Tag Archives: Suburbs

Requiem for Ontario’s regional malls

Posted on June 18, 2018 by

Shoppers World Brampton, 2016, before the Target store was replaced by smaller stores, including Giant Tiger Recently, I wrote about the history of Ontario’s downtown malls. Most of these shopping centres, built in the 1970s and 1980s in the downtown … Continue reading →

Posted in Brampton, Development, Ontario, Urban Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mount Pleasant: New Urbanism that almost works

Posted on October 3, 2017 by

Mount Pleasant Square, Brampton A few weeks ago, I visited Cathedraltown, a subdivision in north Markham built in the new urbanist style. Cathedraltown made the news thanks to a controversial metallic sculpture of a cow installed in a parkette. (Last … Continue reading →

Posted in Brampton, Transit, Urban Planning | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Greenfield infrastructure: not so green

Posted on March 11, 2017 by

St. Catharines site, Niagara Health System I recently visited two Ontario cities, St. Catharines and Orillia, to illustrate the problems of building new medical and educational institutions on isolated greenfield sites. Large greenfield lands have several advantages: they’re easy and … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Urban Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A better Hurontario Street – an LRT update

Posted on March 3, 2017 by

When the LRT is opened on Hurontario Street, it will be safer and more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists. Continue reading →

Posted in Brampton, Cycling, Infrastructure, Roads, Transit | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

They call this a “SmartCentre”

Posted on February 17, 2017 by

The word “smart,” like many buzzwords, is thrown around a lot, to the point that it has lost meaning. SmartTrack, for instance, might have been a catchy name for a transit plan, but in the end, it didn’t turn out … Continue reading →

Posted in Transit, Urban Planning, Walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mapping Toronto’s population growth

Posted on February 8, 2017 by

Data geeks across Canada were eagerly awaiting this day — February 8, 2017 — the first release of the 2016 Canadian Census of the Population. Today’s release only covers population and dwelling counts, further information on age, sex, household characteristics, … Continue reading →

Posted in Maps, Toronto | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The subway is coming. Let’s improve Scarborough Centre

Posted on August 30, 2016 by

As the readers of my blog probably know, I am not a fan of the Scarborough Subway extension. Even though the subway will be expensive and less useful than a fully-funded light rail replacement of the ageing Scarborough RT, politicians from … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Transit, Urban Planning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

On transit ridership in the GTHA

Posted on March 18, 2016 by

Earlier this week, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) released its agenda for the next board meeting, to be held on March 23. Among the items to be discussed are updates on the delayed Line 1 subway extension to York University and … Continue reading →

Posted in Toronto, Transit | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment