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Montréal metro
overhaul
Posted 17 April, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Hope you all had a good weekend. A visitor to UPP has
informed me that STCUM, Montréal's transit
authority, will be giving the city's famed Métro a complete overhaul over the next two
years, including an expansion to the southern commuter rail line and various metro line
improvements and extentions. Although I can't find any official information on this
(though a news report on the RDI confirms this
story), you can gather your own information on the metro at Marc Dufour's Le Métro de Montréal (warning,
only in French). / As CNN reported last Thursday, the Sierra
Club has released a report that claims that taxpayers in non-sprawl areas are
unwittingly funding suburban sprawl, which in turn is not generating enough tax revenue to
fund the services it consumes. See
the story and visit the Sierra Club's Stop
Sprawl Campaign for more information. / Due to a technical mishap, I was unable to
scan the Nanaimo and Victoria photos on Friday. This holiday weekend I'll try and get them
up.
Commuter rail for
Halifax?
Posted 12 April, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Yesterday, the Canadian rail company CNR issued an
ultimatum to the Halifax city government: make a decision by the first of September
whether or not to implement commuter rail in the metro area, or they'll scrap the tracks.
CNR has been holding onto - and maintaining - the abandoned tracks for two years in hope
that the debate over commuter rail in Halifax will finally be resolved. If the rail system
uses the existing tracks, it could save the city government up to thirty million dollars
(CDN). The cry for commuter rail was sparked by Halifax's surprisingly serious lack of
downtown parking; often, streets and garages are completely full during all daylight hours
and well into the evening. It is inconvenient to those who live in the city's far-flung
suburbs to take the city's bus service into town, and cab fares can run high. See the news
story from the Halifax Herald.
In the news
Posted 11 April, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
In recent news, it was revealed that a Wal-Mart superstore
will be built next to the Casa Granda national monument in Arizona. The monument, which
features a Native American cliffside town built circa 1350, is one of the US's most
treasured archaeological finds; read the story from CNN. In
other news, the much hyped Big Dig project in Boston has been declared bankrupt by federal
authorities, although it will go on (Boston Globe story).
The project, which will submerge the elevated Central Artery and build new harbour tunnels
for easier flowing traffic, will clear the formerly freeway-scarred sections of Boston and
turn them into parks and new development. See the official Big
Dig site for more details.
Bush says: get a car!
Posted 10 April, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Another (althought slightly dated) news item concerning
everybody's favourite Republican: in a February Town Hall meeting with a group of Los
Angeles Latinos, US presidential candidate George W. Bush told the group that the answer
to La-La Land's public transportation problems was to get a car. See the news release;
thanks to Payton Chung for bringing this to our attention. / I'm back from the land of mad hatters, and I was genuinely
surprised at the loveliness of the city. While much of it was ugly sprawl, the central
neighbourhoods were quite charming. I took about two rolls of film, so when I get them
developed they'll be in the Miscellaneous Cities section. If
I have time this week, I'll also try and scan my Charlottetown and Nanaimo photos. Keep
watching.
Is Shrub getting a green thumb?
Posted 7 April, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Is American presidential candidate George W. Bush getting a
green thumb, or is it simply a ploy to lure in the votes of liberals and moderates? That's
what many people are asking themselves this week as the Texas governor announced his plan
for cleaning and redeveloping contiminated industrial sites, known as brownfields (news story) The
Sierra Club, however, decries Bush's suggestions as "weakening cleanup
standards" (press
release). Thanks to the Sprawl Watch for
providing the link to the press release. / On an unrelated note, I'll be in Medicine Hat
this weekend, so don't expect any updates.
Update on the Lougheed
Posted 6 April, 2000 by Chris DeWolf - Back to the top
Some of you might remember awhile back when I wrote a letter
to the Calgary Herald in regard to -
what seemed at the time - the inevitable loss of the historic Lougheed Building in
downtown Calgary. Well, things have been looking up as the City government is considering
purchasing the CDN$2.5 million building. That feat may prove difficult, however, as the
Hanover Group, owner of the building, is refusing to sell; they're really bent on building
a big office tower in its place. A little history: the Lougheed Building was, until
recently, the home of the Grand Theatre, which saw the likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Fred
Astaire and the Marx Brothers. The building itself is also notable, as two former Alberta
premiers had offices there and William Aberhart gave his famous religious speeches within.
Jazz was first introduced to Calgary, too, in the basement of the building. / In other
news, I've moved all of last week's posts, including the Santiago pictures, to the news archives. A visitor by the name of James Peacock has also
donated five wonderful photos, check them out:
· A narrow
Society Hill street in Philadelphia.
· Another narrow Society Hill way.
· Vienna's Rathaus on Ringstrasse
· The Philly skyline.
· A view of Independence Hall in Philly.
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:
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.
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