Just a small rant on the environmental front. This one really puts me to shame, especially being a York resident.

As you might have read in the news, York Regional Council "unanimously" approved a Big Pipe extention that cuts right through the sensitive lands of the Oak Ridges Moraine. [Read Article]

The project, which involves laying down sewer pipes along 19th Avenue between Yonge and Leslie in Richmond Hill, has significant environmental impacts because it will pump substantial water resources (up to 66 billion litres, according to environmentaldefence.ca) underground water from the Oak Ridges Moraine.

This is definitely another wake up call, as it seems as though York intends to spark further urban sprawl into areas in King Township and the northern stretches of Vaughan. I am disappointed that although York has been so adamant to bring upon a viable transportation alternative and more sustainable communities -- with the Viva BRT project and the creation of "Transit Communities" in 4 new high-density nodes (See Markham Centre)-- that we continue to see the subsidy for further urban sprawl. It seems as though there is a great will to provide for sustainable development, but once again, no one in the Region have and political guts to stand up against these sprawl development initiatives.

They see it as there's nothing to lose. More development yields more property taxes and more development charges. Sounds good economically no?-- of course, we've neglected the long-term effects on the environment.

Meanwhile, curbing sprawl is easy: stop providing water/wastewater infrastrucutre to new areas. No water infrastrucure yields no urban development-- it's as simple as that.

What is most disturbing is that Bill Fisch, the Region's Chair and CEO, stated that the sewer connection will not damange the natural area because it will run underground.

He makes a remarkable point. If we stash things underground, things will magically heal itself. Riiight. There is apparently no ecological connectivity once structures are placed beneath the soil. Yep. So burying radioactive wastes would be okay too because yes, it would run underground.

Yes, this is the man that we've put in charge to run our region. It is sad that he was caught in the media stating such irresponsible, absurd and ignorant comments.

I think he needs to hire me as a co-op sudent to write him some background briefing notes before he opens his mouth.

Politicians. What would they do without civil servants?

He was also stated in the article as saying "we're putting the environment way ahead of almost anyone else in the province," now I'm quite disillusioned on what exactly he believes is taking that "environmental" step.

Right now, it all comes down to whether Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of the Environment, will approve this project or not. She better have a good set of Reseach Analysts! But really, with the Liberal government's strive for more sustainable growth, and the recent Greenbelt and Places to Grow (which passed Royal Assent a few weeks ago) initiatives-- not to mention a possible violation with the Canada Fisheries Act-- lets hope they'll be able to stop the enviornmental madness.

Comments (5)

I've received many of your gracious emails and discussion in the past weeks regarding thestar.com's coverage of the rise of ethnic neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area (Thanks Tiff, Leo, Mike, and Jason). I thought it's only fair to express some of my thoughts on this issue. I've decided to focus my upcoming blog entries on my thoughts on ethnic relations in Canada, namely in Greater Toronto and my dear Markham.

My discussion begins with a bit of background to provide you a little flavour of the changes in change cultural landscape in Markham. I may go a little off-topic from time to time (as you may realize), so please forgive me.

First off, Carole Bell. How could I mention Markham's ethnic relations without referring to Bell? The infamous Carole Bell was the Deputy Mayor of Markham back the late-1980s, early 1990s. She caused major uproar in the Chinese community when criticized that "everything's going Chinese" in the town.

If only I get a dollar every time the quote is mentioned. I have simply lost count of the times the comment was quoted over the years particularly in newspapers and planning literature. She denounced that the influx of migrants from Hong Kong was creating a "racial monopoly" that might drive away the "backbone of Markham" better known as the established white population.

Specifically, Bell was very much concerned about the proliferation of Asian-themed malls during that time, namely the huge redevelopment of the Kennedy and Steeles better known today as Pacific Mall / Market Village. This is the when the nitty-gritty backgrounder material begins.

Cullen Country Barns: Before the Redevelopment
Before the construction of Pacific Mall once stood a large barn which was later converted into a large cultural antique shop and upscale garden nursery called Cullen Country Barns-- which is the same owner has Cullen Gardens Miniature Village in Pickering. This place sold probably the most train sets, stain glass crafts, antique Christmas decorations, dream catchers, beaded art and other nostalgic paraphernalia anywhere in the GTA. This area, which is complementary to the neighbouring Market Village, had the feel of a small German cultural small town comparable to the St. Jacob's Farmers Market.

Market Village: Where are the people?
The area around Market Village, which was then a little more than six years old, was intended to mock the traditional Anglo-Saxon "Main Street" concept but adapted for the suburban car-oriented landscape.

Since its construction in the late 1980's, Market Village has gone through many phases of redevelopment. This is quite evident now as you might feel the mall lacks a sense of cohesion-- parts of the complex hold the different retail atmospheres. The original indoor market area (aptly known as "The Market") only stretched along the corridor from where Green Grove Bubble Tea to the Korean restaurant (facing Steeles Avenue) now stands.

