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- The town of Innisfil is looking forward to some very futuristic developments. Global News reports.
- Jeremy Deaton at CityLab reports on how, buffered by the Great Lakes, Buffalo NY may end gaining from climate change.
- The Ottawa chain Bridgehead Coffee has been sold to national chain Second Cup. Global News reports.
- Many of the more eye-raising installations in the Gay Village of Montréal have since been removed. CTV News reports.
- Warming huts for homeless people in Winnipeg were torn down because the builders did not follow procedures. Global News reports.
- Open Democracy looks at innovative new public governance of the city budget in Amsterdam, here.
- Singapore, located in a well-positioned Southeast Asia and with working government, may take over from Hong Kong. Bloomberg View makes the case.
- The Ottawa Citizen suggests a recent audit of OC Transpo should have offered warnings of the Confederation Line problems to come.
- A project office has been set up for the extension of the Yellow Line in Longueuil and elsewhere on the south shore. CTV News reports.
- La Presse looks at the concerns of some artists in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie that they might be forced out by gentrification.
- That the Bay Building in downtown Winnipeg has been evaluated as being of little value offers an opening to Heritage Winnipeg. Global News reports.
- The New Brunswick government is forcing suburbs of Saint John to pay for city facilities that they also used. Global News reports.
- Short-term rentals are having a negative effect on real estate markets in Halifax. Global News reports.
- Downtown Lethbridge faces struggles to attract business. Global News reports.
- This letter to the Windsor Star makes the point that city needs to tend to its stray cats. (So do all cities, I bet.)
- A cat café in Winnipeg has reopened. CBC reports.
- Phys.org reports on a paper noting that the scent of male cats is made by microbes inhabiting cat bodies.
- Apparently Instagram accounts of fat cats on diets are a thing. The Guardian reports.
- Why do cats so love cardboard and paper? MNN reports.
- Maclean's reports on how, a century after Shoal Lake 40 First Nation was made an island to provide drinking water for Winnipeg, it finally was connected to the mainland by a road.
- CityLab reports on how the pressures of the tourist season make it difficult for many permanent residents of Martha's Vineyard to maintain homes.
- Fogo Island, Newfoundland, recently celebrated its first Pride Walk. CBC reports.
- Yvette D'Entremont writes at the Toronto Star about how the diaspora of the Newfoundland fishing island of Ramea have gathered together for regular reunions.
- J.M. Opal writes at The Conversation about the origins of white Anglo-American racism in 17th century Barbados.
Another links post is up over at Demography Matters!
- Skepticism about immigration in many traditional receiving countries appeared. Frances Woolley at the Worthwhile Canadian Initiative took issue with the argument of Andray Domise after an EKOS poll, that Canadians would not know much about the nature of migration flows. The Conversation observed how the rise of Vox in Spain means that country’s language on immigration is set to change towards greater skepticism. Elsewhere, the SCMP called on South Korea, facing pronounced population aging and workforce shrinkages, to become more open to immigrants and minorities.
- Cities facing challenges were a recurring theme. This Irish Examiner article, part of a series, considers how the Republic of Ireland’s second city of Cork can best break free from the dominance of Dublin to develop its own potential. Also on Ireland, the NYR Daily looked at how Brexit and a hardened border will hit the Northern Ireland city of Derry, with its Catholic majority and its location neighbouring the Republic. CityLab reported on black migration patterns in different American cities, noting gains in the South, is fascinating. As for the threat of Donald Trump to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities in the United States has widely noted., at least one observer noted that sending undocumented immigrants to cities where they could connect with fellow diasporids and build secure lives might actually be a good solution.
- Declining rural settlements featured, too. The Guardian reported from the Castilian town of Sayatón, a disappearing town that has become a symbol of depopulating rural Spain. Global News, similarly, noted that the loss by the small Nova Scotia community of Blacks Harbour of its only grocery store presaged perhaps a future of decline. VICE, meanwhile, reported on the very relevant story about how resettled refugees helped revive the Italian town of Sutera, on the island of Sicily. (The Guardian, to its credit, mentioned how immigration played a role in keeping up numbers in Sayatón, though the second generation did not stay.)
