Jennifer Keesmaat – the former chief planner of Toronto – recently published an article in Maclean’s called: Toronto’s unaffordable. Why can’t Halifax or Saskatoon take advantage? Her argument: 

“The hard truth is that many mid-sized cities won’t win the future because they are stuck on a suburban growth model. If the future is green and walkable, they will be left behind.”

The model city that is held up is Portland – a terrific mid-sized city of only 640,000 people that has used progressive land use policies to build a livable and dense urban center. (In all fairness, the Portland MSA has over 2.4 million people.)

Now, if you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that I have a penchant for dense urban centers. I live and I work downtown. And I would happily trade square footage for a more sensible commute and lower transportation costs.

But after I read the article, I couldn’t help but think that progressive land use policies, alone, aren’t enough. Cities, like social networks, experience network effects. That’s why there’s so much talk these days of winner-take-all urbanism.

All of this is not to say that progressive urban policies are a bad thing. Quite the opposite. I just think there are many other factors at play if we’re talking about taming the hegemony of our global cities.

Friend: Ever go to Jilly’s?

Me: No, actually.

Friend: Same.

Me: What about you? [Addressed to random guy in elevator]

Random guy in elevator: I’m from Portland. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I went to check out the new Broadview Hotel last night in Riverdale, Toronto. (Riverside if we’re being pedantic.)

Originally built in 1891 and most recently a boarding house with strip club at grade (Jilly’s – the best party in town!), the building was acquired in 2014 by developer Streetcar and turned into a “58-room boutique hotel and charismatic gathering spot.” The soft opening was July 27, 2017.

Official website here. Lots of interior photos here.

Besides the pink neon above the lobby bar (which is obviously great), I really like what they did in the stairwells. Credit to Supermilk Studio. Here’s a photo I snapped last night while trying to find the WC:

Each floor is painted with murals that pay tribute to the building’s history, from the early days of Dingman’s Hall to its most recent iteration as Jilly’s.

Interestingly enough, the building originally served as an important social hub for the community, though it did not initially house a hotel. On the ground floor was a bank (see, there’s a long tradition of this) and above it were offices and grand meeting halls.

It wasn’t until the original developer sold the building that it was converted to a hotel and granted a liquor license. It’s worth noting that this conversion is said to have faced stiff community opposition. A hotel that serves alcohol to people? Not in my 1906 backyard.

With the reopening of the new Broadview Hotel this summer, you could argue that east of the Don River is once again regaining its grand gathering spot. And the feeling I got when I stepped foot inside the hotel last night was that it was time. The demand was latent and, yes, condos wouldn’t have cut it.

At the same time, this is obviously bigger than the east side. There are many who don’t know this building’s infamous history. Jilly’s? What’s that? Time to go for a walk in the stairwells.

I just stumbled upon the above project. It’s in Portland. It’s called Slate. It’s 147,000 sf. It sits on a 100′ x 200′ site. It was completed last year. And it was developed by Beam Development and Urban Development Partners.

Besides having two very cool facades (the east and west facades are the ones that push and pull), I was surprised to see the building clad in unitized curtain wall (as well as composite metal panel). That kind of glazing comes at a premium and this is not a large building. I’m curious about the numbers.

It’s also a post-tensioned concrete building, which is uncommon in the Toronto market.

Here’s a close-up of the facade:

Also noteworthy is the fact that I’m fairly certain the architects inserted a couple having sex in one of their renderings:

For those of you who did not attend architecture school, there’s a fairly long tradition of hiding “easter eggs” within your renderings. Or at least that was the case when I was in school.

On that note, happy Easter weekend all.

All images via Works Progress Architecture (W.PA). Photography by Joshua Jay Elliott.