Car Advertising, 50s-style June 29, 2007

Okay, you’re going to find it difficult to believe they actually ran this.

Toderian on EcoDensity, Part 1 June 29, 2007

Brent Toderian has just posted his latest entry on the Planetizen blog - Part 1 on EcoDensity.
An excerpt:
The good news is that Vancouver may be the best positioned city in North America to be a continuing model for change. We have the expanding tools and building blocks to do density well and to deliver the [...]

The Green-Glass Box: An Alternative June 29, 2007

Thinking maybe Vancouver could use some more colour in its architecture, some different shapes than the point-and-podium style? Will Alsop (he of the design school on stilts in Toronto) seems to have offered an alternative in Middlehaven, a town in the northeast of England:

More on the Coolhunter web site - worth checking out on its [...]

“Miswanting” and the Study of Happiness June 29, 2007

Timothy Thomas sends along an NYT piece on the work of psychologist Daniel Gilbert and his recent book, Stumbling on Happiness. (He was also quoted in the Globe and Mail’s piece on Bogota last week)  “This article was written a few years before his book was published and is in someways even more fascinating. This [...]

Eat, Eat, Eat June 26, 2007

Enjoy lobsters?  Gilbert & Sullivan?  Great radio?
Then listen to this.

Another Blog!? (But this is a really good one …) June 26, 2007

Planetizen is the definitive compilation of articles and essays on planning.  It comes via email several times a week, with so much good content that, like the New Yorker, it’s hard to keep up with but you don’t want to miss an issue.
About a year ago, they started their own blog, and invited a gaggle of [...]

Future Shock with an Irish Accent June 25, 2007

Hey, Peak Oil fans, this just out:
The following documentary produced by Irish national television … predicts what Peak Oil is going to do to the country:
http://www.rte.ie/tv/futureshock/av_20070618.html
Some statistics from the program:
- they use more oil per capita than the US!
- Because of suburban sprawl, Dublin is on track to becoming as large as Los Angeles but with [...]

The Cycle Continues June 25, 2007

Every year during Bike Month, the city opens more bike routes.  Another reason why, as the number of people living and coming to downtown increases, the number of vehicles drops.

Last week, the Dunsmuir/Melville lanes were inaugurated.  The Engineers have done a great job in slipping these lanes into a very tight street grid and linking [...]

City Making in Paradise - the audio June 24, 2007

Just added to the SFU City Program website are recent audio-recorded lectures and movies including:

City Making in Paradise (audio)
Ken Cameron and Michael Harcourt talk about what’s in their new book: nine decisions that shaped the Greater Vancouver region.
http://www.sfu.ca/city/city_pgm_mp3.htm

Beached Tanker June 24, 2007

This is Newcastle, Australia, where the weather is still too unstable to pull this grounded tanker off the beach on to which it was blown a few weeks ago. 
I got this on Michael Kluckner’s blog, where he reports in on the weird weather. The pic is from Christine Allen’s sister - and there’s more where that [...]