Shameful Serving of Tennis

This was a letter I sent to the coast, which was published this week

The name the commons denotes a sense of equality and access, a place where everyone in the city enjoys leisure and recreation. However, I am beginning to realize this is not the case for tennis in Halifax. One would think the tennis courts at the commons would be the best place in the city to play. The most courts in one place, central location, adjacent to the major high school, and lighting at night to boot. This would be a significant recreation asset for any city, but in the case of Halifax we see an aged, neglected, and ignored recreation venue. The courts have not been resurfaced for what looks like the better part of a decade or two, rusted out fences with no screens for wind, no garbage cans, no water fountain, no clearly designated bathroom, no information board about tournaments or lessons. As a result, anyone who is interested in tennis plays in one of the many private clubs. Essentially creating a negative feedback loop where the courts are not used as much as they could and therefore there is no incentive to invest in the facility. As a province and city we are always singing the merits of an active and inclusive population. Why should we have a two tiered tennis system when we have an opportunity to have the best facility in the city be part of the "Common Good". Tennis is a sport that takes little in the way of equipment and provides recreation to all ages, sounds pretty inclusive, maybe something we should encourage in a place named the commons.

Streetcars 4 EVA!!!

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if I could get the Mlan list serve going or not... if so, ignore this, otherwise... here is a shameless plug of myself:

http://www.cresthalifax.org/archives/an-investigation-into-the-potential-of-modern-streetcars-in-halifax-ns

Pat

It's Official

For the non-facebookers,

Thought you would enjoy a shot of the 9 remaining MPlanners in our fancy robes. I think Pat said something about photoshopping the rest of the class in. We missed you guys!

Hope all is well where you are,

Erika

Cycling the Danforth

Hello all,

An interesting article from today's Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090520.BIKE20ART2302//TPStory/Front

It seems as though authorities in Toronto are beginning to warm to the idea of cross-city bicycle lanes. Toronto's transportation network has always baffled me; although the city has one of the continent's best public transit systems, it also gave itself entirely up to the 'freeway method' of urban revitalization in the twentieth century, and continues to extend these roads. Though its many inner city neighbourhoods have fine-grained, walkable streets, once one hits the downtown, this pedestrian comfort is extinguished would-be-Manhattan streetscapes of wind-channeling towers, massive surface parking lots, billboards, and wailing taxicabs. And from what I understand, the city is a beast to cycle in.

It's interesting that they've chosen the Bloor-Danforth for the east-west alignment of the proposed bicycle route; I've always been under the impression that circulation throughout that area would be pretty amenable to cyclists (wider right-of-ways, slower traffic). I've heard from a couple of people that cycling College or Queen Streets is a real pain in the butt (pardon the pneumatic pun).

It's kind of disheartening, though, that Councilors and the powers-that-be might side with the few businesses along the Bloor-Danforth that are rallying against such changes. If a cycle lane removes a few parking spots, it could of course impact restaurants who rely on wealthy, drive-to-the-door senior clinetele for a good chunk of their business, and who require a few stalls right in front of their establishment.

This the type of case in which planners need to be steadfast in the face of nagging business voices. I'm certain BIAs as a whole will be supporting the initiative, if for no other reason than the bicycle is currently de rigeur amongst cocktail-swilling twentysomethings and is even leaching its way into the pantlegs of the Creative Class. Quick bicycle routes means easier access to retail strips across the city. They represent a leap of faith on behalf of the same authorities who helped produce the current Torontonian traffic miasma.

- Ken

"Hey" from the other coast

Hey Everyone,

I'm at the public library in San Luis Obispo right now, making use of their free internet. "San Luis Obispo" might sound Mexican, but it's not. It's about halfway between LA and San Francisco. I bailed at the last minute on my Mexico plans; the combination of travelling on my own in Mexico + Swine Flu was just a bit more than I was comfortable with.

It's been a great few weeks so far. San Francisco is a fantastic city. We walked for miles and miles, from the Castro to the Mission to Pacific Heights. The quality and diversity of beer in these parts is pretty impressive. The Deschutes Brewery Pale Ale and views from secluded hillside pocket parks go very well together.

Rachel flew back to Vancouver after our SF and "NorCal" explorations, and I've since made my way south via the coastal highway. It's been fun meeting locals and travellers. It's taken some time for me to gain comfort travelling on my own and meeting people, but learning that's been a good experience in itself.