The remaining areas such as the food court, and the retail strip from the LCBO to Food Fair Supermarket was exposed to the elements. This is where the small town mock "Main Street" once stood- with fake traditional gas lit lights, and brick facade storefronts.

You might recall the Bandshell around the area of the food court. I remember during Canada Day, people would congregate around there and listen to the instrumental tunes that the local Markham band played on stage. However, despite some success during holiday special events, the outdoor portion of the Market Village development never took off; while the indoor portion of the mall became progresively more busy as we begin to see the rise of Chinese fish markets, vegetable stands and butcher shops.

Despite some success in the indoor portion of the development, many stores remain empty, mainly because Markhamites continued to perfer "real" traditional environment at Main Street Unionville and Main Street Markham.

Market Village: Restructure and Rebuild
In the early 1990s, Market Village was redeveloped by Cedarland Properties to "meet the changing demographics of the surrounding markets in Scarborough, Markham and Richmond Hill" (from marketvillage.net)- namely the rising Chinese population (which includes yours truly). Since the change in controllership, "The Market" portion of Market Village became an instant success and retail space was quickly occupied.

Cedarland thought that they may be on to something and decided to enclose the space around the Bandshell performance area (now the Food Court) and the LCBO-Food Fair Supermarket corridor into an expanded indoor shopping complex (know as the Phase Two development project). This is the reason why the corridor looks so awfully weird, as the roof was superimposed on the existing outdoor environment.

"Golden Food Market" (Chinese people and their shitty business names) once stood a "Home Hardware" home improvement concept called Cashway. At the time, Cashway was not yet connected to the indoor mall until redevelopment in Phase Three. Nothing much has changed since 1995s Phase Three development. The arguably the most exciting development at Market Village was the Club Monaco Outletstore, which then moved to the cheap rent location at the Woodside Centre (across from First Markham Place)

In 1994, when the community started to realize how unreasonably expensive Cullen Country Barns became to be, people became to treat it as an interesting museum, rather than a store. As a result, business slowed and the store folded. Observing the success of the newly Asian-themed Market Village which flanked Cullen, Living Properties acquired the space occupied by Cullen, demolished it, and built what we all know today as Pacific Mall.

Pacific Mall: The Beginning of Controversy
The development of Pacific Mall was without a doubt the spark that led to the Carole Bell controversy. The destruction of the of the European-influenced Farmer's Market and Cullen Country Barns into these Asian retail centres accurately portrayed and instilled fear that there is this (which I hate to call it) "Asian Invasion."

This concludes my first entry on the contextual background of the Markham cultural evolution. In the following entry, I will further discuss the Carole Bell controversy and the personal viewpoints about it.

FYI: Recently, Pacific Mall / Market Village have put forth plans to further exapand its retail space for an additional 400,000 square feet of retail space, a new luxury hotel tower and a multi-level parking structure. Say hello to more traffic headaches-- that is another entry in itself.

Related Articles:

• Multicultural Markham, 10 years on [thestar.com]
• Pacific Mall Growing Up [yorkregion.com: Economist and Sun]

If this topic interests you, please visit my blog series dedicated to issues related to ethnic retailing in larger Canadian cities.

1. Call to curb ethnic malls in Calgary?
2. “Ethnic themed” stores versus mainstream suburban retailing
3. Chinatowns vs Asian-themed malls? What’s the difference?
4. "What about 'white malls'?" argument

Comments (5)

My neighbourhood is getting quite ghetto.

Although I've discovered my street's ghetto-ness for quite some time now (and I'm sure many of you who know where I live can concur), an interesting incident last night has affirmed this conclusion.

Last night, like every Monday, my sister and I wheel over to the Milliken pool for our weekly swimming adventure. Anyways, as we drove past through our ghetto street, you will begin to realize the difficulty of manoeuvering past my street.

For years now, our little quite crescent street in my suburban Markham neighbourhood has become a local street-basketball court. However, it didn't totally dawn on me until last night when a little boy, which seemed to be accidental, bounced his basketball onto the trunk of my car. Thank God that my poor baby didn't see any dents. I saw the terror in the little boy's eyes, so I let it pass-- though knowing me, I wasn't really going to really do anything about it.

Planners, remember when suburban streets were engineered only for cars? Well, miraculously my street is the quite exception. If people didn't know better, they would've mistaken my street as a rec centre.

Basketball program on the street is so extensive that through my casual obsevation, I could spot about three leagues:

• Elite - Consist of young teenagers, with their GANGSTA clothing


• Wannabes - Consist of junior elementary school students who so want to play on the Elite, but are too young or inexperienced


• Pee-Wee - Little Primary school children who play with those short Fisher Price plastic nets

Yes, so if the basketball games are in session, despite which league, you're looking at having to stall a few moments and have the players clear out a small narrow path for my little Sentra sedan to pass. You can tell that I'm a little annoyed.

