Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. As cities around the world continue to push for titles of largest new urban parks, Christine McLaren looks at the pros and cons of large urban parks and in the process strikes at the comparative value of smaller parks that are responsive and well integrated to their specific community. Ian Lowrie contributes to the Cartographically Speaking feature with the first two of three instalments in a series using mapping to show the relationship between crime an urban form in Greater Vancouver. First looking at broader areas of crime intensity and then focusing in on the details of these areas. Alexandre Laquerre uses historical images to show how government office blocks have dramatically altered the urban context in Hull. Alanah Heffez discusses how plans for rejuvenating a Montreal school yard were dashed when it was realized the green space will be expropriated for the impending expansion of the controversial expansion of the Turcot interchange. A special guest contribution by Michael O'Shea reveals a fantastic winter use for underutilized urban alleys in the winter by showing an example of how one Montreal alley was converted into a hockey rink that created a neighbourhood gathering space. My City Lives, takes readers on a three part guided tour of the historic 'Old Town Toronto' neighbourhood with guide Bruce Bell. The first installment introduces the broader neighbourhood, while the second looks at the iconic Gooderham Flatiron Building. John Lorinc focuses on the topic of GTA transit funding, as the region looks to build off the momentum of the populist subway debates. Lorinc shares the results of a Spacing-Environics poll showing wide support for a gas tax and later goes into detail about the political difficulties ahead.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. As the Vague Terrain exhibit closed at the Surrey Art Gallery, Don Schuetze noticed the strange coincidence that another exhibit opened at the new downtown library in Surrey's emerging center; a fitting basis for a discussion of the relationship between city and suburbs. Gordon Price uses his Price Points feature to show a surprisingly traditional looking easter home in the heart of Vancouver's West End. A further look at the ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Canadian planning students gathered in Vancouver this past February for the annual CAPS Conference. Andrew Cuthbert recaps the keynote messages delivered there by various planning luminaries while Cameron Barker profiles some of the conference's walking tours. Eve Lazarus looks at the interesting history of the eccentrically designed Dominion Building in downtown Vancouver, which for a brief period following its completion in 1909 was the tallest in the ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Kathleen Corey presents a plan to address the lack of places to sit on busy Robson Street that builds on the area's traffic calming mini-parks, drawing inspiration from abroad to create an exciting and much needed new public space. Patrick Condon presents the final instalment in a series of collaborative student work on the future sustainability of Vancouver, summarizing the group's push for new connections, good ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Vancouver first lost its public market in 1897 when its building was converted into City Hall, Jeff Nield explains why the concept of a food system is still essential to a city's well being, profiling the hubbub around a soon to open new food hub. Peacock sits down with Jak King, the unofficial historian of Commercial Drive, the 'back door to Vancouver.' King uses his ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Vancouver's astronomical housing prices are well documented, the effects of the situation are beginning to show in rapidly falling numbers of school-aged children as Patrick Condon explains in the third instalment of his series on a long term vision for Greater Vancouver. Yuri Artibise profiles the new Constructing a Village, Creating a Community photography show by Leslie Hossack documenting the rise of the Vancouver's innovative and controversial Olympic Village neighbourhood. Ottawa's Centretown neighbourhood has continuously evolved along with the city, Alexandre Laquerre looks at the emergence of high density over 80 years on Sommerset Street. Joel Thibert looks at the trend of big box retailers abandoning their large formats in favour of smaller, more efficient locations and wonders if this could actually be bad news for main streets. Sharing an incredible find discovered while working on another story, Alanah Heffez flips the pages of the Montreal People's Yellow Pages an independently published guide to Montreal's underground from the 1970s.  As turmoil continues around leadership at the TTC, John Lorinc provides strategic advice for LRT advocates, making the case for keeping moral authority in the messy debate. The No Mean City feature by Alex Bozikovic profiles a weekend architecture conference that will pay tribute to George Baird, a long time architecture professor and former Dean at UofT considered one of the most influential people in Canadian architecture.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Vancouver Olympic Village Brent Toderian, former director of planning for the City of Vancouver, makes his debut post in part one of a new ongoing series looking at Vancouver's Olympic legacy and the challenges and opportunities of Olympic city-building in host cities around the world. Victor Ngo presents the results of a study looking into the best sites with potential for major Transit Oriented Development along Vancouver's ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Brent Toderian has been in focus in the urbanist community ever since the visionary and articulate former Vancouver Planning Director's contract was terminated early several weeks ago. Spacing Vancouver sat down with Toderian this week and presents the conversation in a two part interview about his legacy in Vancouver and the trajectory of Canadian urbanism. [Part One] [Part Two] Vancouver has set the ambitious goal of having over 50% of all trips in the city taken by biking, walking or transit. Spacing presents part two in a series showing the results of work by a team of UBC planning and landscape architecture students on how the city can realize this goal. Alexandre Laquerre shows the startling impact of grandiose public projects over a century of transformation at one of Canada's most monumental intersections: Elgin and Sparks. In a nod to this weekend's Montreal Nuit Blanche, Andrew Emond profiles an event that will pay tribute to the path of the Rivière St Pierre, one of the city's most significant buried rivers. Allanah Heffez reports back on her presentation and other insights from this week's Conference on Urban Mobility in the Age of Electronic Payment . Alex Bozikovik's No Mean City architectural profiles a fascinating addition to a historic home in Toronto's Cabbagetown neighbourhood that is beginning to collect some prestigious awards. Gary Webster's termination as the Chief General Manager of the TTC continued a string of dramatic transit events in Toronto. John Lorinc provides some his characteristic political analysis on the decision and its broader context.