […]
An overlooked technology in shaping the city
Sunday, May 9th, 2010The birth control pill turns 50 this week. This technology has arguably been a key ingredient in shaping 21st century North American and European economic and urban life. And yet, I don’t ever recall hearing urban theorists mention it. So here’s the argument for the Pill as a key technology in shaping the new urban […]
Households as both renters and owners
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Several friends of mine own a condominium unit but don’t live there. Instead, they are renters when it comes to their family home (a larger condo, a townhouse, or the main floor of a small house).
Is this a uniquely Vancouver experience, or the start of a broader urban trend in North America?
Here’s how it has […]
Value of (old fashioned) home ownership
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010In his Great Reset press tour, Richard Florida has been challenging people to think hard about the role of home ownership, especially in the US but also in some struggling Canadian cities. He is correct to point out the tragedy of the problem–people who have no equity in their homes and cannot sell them also […]