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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Brandon DonnellyReprivatization in Warsaw is a double-edged sword
The Guardian has just published a fascinating article about the reprivatization of property in Warsaw. This is the process by which previously nationalized property is returned to pre-communist owners, or their heirs.
Not surprisingly, the government gets a lot of these sorts of claims, though many of them are clearly bogus. Between 2007 and 2017, Warsaw City Hall estimates that 447 properties, representing about 4,479 dwellings units, were reprivatized.
For some, all of this is restitution for widespread expropriation during the communist era. But for others, it quite simply means eviction.
The story at the beginning of the article – about a family who is immediately evicted from their apartment and has their belongings thrown out – seems almost hard to believe. One would think that there would be more sensible transition policies in place.
Another negative has to do with the uncertainty that this creates in the market. Why would you buy and/or invest in a property if there was any inkling that it could be taken away from you? You wouldn’t.
Click here to read, ‘They stole the soul of the city’: how Warsaw’s reprivatisation is causing chaos. If any of you are familiar with the Warsaw property market, please do leave a comment below.
The Guardian has just published a fascinating article about the reprivatization of property in Warsaw. This is the process by which previously nationalized property is returned to pre-communist owners, or their heirs.
Not surprisingly, the government gets a lot of these sorts of claims, though many of them are clearly bogus. Between 2007 and 2017, Warsaw City Hall estimates that 447 properties, representing about 4,479 dwellings units, were reprivatized.
For some, all of this is restitution for widespread expropriation during the communist era. But for others, it quite simply means eviction.
The story at the beginning of the article – about a family who is immediately evicted from their apartment and has their belongings thrown out – seems almost hard to believe. One would think that there would be more sensible transition policies in place.
Another negative has to do with the uncertainty that this creates in the market. Why would you buy and/or invest in a property if there was any inkling that it could be taken away from you? You wouldn’t.
Click here to read, ‘They stole the soul of the city’: how Warsaw’s reprivatisation is causing chaos. If any of you are familiar with the Warsaw property market, please do leave a comment below.
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyReprivatization in Warsaw is a double-edged sword
Subscribe to Brandon Donnelly
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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