Canadian Urban Transit Association
Posted 1 June, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Today I recieved a large membership information packet from the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA). "Packet" describes it well: a large folder containing much information, not only on membership, but on transit itself. For those interested in joining, membership is $50/year for full-time students and $150/year for individuals. For more membership information, see this page. / More evidence that sprawl is harmful to both the environment and humans; CNN reports that the American Lung Association has released a report ranking the US metropolitan areas with the most air pollution. Not surprisingly, many of America's most sprawling and auto-dominated metropolitan areas ranked top. See the story.

New Orleans
Posted 31 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
I've just added some New Orleans photos to the Miscellaneous gallery. They were taken by Randy Sandford, webmaster of the excellent Birmingham Design website; thanks to Randy and go check 'em out! Speaking of the Crescent City, here are some interesting links for you to peruse. The Bywater Neighbourhood is a 19th-century section of New Orleans, featuring many great examples of typical Victorian-era Louisiana architecture. This site is a virtual tour of the streets of N.O.'s famous French Quarter, along with some sounds. / As Sprawl Watch reports, the Orlando Sentinal newspaper has completed an exhaustive investigation on the area's sprawl; you can read it here. Orlando is the second fastest-growing city in the United States, with a projected 22% increase in metropolitan population between now and 2010.

Take a walk
Posted 27 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
A letter written by a Mr. EuGene LaPorte appeared in today's  Calgary Herald, blaming bad roadway engineering for Calgary's growing traffic problems. As a solution, he cites ". . . a very good start might come by reducing the number of bus stops
. . . and crosswalks along major throughfares." Mr. LaPorte, obviously not a transit rider nor a pedestrian, does not seem to realise that not everyone chooses to use a car. Even today, suburban arteries are very hostile environments for those on foot. Transit stops are few and far between, and reducing them further would only force current transit riders to start driving to and from work, thus adding to the strain on roadways that is the source of LaPorte's frustration. Calgary should not be a city designed solely for the automobile, a banal landscape of ever-widening freeways and arterials. Citizens such as Mr. LaPorte serve only to ruin the city for those who prefer to walk, not drive. (You can read a copy of LaPorte's letter here). / Speaking of Calgary, John Brown, a native Calgarian and skyscraper enthusiast has send UPP some photos he took of two Calgary skyscrapers that are currently under construction, the upscale Axxis condominium development and the Trans-Canada Pipelines Tower. See em!

New "urban village" for Cowtown
Posted 26 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
The Calgary Herald reported yesterday that the now-vacant 1930's era western edge of Calgary's military base will be converted into a dense "urban village". As you may recall from previous issues of Urbanite, the eastern half of the former base is being converted into a middle-density residential area called Garrison Woods, featuring New Urbanist ideals and a high-density section in the north end. Planning information on both sections of the base can be reached here. The western portion will be home to 11 000 residents, 9000 jobs and an expanded Mount Royal College campus. Some good and far-sighted requirements for the development can be seen here. It's looking good to me! / On another note, I've uploaded the first batch of Montréal photos - all 70 of them. Great, now there's only 602 left to go! (Really!)

Montréal
Posted 25 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Wondering if I've dropped off the edge of the earth or met an untimely fate thanks to being force-fed dozens of Big Macs? You guess wrong! For the past week I've been in Canada's greatest (second-greatest, if you're a Torontonian who knows where I live) city. And yes, I did take many, many photos; roughly 500, to be precise. For the next few weeks I'll be working on the gallery, so expect to be able to see a new Montréal "photographic exploration" up around mid-June. For now, however, you'll have to settle for the following links. La Ville de Montréal's official website is a good starting point. Check out the "Mon Quartier" section for some highly detailed maps and limited neighbourhood information. Visions of Montréal has over one hundred photos of Vieux-Montréal, the Quartier Latin, Centre-Ville and various landmarks (unrelated tidbit of info: the site also has a good Seattle photo page). Montreal: A Celebration is a snazzy, well-organised site with lots of good information. Here are some official neighbourhood sites: Petite Italie; Plateau Mont-Royal. The Montréal E-Guide covers the rest.

