By Marcus Bowman, cross-posted from Spacing Toronto

An unprecedented collaborative report mapping the concentration of artists in Canadian cities was released last month. The study was a result of the collective effort of the cultural departments of the cities of Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Published by Hill Strategies, and based on data from the 2006 census, the report paints a fascinating picture into the make-up of Canada's artistic and creative communities.

Each city  has its own trends in the way its artistic and creative communities have located. Vancouver had the highest overall percent of artists at 2.3% but has its artistic community spread widely throughout the city. Toronto has by far the largest artistic community; it is home to one in six Canadian artists. Toronto has also seen its artistic neighbourhoods shift slightly since to 2001 to different areas of concentration. Montreal has perhaps the most densely located artistic community and is home to three of the country's top five artistic employment postal codes. The Montreal neighbourhood of the H2T postal code (northward from avenue du Mont-Royal to avenue Van Horne between St-Denis and Jeanne-Mance) is the most artistic in Canada with artists accounting for 7.8% of its workers, ten…

Between Tonya Davidson's post on the Centennial year and the above video of Ottawa's old streetcar system, it seems it is History Week here at Spacing Ottawa. It was Eric Darwin from West Side Action that first drew our attention to this amazing colour video, mostly shot in the late 1950s, of streetcars plying Ottawa's roads and avenues. The segments are haphazardly joined together, but as you'll see, the route took the cars through Confederation square, along Sparks Street, past LaBreton Flats -- and the old Brading's Brewery -- before swinging through Hintonburg and then the long run west to Britannia Park along the Byron tramway.

Here's an excerpt from "Headlights" the long-out-of-print journal of something called the "Electric Railroaders Association", as cited by Anthony Clegg:

Present services in Ottawa consist of seven rail lines and three bus routes. Fares in the city are four for 25 cents with transfer privileges, an additional five cents being charged on the four-mile private right-of-way line to Britannia Park. On a pleasant Sunday afternoon in summer it is not uncommon to see two-minute service on this route, carrying throngs of picnickers to the park, which is owned and operated by the street railway.

Of interest also is…

This episode of Spacing Radio is all about rules. In support of Spacing magazine's upcoming issue, our contributors examine the dos and don'ts of the city. Host David Michael Lamb talks to publisher Matthew Blackett about how millions of Canadians were given permission to break all traffic laws when Sidney Crosby scored the overtime winner at the Winter Olympics. Monika Warzecha examines the drinking laws of Halifax and why the city is afraid to close downtown streets. And producer Mieke Anderson visits the Toronto Police Services to get to the bottom of noise complaints.

Did Montréal get the best Centennial legacy of them all?

1967 was a good year— the “last good year” according to Pierre Berton. Canada’s centennial sparked centennial-project craze across the country.

I first started to think about the lingering legacies of Centennial celebrations on a visit to St. Paul, Alberta. I was on a little road trip checking out ‘big things on the side of the road’ and stopped in St. Paul to visit the town’s UFO landing pad. Reading the accompanying plaque I discovered that the UFO landing pad was a centennial project. For the citizens of this Albertan town, welcoming out-of-planet visitors was the perfect way to celebrate Canada’s birthday and Canadian hospitality. While countless arenas, community centers and parks were built in honour of the Centennial, Berton outlines other more extraordinary celebratory acts. Men grew ‘centennial beards,’ one man attempted (unsuccessfully) to lead a dog team from Tuktoyaktuk to Edmonton, and a team of paddlers embarked on a canoe trip/ race following the historic route of the Voyageurs from the North Saskatchewan River to Montreal, all in celebration of the nation’s birthday. Berton also noted this more anarchist style ‘centennial project’: “It almost seemed that every man and woman in…

Every Saturday, we highlight recent posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.

• Growing customer dissatisfaction with the with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and the looming municipal election have led to earnest conversations on how the fledgling city agency can be overhauled. One idea on the table is to integrate the TTC into the larger regional transit organization Metrolinx. Spacing Toronto hosts a debate between contributors and transit experts, John Lorinc and Steve Munro, on the pros and cons of uploading the TTC.

• Toronto is one step closer to its first civic museum with the launch of a new website "The Toronto Museum Project". Marcus Browmen takes us through what the online museum has to offer and why its helping to create a collective "civic consciousness".

