Tuesday, December 29, 2015

E&N Train Station — @SketchUp animation

#Nanaimo E&N Train Station Google Sketchup annimation http://www.thesidewalkballet.com/2013/12/functiond-s-id-var-js-fjs-d_29.html

Posted by Frank Murphy on Sunday, December 29, 2013

Friday, December 18, 2015

Environmental studies complete,
Ministry of Environment clears downtown waterfront lands for development

Ministry of Environment has given approval for @CityofNanaimo’s south downtown waterfront lands lands to be subdivided,...

Posted by Nanaimo Commons on Friday, December 18, 2015
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Thursday, December 17, 2015

#Nanaimo South End Community Association AGM minutes. SECA continues to set the standard for effective inclusive...

Posted by Nanaimo Commons on Thursday, December 17, 2015

@CBCUnreserved tweeting all
94 @TRC_en recommendations: 1 - 11

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From Project for Public Spaces —
Detroit's Eastern Market
Great Public Spaces nominee

Eastern Market is a pedestrian oasis in the middle of a still largely car-focused (but rapidly changing) city. With over 150 vendors in the central market sheds and many other market-related businesses in the surrounding area, Eastern Market has a great variety of places where visitors can find meat, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, jams, honey, apple cider, cheeses, spices, herbs, plants, flowers, and much more. While the wholesale market dominates most of the week, there is also a retail farmers market on Tuesdays and Saturdays and a street market on Sundays. Outside this core, the district also features housing, art space, restaurants, galleries, and other businesses that draw diverse visitors to the area every day of the week. The market is a great source of civic pride for Detroit. Read more: Detroit Eastern Market - Great Public Spaces
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@CBCUnreserved tweeting all 94
Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

From American Planning —
The Role of Public Markets
in Community Building

Since 2007, the American Planning Association has designated 245 Great Places in America. As a part of the Great Places program, APA has often recognized public markets, old and new, for adding vibrancy, character, and functionality to communities across America.
Public markets increase access to healthy foods, honor historical legacies, and highlight the local culture of the communities in which they are found. These markets bring together community members, local business leaders, and visitors to celebrate and recognize the importance of these Great Public Spaces, and their roles in helping to create communities of lasting value.
Here’s a look back at the public markets we’ve recognized as Great Public Spaces over the past eight years: Read more: American Planning: The Role of Public Markets in Community Building 

Monday, December 14, 2015

From Better Cities and Towns —
The new theory of traffic engineering

Dumbaugh cited, at the time, at least 10 studies that contradicted the wisdom of the traffic engineering profession on this subject, and he conducted his own study designed to test the theory of what he calls “forgiving design.” Without a doubt, this concept leads to more injury and death in populated areas. All of the data pointed to a better theory: In urban places, obstacles and constrictions make streets safer, because they cause motor vehicle operators to drive more carefully.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

From Centre for Livable Cities —
Jan Gehl on planning cities using our biological history as walking animals

Interview- Jan Gehl on planning for people-oriented cities
Jan Gehl of Gehl Architects talks about planning #cities using our biological history as walking animals.
Posted by Centre for Liveable Cities on Thursday, December 10, 2015

Friday, December 11, 2015

From Connecting Dots . . . —
The Three Community Characteristics
of Highly Successful Transit Systems

Think quick! What are the most important elements of a really great transit system?! Chances are if you just answered that in your head right now, you might have said things like: frequency, directness, reliability, easy fare payment, easy to use and understand information, consistency, comfort or safety.
Some of you might have answered “convenience,” which I would then have gotten you to define and you probably would have used a lot of words in the above list. Read more: The Three Community Characteristics of Highly Successful Transit Systems – Connecting Dots . . .

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Transit hub proposed for South Waterfront —
What exactly is that?

From Toronto's Eglington Avenue Crosstown Project: What is a Mobility Hub?
Mobility hubs are major transit stations and the surrounding areas with significant levels of planned transit service and high residential and employment development potential within an approximately 800m radius of the transit station.
They are places of connectivity where different modes of transportation – from walking to rapid transit – come together seamlessly and where there is an intensive concentration of working, living, shopping and/or playing.






Monday, December 7, 2015

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation task — "kick-start Calgary urban renewal"

Today we topped off the LRT enclosure and begin the vertical construction of the New Central Library. We celebrated this...
Posted by East Village Calgary on Wednesday, September 30, 2015
The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the City of Calgary was incorporated in 2007 "to implement and execute the Rivers District Community Revitalization Plan – a public infrastructure program approved by the City of Calgary and the Province of Alberta to kick-start Calgary’s urban renewal.".
An "entrepreneurial group of hands-on doers and place-makers," their mandate is to 
  • Redevelop, implement and activate public infrastructure to meet the needs of the community and the City of Calgary as sole shareholder
  • Manage the investment in land and infrastructure for optimal financial return
  • Demonstrate leading practices for sustainable development
  • Demonstrate innovative and effective operating processes and practice
This is one of many examples in Canada of a municipally owned development corporation mandated to work with senior levels of government and commercial and cultural partners to redevelop urban lands in the commercial and, of critical importance, the social and civic best interests of the community.
This development corporation model was the recommendation of the Nanaimo South Downtown Waterfront Initiative Committee. Because they were unable to get any common agreement between the primary public stakeholders, they requested the City of Nanaimo suspend their activities until such a time as these parties are able to identify shared interests and are prepared to make a commitment to proceeding with the redevelopment of the Nanaimo south downtown waterfront.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Twitter list — Walking, cycling, transit

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From Business in Vancouver —
Traditional infrastructure funding
throws money down the sewer

PETER LADNER Amid all the excitement about the Christmas bounty of infrastructure spending coming at us from our deficit-happy new federal government, it’s a good time to ask how we got ourselves into this infrastructure hole. 
Charles Marohn, the Republican civil engineer behind the U.S. Strong Towns movement, has an answer. He likens traditional suburban development to a Ponzi scheme. Tax revenues from low-density development don’t come near paying for maintenance and depreciation on costly infrastructure. He estimates suburban property taxes bring in only $0.04 to $0.65 for every dollar of liability. So cities embrace new developments to keep their cash flowing, or they go into debt, or both. At every stage, they pile on future liabilities.
“When people say we’re living beyond our means, they’re usually talking about a 40-inch TV instead of a 20-inch TV,” Marohn told Time magazine. “This is like pennies compared to the dollars we’ve spent on the way we’ve arranged ourselves across the landscape.” Municipal servicing costs in low-density sprawl can be 2.5 times those in compact, high-density neighbourhoods. Read more: Traditional infrastructure funding throws money down the sewer | Economy | Business in Vancouver

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Thursday, December 3, 2015

The road to better business starts with a plaza

Senior management posts not filled,
Council fractious, Committee suspended — City of Nanaimo staff proceed with
South Downtown Waterfront Lands
master planning process regardless


The @CityofNanaimo, shortly after the South Downtown Waterfront Committee Chair, VIU VP Dave Witty, in frustration,...
Posted by Nanaimo Commons on Thursday, December 3, 2015


Dave Witty's PP presentation to Council: here.

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