When I was in grade school at the Toronto French School, I had an English teacher named Mr. Hoad (spelt correctly, I hope) who used to make us all keep a journal. We were supposed to write something in it everyday. No exceptions. It could be on any topic. We just had to write. And we did this for years.

Well, it just dawned on me that two decades later, I’ve come back to daily writing. I hadn’t consciously drawn the parallel until a friend mentioned to me that she used to “keep a journal”, but now it seems obvious.

Of course this journal is much more public than the one I used to have (and I had volumes of them). This one is designed to provoke interaction and engagement. Journals are a great way to work through thoughts in your mind, but today technology has made them amazing forums for discussion.

For the sake of our global brand, Toronto taxis need to have a consistent brand - the same car, the same colour. I’ve thought about this before and written about it somewhere, but it’s worth repeating.

I was driving around downtown on Saturday night and I started to compare the ratio of cabs to non-cabs on the road. As is typical for any weekend night, most of the cars were cabs. And yet they’re a complete hodgepodge of different car types and colours.

The cab companies, of course, like it this way. They want to be differentiated. But from a practical standpoint, does this even matter? Sure, I might call a specific company to pick me up somewhere, but when I’m hailing a cab on the street I go for the first available car. I couldn’t care less what company it is. 

The result of this heterogeneity though is that we’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to brand our city. New York has its yellow cabs, London has its black cabs and all of Germany has its beige Mercedes Benzes. In our psyche, those cars symbolize those cities.

Just like companies, cities today compete with one another for talent and capital. It’s been said many times before that the vast majority of Millenials now choose where they want to live (which city) before they even start looking for a job. Toronto needs to be on the top of that last.

Taxi branding may seem like a small detail, but it’s not. As a comparison, take for example the Shangri-La Hotel company. The first time I stayed at one of their hotels was in Vancouver. I remember asking one of the staff members about the fragrance that seemed to permeate the entire building.

He told me that it was the “Essence of Shangri-La" and that it was actually diffused throughout the entire building, as well as around the perimeter. The purpose of this was to give global travels a familiar feeling - that feeling of being home - wherever they are in the world. Now that’s consistent branding.

Similarly, being in Toronto should make you feel like you’re here and in no other city. Our lumbering streetcars certainly help with that, but our cabs don’t. In a time where globalization is making cities feel more and more alike, we need to be doing everything we can in order to differentiate.

Hell, in addition to having the same car and colour, maybe we should even create an Essence of Toronto scent for our cabs.

I was in Niagara-on-the-Lake last night for Stratus’ annual Harvest Party. It’s my second year going. But aside from their annual party, I probably visit the region a couple times a year.

I like wine and I like supporting our local wine industry. I shop almost exclusively Ontario. I think a lot of people don’t realize how good our wines have become. The other reason I like going is because of the food. Good wine and good food go hand in hand. Stone Road Grille is one of my favourites.

But Niagara-on-the-Lake is not a place where you’ll hear a lot of young people from Toronto going to frequently. And if you look at the town’s demographics, people over 65 years old make up about a 1/4 of the population. It’s growing as a place to retire.

However, as Niagara’s prominence as a wine region grows, so will the town. Every time I go, I think about what could be done to improve the experience and attract a greater number of visitors.

One thing I think would be a great addition is a well designed bike network. Wineries are of course very spread out, but wine tasting and driving make for an awkward mix. Let’s make it easier for people to get around on bicycle.

I also think there’s an opportunity to brand the region as a food destination. Whenever you go to an event in Niagara, you discover all kinds of great local restaurants producing spectacular food, often using local ingredients. That should be promoted more.

I’m sure many people like Niagara-on-the-Lake just the way it is. And it’s certainly a beautiful and enjoyable place. But I always like to think about how something could be made even better.