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This weekend just past, I was wandering through Exhibition Place down by the waterfront just before midnight when I came upon the Exhibition GO Station. I thought it a handsome station, all poured-concrete and cinematic lighting, but was also struck by its disconnect from the rest of the city grid. The 29 Dufferin bus runs in this area relatively rarely, for instance, and only in 2027 will it be plugged into the Ontario Line as a terminal station when that subway line is built. (If it is built. Let us hope.)
[NEWS] Fourteen links
Dec. 22nd, 2019 09:42 pm- By at least one metric, New Brunswick now lags economically behind a more dynamic Prince Edward Island. CBC reports.
- NOW Toronto looks at toxic fandoms. ("Stanning" sounds really creepy to me.)
- This CityLab article looks at how the particular characteristics of Japan, including its high population density, helps keep alive there retail chains that have failed in the US.
- MacLean's looks at Kent Monkman, enjoying a new level of success with his diptych Mistikôsiwak at the Met in NYC.
- Can there be something that can be said for the idea of an Internet more strongly pillarized? Wired argues.
- I reject utterly the idea of meaningful similarities between Drake and Leonard Cohen. CBC did it.
- Toronto Life looks at the life of a Hamilton woman hurt badly by the cancellation of the basic income pilot, here.
- Inspired by the death of Gord Downie, Ontario now has the office of poet-laureate. CBC reports.
- Is Canada at risk, like Ireland, of experiencing two-tier health care? CBC considers.
- A French immigrant couple has brought the art of artisanal vinegar to ile d'Orléans. CBC reports.
- Shore erosion is complicating the lives of people along Lake Erie. CBC reports.
- MacLean's notes how Via Rail making it difficult for people without credit cards to buy anything on their trains, hurting many.
- Michelle Legro notes at Gen that the 2010s is the decade where conspiracy culture became mainstream.
- This essay by Robert Greene at his blog talking about what history, and historians, can do in our era is thought-provoking.
Tags:
- atlantic canada,
- canada,
- clash of ideologies,
- conspiracies,
- economics,
- environment,
- first nations,
- food,
- france,
- glbt issues,
- great lakes,
- history,
- internet,
- japan,
- links,
- new brunswick,
- new york city,
- news,
- ontario,
- popular culture,
- popular literature,
- popular music,
- prince edward island,
- public art,
- québec,
- rail,
- social networking,
- united states
[BLOG] Fifteen Toronto links
Dec. 18th, 2019 11:29 am- blogTO reports that Toronto has been testing Eglinton Crosstown trains, here.
- What TTC routes might be changed by the Eglinton Crosstown? A map illustrates, over at blogTO.
- The new tower proposed for 888 Dupont, at Ossington, will even include a vertical farm. blogTO reports.
- Venerable Agincourt Mall is going to be a new condo development. blogTO reports.
- Is co-ownership actually the only way most people in Toronto will end up owning a home? blogTO considers.
- Residential tenants in a Leslieville building who complained about their landlord may end up getting evicted from a building never zoned for residents. CBC reports.
- The City of Toronto has taken over the deserted shopping arcade at Queen Street West and John. CBC reports.
- Katrina Onstad at Toronto Life tells the story of Katharine Mulherin, the Queen Street West gallery owner who changed her neighbourhood but was broken by gentrification.
- The bar Tequila Bookworm is closing, displaced by rising rents. NOW Toronto reports.
- NOW Toronto interviews night mayor Michael Thompson, here.
- Steve Munro considers the TTC's express bus services, here.
- Terra Lumina, the nighttime cultural event at the Toronto Zoo, looks fantastic in these photos over at Toronto Life.
- Oh, what the map of Toronto subways could have been if only we planned! blogTO shares one.
- Steve Munro examines the TTC's plan for 2020-2024, here.
- The TTC may not act to decrease overcrowding on some routes. blogTO reports on why.
- A new storyboard in Niagara Falls displays the importance of railways to the city. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Niagara Falls city council is considering the idea of linking casinos by aerial car. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Global News reports on a drug bust that saw two people arrested in Niagara Falls.
- The Niagara Falls Review reports the number of reported homicides in Niagara Region tripled in 2019, to six.
- The immersive live nativity hosted by a Niagara Falls church sounds interesting. More is here.
- A recent discussion at Niagara Falls city council was dominated by discussion of housing issues and of homelessness. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Most revenues from the casinos of Niagara Falls have been directed to the infrastructure of the city. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- City council in Niagara Falls has approved the construction of a 72-storey hotel. Construct Connect reports.
- In November, the mayor announced the old city hall and courthouse in the downtown of Niagara Falls was scheduled to be demolished. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- The Bath House Hotel once was intended to be a centrepiece of local tourism. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Carrie Bosco writes about the experience of a customer service associate working at the Niagara Falls Public Library, over at the Niagara Falls Review.
