Toronto: 4th in World for Culture

29 10 2008

Washington based magazine Foreign Policy recently placed my current hometown of Toronto as 4th in the world for culture.  The magazine recently ranked many of the world cities in various categories including business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement.  Of all these categories, Toronto’s highest ranking was in cultural experience in which it only placed behind Paris, London and New York.  That is certainly a lofty placing and speaks volumes for Toronto’s incredible cosmopolitan atmosphere and high volume theatre scene.  In other categories, Toronto didn’t fare nearly as well (26th in business activity and 24th in political engagement), however Toronto ranked 10th overall of 60 cities, one below Seoul and one above Washington D.C.

Check out the full study here


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Skylines: American Cities Yesterday and Today

23 10 2008

If you’re a fan of city skylines, then i’ve definitely got the book for you.  I recently bought the rather large coffee-table book ‘Skylines: American Cities Yesterday and Today’ and I must say it was worth every penny.  The book focuses on the development of many (and I really mean many) american skylines ending each profile with a glorious two page panorama of each skyline.  There are a couple of really great ones.  Chicago and Atlanta look particularly elegant.  The book is obviously more focused on the photos but is able to share at least a small bit of information on each skyline and it’s evolution.  Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book is just how many cities it profiles.  You obviously have your New Yorks and San Franciscos, but the book also features lesser known cities such as Little Rock, Providence and Madison.  All in all, this book is definitely one of my best purchases in a while.  Oh, and there is apparently an international version of the book as well.


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My old hometown and the slow death of manufacturing centres

16 10 2008

A friend of mine recently sent me a link regarding a large layoff currently happening at the large Sterling plant in my old hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada.  This obviously comes as a very upsetting note to me since I know how many people and families in the city were dependant on that plant.  St. Thomas already has it’s share of problems and I have a fear that this will only make things worse.  How can it not?

Yet this mass layoff is just another of many to occur in the manufacturing industry.  As our economy becomes more creative and service-oriented, manufacturing jobs will only decline.  The northeastern region of North America (not so affectionately called the Rustbelt) is one of the biggest victims of such a decline and many once prosperous cities (such as Detroit, Buffalo and Hamilton) have all degraded due to this trend.

But there may be hope.  Diversification in areas such as information technology or biotechnology may be able to keep cities and towns such as St. Thomas continuosly competitive.  However, for the moment, it appears to be dark times ahead for my old hometown.

To read more about the mass layoffs at the Sterling plant in St. Thomas, click here


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What Does the U.S. Recession mean for Urban Development?

3 10 2008

As the Waterview Tower construction site in Chicago sits empty and the U.S. votes to bailout some of the big players on Wall Street, one has got to wonder what will happen to all the proposed, approved and even construction projects in the United States?  Obviously, during the Great Depression, there was very little built in terms of new development (the Rockefeller Center stands as one of the lone major developments at the top of my head).  Many of these new projects in the U.S. are residential and with the massive drop in real estate prices, companies investing millions of dollars in these projects may simply not find it worth it to continue with the projects at least until the housing prices start to ascend as well.

Although this recession exists mainly in the United States, you have got to wonder how this may affect other nations.  Many first world countries, including my home of Canada will likely tighten up their economy which means we may see a similar effect in our own cities more for safety rather than lack of funds.  Any way you look at our, at urban environment is at risk of deteriorating if we’re not too careful.


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