Created in collaboration with the Columbia Institute , the Dynamic Downtowns Workbook is a resource for communities that want to know more about how to include heritage buildings as part of their downtown revitalization strategy. The five ‘Case Studies’ included in the Workbook illustrate examples of how some British Columbia communities are incorporating heritage buildings into their READ MORE
Public Spaces Matter “Great public spaces transform an ordinary city into a destination. They are what draw people to visit, do business and live in them. They are investments in the economy of a city – and fortunately, they don’t need to cost that much money. With creative rezoning and re-designating municipal lands, cities can READ MORE
Research from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) has found that people in more walkable cities are more likely to be healthy. The research involved studies in 11 countries, and recommends that cities encourage walking and physical activity through: better integration of residential areas with commercial areas building communities so that the places where people want READ MORE
The City of Surrey is launching a dashboard that allows the community to track the City’s progress towards sustainability. Some of the indicators tracked include: proximity of homes to amenities like schools and parks median income for immigrants amount of farmland in food production daily household water consumption Read more at the city’s website.
Enlisting architects, animators and more importantly residents, an NFB film titled One Millionth Tower , provides ideas for revitalizing Toronto’s aging highrises. Some of the ideas include eliminating first floor apartments to make room for cafes and businesses, creating a marketspace, and networks and paths linking to the towers to parks and community gardens. Residents featured in the documentary READ MORE
The belief that adding more traditional playgrounds will encourage activity amongst children has proven to be a false assumption. A study that used GPS (Global Positioning System) to examine the link between environment and activity levels amongst children has shown that traditional playgrounds do little to promote activity. The large metal structures are often intimidating READ MORE
Calgary’s newly formed Community Investment Fund will direct $252 million over the next six years into community projects including a new central library, new recreation centres, and upgrades to community arenas, pools, parks and community associations and recreation groups. The investment in projects was made possible by the Province’s decision to ease the provincial property READ MORE
Progressive Governance Forum 2011 at Harrison Hot Springs Friday March 25th-Saturday March 26th THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARTICIPANTS! WE ENJOYED ANOTHER INSPIRING FORUM: Michael Shuman Keynote: Revitalizing BC Communities From the Inside Out with audio! David Thompson Plenary: Green Jobs for BC Patrick Condon: Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities with audio! Mayor Darrell Mussatto: Leadership for a Sustainable Future with audio! Sharon Gregson: Early Childcare and Learning Blair Redlin: Canada/EU Trade Agreement (CETA) and Municipal Purchasing Claire Beckstead: Municipal Financing for Energy Efficiency Ken Melamed: Competence or Knowledge with audio! Grant Pearsell: Four Strategies for Achieving Biodiversity Barinder Rasode: Child Focused Communities FINAL AGENDA PRESENTER BIOS
Mark Lakeman of Portland’s City Repair seems to think so. He explains that when examining a new project most city staff, consider liability first, rather than the merits of the project. Cities are more focused on risk aversion than innovation and it is holding back creativity and community building. Read more in the Tyee .
Village Vancouver is a non-profit society that aims to inspire individuals and organizations to lead sustainable communities. They are actively helping communities in Vancouver become lower their carbon emissions and become more resilient. They use organizing tools such as blogs, conferences and informal gatherings to help facilitate the sharing of their visions. Learn more at READ MORE
The Guelph Transition City Initiative is a group of concerned and active Guelph residents who have come together with the shared vision of turning our city into one of Canada’s first official “ Transition Towns ”. They envision buidling community resilience and sustainability in response to the challenges of peak oil, accelerating climate change and economic instability. READ MORE
A lengthy article in the Ottawa Citizen which discusses how the downtown cores of Canada’s major cities are becoming attractive places to live. The article discusses how affordability in downtowns everywhere is decreasing as gentrification becomes the norm as well as what is driving the desire for people to live downtown.
