10 good reasons for cities to invest in parks

RT @Penalosa_G Do you want 10 GOOD reasons for #Cities to invest in #Parks? Parks that helped revive Cities http://t.co/Uk7JfCADTl …

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) April 11, 2015

More at: 10Best: Parks that have helped revive their cities

---

From The Globe and Mail — Queens Quay waterfront redesign thoughtful, modern urbanism

ALEX BOZIKOVIC The mason was chipping away the granite by the inch: Picking up each small block, studying its lines, knocking off a facet before laying it firmly in place. Then he moved on to the next 10-centimetre hunk of pink stone, as he and his colleagues filled in the face of Queens Quay.

“This is how it is done,” said landscape architect Jelle Therry of the firm West 8, “in very small ways, but very carefully and with great craft.” Mr. Therry was giving me a hard-hat tour of the street, which reopens this week after a three-year renovation by West 8 and Toronto’s DTAH that is largely complete.

This 1.7-kilometre project for Waterfront Toronto is a street, but that’s not a simple thing. It has been shaped with real craft and with clear thinking about materials, traffic, climate, crowd psychology and the culture of the city. The Queens Quay project will be an example of thoughtful 21st-century urbanism. Read more: Queens Quay revealed: Why the waterfront redesign is thoughtful, modern urbanism at its best - The Globe and Mail

New West Mayor Cote uses SFU urban studies degree to solve real-world problems

Jonathan Cote wasn’t even dreaming of becoming a mayor when he enrolled in SFU’s master of arts program in urban studies in 2011. He was looking for solutions to New Westminster’s rental housing and transit issues.

Yet today, at age 35, he is Metro Vancouver’s youngest mayor, and his rental housing innovations are capturing the attention of mayors across the region. More at: New Westminster's Mayor Cote uses degree to solve real-world problems - SFU News - Simon Fraser University

RT @MikeLydon: Portland creates opportunity for small entrepreneurs on surface parking lots

Portland teaches us all how to mask surface parking lots while providing opportunity for small entrepreneurs. pic.twitter.com/4K84waGkbM

— Mike Lydon (@MikeLydon) June 3, 2015

---

Apparently, incredibly, this really happened...

Planner stood up, said, 'we need to stop talking about how it can't be done, talk about how we can make it happen.' https://t.co/W1de968Tgs

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) April 16, 2015

---

From SFU Continuing Studies — Strong Towns' Charles Marohn Curbside Chat

In October 2013, SFU hosted an urban planning lecture featuring Charles Marohn. The lecture was part of a series on Minnesota, a state that shares more than a border with Canada. 

Marohn is the co-founder and president of Strong Towns, and a professional engineer who is passionate about planning and small towns. He brings a civil-engineering perspective that results in original ideas such as the "stroad," a street/road hybrid that manages to be both expensive and unproductive. He's a fiscal conservative who makes his case effectively to a small-government audience as much as to urban planners and engineers.

This lecture was sponsored by TransLink, the City of Surrey, and SFU Urban Studies. It requires an hour of your time but if you're interested in cities you won't spend a more rewarding hour this week: 

The Minnesota Series: Original Thinking from the American Midwest - YouTube

I recently raised pedestrian safety concerns at the...@StrongTowns

I recently raised pedestrian safety concerns at the Fitzwilliam/Wallace intersection with City of Na... @StrongTowns https://t.co/VZkKj48vCW

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 4, 2015