William H. Whyte: The Under-Appreciated Urban Patriarch governing.com/assessments/wi… "Every great advance has come about, and always will, because someone was frustrated by the status quo; because someone exercised the skepticism, the questioning, and the kind of curiosity which, to borrow a phrase, blows the lid off everything. " — William H. Whyte

I’m reading @KGreenbergTO's 2011 book Walking Home : the Life and Lessons of a City Builder. Not for the first time, must be 3rd or 4th now. This will be a thread...

penguinrandomhouse.com/books/198756/w…
Greenberg is an architect and urban planner with experience both inside City Hall and as a private practitioner. He’s Principal of Greenberg Consultants and former Director of Urban Design and Architecture for the City of Toronto.

"It’s a windfall for land speculators in the short term, they say, and a white elephant for municipal budgets in the long term..."

Environmentalists hope anti-sprawl vote sets example for other municipalities @jeffreybgray @moore_oliver @globeandmail theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… “It’s kind of a watershed moment for growth planning in Ontario, whether other municipalities will see this as, well, ‘Hamilton did it, so we can take that bold step as well.’ ” City Councillor John-Paul Danko. #ShelveSandstone

"But civil society was unable to save Nanaimo from one poor decision, the unfolding consequences of which are continuing to do harm."

https://twitter.com/NanaimoCommons/status/1467987925992284162

We may be the only medium-sized city in the country without a chief planner. With the position of the chief planner eliminated power was consolidated to a small group of men who play with our city like it was their private board game.

University of Chicago Urbanism Professor Emily Talen’s book “Neighbourhood.” Ch9 Neighbourhoods and Segregation. “The final and most significant debate about the neighbourhood: its association with social segregation." Tweets from earlier chapters start here…

https://twitter.com/NanaimoCommons/status/1326647941927301120

Neighbourhoods, University of Chicago Urbanism Prof Emily Talen.

For those living in the undefined expanse of contemporary urbanism that characterizes most North American cities, can the neighbourhood come to be more than a shaded area on a map?

global.oup.com/academic/produ… "...written in support of those who believe neighbourhoods should be genuinely relevant in our lives... places that provide an essential context for daily life... identifiable, serviced, diverse, connected. Their primary purpose would not be social separation."

#ocp2020ycd

https://twitter.com/CanUrbanism/status/1321173231428988929

Fascinating and inspiring @CanUrbanism round table today, City Circle, moderator @Khelsilem. @KalenAnderson Edmonton, Evelina Hafvenstein-Säteri, Stockholm Plan, @oliviahaddon, Māori Design Auckland, @AlainMiguelez, Ottawa, Gil Kelley, Vancouver

North America has been building + rebuilding cities + towns quite badly for more than half a century. To do it properly wld have been easy—we used to be great at it. But—like voting for president—just because something is easy to do does not mean that it will be done or done well

https://twitter.com/NanaimoCommons/status/1315397352732016641

Cities "that are truly committed to a thriving centre realize city government must identify downtown housing as a key objective warranting investment + care” #ocp2020ycd

RULE 6: Cities should actively invest both money + staff time in creation of more attainable housing downtown