In some ways, the findings of this walkability study should feel intuitively obvious. But at the same time, it's an important reminder that we are all products of our environment. If you grow up and live in a city like San Francisco, there's going to be a higher probability that you will choose a career in something tech-related versus if you're in, say, Scranton, Pennsylvania. If you grow up and live in a city like Copenhagen, there's going to be a higher probability that you will cycle versus if you're in, say, Badger, Alaska.
And, it turns out, if you live in a walkable city, you're more likely to walk. Importantly, it doesn't appear to be because of some sort of "selection effect," meaning that people who like to be active naturally gravitate to more walkable cities. In the study, researchers analyzed smartphone data from 2013 to 2016 for 2 million people, including more than 5,000 people who moved during this time. What they found was that after relocating to a more walkable city, people took on average about 1,100 more steps a day (roughly 11 minutes of extra walking).
The inverse was also true: people who relocated to less walkable cities tended to walk less. Again, on some level, this may seem intuitive, but it shows just how mutable our behaviours are. People will generally do what their built environments have been designed to accommodate — whether that's driving, cycling, or walking. Perhaps this also explains why, when I'm traveling, I want to buy that absurd article of clothing that I know I'll never wear back home in Toronto.
At the time, and in that environment, it feels appropriate.
Cover photo by Abby Rurenko on Unsplash
Map from Scientific American
A few weeks ago, we spoke about the dramatic change that Toronto's East Bayfront has undergone over the last two decades. It's now a place. I also shared a time-lapse video from Waterfront Toronto showing how the Parliament Slip was landfilled in order to improve the street network in this area. If you missed it (and you like to nerd out on construction), it's worth watching.
In addition to this, Waterfront Toronto has (just?) released this interactive website showing in more detail what's planned for the Quayside area. And if you make it all the way to the end of the experience, you'll land on the below image, which shows some towers and the site earmarked for a school and potential cultural destination.
Earlier this month, self-driving car company Waymo announced that it had raised $16 billion (largely from its parent company, Alphabet) at a $126 billion post-money valuation. This is a big number. And according to Bloomberg, the company's annualized revenue run rate is around $350 million, meaning its current valuation is sitting at 360x revenue.
Multiples can often be sky-high for new, huge-bet companies, but Om Malik recently offered an interesting take on the "physics of the problem."
As of the end of 2025, Waymo was operating approximately 2,500 vehicles across its cities, with San Francisco and Los Angeles currently responsible for about 68% of the company's rides. And these cars are already running 16 hours a day, with an estimated 18 minutes of average idle time between trips.
To get from 400,000 trips per week (where they are today) to 1 million trips per week (where they want to be by the end of 2026), Om estimates that the company will need to add at least another 3,500 vehicles to its fleet.
If I then ask Gemini to extrapolate this out such that its revenue increases enough to drop its multiple down to 30x revenue, the company needs a global fleet close to 25,000 vehicles. That's ~22,500 more than it has today, and at $175k per Jaguar, that's an additional $4 billion in vehicles.
I guess it has the money for that, but it'll be fascinating to see how easily the company is able to scale around the world. This year, the plan is to expand to 20 more cities (with a list that erroneously leaves out Toronto). If successful, this will have a profound impact on our cities. And the lofty valuation represents an expectation that it will be.
Cover photo by Josh Hild
In some ways, the findings of this walkability study should feel intuitively obvious. But at the same time, it's an important reminder that we are all products of our environment. If you grow up and live in a city like San Francisco, there's going to be a higher probability that you will choose a career in something tech-related versus if you're in, say, Scranton, Pennsylvania. If you grow up and live in a city like Copenhagen, there's going to be a higher probability that you will cycle versus if you're in, say, Badger, Alaska.
And, it turns out, if you live in a walkable city, you're more likely to walk. Importantly, it doesn't appear to be because of some sort of "selection effect," meaning that people who like to be active naturally gravitate to more walkable cities. In the study, researchers analyzed smartphone data from 2013 to 2016 for 2 million people, including more than 5,000 people who moved during this time. What they found was that after relocating to a more walkable city, people took on average about 1,100 more steps a day (roughly 11 minutes of extra walking).
The inverse was also true: people who relocated to less walkable cities tended to walk less. Again, on some level, this may seem intuitive, but it shows just how mutable our behaviours are. People will generally do what their built environments have been designed to accommodate — whether that's driving, cycling, or walking. Perhaps this also explains why, when I'm traveling, I want to buy that absurd article of clothing that I know I'll never wear back home in Toronto.
At the time, and in that environment, it feels appropriate.
Cover photo by Abby Rurenko on Unsplash
Map from Scientific American
A few weeks ago, we spoke about the dramatic change that Toronto's East Bayfront has undergone over the last two decades. It's now a place. I also shared a time-lapse video from Waterfront Toronto showing how the Parliament Slip was landfilled in order to improve the street network in this area. If you missed it (and you like to nerd out on construction), it's worth watching.
In addition to this, Waterfront Toronto has (just?) released this interactive website showing in more detail what's planned for the Quayside area. And if you make it all the way to the end of the experience, you'll land on the below image, which shows some towers and the site earmarked for a school and potential cultural destination.
Earlier this month, self-driving car company Waymo announced that it had raised $16 billion (largely from its parent company, Alphabet) at a $126 billion post-money valuation. This is a big number. And according to Bloomberg, the company's annualized revenue run rate is around $350 million, meaning its current valuation is sitting at 360x revenue.
Multiples can often be sky-high for new, huge-bet companies, but Om Malik recently offered an interesting take on the "physics of the problem."
As of the end of 2025, Waymo was operating approximately 2,500 vehicles across its cities, with San Francisco and Los Angeles currently responsible for about 68% of the company's rides. And these cars are already running 16 hours a day, with an estimated 18 minutes of average idle time between trips.
To get from 400,000 trips per week (where they are today) to 1 million trips per week (where they want to be by the end of 2026), Om estimates that the company will need to add at least another 3,500 vehicles to its fleet.
If I then ask Gemini to extrapolate this out such that its revenue increases enough to drop its multiple down to 30x revenue, the company needs a global fleet close to 25,000 vehicles. That's ~22,500 more than it has today, and at $175k per Jaguar, that's an additional $4 billion in vehicles.
I guess it has the money for that, but it'll be fascinating to see how easily the company is able to scale around the world. This year, the plan is to expand to 20 more cities (with a list that erroneously leaves out Toronto). If successful, this will have a profound impact on our cities. And the lofty valuation represents an expectation that it will be.
Cover photo by Josh Hild
Clicking on the site leads to this pop-up:
Schools are obviously critical. Education is the number one predictor of household wealth. Build it. But I also think it's important that we take advantage of this opportunity to build a truly remarkable cultural destination on Toronto's doorstep. This is an opportunity for a globally recognized symbol that elevates the city's brand, drives tourism, and serves as an economic development catalyst.
So I would like to encourage those in charge to take this seriously. (If Globizen can help in any way, give us a call.) The right way to do it would be to host an international design competition and put the challenge to the world's best architects. This is not the time or place to be timid. Rather, it's the time and place to beat our chests. This could be a Sydney Opera House or Bilbao moment.
Actually, it could be something even greater: The Toronto Effect.
Cover photo by Antonio Gabola on Unsplash
Clicking on the site leads to this pop-up:
Schools are obviously critical. Education is the number one predictor of household wealth. Build it. But I also think it's important that we take advantage of this opportunity to build a truly remarkable cultural destination on Toronto's doorstep. This is an opportunity for a globally recognized symbol that elevates the city's brand, drives tourism, and serves as an economic development catalyst.
So I would like to encourage those in charge to take this seriously. (If Globizen can help in any way, give us a call.) The right way to do it would be to host an international design competition and put the challenge to the world's best architects. This is not the time or place to be timid. Rather, it's the time and place to beat our chests. This could be a Sydney Opera House or Bilbao moment.
Actually, it could be something even greater: The Toronto Effect.
Cover photo by Antonio Gabola on Unsplash
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