- The Niagara Falls Public Library in winter is a happening place for locals. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- A Chinese developer hopes that a proposed $C 1.5 billion dollar project in south Niagara Falls will still go forward. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Niagara Falls is going to have a hard time replacing city historian Sherman Zavitz. The Niagaa Falls Review reports.
- Niagara News reports on the Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls.
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links
Nov. 27th, 2019 02:17 pm- A beautiful Toronto would be nice, but this goal will take planning. The Toronto Star reports.
- Sean Marshall writes about the sad ironies of suburban neighbourhoods in Toronto unsafe for pedestrians.
- Jamie Bradburn takes a look at Davenport Road in the past, here.
- Transit Toronto notes the arrival tomorrow in the GTA of the Holiday Trains of the CPR, part of a fundraising campaign for foodbanks.
- Spacing shares an essay considering the idea of a map of Toronto according to runnability.
- Sidekick West, a new comic shop in the Junction Triangle, has unfortunately closed down. blogTO reports.
- Toronto Life breaks down the references in the massive 10-story mural painted by BirdO at Yonge and St. Clair.
The outpost of Mint Dentistry on 3084 Dundas Street West in The Junction had--has still, I hope--a lovely model railroad on display in its front window.
[URBAN NOTE] Nine Toronto links
Nov. 25th, 2019 05:56 pm- Metrolinx using paid influencers to promote the Ontario Line is certainly a choice. The Toronto Star reports.
- Union Station retiring an old mechanical system 90 years old used to control TTC vehicles is a landmark event. The Metrolinx blog reports.
- Jamie Bradburn looks at the birth of the Gardiner Expressway, here.
- Alok Mukherjee at Spacing questions why police in Toronto have stopped enforcing traffic regulations.
- Protesters charged with blocking the Bloor Viaduct during the Extinction Rebellion have had the charges dropped. Global News reports.
- Sean Marshall shared his account of his address to the Toronto Police Services board, here.
- Jamie Bradburn looks at the history behind the mid-20th century expansion of Church Street.
- NOW Toronto notes that workers at the Broadview Hotel have become unionized.
- Samantha Lui writes at NOW Toronto against the false negative stereotypes applied by so many--even briefly by Google--to Scarborough.
- CBC notes that a lawsuit surrounding benefits fraud by TTC employees has been settled, expensively.
- Work on the second stage of Ion expansion, south into Cambridge, will not even start until 2028, and is expected to cost at least $C 1.36 billion. Global News reports.
- This proposal for regular two-way GO Transit rail connections between Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, frankly, is desperately needed. The Record reports.
- A cyclist faces charges for careless driving leading to a collision with a LRT in Kitchener. CBC reports.
- A GoFundMe campaign for a woman hit by a train in Kitchener has raised more than $C14 thousand. The Record reports.
- A school bus driver has been charged for stopping his vehicle dangerously close to a rail crossing in Cambridge. The Record reports.
- Waterloo Region is a successful testbed for virtual doctor visits. The Record reports.
- The Charles Street bus terminal in downtown Kitchener is not going to be redeveloped for at least a couple of years. The Record reports.
- Waterloo Region hopes to create more than 600 affordable new homes, in five developments, over the next decade. CBC reports.
- The number of single food bank users in Kitchener-Waterloo has doubled over the past five years. CBC reports.
- Waterloo is spending $C 3 million to renovate and modernize a handsome old Carnegie Library. CBC reports.
- A pop-up in Kitchener, Vivid Dreams, is charging customers up to $C 20 to use one of a dozen backgrounds for their Instagram photos. CBC reports. A Kitchener woman, Heidi Bechtold, has a thriving new dog-related business, Complete K9. The Record reports.
- The new digital lab at the Kitchener Public Library sounds great! The Record reports.
- Andrew Coppolino at CBC Kitchener-Waterloo takes a look at some of the different cuisines and restaurants in Waterloo Region featuring noodles, here.
- Andrew Coppolino at CBC Kitchener-Waterloo looks at the pastel de nata, the Portuguese egg custard, as an emerging commercial snack in Waterloo Region.
- The mayor of Ottawa is suggesting freezing Confederation Line fare increases in light of the system's problems. Global News reports.
- La Presse looks at the problems faced by the Marché Jean-Talon, here.
- Greater Moncton, arguably the leading metropolis of New Brunswick, wants to double its intake of immigrants. Global News reports.
- Jamie Bradburn looks at Lafayette Park in Detroit, designed by Mies van der Rohe.
- Will Vancouver be connected to Washington State by a high-speed train route? Global News reports.
