Editors pick: What a difference a river makes with mayors

Mayor Dave Bing has appealed to Detroit’s suburban neighbors to work with his administration and help pull his struggling, near-bankrupt city from its financial mire for the good of the region.

The scaling down of a once bright city begins

Detroit –Mayor Dave Bing and a majority of City Council members are on board with the concept of downsizing the city to save it and may soon move closer to choosing which neighborhoods to target for help at the expense of others.

A first step in the controversial process began this week, when Bing was briefed on a block-by-block study of conditions in the city’s 133 square miles. Surveyors for the “Detroit Parcel Study” drove every street and logged details about every house, 350,000 parcels.

You could be farming around James Bay someday soon

The southern limit of permanently frozen ground has receded 80 miles north in the past 50 years in Canada—suggesting thatpermafrost in the James Bay region will completely disappear in the near future.

Sharing the road

The number of drivers turning to car sharing is forecast to grow eightfold by 2016 and a report says automakers should be worried

We pay huge price for stretching urban boundary

Ottawa councillors should not let the lure of development fees or the threat of legal action deter them from doing what is right for our city. It is irresponsible for the City of Ottawa to consider expanding the urban boundary at this time and there is no provincial requirement to do so. We are already seeing the consequences of uncontrolled growth and urban sprawl as our roads, sewers, and transit have reached capacity and our taxes no longer cover the city’s operating costs.

The Urban Destruction Caused by Parking

More! That’s the scream of merchants and others who believe that a downtown without an endless sea of parking is not worth going to. But once the whole downtown turns into a parking lot it’s not really worth much anymore, is it? Yet we still see the discussion of parking dominate without an eye for the destruction that it can cause a downtown if left unfettered.

Canada gives away the store in return for scraps from U.S.

The agreement gives Canada fleeting access to a sliver of the U.S. stimulus package. Canadian businesses will get to compete for no more than $4 billion to $5 billion (U.S.) worth of projects, amounting to less than 2 per cent of the $275 billion of procurement funded under the U.S. Recovery Act. The rest falls outside the scope of this deal.

Give Hamilton light rail, transit body told

Metrolinx should “dream big” for Hamilton and “bite the bullet” on light rail transit, a renowned urban expert told his colleagues on the transit agency’s board yesterday.

“This is one of the most important decisions for Hamilton in a generation,” said Paul Bedford, retired chief planner for Toronto

City of Seoul Transforms Freeway Into a River (Video)

Long ago in Seoul, South Korea city planners paved right over a natural stream to put in a road. It stayed that way for decades, becoming a freeway and adding to the traffic congestion in the burgeoning metropolis. But Fast Company reports that recently, city officials decided to return the road to its natural roots. Here’s FC’s video of how, and why, they transformed the freeway back into a stream

Metro Matters Podcast Episode 1

For the inaugural edition of Metro Matters, Next American City’s Editor in Chief, Diana Lind, talks with Alan Berube of theBrookings Institution about the Great Recession. Which cities have recovered best from the economic downturn? What’s next for the urban economy? And what should President Obama do to help out hurting metros?

Street Lamps Powered by Garbage

A cool new design concept marries composting with clean energy:  garbage-powered street lamps.  The Gaon Street Light from designer Haneum Lee keeps food waste out of landfills while keeping streets illuminated.

Imagine you keeping the street light operating in front of your house, with you compostable garbage

Green Revolution May Have Done More Harm Than Good…

Free trade, loss of support systems crippling food production in Africa

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite good intentions, the push to privatize government functions and insistence upon “free trade” that is too often unfair has caused declining food production, increased poverty and a hunger crisis for millions of people in many African nations, researchers conclude in a new study.

AMERICA’S EUROPEAN DREAM

But things are also dicey in some of the core European powers, notably Great Britain, which has soaring debt, high unemployment and very slow growth. Even solvent economies like France, the Netherlands and the continental superpower, Germany, have fallen short of expectations and are expected to experience meager growth for the rest of the year.

Europe’s poor performance undermines the widespread view held by left-leaning American pundits, policy wonks and academics about Europe’s supposedly superior model. This Euro-philia has a long history, going back at least to the Tories during the Revolution. In better times America usually moves beyond European norms instead of retreating to its cultural mother.

‘Walkability’ worth incorporating into Owen Sound’s re-branding

Much of what I am studying documents the huge uphill battle ahead of communities with low density sprawl. So entrenched is the automobile in that way of life, the work of making suburbia appealing for pedestrians seems insurmountable. It may seem sad that Owen Sound hasn’t had tremendous sprawling growth the way that Barrie or Brampton has, but I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that unlike most of Southern Ontario we won’t be spending the next 30 years trying to undo the physical damage.

‘Finally things are looking up’ for Windsor-Essex County, survey says

WINDSOR, Ont. — Windsor and Essex County business leaders are far more optimistic about the future than they were a year ago, according to a survey released Thursday.

The fourth annual Pulse of the Region Economic Confidence Survey found 37.7 per cent of business owners and executives were optimistic about the prospects for the local economy in 2010. Only 12.7 per cent felt that way going into 2009, according to the survey done by the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business.

Green power sounds good until you calculate the cost

The McGuinty government is spending Ontario’s electricity revenue to encourage investments in wind and solar green power generation – with no benefit to the system or to the customer.

Big corporate investors in wind farms and, maybe, solar farms will reap rich rewards for 20 years while the customer pays higher and higher prices for electrical energy.

London eyes own multimillion-dollar recycling facility

A state-of-the-art regional recycling centre capable of handling 40,000 tonnes a year is ready and willing to accept London’s recyclables, its president says — but London is instead on the verge of building a citywide facility.

Hamilton chosen as site for megabakery

Hamilton will be the new home of a multimillion-dollar megabakery, officials announced this afternoon.

Canada Bread Co. has purchased a parcel of land in the former North Glanbrook Industrial Park, now called the Red Hill Business Park, to build the country’s largest bakery. The move is expected to bring 300 new jobs to Hamilton, as well as an extra 120 jobs during construction.

Guide To Charging For Parking

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