Although basketball dominates as the sport of choice on this street, the occasional street hockey, bicycle drag racing, skipping and waterfightting could also be witnessed.

I just find it strange that as other suburban kids hide inside their homes and play XBOX, the children on my ghetto street enjoy to do what they do on the street.

This doesn't apply to just children. In the evening, you will see young and old adults bringing out their comfortable patio furniture and plot it on the driveway and just chill, laugh and shout.

Do you know my street is starting to resemble? My crazy street is becoming Harlem in the suburban sphere. Maybe it's a bit cliche, but I picture Harlem as a place where people chill on the street, sit on the doorsteps, play baseball, and where fire hydrants become the source of a waterpark for children.

As a man of Planning, I must say that despite a few annoyances when driving and dodging these kids playing on the street, I really support and encourage it. It's good to know at least that the kids aren't sitting in front of their computer all day (like me), but doing something healthy and active that they enjoy. Also, it just brings a bit of street liveliness and comradery, not to mention more eyes on the street means less opportunity for people to commit crimes.

So all in all, we have a good thing going about on our street, and despite that it is a little ghetto, I do enjoy and am proud of living here.

A revolution is unravelling in our suburban neighbourhoods and maybe this will quickly spread, but just let it be known that its origins was a little crescent at McCowan and Denison.

Update (May 23, 2007):
Apparently, I have become e-famous from a certain Redflagdeals.com thread. I'm very flattered that one of my musings has brought upon so much discussion! This is awesome.

But I have to say that a specific user, UrbanPoet, adequately summed up the gist of my article:

I think you guys are missing the point of the article. They dont mean its literally ghetto.

I think they trying to make the point that stereotypically ghetto things like hanging out on street blocks, shooting hoops in the hood, and adults sitting on front steps talking loud is actually a positive thing for a neighborhood.

I think you guys are missing the main point of the article.

[...]

This type of thinking is common. It's been reinforced by the writer Jane Jacobs (see Dark Age Ahead, the life and death of great American cities).

You can also check out articles by australian David Engwicht. "the nature of eco-city" in reclaiming our cities and towns.

I love my Markham, and the word "ghetto" is not to be taken in the literal sense. I in fact appreciate the fact that kids roam around the streets, because afterall, the streets should be for the people.

Comments (10)

Seriously, how could I resist not writing about Markham?

The GTA section of today's Toronto Star [Bugmenot] discussed the success of the new Green Bin program. I remember just two months ago, we were greeted by infamous suburban signage in public parks town-wide-- introducing us to the Mission Green initiative and the new bin that is hitting town. I was quite excited when we first received our Green Bin welcome pack-- which included the Green Bin, the mini green bin, and the hip instructional DVD-- which, by the way, is excellent.

Although it took time to get used to, my family has learned to accept this new process of sorting out "waste" in our home. I get this crazy giddy feeling every time I have an opportunity to put something in there, whether it is small things like nail clippings, to large things like watermelon skin.

My mother has definitely been the strongest advocate for ensuring that Green Bin items go into the Green Bin-- not primarily because she's pro-environment, but because she just loathes having garbage sit at home for two full weeks.

Since the start of the Green Bin initiative, the Town changed its collection schedule to have Blue Box and Green Bin items collected weekly, while the remaining waste (now known as residue) will be collected bi-weekly. This I think has made the community think twice before they throw anything, especially as it has been so hot and humid the past few weeks. Councillor Jack Heath had this appropriate quote:

We call it a little bit of tough love... If you want to hold on to the yucky stuff for two weeks, you can, or you can put out your green bin once a week.

According to the Star, 66% of Markham's garbage is being diverted away from Michigan landfill sites. From my personal household observation, however, the proportion doesn't seem that high. Though I do notice that we continue to only have one garbage can full of residue, albeit more full, with the new bi-weekly residue collection arrangement.

I recently had a conversation about Green Bins, and we brought up a few noteworthy points:

• Organics are being diverted at the small expense of additional bin liners. The Town requires that we keep our large and mini-Green Bins clean by lining them with plastic bags. I'm unsure whether the bags are later recycled.


• How are plastic bags removed from the organics? See Page Two


• How do we encourage people living in flats to support Mission Green? (Not that there's many highrises in Markham.) From my personal experience living in rez, my roommates are sometimes too lazy to bring the items down to the ground level.

In addition to the Green Bin, the Mission Green program introduced new materials that are accepted in the Blue Box, including paint and aerosol cans, and all Plastics 1 thru 7. Sadly for take-out kings like our family, polystyrene is still not accepted, and must be taken to recycling depots.

Comments (5)

I'm going to interrupt my regularly scheduled programming of Oxford pictures for a rant.

