America’s Most Walkable Major Cities

26 07 2009

For those that are unfamiliar with walkscore.com, the site allows a user to enter an address and they will be a ‘walk score’ for that address out of 100.  What exactly is this ‘walk score’?  An addresses walk score is determined by the number of many different types of shops, restaurants, institutions and cultural venues that are within a solid walking distance of that particular address.  The sites scores are not perfect (I even noticed the omittence of one of our major book stores here in Toronto), but it does give a general idea for how walkable different neighbourhoods are whch can help individuals make key decisions such as where to live.

Recently, the site unveiled its rankings of the 40 largest cities in the United States based squarely off their walk score.  The results are not particularly surprising, but are definitely interesting.  As one can expect, the denser cities usually offer greater walking opportunities whereas the more suburban based ones typically have far fewer of these opportunities.  It’s all a matter of personal taste, but if you are the type that enjoys having many conveniences within walking distances, a far more walkable city typically makes more sense.  The top 5 cities are as follows:

  1. San Francisco (86/100)
  2. New York City (83/100)
  3. Boston (79/100)
  4. Chicago (76/100)
  5. Philadelphia (74/100)

For those interested in seeing the complete list, you can click here.


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A Dream Come True – Living in an Office Park

19 07 2009

new jersey office park

Love them or hate them, office parks have become a reality in about any major city in the developed world (especially here in North America).  Office parks typically offer a cheaper alternative for office space than downtown while still retaining some kind of pleasant atmosphere for the employees that work there.  Yet, what happens when these office parks are no longer used?  What about turning them into condos?  A blog post entitled ‘would you live in a suburban park?‘ over at Fast Company describes how developers in Holmdel, New Jesery are hoping to turn the Bell Labs (built around 1960) into a new mixed use development with retail on the ground floor and lofts on the upper floors.  Originally planned for destruction, scientists around the world came together to save the structure for both it’s historical importance and it’s architecture.

The idea is certainly an interesting one.  But it isn’t one that I believe can pick up much steam, especially if this trend continues to other less highly regarded office parks.  I’m just unsure of what type of people would choose to live in it.  The photo above (courtesy of FastCompany.com) displays the isolation of the office park which could also be a detriment to the retail finding customers outside of the residents of the building.  Either way, i’m all for the preservation of a building with some kind of historical importance, even if it is an office park.


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Categories : News, Opinions

Urban Farming

9 07 2009

Another short blog post this time unfortunately.  Anyways, I found this interesting article on urban farming by the New York Times.  The focus of the article is on the ever increasing number of rooftop gardens in several of America’s urban environment, most notably New York City (apparently New York City offers incentives for undertaking such a green intiative).  While this isn’t a new concept, the article does go into more detail of how exactly it is done.   For anyone considering gardening on the roof, there are obvious benefits, but there are things one must think about, such as whether the roof can even support a garden, the increased irrigation and watering that may need to be done and impact of higher winds on the crops.  However, it seems (at the least according to Marrian Burros, the writer of the article), the benefits greatly outweigh the potential consequences.  And as well, for those that enjoy both gardening and the urban lifestyle, it really provides the best of both worlds.


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Why does Toronto suddenly smell like garbage?

1 07 2009

toronto_garbage_strike

So I had a bit of trouble figuring out what to write about this week, so I thought i’d show you a picture I found by Flickr user nixie highlighting the recent pain us Torontonians have been having.  As of the past week, many of Toronto city workers, including their garbagemen have been on strike leaving the city full of garbage and a little bit stinkier than usual.  Although I understand that the city is trying to cut down on garbage during the strike, covering the public garbage cans with saran wrap and informing people they can’t use the garbage is just plain stupid.  First of all, it inspires people to litter.  Secondly, it is very easy to remove and start using the garbage cans again.  Well, both things have happened.  There is far more litter on the street and the garbage cans are still being used as if there were never out of service signs in the first place.  Hoping this strike  ends soon…


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Categories : General Thoughts