 In elementary school, it was the only world I knew, where walking to the library required a snack break and chaperone. In high school, it was referred to as the "Masonville Bubble," our studentshed, the territory you needed a car to escape from. When I took a more dedicated interest in urban geography, I identified it as just the right size.
Last weekend, determined to show up a bunch of little kids who clearly have not mastered scissors and glue like this girl, I decided to overhaul the Masonville region of London, Ontario. No clue where that is? No problem. Just bring to mind in your head any suburban region of any mid-sized Ontario city. Stick a big mall in the middle that has valiantly tried for years to be a mini Eaton Centre; it's nice, but the UWO students from Toronto are still unimpressed. Throw in a bunch of gas stations (front and centre), grocery stores, strip malls, a Chapters, a handful of aging public schools, a handful of brand new Catholic schools in the new subdivisions, and a bombshelter of a high school (with a damn good soccer team, mind you). Picture a pretty crappy restaurant on a stripmall corner called Richie's that people go to simply because it's locally owned and has a weird sense of historical permanence. Oh, and that building sitting uncertainly in the parking lot used to be a Blockbuster.
The sidewalks are mostly empty because the mainstreet is a lazy highway, six lanes at junctures. BUT there's a cozy library by the mall and a pop-up farmers' market that occasionally graces the gigantic parking ocean on sunny afternoons. A YMCA with a living roof was unhelpfully built out of reasonable walking distance, however it does in fact exist. There's a big park north of the community and great farmland surrounding. Much of the city's water is stored just north of Masonville and the community is divided by a beautiful ravine system and the Thames River, although you'd never know it unless you've got a lucky backyard.
With a blank slate in front of me, I pictured Masonville and said, ARGH! I AM A WRECKING BALL.
Partly kidding - I just had fun with possibility.
I was pretty limited in terms of street layout provided, but here's my new Masonville.
Here's a reminder of how it works - you have to use all of the post-its provided: - light yellow = residential
- pink/red = commercial, retail
- blue = industrial
- purple = municipal (schools, libraries, police, fire dept.) < I ran out :( ... so don't play with matches
- green/yellow = parks
I started with purple and wished I had more. I tried to place the schools and library roughly where they already exist. I was a dreamer and added LRT (light rail transit, which is what we call streetcars) down Richmond Street to reach downtown. I turned Masonville Mall into a town centre with shops facing the streets, apartment units on top, a seniors' section, and inward facing housing as well. In the middle of all that, sits a big park, pavillion, and garden ( every park has a garden). The Bay and Sears stayed put in the adjacent block, but I built things that are actually pretty around them, like mews housing and row housing. As for 'industrial,' calm down, it's not what you think. Lots of industry in Canada these days would make a fine neighbour. I've got an engineering firm, logistics centre, furniture maker, food outpost, food processor (baking delicious bread, providing local meat, etc.), toolshare workshop (since fewer people will have huge garages and since very few people need to own their own personal table saw but it's handy to use one), a workshop and training centre by the highschool, an auto shop, a co-working hub, and a shared design shop. What this amounts to is that people can actually work in Masonville (beyond poorly paid service jobs)! I reserved space for offices too. I kept some neighbourhoods quiet and away from the action, but event they get a local park and corner store/café/pub. I also took the liberty of drawing in permaculture and urban agriculture wherever there was extra space because I had a marker and it should be there. So that's my Masonville Recreated... Affordable housing, permanent farmers' market, bike lanes inherent, streetcar to downtown, live-work-play all together within walking distance, etc. I picked up the mall retrofits from Duany and the 'keep it small' attitude from Gehl, both of whom were featured in the previous post.  The kids at the Science Rendezvous had a lot of fun with this too. I was pretty impressed that they knew what they wanted enough to imagine cities that simply don't exist in their reality. It resulted in a lot of cookie factories, playgrounds, and water parks.