As all of you all know, I take the 53 Steeles East bus everyday to and from work, and I have noticed for a while now that there are no garbage/recycle bins at any of the bus stops along Steeles from Warden to about Markham Road.

Many of these stops are infested with beverage cups, burger wrappers-- you name it. The situation gets worse when people attempt to place their garbage in those free media boxes (i.e. the Big Yellow Box), which means the garbage is never collected.

I am not a big fan of The Fixer, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a few phone calls.

I figured that because the bus stops going westbound are north of Steeles, it should be within Markham's jurisdiction to take care of it. After being transfered several times, I was told that because TTC operates the Steeles route, it is the City of Toronto's responsibility.

Fine.

I found out that it is the responsibility of transportation services in the Scarborough district--now the "East District"--to look after public garbage bins, and gave them a call. I was told that it was Markham's responsibility, because it is north of Steeles.

So now what?

My garbage bin dilemma is great example of the problems related to today's municipal structure-- this lack of coordination spreads from all areas such as the provision of capital infrastructure and social services, as well as dealing with growth and environmental management.

You can use pesticides in York Region, but not in Toronto. What good is that for the environment when we reside in the same watershed? My closest library is actually the Alton Towers branch-- but I cannot use it because I'm not a Toronto resident. I take the TTC everyday to work, but as a Markham resident, I don't contribute to transit subsidies. All GTA municipalities essentially function as one economic unit, so why should we be governed separately? It all seems so counter-intuitive.

This is why I'm so keen on better regional planning. I truly believe that a GTA regional governance structure-- an superimposed regional council including Toronto, York, Peel, Durham and Halton-- will really help to even out the playing field for Greater Toronto.

This idea is nothing new, the Greater Toronto Services Board was created by the conservative government in 1998 "to promote and facilitate co-ordinated decision making among the municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area", but was disbanded in 2002 after huge criticisms that it was "hobbled by a small budget, (and) a fuzzy mandate."

Surely there are some tweaks that need fixing for the GTSB, but I believe that the provincial Conservatives were onto something--they simply gave up too soon. If we provided it (1) authority over land-use planning (2) increased taxing powers, (3) oversees all regional services equitably. The third point may be harder than I make it sound, but I won't go any further, as this topic is a thesis in itself.

As for my garbage dilemma, there continues to be a tug-of-war between the two municipalities and the City of Toronto will get back to me when they have resolved the issue, but when?

Until then, garbage will continue to fill newspaper boxes. It's a great day for Toronto.

Update- June 13:
City of Toronto got back to me, and informed me that they will be taking care of both sides of Steeles Ave when it comes to garbage bins. But, at this time, the City is out of bins to install, we will have to wait until a new shipment will arrive. She could not tell me a date in which it will be installed.

Developing the Framework for a Greater Toronto Services Board - [mah.gov.on.ca]
Regional planning and transit: adequate funding is the key - [transport2000qc.org]
Neglect breeds sprawl - [eye.net]
Greater Toronto Services Board Act, 1998 - [e-laws.gov.on.ca]

Comments (6)

Planning nerd alert!

Can you recognize which municipality (old or new) these street signs originate? Some are easy for obvious reasons. Answers are below.

Matthew Blackett of Spacing recently wrote about the form and function of Toronto's new street signs, and it's time for me to contribute my few cents on them.

I'm sure many of you have already become very accustomed to seeing our new street signs which have been slowly installed in streets across the city in the past years.

Allow me to define a few terms before I begin: 'Signal-level' street signs are the new blue background street signs affixed adjacent to traffic signals (Sign #15), while 'pedestrian-level' street signs are the smaller blue or white background street signs (Signs #2 and #8).

Let's begin with the signal-level street signs. I really do like these signs. I think that the font is clear, legible yet stylish-- I later learned that the font is called ClearviewHwy. I do appreciate how the signs are in upper- and lower-case and that the the street type is displayed in superscript and consistently abbreviated.

York Region and Mississauga have implemented a similar signal-level signs program, however they definitely did not execute it as well as Toronto. In the case of York Region, an all-caps Arial Narrow type font was used (disgusting!). Also, there are no consistency in the the street type format-- some are spelt out, some are abbreviated, some our superscripted, some are not. It's so frustrating having to see one of those signs. Argh!

Mississauga is not any better when it comes to the large street signs. Although it maintains a uppercase/lowercase format, the text is stretched/compressed so as to fit the entire width of the sign-- this makes it extremely hard to read, especially when you may have a two street signs one on top of each other indicating the different names on either sides of the street.

Perhaps I will post some pictures of York and Mississauga's street signs, when I get my hands on some.

