Love them or hate them (I happen to love them), Toronto’s streetcars are part of this city’s identity. Most North American cities got rid of their streetcars around the middle of the 20th century. But Toronto didn’t. And that has left us with the largest… Read More
The July/August issue of Monocle is hot off the press and, as has become tradition, it includes their annual Liveable Cities Index. Now, some of this could be construed as objective, but a lot of it is of course subjective. A liveable cities index is… Read More
The most recent episode of The Urbanist is about the role of private developers in shaping public spaces and public life within our cities. How do you balance private and public interests? Much of the discussion focuses on the redevelopment of King’s Cross in London,… Read More
São Paulo, and Brazil more broadly, are near the top of my list of places that I want to visit. Starting in the 1930s, Brazil became an early adopter of modern architecture with projects like the Ministry of Education and Health Building. It was one… Read More
I’m on a flight right now reading the latest issue of Monocle Magazine in a seat that barely accommodates the length of my femur. This month’s issue has their annual ranking of the top 25 cities in the world. Munich is first, which is not… Read More
Monocle has a new guidebook out that is dedicated to hotels, inns, and hideaways. It also has a particular emphasis on the “honest, charming, quirky and independent.” So forget the conventional 5-star hotels. Hotels are fascinating places, even in today’s world of Airbnb. If you’re planning… Read More
Phaidon has a new architectural book out that surveys 55 homes, all of which have some sort of connection to water, whether that be an ocean, lake, river, or pool. It’s called Living on Water. I don’t (yet) have a copy, but it looks like… Read More
Monocle recently published a short 4 minute video tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It covers a bit of the area’s history and the kind of businesses that are flocking to the area today. One of the reoccurring themes in the video is a feeling… Read More
This month’s issue (May 2017) of Monocle magazine is a special “design & property” edition. It includes their annual property survey (shown above), which showcases interesting projects and people from around the world. I was excited (but not surprised) to read the editor’s letter at… Read More
I couldn’t sleep last night, so I got up and pulled out an old issue of Monocle magazine from my nightstand. I then stumbled upon the following article by Taras Grescoe. What really stood out for me was this line: “Thickets of haphazardly planned condo… Read More
