The work of John Snow is instrumental to the field of epidemiology. In the mid-19th century, during what was the third major outbreak of cholera, he created the following map showing the clusters of cholera cases in London’s Soho neighborhood. Stacked rectangles were used to… Read More
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Brick vault house
This house was designed by the Spanish firm, Space Popular. It was completed last year in Santa Barbara, Spain. Two things, in particular, make it unique: (1) Its exposed steel structure (12×12 grid) and (2) its brick vaults. But both of these things really serve… Read More
Happy New Year, everyone
Happy New Year from Miami. (This post is bring written on my phone.) A number of people have asked me if I will be making any resolutions this year. I’m not really a fan of making resolutions, per se. If you really want to do… Read More
Small art museum (in Tokyo)
Few are able to do “small houses” quite like the Japanese. Below is the Flat House in Tokyo by Yoshinori Sakano Architects. Completed in 2011, it was designed for a young couple in their twenties who wanted to build a home that was like a… Read More
GTA condo market posts strong Q2-2019 results
Urbanation released its Q2-2019 condo market results for the Greater Toronto Area this week. It was a robust quarter, following a slower Q1. Here are a few highlights: – 8,902 condo units were sold across the GTA in Q2-2019. This is the second highest Q2… Read More
Toronto Raptors

Photo: Frank Gunn/Associated Press
Manhattan is getting a congestion pricing zone
About a year ago I wrote about how NYC is considering a congestion charge on vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th street. Well it looks like that plan could be adopted as early as April 1 (however the fees won’t start until 2021). Here’s a map… Read More
Change, somewhere else
I went snowboarding today. As always it was a lot of fun. If only Toronto had mountains. Here is a Canadian video about snowboarding from 1985 that, I think, does an excellent job demonstrating how resistant to change we humans can sometimes be. The video… Read More
Cost-plus pricing
Today, Urbanation released its Q4-2018 market highlights report for the Greater Toronto Area. The general media will pick up these numbers and tell you that there’s been a precipitous decline in the number of new condominium sales. But the reality is that 20,028 units were… Read More
A beautiful destination: Rio de Janeiro
Below is a breathtaking video of Rio de Janeiro by Beautiful Destinations. If you haven’t heard of them before, they run a great YouTube channel profiling places and experiences from around the world. I think they also post a new video every week. If you… Read More