- The position of Francophone minorities in Canada, meanwhile, also popped up at me.
- This TVO article about the forces facing the École secondaire Confédération in the southern Ontario city of Welland is a fascinating study of minority dynamics. A brief article touches on efforts in the Franco-Manitoban community of Winnipeg to provide temporary shelter for new Francophone immigrants. CBC reported, meanwhile, that Francophones in New Brunswick continue to face pressure, with their numbers despite overall population growth and with Francophones being much more likely to be bilingual than Anglophones. This last fact is a particularly notable issue inasmuch as New Brunswick's Francophones constitute the second-largest Francophone community outside of Québec, and have traditionally been more resistant to language shift and assimilation than the more numerous Franco-Ontarians.
- The Eurasia-focused links blog Window on Eurasia pointed to some issues. It considered if the new Russian policy of handing out passports to residents of the Donbas republics is related to a policy of trying to bolster the population of Russia, whether fictively or actually. (I'm skeptical there will be much change, myself: There has already been quite a lot of emigration from the Donbas republics to various destinations, and I suspect that more would see the sort of wholesale migration of entire families, even communities, that would add to Russian numbers but not necessarily alter population pyramids.) Migration within Russia was also touched upon, whether on in an attempt to explain the sharp drop in the ethnic Russian population of Tuva in the 1990s or in the argument of one Muslim community leader in the northern boomtown of Norilsk that a quarter of that city's population is of Muslim background.
- Eurasian concerns also featured. The Russian Demographics Blog observed, correctly, that one reason why Ukrainians are more prone to emigration to Europe and points beyond than Russians is that Ukraine has long been included, in whole or in part, in various European states. As well, Marginal Revolution linked to a paper that examines the positions of Jews in the economies of eastern Europe as a “rural service minority”, and observed the substantial demographic shifts occurring in Kazakhstan since independence, with Kazakh majorities appearing throughout the country.
- JSTOR Daily considered if, between the drop in fertility that developing China was likely to undergo anyway and the continuing resentments of the Chinese, the one-child policy was worth it. I'm inclined to say no, based not least on the evidence of the rapid fall in East Asian fertility outside of China.
- What will Britons living in the EU-27 do, faced with Brexit? Bloomberg noted the challenge of British immigrant workers in Luxembourg faced with Brexit, as Politico Europe did their counterparts living in Brussels.
- Finally, at the Inter Press Service, A.D. Mackenzie wrote about an interesting exhibit at the Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration in Paris on the contributions made by immigrants to popular music in Britain and France from the 1960s to the 1980s.
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- JSTOR Daily looks at the myth that land ownership was not present in pre-Columbian Indigenous cultures in the Americas.
- CBC takes a look at Indigenous traditions of astronomy.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how white female reformers of the early 20th century US tried to repress the sacred dances of the Pueblo peoples, and why.
- CBC had a great feature about how Cree doctor James Makokis uses Indigenous perspectives to treat his trans clientele.
- This report about MakadeMigize Clothing, a company created by a Manitoba family whose clothes are inspired by Indigenous languages. Global News covers the issue.
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- La Presse notes that the bilingual greeting "Bonjour-Hi" is becoming more common in Montréal.
- This Ottawa Citizen opinion-writer was entirely right in noting that the Ontario government should not try to eliminate minority language rights and institutions for budgetary reasons.
- This TVO article about the forces facing the École secondaire Confédération in Welland is a fascinating study of minority dynamics.
- This brief article touches on efforts in the Franco-Manitoban community of Winnipeg to provide temporary shelter for new Francophone immigrants.
- Francophones in New Brunswick continue to face pressure, with their numbers despite overall population growth and with Francophones being much more likely to be bilingual than Anglophones. CBC reports.
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- The LeBreton Flats in Ottawa are now planned to experience a phased development. Global News reports.
