The Norwegian capital of Oslo dealt with an interesting proposition of banning all cars in the city centre by compromising. At first business and some residents (only 30% of urban dwellers own cars in Norway) didn’t like the proposal at all claiming it would ruin neighbourhoods and business. To address
Continue readingTag: urban
Things Are Good: How Pressure from Pedestrians and Cyclists Make Better Cities
Depending on where you live you may think streets are for people or for cars. The correct answer is that streets are for moving people and not built for the need of inanimate objects. In an interesting series of videos the Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume examines the different urban design
Continue readingPostArctica: Bags from Columbia
Walking down a pleasant street in the north plateau the other evening and I run into this entrepreneur. Excellent quality handmade goods made in Columbia. Check them out on Facebook here!
Continue readingPostArctica: Garden In Verdun
Interesting watering system.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Turning Homes Into Business Could Save the Suburbs
The suburbs are an energy-intensive housing solution that started in North America and has spread worldwide. The appeal of the tract housing the very thing that makes the suburbs detrimental to society: large lots, expansive houses, low density, and that they are reliant on individual use automobiles. With the mounting
Continue readingPostArctica: Dying Tree With Storm
Don’t look back.
Continue readingPostArctica: Waiting
Every season presents a new set of circumstances, a new type of song.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Farming for the Future on the Roofs of Hong Kong
Green roofs are great for collecting water and cooling neighbourhoods, they are also useful for feeding their local communities. In the densely built urban environment of Hong Kong there is a network of green roofs that used for farming. These farms are used to grow crops sold in local stores
Continue readingPostArctica: Walk A Lot, Read A Lot
Taking a break in La Fontaine Park.
Continue readingPostArctica: Rainbow in Montreal Today
It rained all day. The sun came out for a while.
Continue readingPostArctica: The Giants in Montreal
Went downtown today to check out the giant marionettes that are dominating the scene in the city this weekend. It is pretty cool because the crew that accompanies each giant are energized and organized much like a Cirque du Soleil act. The down side of this is that it really
Continue readingPostArctica: River High, Shore Erosion In Verdun
The Saint Lawrence has been much higher than usual this spring in Verdun. Today I walked between the Natatorium and the Marina and there were parts of the lower path already washed out. My first concern is that many trees along the shoreline have already leaned into the river and
Continue readingPostArctica: Trees Cut Down In Verdun
It was inevitable were they going to proceed with the poorly conceived beach project on the Verdun waterfront, but it turns out that even though the city has recently said that the project has been postponed, a large swath of trees has been cut down on the proposed beach site.
Continue readingPostArctica: Printemps
I may have said this before but it bears repeating… I once had a problem photographing something in terms of composition, or maybe it was just attitude, in any case, I advised myself to just go in like Friedlander shooting cacti. And it has very much become a part of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Covert Strategies for Supporting Urbanism
One of the biggest challenges facing cities in the 21st century is how to make them more people friendly. Parts of many cities have been left to rot, or have been neglected, thanks to decades of car-dominated thinking. This car-focussed, and individualistic, urban design has made discourse around making cities
Continue readingPostArctica: Stormy Today
Was out and about this afternoon. Nature has a way of evening up the score – after a relatively balmy and dry January and February, March so far has provided our coldest temperatures and this could be the biggest snowstorm of the year, Outside the Mount Royal Metro station. Corner
Continue readingThings Are Good: Move to the City for a Slow Life
It’s often thought that cities are buys bustling places where nobody slows down. Sure, the streets are busier and there is more activity, but the city is a slow place for living. Arizona State University researchers looked into the lifestyles of urban dwellers and discovered that they are slower than
Continue readingPostArctica: This Is A Bench! Enjoy!
Picture taken in the area that will become the Verdun beach. Going to miss the rugged spontaneity, the urban explorer sensibility, that got so beautifully cultivated in an organic manner through here.
Continue reading