Let's return to Toronto and talk about the pedestrian-level signs. Here I agree with Matthew Blackett's exerpt that the new signs look like "cheap knockoffs [...], which are bereft of any kind of sophistication." In the former City of Toronto, streets were blessed with the older "3D" embossed signs-- and it really reflected this quality old craftsmanship. The new signs inherited similar elements like the peaktop in the middle but I hate the fact that it is completely flat-- thus making them look cheaply made. It's like Toronto bought a fake LV bag and placed it on every corner. If there was no intention to make them "3D" and embossed, then perhaps the City could've just started a completely new design-- I think that I would've accepted it better.

I also find the new pedestrial-level signs uncomfortably large. Nevertheless, I can accept this as being a progressive step towards better accessibility.

But what I find most disappointing is the continuing homogenization of the former municipalities of Metro Toronto. Sure you can say that the suburban parts of Toronto were "homogenized" from their suburban-ness, but it just seems like there are ever-decreasing indications that the former muncipalities of Toronto, like Scarborough, was once its own city. I feel that street signs can provide strong build a sense of community character-- and therefore, if I had any power in decision-making in Toronto, I would incorporate elements related to the former municipalities into the design.

In the meantime, take a picture of your home street signs-- before they disappear over time.

Answers:*
1. Kingsview Blvd - City of Etobicoke
2. Cambridge Av - City of Toronto (New Design)
3. Sesame St - City of Scaborough
4. Logan Av & Floyd Av - Borough of East York
5. Nealon Av - Borough of East York (without logo)
6. College St - Former City of Toronto
7. Strawberry Hills Dr - City of Scaborough
8. Torrens Av - Borough of East York
9. Jane St & Finch Av - City of North York
10. Abtibes Dr & Drewry Av - City of Toronto (New Design)
11. Torrens Av - Borough of East York
12. Nassau St & Bellevue Av - Former City of Toronto
13. Mike Myers Dr - City of Scaborough
14. Goldfinch Ct & Finch Av - City of North York
15. Shuter St - City of Toronto (New Design)

PS: Does anyone have a picture of those imfamous yellow lit downtown street signs that were widespread in the early 90's? Those were just awful, but I'd love a picture for memorabilia's sake.

Toronto Street Signs - [spacing.ca]
Search: Toronto Street Signs - [flickr.com]
New Toronto Street Signs, Revisited - [andrewspicer.com]

Comments (3)

I'm not sure if I'm just a planning nerd or if it's just my Chinese consumerist ways, but I decided that I wanted to check out the new Walmart Supercentre in Stouffville on a Friday night.

As you may be aware, Walmart recently opened three Supercentre locations in Ancaster, London, and Stouffville. They call them "Supercentres" because not only do they have the regular selections that you would expect from a Walmart, but they have an in-store grocery store.

Though many of the "smaller" format Walmarts (irony?) already stock some grocery items-- mostly preserved goods, these Supercentre stores carry everything from produce, meats, deli, bakery. I have seen these Supercentres in many areas when travelling to the US, many of which are often pretty dingy looking. For that reason, I was curious to check out how the Canadian adaptation is compared to the American counterparts.

So after a half-hour drive from Markham, I arrived at the store, which was surrounded by undeveloped land. I guess that doesn't come as any surprise; it's the Walmart way. Find the cheapest land available, and change the urban landscape forever.

Anyways, I can start to see a ring-road retail road structure, and I definitely expect to see other retail pads to be built in the site in the future. Once inside, your first reation is 'Whoa'. Serioysly, there's nothing to say but 'whoa'. It's that big.

The main store arterials are exceptionally wide, and really diminishes that feeling of product claustrophobia that I often get when shopping at the its "nanostores".

The store colour palette in the interior and exterior is very different than the other Walmarts. The store walls are not grey with the infamous red and navy stripes, it has a much more confortable tan colour. The floor tiles similarly are a darker tan colour. The store signage materials are an improvement; there's a bit more colour other than the large black-text on-white-back price signs.

It is my assumption that all the "smaller" stores will also reflect this new colour palette. The new Fairview Park store in Kitchener recently underwent renovations and looks similar to this.

So, how was the experience? Wonderful. You can't stop but say "whoa, it's huge!" It's definitely your one-stop shop for everything that you can possibly need. It was very spacious, and not a bit crowded. Mind you that I was shopping at 11pm in the evening.

So, how was the service? Exceptional. Perhaps it's because the employees are new, and haven't encoutered any real craziness like the other stores. I don't expect the store to get that "crazy", since the store is seriously in the middle of nowhere.

So, how was the prices? Pretty cheap. The general merchandise stuff is the same as the other stores. But the grocery items are undeniably cheap. Perhaps even cheaper than No Frills.

So, the bottom line, would you go there again? No. The experience is great, but seriously, it took me a half-hour to get there. Sure, it's convenient to have all you need to buy under one roof and one bill, but what is the overall benefit? Wouldn't the 30-minute drive to Stouffville actually exceed the time if I were just to go to Markville and head to Loblaws afterwards? Definitely.