In preparation for Science Rendezvous and Doors Open Toronto with the MPI, I've been doing some arts and crafts at work. If you're a planning nerd like me, let me know how I did. There are the same number of Post-Its used in each. You can come build your own city, and learn about famous city builders if you visit the MPI on May 12 (Science Rendezvous, Bahen Centre, University of Toronto) or May 26-27 ( Doors Open Toronto, the office is at MaRS). Red/Pink = commercial Purple = municipal Green/Yellow = park Blue = industrial Light Yellow = residential  Duany Plater-Zyberk style - New Urbanism |  Alexandria, Virginia (an inspiration for New Urbanism) | New Urbanism – modelling new development after traditional small towns. Like Jane Jacobs, this embraces mixed use and mixed income. More recently, Duany has been applying New Urbanism in the form of Sprawl Repair, retrofitting suburban neighbourhoods to provide functional mainstreets, town squares, and higher density housing (including affordable units). Some specific recommendations: - permit backyard garage apartments/granny flats
- eliminate gaps that disrupt pedestrian flow (such as parking lots between stores and offices)
- on-street parking is necessary for vibrant sidewalk life
- neo-traditional, local heritage inspired architecture
- cluster by building height, not building use
- mainstreet storefronts require affordable apartments on top
- flat frontage to housing, which is brought close to the street
- vertical/horizontal ratio can’t be more than 1:6 (avoid very wide roadways)
- encourage urban agriculture
- provide small public squares
- slow down traffic near people and buildings
- give people the choice to live near downtown or not to
- give people many ways to get somewhere, not collector roads
- parking should be situated behind offices, or on-street for retail (supplemented by parking lots behind if necessary)
- integrate affordable housing in many small doses; make it look normal
- affordable housing allows for income diversity; don’t segregate by income or you’ll need to import workers for lower wage work
See for yourself: Video lectures.  Jan Gehl, father of "Copenhagenization." No cars allowed, please. |  Copenhagen | Jan Gehl is famous for his focus on “People Scale,” and is largely responsibly for the vanguard urban design of global livability hotspot, Copenhagen, Denmark. In order to determine the best urban formula for vibrant street life and economic activity, Gehl uses a quantitative data-driven analysis to see how people interact with particular features of the built environment. Number crunching on pedestrian traffic allows for rebuilding on a human scale, which he calls Reconquest – the reclamation of urban spaces from the dominion of the automobile. Copenhagenization happens incrementally, with improvements driven by data on how people like to use space. The process focuses on expanding pedestrian and cyclist options for transportation and providing abundant outdoor seating and public spaces. Vehicle traffic is moved to the periphery and the square becomes a vital space for cultural and political activities, the meeting place, marketplace, and connection space. A secondary network of ‘pedestrian-priority’ streets is available where cars are allowed but they have to drive slow and yield to people on foot and bicycle Notes: - Inspired the work of Janette Sadik-Khan in New York City
- Public spaces are seen as essential for democracy, humanism, and green livability
- Gehl advises to always make spaces smaller than you think you need. He thinks scaling down and making places close and intense works out best. “If in doubt, leave some meters out.”
Sources: Chris Turner's, The Leap & This Video  Larry Beasley, who expanded high-density, mixed-use in what is often referred to as "Vancouverism." |  Vancouver | While Vancouverism cannot be applied and simulated everywhere, it demonstrates the values that Larry Beasley seeks in an urban setting. Beasley considers density, diversity, and citizen engagement essential to planning, but only the first step. His success is largely attributed to seeing the inhabitants of a city as consumers of the city, not just stakeholders. This led him to the practice of " experiential planning: fostering dialogue between citizens and planners in order to understand the desired living conditions of a city." Experiential planning means that streets, buildings, public spaces, and neighbourhoods are designed with an intense focus on how they would feel to the average citizen experiencing them block by block. Acknowledging the culturally specific needs of cities around the world, the outcomes will no doubt vary from Vancouverism, but Beasley’s claim to fame was the transformation of downtown Vancouver into a mecca of condos and density. Here are some of the features exhibited in Vancouver: - high-rise and high density,
- dominance of podium and tower buildings (thin glass high-rises with a view corridor to the coast, sitting on medium-height platforms with mixed uses at street level)
- incorporates the principles of Jane Jacobs and New Urbanism to an extent
- high amenity, with parks, waterfront walkways, school sites
- vibrant urbanism at the street level
- using increased density to finance amenity
- enticing to families with children and a younger, creative class
- a city where you can do everything
- high downtown residential population reduces need for expressways heading out of the city.