- Kingston has recently celebrated the 175th anniversary of its brief history as capital of Canada (the Province of Canada, to be precise). Global News reports.
- The Independent reports on the comeback story of Winnipeg.
- Guardian Cities shares some of the different unfulfilled proposals for the development of the English city of Bristol.
- CityLab reports from Dessau, the eastern German city literally made by the Bauhaus school.
- io9 reports on the Fathers Project, a new alternate history project imagining what might have become of queer people in North America if HIV had not existed.
- Them interviews Valentina, fresh off of RuPaul's Drag Race and now appearing in a TV version of the classic Rent.
- CBC reports on two people in Winnipeg who want to build a library there for queer people of colour.
- Guardian Cities takes a look at the question of how gay-friendly different cities are. Locals' opinions, not just public policies, matter.
- Tim McCaskell writes at NOW Toronto about the threat posed by the growing presence of chemsex in queer Toronto (and beyond, too).
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- After consultation with indigenous groups, Mississauga is removing all Indigenous symbols from sports teams and facilities. blogTO reports.
- This Huffington Post Québec article, in French, notes that Montréal can make a very good case for again supporting a major league baseball team. The Expos may return.
- VICE notes that the idea of legalizing marijuana sales in New York State, and of devoting the funds raised from marijuana taxation to rebuilding the New York City subway station, is becoming popular.
- The latest redrawing of provincial electoral boundaries in Manitoba leaves the growing metropolis of Winnipeg with one seat more and rural Manitoba with one seat less. Global News reports.
- Laura Agustín reports on the experiences of a volunteer lawyer working with the Central American migrant caravan in Tijuana, here.
- The vacancy rate in Kingston is easily the lowest of any major Ontario city, even worse than Toronto. Global News reports.
- CBC notes that Ottawa is continuing to work on building a film centre in its Greenbelt.
- La Presse notes that residents of the neighbourhood of Glenmount, in the Montréal borough of Côte-des-Neiges, are threatening to separate from the city.
- Québec City has again been rejected by the NHL, the North American hockey league deciding not to situate a team in this pro-hockey town despite strong local support. CBC reports.
- After more than a year, regular passenger rail service has finally resumed between Winnipeg and Churchill. CBC reports.
- Forty students have graduated from a new program at McGill specializing in the promotion and revival of Indigenous languages. CBC reports.
- CBC reports on how newly-elected Winnipeg city councilor Sherri Rollins appropriates a "Huron-Wendat" identity, despite having only a single Huron ancestor who died at the end of the 18th century and lacking any membership in any Huron-Wendat polity.
- CBC reports on how survivors of a residential school that burned down in 1948 suspect the fire was set by a student.
- A new report suggests that the British Columbia government needs to do much more to live up to its promises to make a meaningful partnership between itself and indigenous groups. The Toronto Star reports.
- Wawmeesh Hamilton at The Discourse writes about how Indigenous identity and culture remains important for urban Indigenous people in Canada.
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- MacLean's looks at the long and sorry neglect of the Manitoba Arctic port of Churchill in its time of need by the Canadian federal government.
- Wired looks at the "pink tax" in New York City, the extra costs imposed on women who need to take private transit in order to avoid harassment in public spaces.
- Eater profiles the efforts of white neighborhoods in the Georgia city of Stockbridge to secede, something ostensibly presented as a desire to attract Cheesecake Factory and other restaurants to these areas.
- CityLab reports on a sensitive effort to restore an art deco building in the Puerto Rican city of Ponce.
- The Palestinian city of Ramallah, Guardian Cities reports, has its architectural heritage threatened by an unregulated construction boom.
- MTL Blog shares photos of the interior of one apartment in Montréal's Habitat 67 on sale for a mere $C 1.4 million.
- Justin Petrone writes lyrically about his return visit to New York City.
- CityLab considers the tax, and other, advantages that would apply to Amazon if it split its HQ2 between two cities.