Would my decision change when the Scarborough location is built? Maybe. But at the same time, it looks like the competition is fierce. Today, I realized that a Real Canadian Superstore is expected to open in the periphery retail pads at Scarborough Town Centre.

At this time, Wal-Mart has plans to open up to 14 new Supercentres in 2007.

Walmart Canada - [walmart.ca]
Walmart Canada - [wikipedia.org]
Real Canadian Superstore - [superstore.ca]
Real Canadian Superstore - [wikipedia.org]

Comments (7)

I'm back at work now, and I had a chance to do some field work up in the northwest quadrant of the city, in an area widely undiscovered to me. I have never been to York Uniersity before, and to be honest, I wasn't very thrilled about going initially, just because I assumed that it would jus tbe another suburban campus like Waterloo.

But seriously, I was surprised how completely beautiful the campus is! The views are astonishing from the campus centre Student Common. The whole campus itself has the tranquil feeling of a suburban campus, without the feeling of being dead and mundane. The architecture doesn't resemble a dated institutional look, and it reflects those cool lifestyle retail centres.

Vari Hall, the campus focal point, similar to U of T's University College, proudly stands outlooking a beautiful expansive space in front of it.

Waterloo's focal point, arguably the Dana Porter Library, is without any grandeur and stands almost timidly behind South Campus Hall, which to me is the awfully the worst building on campus in its interior and exterior.

Despute York holidng the record for having the largest university campus in Canada, the buildings at York are highly concentrated in the centre of the campus. A recent massive capital expansion of university facilities brings very exciting times for York.

Not only are they building plenty, they're building well. In fact, an active streetscape of modern glass structures is quickly emerging on the east portions of Ian MacDonald Blvd. Above is the expanded Schulich School of Business.

While there was a major controversy many years ago with York selling its southern property to private townhouse developers, I believe that the development complements well with that urban lifestyle character of the neighbourhood. Though stacked townhouse would be my ideal density for the area. Above is a picture a typical New Urbanist facade at the Village at York University.

Oh yes, how can I forget about the York Lanes Mall and the adjacent Student Centre. It's very cool. It is great to actually have shops and restaurants in the centre of campus. Waterlosers, could you imagine perhaps the University Plaza in a indoor shopping complex in campus, instead of being just outside it? That would rock. The neatest thing about the Student Centre is the peripheral canopy that helps connect Vari Hall to York Lanes. From what I understand, the horizonal glass panels are raised up during the summer months to extend the outdoors, and they are pulled down during the winter mto shelter students from the elements.

I hear that the Student Common area is a transit nightmare. But because it is already the Spring term, I couldn't experience it. Too bad. But just looking around, I could sense the madness, since the TTC takes up the entre north side of the York Blvd Loop, where each route has its designated bus stop, while GO Transit takes up the entire south side of the loop. The TTC alone operates six routes: 60C/F Steeles West, 35E Jane, 106 York University, 196 York University Rocket, 41/B Keele, 107 Keele North, and 35E Jane.

I also forgot YRT/VIVA, which operates on-street on Ian MacDonald Blvd.

York U is transit crazy, and good on them for being green! And look how cordially York students line up for the bus!

Lastly, I have to give major kudos to York's wayfinding signs. It is clearn, modern, consistent, and are all over campus! Their logo is embedded on all signage and brings about an appealing visual identity for the campus.

I love the campus so much! I am just so amazing at how well it was able to reverse its suburban dullness that was so prevalent in post-war universisties into something much more grand and captivating. If it's any indication, the original campus 'ring road' network and the bisecting Black Creek is almost identical to Wateroo. Given that Waterloo and York was constructed under similar plans, why has York done so much more for themselves? I guess it helps when you have a campus with 50,000 students...

York University - [yorku.ca]
York University - [wikipedia.org]

Comments (2)

Did I offend anyone already? After years of being educated about the problems associated with cul-de-sacs, I suddenly have a change of heart.

Cul-de-sacs have been given a bad reputation mainly because of its hinderance to provide direct transit and pedestrian access from Point A to Point B. These road patterns have been built mainly as a way to deter vehicles from bypassing certain neighbourhoods. It forces drivers to use larger arterial roads, in which these cul-de-sacs are fed into. Because of this great luxury of having a peaceful, quiet, and kid-friendly streets, homebuyers in the past have preferred these 'courts' over others.

These road forms became so popular in the 1980s and 1990s that there are some urban areas that literally have nothing but cul-de-sacs. It's actually quite abysmally disgusting to see aerial photographs of suburban areas in Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, Calgary, and even Milton Keynes, In these places, the impermeability of the street network meant that it may require a 10-minute drive just to get to an adjacent property.