- high dependence on public transportation.
- ideally, everything of importance (grocery stores, schools and places of employment) is within the citizen’s walking distance
Additional sources: " Larry Beasley's Simple Plan"
 4'x4' raised bed by Young Urban Farmers I came home to my parents’ place in London, Ontario for Easter. My younger brother is fortunately at home while he does his BSc degree, and shares my passion for plants and trees. Even better, he’s a much more capable gardener/handyman than myself. We have made it our project this year to install a raised bed garden inspired by the plots by Young Urban Farmers in Toronto. My brother had the idea of chasing full sun and placing our new garden in the centre of the front yard, seamlessly connected to my mom’s beautiful flowerbeds. I loved the idea immediately for the double-take factor. People are simply not used to food gardens in front yards. I think it would cause a lot of pedestrians to walk by and wonder why they are even surprised to see food growing in public sight. Then, we upped the ante. Not only do we want to shock people with an aesthetically faultless front yard garden, but we want to put a sign above it that says, “Help yourself! Seriously, free produce.”
 Aaron (my brother), Rufus (the dog) and I plotted it out this afternoon. We’ll be planting all sorts of leafy goodies and enticing snacks for anyone to make use of. The raised bed will be a live salad bar with a variety of herbs and leafy greens to indulge in, and we’ll use cherry tomatoes, jalepeños, and snap peas to draw people over. We may even have a take-a-bag-leave-a-bag system pinned to the pine tree next to the plot so that passersby can pack a salad and carry it home. Each plant will have an instructive label staked next to it and we’ll include additional placards about the value of bees and butterflies.
On the surface, this is a cute, friendly project like many others my brother and I have undertaken over the years. We’ll have a laugh and get some splinters and be proud of our creation. On a deeper level, we are making a statement about space. There is way too much private space in our neighbourhood that serves no purpose except to isolate us from each other. No one seems to use their front yards, except to spend valuable time mowing and valuable water sprinkling. We’re sick of that. We want to create space in our yard that benefits everyone; space that is growing useful plants and implicit relationships. There are always people walking the block with their dogs, and now they’ll know our house and our family as the one that gives them parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Maybe one day they’ll see someone out there tending the sharing garden and they’ll strike up a conversation, probably about the nature of front yards and neighbourly interaction, and then we’ll all be friends. I think that’s great.
I’ll post pictures and progress next time I’m in London. Here goes nothing!
Note: I cleaned up this piece for an opinion publication - too many words. Since the original posting (I wrote this within a couple days of the video launch), many additions to the story have transpired in the news. I think it's pretty clear that Ugandans and scholars alike are not a fan of the campaign (I can see why - the whole "I want to be like you when I grow up, Daddy," even made me throw up in my mouth a bit and I'm a sucker for cute kids). I'm still convinced that a more complicated message would not have gone far if we're talking about raising awareness though. In fact, the huge controversy of Kony 2012 and the factual inaccuracies of the video are responsible for the spotlight on more educated and experienced voices. The question I'm now grappling with is how valuable is awareness if it's based in untruth and promotes a particular worldview in which only the privileged are capable of problem solving? If we started out with a societal soup of 1 part informed, 2 parts misguidedly aware, and 7 parts unaware, and Kony 2012 boiled it down to 3 parts informed, 5 parts misguidedly aware, and 2 parts unaware, is that a better soup?
I'm still skeptical that this will be a more harm than good scenario, but who am I to say? Regardless, I think this campaign and the surrounding discourse definitely presents an interesting discussion about psychology and the nature of mobilizing. YouTube has proven itself a key player in civil society outreach and it comes with its own book of rules, as do other social media. I've been personally thankful for this campaign in the most selfish of ways because it has challenged me to reconsider the role of social media in my own efforts.
This campaign also exemplifies why I've spent the past four years localizing my focus. I've got more authority on Canadian issues as a Canadian who has lived in and passively studied Canada for 22 years than I've got authority on Congolese issues as someone with a good heart who's read a bit and feels guilty about the device I'm writing this on. I hope we can continue to learn together, and at the same time get our hands dirty at home. I think we more or less know what needs to be done here. Maybe it starts with a garden for you, and involvement in collective efforts to restore our democracy and the dignity of politics in this pretty ol' place.