- Global News notes that the Manitoba Arctic port of Churchill, newly reconnected by rail, could thrive given global warming.
- Guardian Cities notes controversy in Edinburgh over notes controversy in Edinburgh over possible gentrification of Leith Walk, an art deco block built of sandstone.
- Repair to the railroad that provided the only land connection of Churchill, Manitoba, to the rest of Canada has finally been repaired, and the first train in a year has come in. CBC reports.
- Jason Markusoff at MacLean's notes that city council in Calgary salvaged the city's 2026 Olympics bid, for now.
- CityLab notes an experiment with commercial rent control in New York City, in an effort to prevent the collapse of the small and independent retail sector.
- As the trash disposal crisis in Beirut continues, CityLab notes that poor children in the Lebanese capital are trying to scavenge from the city's waste.
- The SCMP notes the unhappiness of the people of the English village of Haywick Sands that an old image of their community was used in an American attack ad.
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- blogTO reports on the efforts of York University to try to salvage the Markham campus cancelled by the Ontario provincial government.
- CTV News reports on the Bear Clan Patrol, a First Nations group that has taken to patrolling the streets of Winnipeg to watch out for the ongoing meth crisis.
- The Discourse wonders whether the new city council of Vancouver will be as committed to reconciliation with First Nations as the old one.
- Vice reports on the latest from the Michigan town of Bay View, where there is an almost incomprehensible reluctance among many in that Christian-founded town to allow non-Christians to own property there.
- Matthew Teller at Adventure writes about Ushuaia, the Argentine community that is the southernmost town in the world, and looks at this isolated community's difficulties.
- La Presse quotes mayor Valérie Plante's arguments that, while Montréal is enjoying something of a boom, it should takje care to prepare for a slowdown, too.
- Karim Doumar at CityLab takes a look at Queens' new storm-resilient park, Hunters Point South Park.
- Guardian Cities takes a look at #weloveatl, the Atlanta Instagram hashtag that has gone hugely viral.
- VICE takes the city of Winnipeg to task for its sadly dispiriting election, where major issues are not being dealt with (among other things). In this, Winnipeg reminds me of Toronto.
- The Inter Press Service takes a look at how plans to rehouse the inhabitants of the shantytowns of Buenos Aires are progressing.
- The question of re-opening the storied intersection of Portage and Main, at the heart of Winnipeg, to pedestrian traffic is being hotly debated. The National Post reports.
- CityLab describes how the New York city of Buffalo is enjoying a huge boom in the creation of public art.
- Wired describes Chicago's Wild Mile, a new riverine habitat ingeniously created for the manmade North Branch Canal.
- The World Economic Forum reports that, on the theory that public transit is a public good, Estonia is making public transit free throughout the country, including in the capital of Tallinn.
- Guardian Cities notes the energetic effort of Oman to create, where five years ago there was just desert, the new city of Duqm.
- Anne-Marie Bouchard wrote at Huffington Post Québec on the 9th about the anniversary of the publication in 1948 of Refus global, the artistic manifesto that changed Québec.
- Global News reported on Gimli, Manitoba, as its Islendingadagurinn--the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba--approached.
- The fact that Canada is managing the refugee crisis on its southern border so well is something Canadians should take pride in. CBC has it.
- The introduction of the right to roam to Canada, as suggested at The Conversation, does make some sense to me.
- The beaver, introduced to Patagonia in 1945, has shown itself to be so prolific and ecologically disruptive that Argentina and Chile are planning a massive cull. The National Post reports.
- York Region reports on an anti-refugee protest in Markham that, reportedly, was dominated by Chinese-Canadian protesters.
- Gimli's 18th annual film festival has been a roaring success. Global News reports.
- What has become of downtown Winnipeg after the city's hockey team, the beloved Jets, finished their playoff run? Global News reports.
- The voice of Seth Rogan will be the voice of Vancouver's mass transit service, announcing stops and the like. CBC reports.
- Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw reports on how problems of growth surround--literally--Astrolabe Park, in Sydney.