Fenway
Posted 16 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Sorry for the long delay between updates, but I assure you, the wait was worth it. Chris Szabla has taken sixty-one new photos of Boston. There are some of the Back Bay, and our newest neighbourhood, the Fenway. Be sure to check them out! / Tom N. of Calgary has pointed me to this unofficial site advocating a private-public partnership to help expand that city's light rail system. For more information on the LRT in Calgary, visit the Calgary Transit site. / James Oxford has asked me to include his BIG Building and BIG Cities sites on my links page, but why hide such great sites down there where you probably won't be able to find them? Trust me, they're great. / Some sprawl news from Canada, for a change: Toronto's Olympic bid has drawn opposition because most of its venues would be far outside the metropolitan area and also outside the realm of public transit. "In the end the legacy left by the Olympics will be more urban sprawl," said Howard Moscoe, chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission (story).

GSS and Pittsburgh
Posted 9 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
The revered architecture site Glass Steel and Stone has made UPP its link of the week. I thought this would be a good time to introduce some of my visitors to the site, which I've never mentioned before. An exhaustive database of architecture (and consequently, lots of urban photo), the site is visually pleasing and a great read. Netscape users should beware that because the site uses JavaScript, some small and harmless errors are picked up and announced via that annoying error message. / Pittsburgh, despite its unsavoury reputation (which is should have shed along with its extensive revitalisation), is a great city. I would love to visit it one day, just to see the historic, urban working-class neighbourhoods that proliferate. Some web links include the Pittsburgh Walking Tours site, with some nice photos, the wonderful City of Pittsburgh site, and Jon Bell's Pittsburgh Transit page (lots of photos of streetcar suburbs). / Before I forget - again - the University of Texas at Austin has a great World Cities map site, seen here. Check it out.

Congress for the New Urbanism
Posted 8 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Between June 15th and 18th, the eighth annual Congress for the New Urbanism will be held in Portland, Oregon (information here). This year's focus will be "The Politics of Place", discussing what needs to be done to overcome political and sometimes social resistance to more sustainable neighbourhoods. To register for the conference, click above or phone 1-800-788-7077. One aspect that seems very interesting is the $25 (US) Portland Tour, which are several guided tours of various aspects of Portland, one of the finest examples of New Urbanist principles put into action. Hopefully, we'll be able to have an on-location reporter to keep all of us unfortunate beings who couldn't make it (or afford) the conference in the know. / Tony Peric, who is now UPP's official God Of Providing Good Links, has pointed me towards this Atlantic Monthly page with many of the magazine's city-related articles, including a few by Robert Moses. A good read.

Urbanite sent out
Posted 5 May, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
The May issue of Urbanite was sent out tonight, but Listbot is having some troubles and it may not make it to your inbox for another day or so. / In other news, Michael Binetti, one of the contributors to the Miscellaneous Cities, was featured in the Toronto Transit Commission's newsletter. He suggested a new name for the airport express bus, and the TTC's head honchos took it to heart. Congratulations, Mike! You can see the photo and caption that appeared in the newsletter here. / Also, I've listed a great new book in the Shop, so be sure to check it out! Remember, every book you buy gives us 5% of the profit.

The Urban Photo Page is devoted to urbanity. With our photos, for which we were orginally acclaimed, we express the joy of urban exploration through images. In our urban affairs section, we bring awareness to you about sprawl, cities and current development. The following two people have dedicated their time and effort to maintaining this site:

• Chris DeWolf, Calgary
• Chris Szabla, Boston

The photo sections are designed for the armchair traveller or "urban connoisseur" more than anyone else. Our articles are designed not only to give the average person an insight on how cities work and what they do, but also to express this Urban Photo Page's opinion on certain matters. For the record, the editors here at UPP - that is to say, Chris Szabla, Chris DeWolf and Mark Grotkiewicz - are both fans of the city or trained in urban design and sociology (in Grotkiewicz's case). We hope you enjoy the Urban Photo Page and both it's photos and articles.

