urban lifestyles
« Previous EntriesBuilding 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 […]
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 […]
Do a Jane’s Walk!
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010Jane Jacobs was an urban thinker ahead of her time. When the great thinkers of the day were promoting freeways and auto-centric suburban development, she spotted what was being lost. To her, the best cities and neighbourhoods were organic, constantly evolving communities, or networks of relationships. People knew each other and looked out for each […]
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, […]
The coming blurred boundaries between work and home
Monday, February 8th, 2010Over the past year I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing the intersection of workplace trends and urban living trends. It’s becoming probable that the urban knowledge economy will require many workers to supply their own private workspace. Employers — or the city milieu itself — will be responsible for supplying the space for collaboration. […]
Your most outragious examples of “urbany”
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009Urbany — Trendwatching.com’s new word for the urban experience lifestyle.
100 years ago, less than 5 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. Today over 50% call urban areas home and that number could reach 70% within a few decades.
What’s the significance? Urban culture is taking over. As explained by Trendwatcher:
A forever-growing number of more […]
H1N1 manufactured panic inconsistent with urban living
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Back in the late spring when the “swine flu” migrated out of Mexico, public health officials and the media quickly told the story of how it was proving to be a widespread, yet reasonably mild influenza virus. Other than people with certain pre-existing conditions, most who contracted it only had mild-to-moderate flu symptoms.
Flash forward to […]
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 […]