It has been great to be surfing again. The swell has been pretty minimal, but that matches my skill pretty well, and it's been enough to make for some sweet sweet rides.

I hope you're all well. I'm happy to know a bunch of us are still in Halifax, holding down the fort, so to speak.

Later,
Graeme

Rambling to the Point of Reflection

From the City Down the Road

 

I am Writing to you from the tree lined boulevards and café laden streets of Outremount. A place that’s history and present circumstance represents so much of the good and bad in planning. A neighbourhood that was predicated on the spatial and social production of difference, developed to exclude lower social classes of this burgeoning metropolis. Efforts to preserve the social and spatial character of the area were achieved through the appropriation of setbacks, covenants, stringent minimum building sizes, and generous park dedication policies all admittedly plucked from this rich suburbs brother on the other side of the mountain (Westmount). This tale of suburban development, social exclusion, and the manipulation of built form are symptomatic of the era of planning so kindly titled the garden city movement. All the while this form of residential development was steeped in social and ethnic segregation and insidious relationships with actors such as the Roman Catholic Church who profited as the one of the most prominent developers while mixing business, education, and pleasure in a way that can hardly be described as “commun”icative in developing these elitist neighbourhoods.

 

But in visiting these areas today it is difficult argue with the results. In fostering various scales of spatial difference, a trend  that is at the heart of so much of Montréal a beautiful network of neighbourhoods complete with world-class streets has evolved. The sense of place is greater than even Kens disdain for Floridian narratives. The tree-lined boulevards with their omnipresent balconies are the perfect setting for spontaneous social interaction involving everyone from brash bohemians to bodacious baristas/baristos. The cafes serve as the communal living room for the retired mobsters, apathetic undergrads, Hassidic Jews and the greedy Guido’s. This city that is unique with Canada is a place of constant movement and irrefutable energy. The frenetic footsteps of Hassidic Haggett’s are jumping in an out of their supercharged minivans and the myopic Morton's treading on the intersections.  Down to the prioritization of the pedestrians, cyclists, and the public realm this city is alive more than any other in Canada. This is not just a heat island of predictable street geometry. This is a city of action more than introversion, complete with flag football and elite hacky-sack tennis enthusiasts.

 

After surviving 160 km/h in the warzone between Halifax and Montréal I have had much time to ponder the coming weeks, months, and years. Walking the city it is hard not to remain optimistic for our cities. This city simultaneously fosters the creation and preservation existing cultures. Sitting on the edge of mile end, the plateau, and outremount here rambling to the point of reflection I remain optimistic, even though the “Price was wrong” and l’artiste failed to create a masterpiece while I was so ever briefly in his presence.  But the city is alive and it has rekindled my appreciation for cities, urbanism, and planning.

 

This experience has allowed me to look beyond the plan view. In the process reflecting on our tendency to be cynical even though it may be related to an underlying interest in practicality. But I I feel this denial of hope and its requisite forearms is misguided and just as much a manifestation of ego as over the top idealism. It is for this reason that as planners we must ironically float in a place that balances ideals and answers in crafting our conception of the public interest. Allowing us to propose the far-out and innovative ideas that are necessary for us to retrofit our cities. Be it the expropriation of vertical space in the form of building facades to reduce our albedo and create a truly green city or the reform of our institutions, structures, and regulations. Anyway I hope you go the extra mile and find your own stream of urban poetry around Bernard Street.

Peace

Ross 

Completion!

A photograph to celebrate our completion of our M.Plan degrees. It's as though we anticipated last October the feeling of relief we'd experience at this momentous point in time:
















I'll be posting the remainder of these photographs on my blog at some point.

Thanks all, it's been a tremendously fulfilling two years.

- Ken

Job opportunities

Hi everyone, I thought it might be a good idea to share job opportunities... so everyone has a better chance at being employed... I'll start:

The City of Edmonton is hiring the following:

- Planning Technician I

- Planner I (Parks)

Both, it seems, are worth a look as they meet entry level requirements.

Patrick

Welcome!

Hey Guys,

I set up this blog so that we can stay in touch after we all dissipate from Halimafax. Or is it really just a shameless ploy to avoid having to set up a Facebook account to stay in the loop?
Either way, I hope you make use of it. Post pics, wandering ramblings, or draft policies.

Graeme