Toronto's East Bayfront has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Remember when we used to complain that the waterfront was under-utilized?

Here's what it looked like circa 2005 (photo via Waterfront Toronto):

And here's what it looks like today:

The waterfront has, in my opinion, become one of the nicest neighbourhoods in the city. I'm bullish on this part of Toronto. But it's not done yet.

One key piece of infrastructure that was just completed is the landfilling of a part of the Parliament Slip.

If you go back to the previous aerial photo, you'll see that the water's edge now runs parallel to Queens Quay East in this section.

This was an important piece of city-building work because it will allow Queens Quay to continue eastward to Cherry Street, establishing a new city grid that can be used for transit and future development in the area.

If you'd like to see what it takes to landfill part of Lake Ontario, below is a time-lapse video, also from Waterfront Toronto.

If you can't see it embedded in the post, click here.

Cover photo from Waterfront Toronto

I'm not a runner. I've just never gotten into it. But I can appreciate why people love it, and I imagine that some of the things I love about cycling also happen with running. One of those things is the ability to experience a place while working out.

Here's an example.

I think this recent video by Satisfy does a great job of capturing what it must feel like to effortlessly glide through a city like New York. They also picked the perfect song, so turn your sound on. If you enjoy running and/or NYC, you'll enjoy the video.

Here's a recent video from The Wall Street Journal talking about the "secrets behind hotel design." It's interesting in that it gets into some of the ways in which designers are shrinking hotel rooms and then making up for it with amenities. This is a strategy you'll find in many other real estate asset classes ranging from multi-family housing to co-living.

But if you scroll through the comments, you'll see that the responses are overwhelmingly negative. In fact, I was hard pressed to find any positive ones. Most people simply don't like the idea of hotel rooms shrinking and of not having the same amenities. This is not surprising. The comments are similar to what you'll hear people say about shrinking condominium suites.

At the end of the day, though, the strategy outlined in this video is designed to cater to a very specific market: young travelers (roughly 25 to 40 years old) who want to stay somewhere fun and social — and at a reasonable price. Room size is the lever that helps bring rates down. But it's not for everyone, and that's why hotel companies have so many different brands in their portfolio. It's so they can precisely target different customers and types of travel.

Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that my wife and I have stayed in numerous hotels where the entire room was basically just the bed. Here's Tokyo from this past winter. And in one particular hotel in Paris, there wasn't even enough space for me to fully open my carry-on suitcase. If I wanted to open and close the window beside our bed, I had to first close my suitcase.

I'd happily stay there again. The place was well-designed, clean, had good bathroom products, was in a great location, and the pricing was reasonable, especially for Paris. As a hotel customer, I consistently value design and experience over square footage. And the market suggests that I'm not alone. Cool and reasonably priced is often a winning strategy no matter what industry you're in.