urban families
« Previous EntriesWorldwide, 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 […]
Apartment living and women’s empowerment
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Back when North American metropolitan areas were laid out, in suburbs connected by freeways, women typically stayed home to raise the 3.9 children that was typical for a woman to have in 1961.
The entire metro area design evolved interconnected with this dominant idea about womanhood as motherhood. Suburbs detached from work areas; malls and shopping […]
Trick or Treat for a Community
Friday, November 6th, 2009Zillow released a “Trick or Treat” Housing Index last week for Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago. Their goal was to assess where a child could score the most candy with the least amount of walking and in a safe place. As they explained:
[We used] four equally weighted data variables: Zillow Home Value Index, population […]
Rio 2016
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009Being chosen to host the Olympic Games is a complicated process. Without delving into that issue too much, here’s a take on what becoming an Olympic City typically signifies — that a city somewhere in the world has passed a threshold and become a “world city” at least in the eyes of the voting delegates. […]
Does suburbia reinforce 1950s gender roles?
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009Over at Creative Class today I blogged about how women have become the majority in Canada’s labour force.
The shift toward a majority female workforce is probably also further evidence that the current economic downturn has accelerated the shift toward a creative economy.
After all, jobs that have traditionally employed women are creative, or have become so […]
Urban families after the great reset
Friday, May 29th, 2009As energy becomes expensive and major cities increase their status as economic drivers, families who live in them will inhabit smaller spaces than many do today. Some are already there, and from their lifestyles we can glimpse into the future.
Melanie, her husband and two children live in their 950 square foot condominium in Vancouver’s Yaletown […]
Halloween visit and walkability score
Saturday, November 8th, 2008After we ran out of candy Halloween night (after about 100 pint-sized visitors), I was pondering Richard Florida’s “Trick-or-treater” index. Essentially, Florida argues that a “rule of thumb” measure of the child-friendliness of a neighbourhood can be based on the number of trick-or-treaters.
But, the thought occurred to me that the number of trick-or-treaters might also […]
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 […]
New playground as community anchor
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Like many public spaces in East Vancouver, the park by our house used to look tired — exhausted, in fact. Some playground equipment became so dilapidated, it posed a hazard and neighbors asked the city to remove it. Other plastic slides had more endurance (does plastic ever break down?), and children belonging to families living […]
Lessons from my own relationship with Vancouver
Saturday, January 5th, 2008Many urban policies now focus on attracting talented citizens. But they often focus on appealing to those in their twenties — people often without children who spend time at night clubs, cafes, restaurants. However, a successful city will find a way to embrace those 20-somethings as their lifestyles change — and to attract […]
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