Across the Spacing Blog Network today we are asking our readers in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Otttawa, and the Atlantic cities to let us know which work of local public art is your favourite (feel free to name more than one). We want to hear back from our readers on what they like/dislike about our shared public spaces so we plan to run this feature with regularity. If possible, please provide a link to a photo you are commenting about. We suggest using Flickr as the photographers ...

SFpark Overview from SFpark on Vimeo. I know I'm stating the obvious when I say this: parking a vehicle downtown, in Ottawa or any city, can be a challenge if not entirely frustrating. But the parking policies of a city go a long way in determining how a city is experienced at street level. For instance, the city of Prince George, BC has nearly 50% of its entire downtown area covered in parking lots. The downtown of many Canadian cities ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Spacing Atlantic editor Emma Feltes revisits her article from Spacing's 18th issue, 'Oh, The Spectacle' on the newly developed Seaport Farmers' Market building in Halifax. Émile Thomas lists the top five books about urban spaces. Including his own recaps of why they're an important read. Spacing's publisher, Matthew Blackett, starts a discussion about the usability of subway maps. In Toronto the map is simple, because there are only 69 stations compared to New York's 486.  Which is why graphic designer Eddie Jabbour wants to redesign New Yorks map — to make it less intimidating. John Lorinc compiled a pros and cons list for both the Presto smartcard and open fare payment systems that are being proposed as fare alternatives for the TTC.

LISTEN TO TODAY'S SUMMER SHORT 017 ON SPACING RADIO You know when you're exploring a city for the first time and you turn a corner only to stumble upon something completely unexpected? This is what happened to Spacing producer Mieke Anderson on a recent trip to London, England. Initially, it was only a faint sound barely within earshot. Then suddenly she was face-to-face with the St Mary-le-Bow Church and consumed by the ringing of its famous bells. Wandering the streets of London you'll still hear ...

In this episode of Spacing Radio — the last of season 3 — our cast of contributors explore the theme of how we get around cities. First up are a handful of clips from Jane's Walk, the yearly festival of walking tours in Toronto and over 60 other cities across North America. Then Spacing magazine's senior editor Shawn Micallef takes listeners to Yorkville to discuss the ethos behind his new book Stroll. Our new reporter Katie Harris examines the impact the ...

Spacing is happy to announce that the summer-fall 2009 issue of the magazine was nominated for Best Single Issue by the National Magazine Awards. This is the second year in a row that we've been nominated in this category. Many thanks to our cast of contributors who made this one of the 10 best issues in Canadian magazines in 2009. We'll find out June 4th just how good of an issue it was.

On this episode of Spacing Radio producer Mieke Andersen takes you on a walk with Cindy Rozeboom through the east end of Toronto, along the Danforth, to explore the potential of empty storefronts. In other cities, street food is a major component of public life, but in Toronto food vendors don't seem to get any respect from city hall, BIAs, and urban designers — reporter Pattie Phillips talks to Marianne Moroney of Toronto's Street Food Vendors Association. The release of the new book "Rediscovering the Wealth ...

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Spacing's Sean Marshall follows up a piece in the latest edition of the magazine, talking about Toronto's ubiquitous "12-8-8" yellow traffic lights and their negative aesthetic affects on the city's urban landscape.  Pointing to examples of how lights are designed in other cities and even in some special areas throughout the GTA, Marshall discusses how to improve the aesthetic value of traffic signal while working with safety requirements and the Ontario Traffic Manual. As part of the ongoing building stories exhibit at the Gladstone Hotel, David Wencer uses the old Canada Linseed Oil Mills building, abandoned since the late sixties, as a window into exploring the industrial history of the area along the CPR lines and into how the area has regenerated. While the site beside the building has been turned into a Park, the building itself remains fenced off, despite having been purchased by the city in 2000. Local residents hope to tap the building's potential to become a dynamic community space. Alanah Heffez provides some background on the work of contributer Andrew Emond who along with Michael Cook was arrested this week while exploring the Garrison Creek sewer in Toronto. Emond has been featured on Spacing, amongst other media outlets, for his fascinating work on mapping and photographing some of the spectacular, yet unsung infrastructure at work beneath Montreal. Inspired by thinking about other people view the same area of a city guest contributer Daniel Rotszain recalls the experience of walking through the Mile End neighbourhood with his father. To his surprise his father saw the neighbourhood not as the height of urbanity many consider today but as the inadequate slum it was to a generation of immigrants yearning for something better that it was during his father's childhood. As part of the ongoing 'Spokes People' series, contributer Steve Bedard discusses the importance of building Halifax's crosstown connector bike lane from the perspective of someone with an education in nursing and has seen many of the increasing health ailments affecting people as a result of inactive transportation. Inspired by the way many European cities integrate their historic monuments into the modern city to maintain functionality, Jake Schabas takes a look at Halifax's Citadel Hill and the potential to do some modernization on the site to make it less removed from the city.