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About me Design Infrastructure Walking

Live from the CBC mothership

Yesterday, on Wednesday, May 7, I had the privilege of appearing on the long-running CBC Radio program Metro Morning. Though I have been interviewed on the radio a few times before – generally about pedestrian safety or transit issues – this was the first time I was asked to come into the studio. I spoke […]

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Infrastructure Roads Toronto Walking

Dysfunction junction: permanent obstructions at Union Station

Toronto can, and should, do better than the ugly and intrusive new barriers that are being installed around Union Station.

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Infrastructure Toronto Transit Walking

A small step towards better wayfinding at Union Station

New elevator directory signage is a notable improvement, but there’s far more to be done to make Union Station an easy place to navigate.

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Infrastructure Intercity Rail Toronto Transit Walking

Dysfunction Junction: another Union Station malfunction

Union Station remains very difficult to get around using a mobility device, especially when traveling between UP Express and the TTC Subway.

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Infrastructure Intercity Rail Transit Travels

Travel by train (or bus): Denver’s renewed Union Station

Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of travelling with my spouse to California. We started in San Diego (where my partner was attending a conference) and then made our way northwards, to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Simeon, and finally the San Francisco Bay Area. I continued my trip an extra three days to […]

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Infrastructure Roads Toronto Transit

A front row seat to Toronto’s Carmaggedon

The new Union Station Bus Terminal doesn’t work with Toronto’s weekend traffic. On Saturday, July 2, it took nearly an hour to get off the Gardiner and into the terminal.

Categories
Architecture Canada History Intercity Rail

You can’t get there from here: Union Station’s lost cities

Union Station’s Great Hall is one of Toronto’s great indoor spaces. The station was constructed during Toronto’s first great building boom, in an era that began with E.J. Lennox’s Old City Hall (completed in 1899), and concluded with the completion of the Bank of Commerce Building, opened in 1931. Work on Union Station, built for […]

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History Intercity Rail Ontario

The world’s smallest Union Station

Ontario’s other Union Station is a charming reminder of a once-proud electric railway in Southwestern Ontario

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Infrastructure Roads Toronto Transit Walking

Dysfunction junction: Union Station’s continued disruption

In 2018 and 2019, there were promises to replace the temporary concrete barriers plopped in front of Union Station. Two years later, little has changed.

Categories
Transit Travels Urban Planning

Goin’ to Kansas City

Kansas City might not be at the top of many urbanists’ travel lists, it has a wonderfully restored Union Station, one of America’s few useful streetcar lines, and the world’s first shopping plaza. It’s worth a visit.