So while these 'courts' are intended to allow people to play safely in the streets, it also meant that residents would need a car to get to any destination outside the street proximity. Transit wouldn't be sustainable, just because it would have to weave through these squiggly routes that were essentially designed to discourage through-way access. This criticism is essentially the New Urbanism school of thought.

While we think that the GTA's sprawl is bad, it really isn't in relative terms. The GTA has never religiously adopted this pure cul-de-sac road network, but that doesn't mean we're not guilty of transit-unfriendly street patterns, as we too have adopted a strict hierarchial curvilinear road network structure in residential neighbourhoods from the 1970s to the 1990s.

As a way to reverse these old mistakes, and to encourage more permeability for car and pedestrian gtraffic around the neighbourhood, New Urbanist principles have since been adopted in almost all new low-rise residential subdivisions in Greater Toronto. It can easily be witnessed in new developments in Markham, Vaughan, and to a lesser extent Brampton.

Wow, my love for cul-de-sacs ended up being a long discussion about planning. I apologize as it really wasn't my intention. Yes, I love cul-de-sacs. But as a disclaimer, I'd like to say that I love cul-de-sacs, but only in close moderation.

Cut to the chase...
I'm going to segue into a small anecedote about numerous conversations I have had in the office today.

But first, some context: Our beloved Paolo tells me that he has frequent street parties and BBQ events with families on his cul-de-sac street in London. He tells me while we all talk about the issues of cul-de-sacs, he actually enjoys his close-knit street-oriented neighbourhood, and it actually is quite refreshing to see how much life there can be in a suburban neighhourhood. Because seriously, I doubt there are many closely-knitted surburban neighhourhoods like Wisteria Lane.

Anyways, on the the story-- while talking with one fellow co-worker on Monday, he told me that he, too, had a street BBQ, and quickly, I asked him whether he lives on a cul-de-sac.

He told me he did. Wowsers. I thought to myself if it was a tradition for cul-de-sac residents or something.

Surprise surprise? I truly do think that the way that homes in cul-de-sacs are oriented towards a centre loop encourages more social cohesion. Also, I figure that they know and can easily spot their neighhours because there really is no reason for outsiders to be entering the street.

I am very jealous of these neat street parties, and I seriously doubt that anything could be organized on my Markham pseudo-crescent street.

To all the residents of cul-de-sac streets, I salute you.

Cul-de-sac - [wikipedia.org]
New Urbanism - [wikipedia.org]

Comments (2)

I've never dragged my feet on a term paper ever. The course is Planning Theory. It's not a planning curriculum without the study of planning theory (sadly).

But I encountered one of the most fascinating books related to the topic. How bizarre, I know. It's called Planning Theory for Practitioners by Michael Brooks. I found a neat anecdote that really helped me personally close the chapter on the merits of rational-comprehensive planning-- since I had continued to be a proponent of the rational part of rational-comprehensive planning.

Reliance on rationality may be damaging to the planning process because it contributes so readily to self-delusion. If we follow the tenets of rational planning, one might ask, aren't we simply doing what planning is all about-- regardless of whether anything comes of our analyses and plans? An exercise I often give my students posits the existence of two firms, A and B. Firm A makes all the right planning moves-- defining its mission, studying its competition, carefully analyzing the market for current and potential products, and formulating goals and strategies for its short-term future. Firm B, on the other hand, is run by a happy-go-lucky CEO who makes all decisions for the firm by flipping a coin. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Firm A, despite its good planning behaviour, goes down the tubes, while Firm B prospers and becomes an industry leader. The question is, which firm is more rational?

My students almost always answer correctly--namely, that Firm A was the more rational because it behaved in a rational manner, while Firm B was not rational at all.

This exercise illustrates the fact that "rational planning" means "planning conducted in a rational manner"; the focus is on the process, not on the results. [...] Public planning is about improving the quality of life in our communities, and we should not take comfort in methods that sooth our psyches but have little world impact.

Planning Theory for Practitioners is a definitely a must-read for all planners.

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Those who live in Scarborough must have noticed the almost identical land-use patterns at the intersections of McCowan Rd /Finch Ave and Warden Ave / Finch Ave. Both intersections are the centre of a circuitous road surrounding it, which are Sandhurst Circle and Bridletowne Circle respectively.

One corner of the both intersection lies the local shopping mall, (Woodside Square and Bridletowne Mall), while the remaining three corners has includes a cluster of multi-storey residential units. The area outside of the two circle roads includes low density residential.

I have always noticed to how systematic these two communities were developed even at a young age. Now with a bit of planning knowledge, I would perhaps consider it a little too systematic--as both communities almost feel identical. Nevertheless, both communities work very well in the suburban environment, methinks.

The high density residential and the local shopping centre work well to support one another. Home owners and renters value the convenience of having local retail, as well as well-served public transit in both north-south and east-west directions. I think this configuration is an awesome idea. We totally should've made of these types of land-use configurations.