Thanks for being here,
G
 No doubt, you've likely seen or heard of the #stopKony campaign. Briefly, this is a campaign by the popular advocacy group, Invisible Children, to stop Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is an extremely violent rebel military force active in parts of central Africa, infamous for the use of child soldiers, abducted from their families. This week, the Internet experienced an explosion of support for the Kony 2012 campaign, which was immediately met by a loud group of critics who point out quite rightly that this is a gross simplification of a complex issue, and perhaps more questionably that the organizers of the campaign are lacking the critical thinking or tact that one would hope for. I can't speak with any level of authority on the LRA’s present activity. Instead, I'd like to offer some perspective on the controversy of the campaign. Studying international development for four years at school has made me the anti-expert on any issue of crisis abroad - it has taught me that I should never assume that I know how the chips fall or should be the one to draft solutions.
I'm writing some story-based work on suburbia and I often feel like I'm extremely boring and verbose. I'm hoping that there are a few people out there who also grew up in the suburbs that can read it over to let me know if these are shared experiences. Also, I'm not expecting to write the Odyssey or anything, but I'd love feedback on how engaging it is to read.
Here's a working draft of what is probably the Preface to a short ebook/blog series. Before you can say, "HOLY FOOTNOTES," let me just pre-empt that with an, "I know."
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What I don't know, and would love to know is: - if my story bears any resemblance to yours (if so, which parts hit home?)
- how engaging or painfully boring it is to read (please be honest - I can take it)
- equally important, if you think your mom and dad would want to read it.
Thank you very much! I hope we can have a great discussion in the comments below. Gracen
 How the pros decide on local vs. organic and some sweet memories of real food to get you through the winter. Note: I did not write this. It's a Healthy Butcher Newsletter. The original can be found here. A Guide to Ontario’s Growing Season and The Dilemma We Face When Choosing Local versus Organic
Before we embarked into the world of produce retailing, we sat down and came up with a seemingly simple three-pronged priority system to ensure the produce we were going to sell met The Healthy Butcher’s underlying principles. These principles were: (1) Locally-grown and organically-grown and in-season; (2) Locally-grown and in-season; and (3) organically grown. The first principle is easy – if a tomato is grown locally, is Certified Organic, and in-season – it will take priority over any other tomato. But notice the difference between (2) and (3). We made the sweeping decision at the time to prioritize locally-grown, seasonal produce over imported, organically-grown. After all, we thought, we’re at the forefront of thelocalvore movement and surely the health of our local economy and the carbon footprint involved in transportation must outweigh other benefits of organic production. Within less than two months of opening, our first test arrived with the strawberry season – and we decided against following our original principles.
I received this as a very long, pure text email. I subscribe to the DSF, so I'm accustomed to seeing the name in my inbox. I read this message start to finish on my lunch break without knowing that it was authored by the man himself. I could feel my surprise as I hung in there for three-four paragraphs - see, it's rare to find a blast-email that you want to read in its entirety. It will be a very sad day when we lose David Suzuki. Here's my favourite part:  But Canada is much more than its federal government. And our economy is much more than just the oil industry. Canada is you and me and provincial and municipal government leaders. It is businesspeople and union members and retired people and children. It is all of us. And we are making a difference. Some provincial governments have implemented plans to reduce emissions, spur economic activity in the green energy sector and slow climate change. B.C. and Quebec have implemented carbon taxes, Quebec is planning to cap and reduce industrial emissions, and Ontario has its Green Energy Act, a game-changing piece of legislation. Some municipal governments are taking climate change seriously, too. Vancouver's Greenest City Action Plan includes policies to increase the number of people who cycle or use transit rather than cars and to make homes and buildings more energy efficient. - David Suzuki, Kyoto and Canada — we are better than this
The last thing my Grandpa McRae (greatest guy) asked me before he passed away was, “So Gracen, what’s the next project?” Long ago, he and my grandma were at the University of Guelph as well. From what I gather, the two of them got into a fair bit of constructive mischief in their day. As such, he always delighted in my stories from school - my big projects and general ruckus. He was a tall man with huge farmer’s hands even in his last days at the hospital, and he mustered a smile as he asked me, “What’s next, Gracen?”
