Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
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Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyBusiest airports in the world
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Brandon DonnellyBusiest airports in the world
There were nearly 7 billion global flight passengers last year, and these were the busiest airports:
Overall, volumes are up 54% compared to 2021 (not surprising). But we are still down about 26% compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019). The one exception -- at least when it comes to this top 10 list -- is Denver. It's right back to where it was in 2019. I wonder why.
I find this list interesting because, one the one hand, airports are what connect global cities to the rest of the world. If you're a big and important city, you need a big and important airport. But on the other hand, having a busy airport could also mean that you're a hub in the hub-and-spoke airline model.
And that's what Atlanta is. It is the world's largest airline hub and the primary hub for Delta Air Lines. Apparently, it was also the first airport to adopt the hub-and-spoke model following deregulation of the industry in the 1970s. Which could be why it's still number one on this list.
There were nearly 7 billion global flight passengers last year, and these were the busiest airports:
Overall, volumes are up 54% compared to 2021 (not surprising). But we are still down about 26% compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019). The one exception -- at least when it comes to this top 10 list -- is Denver. It's right back to where it was in 2019. I wonder why.
I find this list interesting because, one the one hand, airports are what connect global cities to the rest of the world. If you're a big and important city, you need a big and important airport. But on the other hand, having a busy airport could also mean that you're a hub in the hub-and-spoke airline model.
And that's what Atlanta is. It is the world's largest airline hub and the primary hub for Delta Air Lines. Apparently, it was also the first airport to adopt the hub-and-spoke model following deregulation of the industry in the 1970s. Which could be why it's still number one on this list.
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