Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
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• Dallas, Texas, long-known for a lack of green space and an overabundance of parking lots, is taking bold action to change its reputation and transform its downtown. Last week, Main Street Gardens, a 1.7 acre park complete with a wading pool, a playground and a concrete run for dogs, officially opened to Dallas residents. Main Street Gardens is the first of four new parks planned to bring more green public space into Dallas’ downtown.
• Benjamin Forgey of the Washington Business Journal looks at what America’s capital can learn from architecture in Toronto .
• The design competition for Calgary’s St. Patrick’s Island pedestrian crossing that attracted 35 submissions from around the world has been narrowed to three finalists. According to the Calgary Herald, the Calgary Municipal Land Corp is hoping to begin construction on the new bridge within the next two years.
• CNN looks back at the history of the island of Alcatraz, home to one of history’s most notorious prisons and the site of an occupation that was arguably among one of “the most significant events in Native American history”. The island, located in the San Francisco Bay, is now a national park visited by hundreds of thousands people annually.
• Should public transit be free? InTransition looks at the arguments for and against eliminating fares.
photo by Luis Tamayo, on flickr