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Development Infrastructure Parks Travels Walking

Visiting America’s other urban railway park

On a road trip early this summer, my spouse and I paid a visit to New York and Philadelphia. In New York, we walked the famous High Line, which revitalized an abandoned elevated freight railway corridor, transforming it into a popular grade-separated walking path on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. While in Philadelphia, I made a […]

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Maps Parks Toronto Walking

Finding a washroom during Toronto’s pandemic winter

With ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, finding a washroom has become much more difficult. So I mapped Toronto’s park washrooms that will remain open this winter.

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Parks Toronto

A failure to communicate: a small, but meaningful example of the terrible messaging during this pandemic

The ongoing pandemic, to quote the prime minister, “really sucks.” Ontario has been subjected to various levels of lockdowns and restrictions for nearly eight months now as COVID-19 case counts continue to be high. Restaurants, bars, cinemas, and gyms are currently closed in Toronto, as are most other indoor venues. Many of us are — […]

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Maps Parks Toronto Walking

All stick, no carrot: the problem with the city’s response to physical distancing

On Saturday April 11, during the Easter long weekend, the City of Toronto announced that a team of over 350 police officers and bylaw enforcement officers would shift from an education-based campaign of verbal and written warnings to people congregating and using closed amenities in parks to a zero-tolerance ticketing campaign. Tickets for violating orders […]

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Ontario Parks Politics

The province’s attack on conservation authorities

The Ford government’s attack on Conservation Authorities has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility. It’s about ideology and payback. 

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Election Parks Toronto Urban Planning

Why closing Toronto’s public golf courses is a boon to the public

Dentonia Park Golf Course Yesterday, Thanksgiving Monday, mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat proposed closing three of Toronto’s five municipally-owned golf courses. Keesmaat, Toronto’s previous chief planner, pointed out that the municipal golf courses operate at a loss, and that $10 million is allocated for improvements to those three courses. Furthermore, she intends to consult the local communities […]

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Parks Toronto

Major improvements are coming to Scarborough’s waterfront

The Scarborough Bluffs will soon become more accessible Over the last few years, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has been working on an environmental assessment for improvements to much of the Lake Ontario shoreline in Scarborough. Today, the TRCA announced that assessment is now complete, and it calls for major improvements between Bluffer’s Park […]

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Brampton Cycling Parks Walking

Brampton’s multi-use path problems

Recreational Trail: no loitering Brampton, my hometown, has a great network of parks, many of which are connected by multi use paths that follow local waterways like the West Humber River and Etobicoke Creek. In suburban neighbourhoods where curvilinear street networks and cul-de-sacs predominate, these paths are necessary as shortcuts for pedestrians and cyclists, and […]

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Parks Travels

How two Ontario cities are re-imagining abandoned railway relics

Brockville and St. Thomas are two small Ontario industrial cities that wouldn’t normally attract much attention. But both communities are working on remarkable projects that re-purpose former railway infrastructure to create interesting public spaces that don’t just lure out-of-town visitors, but add a significant asset to be enjoyed by the entire community. The St. Thomas […]

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Cycling Infrastructure Parks Toronto Walking

The ravine run around

While trail closures frustrate pedestrians and cyclists, the city spends millions of dollars to speed up road work