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« Previous EntriesWhere to move
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009Occasionally readers send e-mails asking for my thoughts on which city they should move to during the recession and recovery era. This is a difficult question to answer — it depends on your age, stage in life, job skills, etc.
But, as a general rule, the economy will do better in faster growing cities. More people […]
Enough doomsday talk, focus on livability
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Almost everyday in the newspaper or the blogosphere some group attempts to make headlines forecasting what we could call “eco-doom” for cities. Whether the prediction is rising sea levels, fires, plagues of locusts (or killer bees) the result is misplaced attention.
Here’s an example via Planetizen: Sea Levels are Rising: It’s Time to Decide Which Cities […]
Cities and states of nature
Monday, March 9th, 2009Drug cartel wars in Mexico’s borderlands as well as Taliban and tribal Afghanistan heroin production can generate violence and lawlessness in individual cities thousands of kilometres away. And city governments often lack the policing and even legal means to stop the chaos and control their streets.
There are as many examples as there are cities (Toronto […]
Mailbag (Projects, books, and tag)
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008For those of you who have written me over the past couple months, thank you.
I apologize that I have not responded to each e-mail; these past months have been exceptionally busy as well as tiring for me, and finding time for blog-related activities has been tough.
Over the past few weeks I’ve received several great e-mails […]
Edge city growing pains
Sunday, September 21st, 2008In the past couple weeks there have been (at least) two excellent blog posts about “edge cities.” Edge cities are small cities or large towns interconnected with and attached to a larger metro area like a suburb. Unlike bedroom communities, edge cities contain business parks as well as homes and significant retail space.
I expect we’ll […]
Is Costco really a threat to Manhattan?
Sunday, August 24th, 2008 Or is Manhattan more of a threat to Costco?
For years the discount warehouse retailer Costco has been looking for a site in Manhattan. According to the New York Sun, they may have found one. But there is vocal opposition from residents, politicians and even some unions.
Much of the rationale behind opposing it […]
From Suburb to Satellite City
Thursday, August 7th, 2008Writing in the Globe and Mail, John Bently Mays insists that some suburbs are thriving:
If pundits are going to discuss the future of North American suburbs — and this is surely an excellent time to do so — then they should have in mind a clear picture of the very dynamic phenomenon they are […]
Rise of cities, decline of national park visitation
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 Fewer people are visiting America’s national parks, reports the Economist. Instead, the Economist believes more tourists are visiting cities, which have become cool.
This leads to the question of the relationship (if any) between urban revitalization and lower national park patronage.
Indeed, there seems to be a correlation between the cleaning up of cities […]
Highest housing prices 1980 - 2006
Monday, June 30th, 2008The Calculated Risk blog offered a couple interesting posts last week on changes to the ratio of median house price to median income since 1980. The source data, from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, covers 106 metro areas.
Available for download is the data from 1980 to 2006, so before the collapse of […]
Unintended consequences of a new bylaw
Saturday, April 5th, 2008In Vancouver a new bylaw came into effect last week banning cigarette smoking on restaurant patios and within 6 meters (about 20 feet) of doorways. Smoking has been banned at indoor public places for a long time.
I had a positive and a negative experience with this new bylaw this week. The positive […]