From the category archives:
Sometimes the best solutions to urban problems are the simplest. Portland, Oregon is allowing unused parking space to be used for food vendors, increasing economic activity in otherwise dead spaces.
“Outside of downtown, carts are forming neighborhood-oriented clusters” on vacant parking lots, McInelly points out. “At SERA we have promoted food carts as a low-cost urban design solution” [...]
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In my opinion and the experience I’ve had as a City Engineer, roads in general are a blessing – but Cul de Sacs are a curse. And I’m not just talking about the planning aspects in terms of traffic circulations and the creation of neighbourhood identities, but on the cost of providing services to these [...]
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Infrastructure masterplans are at the backboneof a community’s capital spending plan. While not addressing every possible outcome or required project, the process of considering a masterplan identifies many of the “big-ticket” items that are on the spending horizon for the community. Often these masterplans are written by consultants, for many reasons, political, staff availability, expertise, [...]
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Public spaces should be respected and kept clean for the enjoyment of all; and around here, there is a group of people who are not all pulling their weight – Dog Owners.
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City streets have been hijacked by fast cars and trucks, as though these vehicles and their speeds were the only reason the roads were created in the first place. It is interesting to note that the road widths we see today are a legacy from a period before motor vehicles, when pedestrians and horses ruled [...]
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View Timmy’s Run in a larger map
Driving down Columbia Avenue in Castlegar, one cannot help but wonder if the Traffic Light Gods are conspiring against them. This morning driving from South to North while taking the girls for a treat at Tim Hortons I hit every red light from 24th Street to 15th Street. It [...]
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The Smart Growth Manual
by Mike Thomas on November 4, 2009
in Design, Development, Housing, Regulation, Subdivision Design, Sustainability, Urban Planning
Smart Growth is slowly being recognized as having benefits outside of the usual talk of walkable neighbourhoods and streetscapes. This book, The Smart Growth Manual runs through the principles from the Regional context, the Neighbourhood, the Street, down to the Building design. If you are interested in New Urbanism, this is a book worth checking [...]
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