{"id":19789,"date":"2011-05-12T13:22:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T17:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=19789"},"modified":"2013-01-21T14:51:23","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T19:51:23","slug":"stories-from-the-big-apple-in-fine-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/05\/12\/stories-from-the-big-apple-in-fine-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories from the Big Apple: In Fine Company"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2112\/4513041486_c4d48fe2e5_b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s any takeaway from the recent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwc.com\/en_US\/us\/cities-of-opportunity\/2011\/assets\/chartPopup2.html\">PriceWaterhouseCoopers report<\/a> ranking Toronto second behind New York City for the world\u2019s best city for finance, innovation and tourism, it\u2019s that the two\u00a0have many similarities, not that they\u2019re the best. Studies like this, along with livability reports and commute time rankings, should rightly be read with a healthy degree of skepticism. But what stands out about this one is how it paired New York and Toronto so closely.<\/p>\n<p>The report ranked 26 cities in 66 categories ranging from airport access, end-of-life care, skyscraper construction activity and housing to a category called \u201clife satisfaction.\u201d In over half of the 66 categories, Toronto and New York ranked within five points or less of each other.<\/p>\n<p>Hearing the two cities in the same breath many not be unusual in Toronto, but it is in New York. Attending several urban planning events in New York last week, Toronto actually came up in several presentations as having some unique programs that New Yorkers thought their city could learn from. I thought Spacing readers might be interested in hearing what Toronto programs were grabbing their attention, as well as hear about some neat initiatives in place in New York that could be tried in Toronto.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>1. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.torontohousing.ca\/key_initiatives\/community_planning\">Participatory Budgeting at Toronto Community Housing<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Participatory budgeting is at the extreme end of the public participation spectrum, actually allowing members of a certain community \u2013 in this case, TCH tenants \u2013 to decide how an organization or even a government\u2019s budget is drawn up. Since 2002, residents of Toronto Community Housing have been deciding how $9 million in capital funds is to be spent annually. In Chicago\u2019s 49<sup>th<\/sup> Ward, a similar initiative is being tried.<\/p>\n<p>2. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/transportation\/walking\/walking_strategy.htm\">Toronto Walking Strategy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t let the mundane title put you off, this award-winning report is anything but ordinary. Chock-full of capital budgeting programs, revisions to the development review process and pedestrian safety strategies, this study is quietly informing planning departments around the world. Indeed, New York City\u2019s groundbreaking 2010 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/html\/dot\/html\/about\/pedsafetyreport.shtml\">Pedestrian Safety Study &amp; Action Plan<\/a> essentially added traffic statistics to very similar-sounding material, putting meat onto the bones of the principles outlined in Toronto\u2019s earlier report.<\/p>\n<p>3. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.culturelink.net\/index.php\/programs\/green-settlement-initiatives\/cycling-program\">\u201cFrom Back Home to Our New Home\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even in cities with some of the most active bicycle strategies, obstacles facing immigrants and minority communities to safe cycling remain large. Toronto\u2019s language-based strategy of translating the Toronto Cyclists Union Handbook into many different language, creating multi-lingual posters and organizing programs for newcomers is therefore of interest to many cities who face similar challenges getting certain community members on bicycles.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side, a few lesser-known New York initiatives relevant to Toronto include:<\/p>\n<p>1. Safe Streets for Seniors\/GreenStreets<\/p>\n<p>Although technically two separate programs, both strategies look to re-purpose poorly used road space to make the streets more livable for residents. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/html\/dot\/html\/sidewalks\/safeseniors.shtml\">Safe Streets for Seniors<\/a> tightens up intersections and roadways to make them safer for pedestrians, with interventions ranging from painting a slightly wider curb onto the street to making raised concrete pedestrian islands. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nycgovparks.org\/sub_your_park\/trees_greenstreets\/greenstreets.html\">GreenStreets<\/a> \u2013 a joint effort by three City departments \u2013 similarly re-purposes extra road space by creating islands, street medians and extended sidewalks that make streets safer. Yet it goes one step further by installing porous surfaces like trees, flower beds and other gardens to better manage storm water runoff and improve air quality.<\/p>\n<p>2. NYC BigApps 2.0<\/p>\n<p>With Toronto\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www1.toronto.ca\/wps\/portal\/open_data\/open_data_home?vgnextoid=b3886aa8cc819210VgnVCM10000067d60f89RCRD\">Open Data site <\/a>starting to populate with spatial data, contests like <a href=\"http:\/\/nycbigapps.com\/\">NYC BigApps 2.0<\/a> that take advantage of all the amazing creativity of the City\u2019s tech community should be encouraged. This contest gets software developers to compete for $20,000 and a meeting with the mayor by creating applications and web platforms that make a positive impact on the City. Past winners include Roadify, an app that not only finds you on-street or off-street parking, but then links you to nearby transit service schedules.<\/p>\n<p>3. Rezoning tools<\/p>\n<p>Much has been made of the re-zonings conducted by Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden over the last nine years, and for good reason \u2013 new bulk and design regulations that prioritize pedestrians and transit-oriented development now blanket one fifth of the city, or over 9,400 blocks. But overshadowed are little district-specific amendments like <a href=\"http:\/\/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com\/2008\/03\/14\/zoning-restricts-bank-branches-on-125th-street\/\">limiting banks to the second floors<\/a> of new buildings on some commercial streets rather than letting them deaden the streetscape. Another is the creation of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/html\/dcp\/html\/pub\/zonehand.shtml\">Zoning Handbook<\/a> that uses cartoon illustrations and clear writing to give the community the language, tools and know how to take part in rezoning discussions that shape the future of their communities.<\/p>\n<p><em>photo by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/michellestar\/4513041486\/\">Michelle Star<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If there\u2019s any takeaway from the recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers report ranking Toronto second behind New York City for the world\u2019s best city for finance, innovation and tourism, it\u2019s that the two\u00a0have many similarities, not that they\u2019re the best. Studies like this, along with livability reports and commute time rankings, should rightly be read with a healthy<a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/05\/12\/stories-from-the-big-apple-in-fine-company\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Stories from the Big Apple: In Fine Company&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21758,21759,13,33,20,6],"tags":[17544,431,51,23,114,1713,426,17545,469,564,12,12735,17546,17543,19,391,17542],"class_list":["post-19789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-features","category-green-space","category-housing","category-urban-design","category-walking","tag-amanda-burden","tag-chicago","tag-community-development","tag-environment","tag-ethnicity-and-cycling","tag-finance","tag-mayor","tag-michelle-star","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-planning","tag-planning-commissioner","tag-pricewaterhousecoopers","tag-software-developers","tag-toronto","tag-usd","tag-web-platforms"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stories from the Big Apple: In Fine Company - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/05\/12\/stories-from-the-big-apple-in-fine-company\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stories from the Big Apple: In Fine Company - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If there\u2019s any takeaway from the recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers report ranking Toronto second behind New York City for the world\u2019s best city for finance, innovation and tourism, it\u2019s that the two\u00a0have many similarities, not that they\u2019re the best. 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