Spacing Saturday: Suburban Transit, Gentrification Agents and Neighbourhood Watch

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.

Vancouver’s Skytrain turned 25 this week, read about it on Spacing Vancouver

Alanah Hefez reflects on the conflicting role that many of us play in the upheaval which has long been changing many of Montreal’s distinct neighbourhoods in ‘Confessions of a Gentrification Double Agent.’

Jean Desjardins takes readers on a photographic journy along his 16km daily bike commute north of Montreal.

Alexander Laquerre launched the new series Maintenant et Avant profiling parts of Ottawa that have seen dramatic change over the last several decades. The first installment looks at 80 years of evolution on Sparks Street.

Jessica Lemieux visits the 1920’s era Toronto home that it playing host to the Ravina Project; an effort to experiment with ways to make individual houses more sustainable in their energy use.

Ian Malczewski profiles the ‘Through My Lens’ project put on by the Toronto Urban Exchange. The project looks to encourage Torontonians to use their cameras to tell the stories of the city.

Liam Lahey introduced readers to the Neighbourhood Watch feature this week giving readers a fascinating look at the issues being tackled in municipalities across British Columbia.

John Calimente reviews Paul Mees’ book Transport for Suburbia and finds it a surprisingly honest and convincing analysis of the problems and potential solutions to bring effective mass transit to the suburbs.

Photograph by: Tony Sprakett