Public space catch-all post

Here are a number of articles from the last few days:

Trash: A recommendation that York and Durham regions’ trash be incinerated will likely cause controversy. The two regional councils will vote on the recommended incineration method before the end of May, following a series of public meetings. A request for proposal will go out in early 2007, and a site and vendor will be selected by the end of that year. The environmental approval process will be completed by 2009 and the plant built by 2010. Katrina Miller of Toronto Environmental Alliance said Toronto has a more citizen-friendly approach to seeking alternative dump sites.”Toronto has a citizen-led EA process rather than one done by consultants,” Miller said. “By doing it this way, [Durham and York] are doomed for a backlash.” Despite claims by proponents that the technology has vastly improved, incinerators still spew toxic waste into the atmosphere, Miller said. [via Toronto Star]

Cyclists killed: Two Toronto cyclists, including a teenage girl, were struck and killed in separate accidents yesterday. The 16-year-old girl died when she was struck by a transport truck as she cycled to her North York home last night. Earlier in the day, a 46-year-old cyclist died in the city’s north end after being hit by a dump truck. The man was riding south on Avenue Rd. when he was struck by a truck making a right turn onto Cortleigh Blvd. around 8:45 a.m. The man suffered head injuries. These are Toronto’s first fatal accidents of the year involving cyclists. There were four last year. Both Joe Travers of Biking Toronto and Lloyd Alter, of Treehugger fame but posting on Reading Toronto, have posts on the tragedies.

Hume on the Don River Park: A river doesn’t run through it, but one will run by it. When Don River Park is finished in 2008, it will be the focal point of a new neighbourhood to be built at the bottom of the city, on land long since abandoned by its original users.Designed by New York-based Michael Van Valkenburgh, whose credits include the acclaimed Teardrop Park in Manhattan, the seven-hectare, $17 million green space is a work in progress. But already it seems certain to become more than just a neighbourhood hangout. Presenting his plans to the Toronto Waterfront Design Review Panel this week, he made it clear he has high hopes for the project. [via Toronto Star]

Corporate postering: Air Canada posters screaming “It’s a revolution” fight for space among ads for dance clubs, theatres and indie bands on a boarded-up auto shop in downtown Toronto. Long the domain of alternative advertisers, the technique known as “wild posting” is gaining traction among mass marketers from Molson to Nike as they look for innovative and cost-effective ways to reach consumers. “Large national advertisers that used to concentrate their dollars in television are suddenly questioning that strategy,” said Caroline Gagnon, vice-president and media director at Marketel/McCann-Erickson Ltée. It was Ms. Gagnon’s firm that recommended wild posting to Air Canada. “There’s more consciousness and more willingness to try different approaches,” she added. [via Globe and Mail]/>

A park made of books: Douglas Coupland is putting his two passions of art and literature together, literally, in a new park to be built in downtown Toronto. Although Mr. Coupland was reluctant to describe the park as being both literal and literary — “that’s not just a tag line, eh” — the art pieces and physical characteristics of the park will draw upon works from Canada’s literary greats. The park will be a part of the Concord CityPlace condominium development, just west of the CN Tower, which is expected to be finished in 2008. [via National Post]