Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.
Devin Alfaro looks questioningly down the 401 and wonders if a Rob Ford figure could ever be elected in Montreal. While his quick answer is no, he offers many musings about the political differences and similarities between the two cities.
As the new extension of autoroute 25 between Montreal and Laval approaches completion Alanah Heffez looks back on the shortcomings of the process which lead to the prioritization of new highway infrastructure and the future of the lands around the new highway.
How far should planners look into the future? Hugh Pouliot reports from the opening address of the IMAGINE Conference at Dalhousie University where Professor Bruce Tonn considered the merits of planning for the next hundreds to thousands of years.
Crystal Melville profiles some of the dialogue from a Pecha Kucha event in Halifax themed around Architecture’s snub of the suburbs and suburban apologists.
Jessica Lemieux takes a look at the Portlands and the complexities of the soil remediation efforts taking place there. The post examines why the process is necessary, how it works and what surprises have been found as the earth is recycled.
Graffiti removal was a theme this week with Dylan Reid comprehensively delving into the issue of how the City should approach an area that has ideological issues for both sides of the political spectrum and subjective questions of what is worth saving. Shawn Micallef responded by showing some graffiti that the Mayor may not want to remove.
Eric Darwin talks about the details and neighbourhood dynamics of sidewalk snow clearing including reflections on good samaritans, local kids and how to get the City on the case of snow dumping offenders.
Following the announced move of the Ottawa Folk Festival to a new venue at Mooney’s Bay, Spacing weighs in on the benefits of holding such festivals in areas where they won’t bother residents versus being close to public transit.
Photo by Samuel Bietenholz