• Spacing Atlantic's Andrew Matheson explores what's at stake in Saint John's plan to redevelop the western edge of the city's Rockwood Park: one of St. John's most important public amenities and among the largest urban parks in Canada.

• Widely considered a blight on the urban landscape and a "quintessential example of bad development", Halifax's Fenwick Tower is getting an overhaul. Templeton Properties, the new owners of the 33-storey, 40-year-old unfinished tower…

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• Planning a bike trip using Google Maps is about to get much easier as the company is set to launch a new bike trip planner service in 150 US cities. According to the Chicago Tribune, the new service will provide cyclists with step-by-step biking directions that "factor in the length of the trip, changes in elevation and even fatigue".

• Is Japan's pictorial green "Running Man" sign more intuitive then North America's lettered red "Exit" sign? In an ongoing series on signage, Slate Magazine weighs in on the international debate over the Exit Sign.

• The Guardian UK hosts a slide show of inventive ways artists and designers have re-imagined the bicycle.

• The Infrastructist Blog details the 10 most expensive transit project of the last decade, including San Juan's 10.7-mile-$2.63 billion rapid transit Tren Urbano line.

• A photo essay on Foreign Policy looks at China's unlikely "golf boom" and the social and…

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Listening to the repetitive clanging of machines boring through bedrock it can seem that the condo developments along Richmond and Wellington Roads are never-ending. But along with the noise and dust, urban infill can also mean exciting possibilities, and can be used as a creative opportunity for changes within a community. Most recently, development options are being proposed for the Soeurs de la Visitation convent at 114 Richmond Road. This large, cloistered, very green looking area stretches from Richmond Road to Byron Avenue and is a mystery to local residents who have only air photos and glances at buildings and hundred year old trees to identify the heritage and natural value of the site. Immediately adjacent to the site is Hilson Public School with its treeless schoolyard separated from busy Richmond Road by a chain link fence. These two properties, side by side, green space and concrete. According to the current proposal the green space will be developed and the concrete will continue to be a children’s playground. Imagine if this could be different.

Ashcroft is proposing a multi-building development on the convent land and is currently in the phase of seeking community input and support for the project. A…

Reserved seating: commitment-phobes only?

Ottawa is a change-averse city. Or is it our elected leaders who are holding back change? Our current city council has been dragging their heals on fundamental debates and decisions about transit, infrastructure, and urban development for over a decade.

This on-again, off-again relationship with decision making has turned city council into the cliched commitment-phobic boyfriend. Just as you’re sure council is about to propose a great solution, one of them steps in to break up the near-deal and send debate careening off into committee hell for another six months.

When asked if we want change, citizens in Ottawa respond with a resounding “yes!” Until, that is, it’s time to actually vote. Then we return our incumbents to their squabbling and bickering.

Issue redux and retread

A common refrain in Ottawa politics is, “haven’t we dealt with this before?” And, while true that many political debates run in cycles, the issues we are debating at the municipal level in Ottawa are so fundamental that they deserve a council ready to lead us towards solutions, not return us to deliberation. These debates aren’t new to Ottawa. The big issues at play, like transit, taxes, and trash, aren’t even unique to our city.…

Spacing Saturday is a new feature that highlights posts from across Spacing's blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Spacing Saturday replaces the weekly features Montreal Monday and Toronto Tuesday.

• Spacing Montreal’s Adam Bemma has produced an informative mini-doc on a contentious Montreal proposal that would see a bus corridor run through the city’s historic Griffintown neighborhood. Check out Spacing Montreal for the fascinating video where Bemma speaks with engineer and Griffintown property owner, Sami Hakimand , and L'Université du Québec à Montréal urban planning professor, David Hanna.

• An upcoming community forum will bring together Montreal residents and eight different city organizations to discuss options for Greening the Plateau. The ideas generated at the conference will then "be directed to the [Plateau Mont-Royal] borough council and the newly created Advisory Committee on Greening".

• The winner of Spacing Atlantic's "Best and Worst of Bike Parking in the HRM for 2009" poll have been announced. Check out Spacing Atlantic to see what made the cut and why.

• The Halifax Regional Municipality's Governance and District Boundary Review, slated to be completed by December 2010, aims to assess the Halifax Regional Municipality's (HRM) municipal structure and propose changes for the future. Spacing Atlantic's Emma Felts looks into the…