To my family, friends, and mentors... Thank you for making all of my previous ‘projects’ possible; for trekking to Ottawa, for being filmed in your underwear, for coming to events and inviting me to yours, for vote mobbing and facebook sharing, and for keeping my head out of the mud when things are sucky. I promise you, I’ve got more in store. It may entail quiet years of dedication (the quietness is the only questionable bit there - dedication is a given) and a paucity of glamourous media coverage. It’s going to be really super though.
This Friday, I'll be on The Agenda to discuss all the single ladies, an article you would love to take an evening to read ;) I've had quite a few exchanges with girlfriends and the boyfriend about this piece since first stumbling across it (thank you Jamie Biggar via Facebook), but there is so much to unpack here that I could probably posit and ponder until I'm old and grey. I want to make sure that my friends and unknown readers (you really do flatter me) can plug their two cents into this conversation, so please share your thoughts or questions both before and after the show. I'll be representing a younger generation of ladies, and I know very well that my insight is not nearly as robust as ours collectively. If you wish to contact me privately with your ideas, click this magic blue link.
Not so long ago, I wrote the following article, just published on CanYouth, a great collaborative youth blog started by some impressive high school students in the GTA.
 Don’t let your parents see you reading this article. Get ready to swiftly cover it with something less suspicious, like Facebook. You won’t find bad words or scantily clad people – just an idea that may seem frightening to them. The world’s a frightening place for a young folks these days though, which is why this may strike a chord.
I’m 22 years old and have been multitasking enough during my undergrad degree to prolong it an extra year. However, I have many friends that are graduated and excited to be off to the races. I’m also now exposed to circles of friends who are in or out of grad school to provide an extra layer of insight. From what I gather, it’s awfully tough to get the job you thought you’d get. A Bachelor’s degree isn’t a foot in the door. Even a Master’s doesn’t necessarily translate into job security. If you aspire to be employed somewhere that doesn’t feel like a waste of your talent, start buffing up on your skills and contacts.
Here’s the frightening part that might make your parents uncomfortable: with the exception of skills-based or co-op programs, good luck finding those in school.
Before moving forward, I want to make crystal clear that I don’t advocate abandoning school. Post-secondary education (college, university, apprenticeships, etc. – anything that challenges you and enables you to contribute in a more meaningful way) is incredibly valuable and important to the health of Canadian society. Stay in school. Just don’t think that school is enough. Consider the ways that you can increase your value as a citizen of this country outside of the classroom. Continued on CanYouth
My message would be the same today - live a little outside of the classroom - however, I'm fortunate to have a recent reminder of the level of confusion, discomfort, and excitement that brings to standard decision making. Experimentation makes it very difficult to stick to your guns, unless your guns are intuition.
I owe the world an update, and since this is an easy way to broadcast to those who have not heard in person...
A few weeks ago, I decided to move on from Tradyo for a suite of personal ambitions that amounted to a very loving and supportive departure from the core team and a return to the drawing board. The question of the month is, how can I be most effective at solving the problems that keep me up at night.
Well, I'm seriously hung up over climate change and how that relates to unsustainable food regimes, dysfunctional urban and suburban spaces, and the cultural factors that overlay everything. The confusing, uncomfortable, exciting part is understanding what to do about this when my experiences are pulling me in different directions.
I want to change the functional design of under-performing or unsustainable cities everywhere and in order to do that, I need to be someone who knows what is up. That said, I'm preparing myself for an intensive graduate degree in urban studies+ in the future. With an addiction to entrepreneurship, I trust this will turn into something very interesting.
I can't WAIT for the places we live to be way better!
How to prepare is the fun part. Right now, I'm in Toronto researching, studying, and planning an undergrad thesis on urban agriculture to wrap up my degree from Guelph. At the same time, I'm seeking opportunities that force me to learn a lot and allow me to survive in Toronto. I'm attracted to research positions and project management, but anything is fair game. Give me a heads up if you've got something in mind! We all know I'm open to detours.
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