The Kipling GO Station, attached by a short tunnel to the Kipling TTC station at the westernmost end of the Bloor-Danforth line, looks rather impressive late at night, illuminated in the middle of an Etobicoke that has not quite condensed into a high-rise neighbourhood. The long sight lines are impressive.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Sep. 18th, 2019 08:09 pm- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that mysterious Boyajian's Star has nearly two dozen identified analogues, like HD 139139.
- James Bow reports from his con trip to Portland.
- Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog notes the particular pleasure of having old friends, people with long baselines on us.
- Centauri Dreams describes a proposed mission to interstellar comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov).
- The Crux notes how feeding cows seaweed could sharply reduce their methane production.
- D-Brief notes that comet C/2019 Q4 is decidedly red.
- Bruce Dorminey notes a claim that water-rich exoplanet K2-18b might well have more water than Earth.
- Gizmodo reports on a claim that Loki, biggest volcano on Io, is set to explode in a massive eruption.
- io9 notes that Warner Brothers is planning a Funko Pop movie.
- Joe. My. God. notes the claim of Donald Trump that he is ready for war with Iran.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how people in early modern Europe thought they could treat wounds with magic.
- Language Hat considers how "I tip my hat" might, translated, sound funny to a speaker of Canadian French.
- Language Log considers how speakers of Korean, and other languages, can find word spacing a challenge.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the partisan politics of the US Supreme Court.
- At the NYR Daily, Naomi Klein makes a case for the political and environmental necessity of a Green New Deal.
- Peter Watts takes apart a recent argument proclaiming the existence of free will.
- Peter Rukavina tells how travelling by rail or air from Prince Edward Island to points of the mainland can not only be terribly inconvenient, but environmentally worse than car travel. PEI does need better rail connections.
- The Russian Demographics Blog examines how different countries in Europe will conduct their census in 2020.
- Window on Eurasia shares the arguments of a geographer who makes the point that China has a larger effective territory than Russia (or Canada).
- Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at a 1971 prediction by J.G. Ballard about demagoguery and guilt, something that now looks reasonably accurate.
- Arnold Zwicky considers models of segregation of cartoon characters from normal ones in comics.
Tags:
- agriculture,
- astronomy,
- atlantic canada,
- blogs,
- canada,
- cartoons,
- census,
- china,
- clash of ideologies,
- environment,
- french language,
- friends,
- futurology,
- global warming,
- globalization,
- human beings,
- humour,
- iran,
- jupiter,
- language,
- links,
- mass transit,
- oceans,
- oddities,
- philosophy,
- politics,
- popular culture,
- prince edward island,
- rail,
- russia,
- space science,
- space travel,
- travel,
- united states,
- war
- Kingston is experiencing a serious housing crisis, exacerbated by the return of students to such educational institutions as Queen's. Global News reports.
- CBC looks at how, on the eve of the federal election, issues like cost of living are big even in relatively affordable Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
- CityLab looks at controversy in Paris over the reconstruction of the Gare du Nord station, here.
- Vice shares photos of Gibraltar on the eve of Brexit, here.
- Guardian Cities shares photos of the wordless images advertising shops in the city of Brazzaville, here.
Tags:
- MTL Blog looks at the proposal for a sleeper train connecting Montréal and New York City. (Can Toronto get one too, please?)
- Lauren Pelley reports for CBC about how climate change leads, through increased pollen production, to worse allergies for residents of cities in Canada.
- Guardian Cities reports that the fires in Alaska, too, outside of Anchorage, are things that dwellers of cities will have to get used to.
- The heat island effect, CityLab warns, will be a major threat to life in the cities of India.
- CityLab does an interesting crowdsourced map, tracing the boundaries of the American Midwest.
Tags:
- Tracey Lindeman writes at CityLab about how Montréal is trying to keep the redevelopment of the Molson-Coors Brewery site from killing the Centre-Sud.
- In the Montréal neighbourhood of Park-Extension, evictions--renovictions, even--are on the rise. Global News reports.
- Lac-Mégantic now has a train depot that bypasses the heart of this traumatized community. CBC Montreal reports.
- Halifax is now celebrating the Mosaic Festival, celebrating its diversity. Global News reports.
- Jill Croteau reports for Global News about Club Carousel, an underground club in Calgary that played a vital role in that city's LGBTQ history.
- This business plan, aiming to bypass long lineups at the Edmonton outpost of the Jollibee chain, is ingenious. Global News reports.
- The Iowa town of Pacific Junction, already staggering, may never recover from a recent bout of devastating flooding. VICE reports.
- Avery Gregurich writes for CityLab about the Illinois town of Atlas, a crossroads seemingly on the verge of disappearing from Google Maps.
- The proposal for Metropica, a new sort of suburb in Florida, certainly looks interesting. VICE reports.
- Guardian Cities shares a cartoon looking affectionately at Lisbon.
Tags:
