Maria Godoy of NPR recently published an interesting piece called Lo Mein Loophole: How U.S. Immigration Law Fueled A Chinese Restaurant Boom. The article starts by talking about how rising anti-Chinese sentiment in the late 19th and early 20th century eventually lead to the U.S.… Read More
For the past week or so I’ve been seeing the proposed Kettle Boffo Project in Vancouver make the rounds online. Here’s a rendering of the project, which is located at Commercial Drive and Venables Street: The reason it has been making the rounds is that a… Read More
Last week Metrolinx slashed fares on Toronto’s Union to Pearson Airport express train (UPX), by a lot. From $27.50 to $12 for people without a PRESTO card and from $19 to $9 for people with a PRESTO card. They listened to the pundits. And there… Read More
This week Strong Towns has been running a great social media campaign called #BuildHereNow. The way it works is very simple. They asked people to get outside and take photos of vacant and/or underutilized properties in their town or city and post them to Twitter… Read More
I have about 15 minutes before I need to head out for dinner, so I’m afraid that there won’t be much of an ATC post today. It has been a busy week. But given that this week was Bjarke Ingels’ talk in Toronto and many… Read More
Blogger and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Aaron M. Renn, recently published an interesting long-form article called, Rethinking America’s Cities’ Success Strategy. One of the central themes is the idea that globalization has caused a kind of bifurcation in cities –… Read More
This morning I stumbled upon an interesting book by Claudia Kalb called Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities. I obviously haven’t read it yet, but I like the premise. The book examines 12 famous figures and makes the argument… Read More
Today I was surprised to learn from Charlie Gardner’s blog that groceries now represent 56% of Walmart’s sales. This is a huge number that I frankly wouldn’t have expected. Groceries have relatively low online penetration, which makes them great for brick-and-mortar retailers. I’ve written about… Read More
I increasingly never carry cash on me. I just never think to take out money and, when I do, I hate paying for things and getting change back. That change just ends up in a “change jar” in my apartment and then never comes out ever… Read More
Yesterday was an exciting day for Toronto city building announcements. Firstly, Alex Bozikovic of the Globe and Mail published an exclusive preview of architect Bjarke Ingel’s plan for King Street West. Here’s a photo of the architectural model (it’s by Landon Speers): My favorite quote… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 