You might also be aware that there are two other similar developments, Alton Towers and Bamburgh, which are just slightly north of the Sandhurst and Bridletowne communities. These two communities were similar in that they both include a retail centre in one quadrant, while high density residential fill up the other three.

There are a few subtle differences however. The retail centre is not an enclosed mall like Woodside Square and Bridletowne Mall-- it is more of a large retail strip plaza. Another difference is that the Alton Towers and Bamburgh communities lack a east-west bisect. I think this road configuration is what made these two communities less successful.

View Larger Map

But here's the thing. If you know Scarborough well, you must have known that Passmore Ave runs from Kennedy Rd to Midland Ave and more east from Middlefield Road to east of Tapscott Rd. Well, if you look carefully at the alignment of the road, you will realize that Passmore must have once been connected, or at least planned on being connected.

Look at the residential subdivision that truncates Passmore Ave. You will notice how streets such as Copthorne Ave, Withycombe Cres, Andrelane Ct, Oakhaven Dr, Hillfarm Dr, and Ketchum Pl make a straight line between the truncated segments of Passmore Ave.

If Passmore Ave was connected from Midland Ave to Middlefield Rd, it would have created the east-west bisect that we would expect for the Alton Towers community. Also, if Passmore Ave was extended to the west, you will realize a similar phenomenon. In fact, the road would go as far as Victoria Park Ave to connect with Gordon Baker Rd.

I wonder why planners decided to screw up the greatness that was Sandhurst and Bridletowne. Hopefully someone will know the answer.

Comments (0)

"I guess Queen Street West is officially dead now," a Globe and Mail piece writes.

As you may have heard, Pages bookstore in the heart of Queen and John will be officially closing as of August 31, 2009.

Obviously the demise of a bookstore that has been in business for 30 years is surely tragic, and it seems like this just one piece of the continued fall of (1) Queen Street West, (2) independent bookstores, and (3) independent retailing altogether.

Pages cites the inability to find an alternative location with suitable rent for its closure. But really when it comes down to it, people are simply not buying enough books.

Down the street on Queen Street East, the Librairie Champlain, Toronto's only french bookstore also closed its doors in May, citing similar reasons: not enough sales. In response to this, World's Biggest Bookstore (an Indigo brand) opens a French-language boutique in an attempt to fill that consumer void.

This makes me wonder: Are independent retailers doomed in this increasingly corporate retail environment? Should we accept the demise of these retailers simply that they weren't responsive to market conditions? Are there systemic issues (e.g. low corporate taxes) that make independents lose its competitive edge?

More importantly, are independents really worth saving?

Vertigo Books, a Maryland bookstore that encountered a similar fate as Pages, says yes.

Vertigo claims that our shopping dollars "help create the community [we] want to live in" and presents an anecdote that for every $10 you spend at locally-owned businesses, $4.50 stays in our community. Here's a list of their comparisons.

• Vertigo Books $4.50
• Barnes & Noble / Borders / Costco $1.30
• Amazon $0.00

Whether these numbers are reliable or not, I think we can agree that independents do (or have the opportunity to) make a greater contribution to the local community than corporate chains. Independents (1) are more likely to offer higher wages, (2) are more likely to demonstrate commitment to its staff, (3) are more likely for staff to be committed to the store, (4) are more receptive to local products and talent, and (5) are simply more responsive to local conditions.

Corporate chains like Chapters-Indigo operate on a national level. Their corporate structure, large operational scale, and strive for a consistent "store experience" simply makes it too rigid to be responsive to local demands. Having worked at Chapters, I can tell you that the books displayed on promotional tables at each Chapters, Indigo, and Coles store are preselected each month by corporate head office. There's simply no interest in featuring local talent and surely is no true interest in creating community.

Online bookstores follow a similar predicament. There's no chance to bring about that sense of local community.

The anecodal numbers presented by Vertigo does have a point. Money made in an independent store are likely to remain in the local community, while money made by a corporation are much more geographically diffused and are proportionately held by fewer hands (e.g. executives).

So what can we do? I admit, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. It's just so easy to buy a book on Amazon-- the economics makes it a no-brainer. But how can we redistribute the competitive advantage of firms? The only thing I can think of is to introduce taxes-- increased taxes for corporations.

At the same time, I'm sure there are externalities for increasing corporate taxes, especially as we're increasingly competing in a uncontrolled global marketplace.

Essentially, I think independents are doomed, but I'm intrigued to hear your ideas to keep independents alive.

Photo by Tim Shore of BlogTO.

Deadpool Looming for Pages Bookstore - [blogto.com]
Pages to Fold - [torontoist.com]
Save Pages Facebook group - [facebook.com]
Goodbye: We are Closing - [vertigobooks.blogsome.com]

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