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