• Lonely Planet - This TV series, made by the same people who publish the acclaimed guidebooks, is worth watching not only for it's excellent urban episodes but also it's adventurous treks into the wild. The filmography is top-notch. Plays on Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and the Travel Channel in the US. Check local listings for times.

Be sure to check the links to your right in "Other Sites of Interest". Here are a few other city-related, non-photo page links: Back to the top.

• City.net - Excite Travel's page has over 5000 destinations in it's databanks. Type in the name of the city you're looking for, and it'll spew out all sorts of information, as well as links. This is a great starting point for the online urban explorer; be sure to check it out.
  
• Lonely Planet Online - The online version of the great TV show (see above) and guidebooks, LP Online offers a full online version of it's guides to world cities, as well as featured articles.
  
• Carfree Cities - J.H. Crawford presents a convincing argument on why our cities should be car-free and oriented towards the pedestrian. In his comprehensive site, he draws up plans of what a car-free city might look like, and he uses Venice and various other cities as an example that pedestrian-oriented cities can work.
  
• OTRF Urban Links - A page chock-full of urban-related links. Some turn out to be duds, but others are golden. Worth a look.
  
• Sierra Club Sprawl Report - A wonderful site dealing with the urban sprawl that affects our cities. Includes articles, links, and a list of the American cities that have the worst sprawl.
  
• Planning and Design Institute - A comprehensive and wonderful site chock-full of interesting architectural and urban designs. There are some great plans here. Thanks go out to markgro@csd.uwm.edu for recommending this site.
  
• Rough Guides Online - Uncompromising and honest-to-the-bone guides to hundreds upon hundreds of cities around the globe. A great reference source.
  

Click on the title of each book to go to it's Amazon.com page. We are an Amazon.com Associate, so any book you buy via these links will help support our site. Back to the top.

• The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jabobs. (1961). 451 pages. A classic that changed the way we see our cities. Sometimes the writing can be long and redundant, but overall, it's a must-read for anyone remotely interested in cities and how they work.
  
• City Life, by Witold Rybczynski. (1996). Unknown pages. An engaging and interesting book that explains why North American cities are the way they are. What really got me about this book was how easy it was to read - it's made for the layman.
  
• Cityscapes of Boston: An American City Through Time, by Robert Campbell, photographs by Peter Vanderwarker. (1992). 219 pages. Composed of "before and after" photos of city scenes in Boston, with intelligent and often witty commentary by Robert Campbell. A great book.
  
• Central Square, by George Packer. (1998). Unknown pages. Okay, okay, so this is fiction - but I heartily recommend you all read it. It really gives you an insight into the lives of the average urban dweller, in this case the ones in the gritty but lively Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Mass.
  
• The City Reader, edited by Richard T. Legates and Frederic Stout. (1996). 532 pages. This is a collection of essays by various acclaimed urban writers, ranging from Le Corbusier to Frank Lloyd Wright to Jane Jacobs. Each essay is prefaced by a summary and an editor's introduction; in essence, this is a miniature library and a great resource for all those interested in the city.
  
• Home Town, by Tracy Kidder. (1999). 349 pages. An interesting look into the life of a rather unusual small town - Northampton, Massachusetts, with one of the largest gay populations in the US - and it's two faces. One is the wild and liberal side, revolving around yuppified Main Street, and the other is the traditional conservative town. Reads like a fiction novel even though it's entirely factual.

If you have something to recommend, give us a shout.

Urban Photo Page © 1999 Chris DeWolf; All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced without the written consent of the webmaster. A note about the art on this page: the painting featured in the title graphic is Nighthawks, by Robert Hopper.

Back to the top.