One of the things keeping this particular contributor busy over the last few months has been writing small commentaries for the Spacing Ottawa weblog. Today’s instalment focuses on the state and perception of the Ottawa Public Library‘s Main Branch. Libraries being yet another form of civic infrastructure, that infrastructure being Spacing Magazine’s main topic of…
Transit, Ages, the City and the Future – A Happy Ending
Sometimes, the song lyrics are proven wrong in a happy way: you not only get what you want, but it’s also exactly what you need. Case in point? This morning at Ottawa City Hall. The age limit on qualifying for student-rate bus passes is dead. To the last man and woman on city council, they…
Some Urban Thoughts
Maybe I’m not making sense yet here. Today in the Toronto Star‘s print edition is a map of Toronto’s neighbourhoods as envisioned by the staff of the paper with input – said input is still in progress and will be for some time – from the readership at large. An interesting exercise for me to…
Arts and the City (of Ottawa) – Part III
I think I’ll let the pix speak…taken yesterday at Ottawa City Hall. The proportion of the civic budget. Waiting in the Hall Ottawa Councillor Clive Doucet Doucet’s opinions shared An exhibit at City Hall: The Last Wooden Hockey Stick Made in Canada Mayor Larry O’Brien having points driven home
Designing for People Not Cars
Hugh McGuire has posted a story from the Sydney Morning Herald on a proposal to redesign Sydney’s central business district: BUSINESSES have thrown their weight behind international planner Jan Gehl’s ambition to remodel Sydney’s central business district for walkers instead of drivers and the proposed demolition of the Cahill Expressway has received surprising levels of…