Wednesday, September 19, 2018

From a Parking Lot to an Urban Square

Urban Design for the Public Good, Assignment: Choose an uninviting public place in your neighbourhood whose layout and structure make you feel uncomfortable or unwel­come. Propose solutions...
http://nanaimocommons.blogspot.ca/…/democratic-values-in-pl…


Thursday, September 13, 2018

Tyler Brown

About a year ago this time, I met with Tyler at Bocca. I knew from social media that we had shared interests in urban planning and general 21st Century city-building, but we hadn't before met in person.
Tyler's background includes Urban Planning, which I knew, but I also learned his post-grad studies were in Urban Policy (University of Glasgow). His CV can be found at his website: tylerbrown2018.com. He's employed by the Regional District of Nanaimo, as Intergovernmental Liaison — currently on leave while he campaigns for a seat on Nanaimo City Council.
It came up in this chat a year ago that he was considering running for City Council. Tyler is a young man, starting a family. He and his partner had just had a baby.
I've been in Nanaimo 25 years and I can confidently say that no one has before brought to City Council Tyler's skill set, talents, training and direct work experience in City and Regional government. I'm very excited about what his election can bring to Nanaimo and am very supportive. You'll see on his website a platform far more detailed and thoughtful and expansive and, yes, ambitious than you perhaps have ever before. Tyler and his family have put a lot on the line to do this and, having gotten to know Tyler especially over the last year, I can tell you his motivations are genuinely to make this a better more equitable more environmentally and economically sustainable mid-sized city.
In 2017 Tyler and I had considered organizing Nanaimo’s first Jane’s Walk but weren’t able to pull it together in time. Jane's Walk celebrates the legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by getting people out to explore their neighbourhoods. Time seemed right this year and we planned one, under Tyler’s leadership as City Organizer and sponsored by his tactical urbanism site Our Street Nanaimo, to take place for May 5th starting at the front steps of City Hall.
Nanaimo’s was one of 250 cities around the world to hold Jane's Walks on the anniversary of her birth weekend. And I saw first hand some of the skills and talents that Tyler will bring to being a City Councillor. Forging working relationships on the fly, engaging with a wide spectrum of people with different interests and agendas to come together to participate in this event. Thinking on his feet, making decisive decisions when at the last minute we realized so many people were arriving we had to split into 2 walks!
I believe a City Council with Tyler on it will be a better City Council. It will work better, it will make better decisions. Tyler will be in a unique position, with his background training and work experience in Urban Planning and Public Policy, to help his Council colleagues understand often complex, technical reports from city staff and consultants. He'll be able to put the reports in context, perhaps explain alternatives. Councillors will be better able to ask informed questions of city staff and be better able to make better decisions. A City Council with Tyler on it will be a better City Council.
— Frank Murphy


Tuesday, June 19, 2018

What does the City of Nanaimo's
Downtown Urban Plan and Guidelines
say about Chapel Street?

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Pay attention Nanaimo


Thursday, May 31, 2018

See what I mean about a public market?

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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy : 4 : A downtown public market

In the first post of this series, former Toronto Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat says, "Mid-sized cities hold the key to economic growth and quality of life in Canada, and they’ve taken too long to realize it." And in the second an essay in Strong Towns considers what can local economies learn from the explosion of craft brewing in big and small cities. Also my Twitter thread where I do an informal survey of food and drink business within my Old City neighbourhood. The question arose: can a cluster of uses become a mutually supportive destination, a primary use?
And then an introduction to Jane Jacobs' book, Cities and the Wealth of Nations. All of which led to, not entirely unintentionally, a focus on a downtown Nanaimo City-owned Public Market. Starting from a piece in Guardian Cities on an ambitious city wide Barcelona plan to renovate its public markets, I asked followers to help me out: what markets have impressed you? What can we learn from them?
Here’s an attempt to compile : Pike Place, Seattle • The Forks / Johnston Terminal, Winnipeg • Granville Island • St Johns City Market • Rochester NY Public Market • All the Barcelona markets • St Lawrence Market, Toronto • Findlay Market, Cincinnati • Mexico City, Oaxaca • Mobile markets across the South of France.
I hope I got them all and thanks to everyone for the great contributions and comments. These comments from the London UK SE5 area, Visit Camberwell were standouts: "In some ways, car culture carries over into cycling culture with widespread advocacy of bakfiets (cargo bikes) as the ideal sustainable form of household shopping. Whereas imho the challenge is to restore a vibrant distributed local network of independent shops for hand-to-mouth food planning."

Around the world, pubic markets are key municipal assets that, done right, punch above their weight economically, socially and culturally. A Nanaimo Downtown Public Market should be a priority, the process of preparing a detailed business plan should be undertaken by our new Mayor and Council and Senior Staff without delay.
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