Posts Tagged ‘Winnipeg’
Downtown Winnipeg Minecraft Lounge
Last summer in Winnipeg, me, my mother, a couple of my friends (Juca Shanski-de-Aquino and Weldon Scott), and the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ put together a Minecraft lounge. Now some of you have probably already read a blog last year that my mom wrote about this same Minecraft lounge. Her blog also included a piece about…
Read MoreGoodbye Winter: Until next time, a few reminders on lovable winter cities
Last week, Super Man and Ghandi rolled into my neighbourhood. I know, it sounds like the opening line of a joke, but it isn’t. Henry Cavill and Ben Kingsley were in town for a film set in winter and the active core of my city, Winnipeg, is one of the best choices for lovable urbanism…
Read MoreNature Cities: Wellness and public space
The idea of rewilding started out as a movement to conserve, restore, and reconnect natural areas, and has expanded to how we reintegrate ancient practices into our modern lives. From a flat-footed squat to full emersion in nature to structured programs like ReWild Portland, the idea of letting go of some of our domestication to…
Read MoreInclusive Cities: Inclusion equals diversity plus equity
The placemakers way is to enable the triple bottom line of resilience: environment, economy, and society, trying to balance the needs of people, planet and profit. And yet it’s always easier to measure the impacts of our collective choices on profit — or even on the planet — than it is on people. We’ve blogged…
Read MoreGreen Cities: Breathe deeply and walk freely
As much as I love my winter city, when spring rolls around life brightens up. The onslaught of studies from Friday’s Earth Day imply that our feel-good response to the fresh lime green of spring does much more than pump endorphins. How we green our cities may be a life and death issue. People with…
Read MoreRain: A great judge of neighbourhood character
Heading to the Wilmington, North Carolina region this week, I’m excited about seeing a city that’s one of my favourite running buddies. Last week, I was enjoying a run in Winnipeg as well, when someone pointed out, “But it’s raining.” I had barely noticed since this satisfyingly walkable neighbourhood dares people to live outdoors. Facebook…
Read MorePorchtastic: Living in Season
Living in season asks us to “entice people outside, where they get more acclimated to the local environment, needing less heating or cooling when they return indoors,” according to Steve Mouzon via treehugger. Howard Blackson dares us to live outdoors where “we can again connect with our climate and place — another step towards unsealing…
Read MoreTransit Oriented Development: A few notes from Winnipeg BRT
This Monday, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ convened a Transit Oriented Development Summit, to talk about how to make neighbourhoods around Winnipeg’s new Bus Rapid Transit system sing. Right from the start, it was great to see downtown businesses understand that the strength of the spokes adds up to a stronger wheel. Stefano Grande, the head…
Read MorePlacemaking: Preserve, repair, intensify
Placemaking often comes down to preserving, repairing, or intensifying urban or rural landscapes with public spaces at the heart of each neighborhood. Creative placemaking can take that to another level, helping to tease out the character of a place and celebrate it in an unusually insightful and invigorating way. A way that reaches deeper into…
Read MoreWhy Placemaking Matters: What’s in it for me?
When a mayoral candidate from my city wrote me to ask me to repeat in writing what I’d said the night before, I realize I need to de-wonk and make my elevator speech more memorable. Why does city planning matter to people who aren’t urban designer types? If I could take an extra five minutes…
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