From The Globe and Mail — Shored Up: How Toronto's Waterfront Redevelopment is Going Right

On Unwin Avenue in Toronto’s port lands, the ground looks like a blank canvas: it’s largely a scrubland of asphalt and sumacs, punctuated by a power plant. The skyline of downtown shimmers like a mirage, but it’s just four kilometres away.

From here, it’s clear why governments see this area of the waterfront as ripe for development, and why the public agency Waterfront Toronto was created in 2001 to make that happen. But as the agency’s CEO John Campbell explains, it’s not as simple as it looks. “All the land south of Front Street is landfill,” said Mr. Campbell in an interview this week. “It’s all brownfield” – former industrial land, often contaminated – Read more: ”Shored up: How Toronto's waterfront redevelopment is going right - The Globe and Mail

"We cant afford existing infrastructure let alone new" — #Nanaimo #muni asset management pro

"We cant afford existing infrastructure let alone new" #Nanaimo #muni asset management pro cc @StrongTowns @neil21 http://t.co/LsetLI1aGI

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) July 31, 2014

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"If it's about us, don't do it without us..." @SFUPublicSquare

Can dialogue & civic engagement make a difference? This video, feat community members & instructors from SFU explores http://t.co/qfOfcjWVB1

— SFU Public Square (@SFUPublicSquare) July 28, 2014

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From Governing.com — Why Would You Have a Highway Run Through a City?

SF Embarcadero Freeway razed in 1991 replaced with palm-lined boulevard, plazas. (D Kidd/Governing)

Robert Doucette, a developer in Syracuse, N.Y., often commutes to work by walking or biking from his house near Syracuse University to his office downtown. The route is little more than a mile long, but it requires crossing one major obstacle: a hulking highway viaduct that cuts a large swath through the center of the city.

This elevated stretch of Interstate 81 carries 56,000 vehicles a day. Though it is propped up on piers, it has a major impact on the landscape below. As many as six lanes of traffic run beneath the expressway, including feeder ramps and access roads. Pedestrians teeter nervously on raised curbs as they wait for a signal, then “make a break for it,” Doucette says, as they try to avoid unseen vehicles making turns. Read mor: Why Would You Have a Highway Run Through a City?

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From Urban Toronto — Waterfront Toronto Officially Opens Corktown Common

Downtown Toronto's newest park has seen an overwhelmingly positive reception since its soft opening last Summer, and after a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning, the 18 acre Corktown Common is now officially open at Bayview and River Streets in the West Don Lands. With plenty of green space and over 700 trees as well as thousands of shrubs and aquatic plants, Corktown Common offers a diverse, ecologically rich habitat for visitors to walk, bike or just enjoy the sunshine. Read more: Waterfront Toronto Officially Opens Corktown Common | Urban Toronto

#Winnipeg Now+Then: @TheForks from rail-yard to beloved public space. @brent_bellamy

#Winnipeg Now+Then: @TheForks from rail-yard to beloved public space. Can't wait to see its next evolution @CMHR_News pic.twitter.com/qSn0MVdWAh

— Brent Bellamy (@brent_bellamy) July 23, 2014

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