Tag: Toronto - Page 10
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Gordon Graff Demonstrates That Vertical Farms Can Actually Work
Vertical farms have become a popular meme since Mike first wrote about them in 2005 and I first showed Gordon Graff's Sky Farm four years ago. Since then I became somewhat dubious about them, agreeing with Adam Stein
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Toronto Artists Spruce Up Neglected Planter Boxes
Planter boxes of flowers and trees can go a long way toward beautifying the urban environment, but they can also easily become eyesores if not tended properly.
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The Ultimate in D-I-Y: Urban Repair Squad At Work
Toronto was blessed with a beautiful waterfront and a network of gorgeous green ravines with rivers feeding into the wetlands near the harbour, so of course they filled the wetlands with toxic waste, blocked off the waterfront
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Walking Home: Ken Greenberg On How Jane Jacobs Was Right (Book Review)
Jane Jacobs is in the news these days, thanks to Edward Glaeser's book Triumph of the City and his continuing attacks on her. He says she got it wrong, but he didn't know Jane Jacobs. Ken Greenberg, recipient of the 2010 American Institute of
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Should Cyclists Have to Stop at Stop Signs, Part III
Stop signs are terrific media for environmental campaigns; they are also effective for calming traffic, which is why where I live, in Toronto, they all turned to all-way stops from two way stops. I wrote in It's Time To Rip Out
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Bixis Get Bashed In Toronto
The Bixi bike rental program started in Toronto last week, despite the prevailing attitude in City Hall that cyclists are pinkos. And everyone knows sharing is for commies, anyways. So it is ironic that the forces of evil,
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Is Snøhetta's New Ryerson Learning Centre "City Building" or "City Ignoring"?
Toronto's Ryerson University was always sort of hidden. Yonge Street was Toronto's main street and it was a hundred feet away from it, with no presence on it. It certainly will now; Norwegian superfirm Snøhetta with
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Brewers Plate Demonstrates How Seasonal Food Can Taste Great Even In Winter
I have noted before that the Brewers Plate was a bit odd, celebrating local food in early April when the pickings are so thin. But that is the point: "The event is rooted in slow food
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Green Timber Frames Are Built From Unwanted Wood
Every year I cover the Cottage Life Show in Toronto, and every year there are yet more timber frame companies on display; you have to wonder if there are going to be any trees left to square. I often argue with a friend who
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Earth Hour Barely Noticed This Year
It was hard to even find a picture of Toronto during Earth Hour this year; nobody seems to have bothered. It still seems to be a big deal in some parts of the world, but not here; Electric utility Toronto
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Shipping Container Repurposed Into Welcome Hut
The Evergreen Brick Works project is a massive redevelopment of a former industrial site into " Canada's first large-scale community environmental centre representing a striking new model for the future--a heritage
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Toronto Local Food Fest, Brewers Plate, Moves To Wychwood Barns
I used to think that the Brewers Plate was a crazy idea; why celebrate local food on April 6, when it hasn't started growing? But after a couple of years of going to this event, I have learned not to worry, that the region's
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Urbanist and Heritage Developer Paul Oberman Killed In Plane Crash
Toronto real estate developer Paul Oberman, who is responsible for some of the best historic renovations and adaptive reuse of buildings in the country, was killed last
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Anonymous Gifts Say "Thank You For Cycling!"
Toronto is not particularly a cyclists' paradise these days, what with an anti-bike mayor and snow in the Fedex/UPS truck lanes (you can't even call them bike lanes sometimes).
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The Hub, a Shared Work Space for People Who Care. In a City near You!
Working in shared office spaces is an attractive solution for creative start-ups, and has become more and more sought-after in many of the bigger cities. Green Spaces in Manhattan has turned into a well-working
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FlexNatür: Designing Condos For Flexibility And Change
Studies have shown that multifamily housing in transit oriented neighbourhoods is the most energy efficient, and that more young people want apartments, not houses. But with most apartments and condos are WYSIWYG; they are
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LEED Is Not An Excuse To Demolish And Build A Monster Home
Donovan Rypkema once suggested that LEED was an acronym for "Lunatic Environmentalists Enthusiastically Demolishing." In Toronto recently, there was a case of blatant misuse of LEED, using it as an excuse
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The Trombe Wall: Low Tech Solar Design Makes A Comeback
Regular readers will know that we tend to favour simple, non-mechanical methods of green design, like passive solar heating instead of, say, thermal solar collectors with evacuated tubes and pumps. One
