Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. What does your choice of favourite buildings say about your personality? Continuing to digest the results from the reader survey of the best of Montreal, Spacing contributor Justin Boulanger speculates about the personal traits of the readers of who selected the top three favourite buildings and laments that the Sci-Fi nerds were not organized enough to get Olympic Stadium onto the podium. In a landmark public space ruling the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled this week that the City of Montreal's anti-postering bylaw is unconstitutional. Christopher DeWolf reports on the story of how the law was challenged and speculates what the city will do to accommodate postering in the future. The post also includes a fantastic gallery of posters from around the city. As part of the Ideas for Toronto series Adrian Lightstone brings up the issue of using referendums to gauge public support for new revenue tools for transit funding. Citing that referendums having fallen out of style in Canada, Lighstone points out they are frequently used in American cities and other places around the world and have even been used in Toronto. Mayoral Candidate George Smitherman walked Eglinton Ave all the way across Toronto this week suggesting his interest in urban walkability. Spacing's Todd Harrison caught with him during part of his walk for a discussion about how he would promote walkability as Mayor and put the discussion on Spacing Radio. On the transit file, the weekly Monday Musings column this week generated discussion on how the proposed service cuts to bus routes around Halifax will affect the city. Additionally, Lauren Oostveen delves into the Halifax archives to look at the city's public transit history. Spacing Atlantic is launching a photo contest challenging readers to encapsulate their city in a single photograph. Read more about the specific criteria and how to enter.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Veronica Simmonds profiles a fascinating public space art project taking place this month in the Halifax Common. The Common: For as Long as You Have So Far takes its participants on a personal journey through the natural history of the area using a fictional story about one's ancestors and future decedents. Steve Bedard reports from Halifax on the troubles facing a proposal to build new infrastructure for active transportation on a short stretch of Herring Cove Road. As usual, the opposition is coming from local businesses who view the plan as potentially harmful to their business. Despite being a wonderfully vibrant and lively area at all times of day, Downtown Montreal is a place lacking in the sense of community amongst its residents found in many other parts of the city. Devin Alfaro reports on the Quartier en mouvement street festival, a coordinated effort to change the change the situation by hosting a block party on a closed off street during select days in July. Results are now being posted for the Montreal Top Spots Survey which asked Spacing readers about their favourite things in Montreal. This week Spacing published the results for the best of the city and for best of municipal politics. While the year 2010 hasn't left us with the moon bases we were once promised, at least we are finally starting to make progress on Jetson's style Personal Rapid Transit. Adrian Lightstone continues the Ideas For Toronto series by looking at a PRT pilot project which is about to begin in Stockholm, Sweden and points to how the transit mode could become an efficient and feasible feeder for higher orders of transit. It all begs the question of where this could work in Canadian cities. As Toronto moves forward from the G20 summit, tempers and emotions are cooling enough so that practical questions can move to the forefront. In his weekly column, John Lorinc creates a list of 1o questions a G20 inquiry should address. With his characteristic pragmatism, Lorinc focuses on issues of how the police policy was established, who was behind it, and what grounds it was established.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. In Halifax, Katie McKay shows how the public space of the Halifax Common was recently utilized to host the largest Pow Wow ever held in Atlantic Canada. Rachel Carolin Derrah profiles the Neighbourhood Earth Project launching this summer in parks throughout the North End of Halifax. The project aims to educate about local landscapes and urban ecology. Alanah Heffez talks to skateboarders in Montreal's Peace park about their perspective on the uses of public space and the failure of the city to address the needs of a significant and active community. Devin Alfaro talks about famous urban thinker Jane Jacob's lesser publicized opinions on the issue of Quebec sovereignty. Contrary to what you may expect, Jacobs considered sovereignty a practical idea when viewed objectively. As politicians continue to ignore demands for an independent inquiry into the failures of the police at last weekend's G20 Summit, Spacing played host to a number of attempts to bring some sense about how the legacy of the G20 weekend will forever change Toronto. Jonathon Goldsbie is scathingly critical of Mayor Miller's complicit response. Matt Blackett discussed the most important questions to be asking in the wake of the incidents. Dale Duncan reflects on the need to question police tactics on large event crowd control. Emma Feltes talks about how police used features of the public space against the populace. In the immediate aftermath of the weekend, Spacing also featured excellent reports and unique perspectives on what happened on the city's streets. Matt Blackett highlights some of the most powerful footage of the protests while Nicole McIsaac shared observations from a weekend amongst the protests, and reported on the mood of the street following the weekend.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. From the Rock, Andrew Harvey writes about the cycling culture in Canada's eastern most city: St John's. In a city, where cycling is currently a character building endeavour, the city hall is pushing forward with a scaled back, yet still promising bike lane infrastructure plan. In light of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission's new campaign to get people telling stories of their experiences downtown, Rachel Carolin Derrah writes an excellent piece discussing just what kind of collective story the city is telling about the needs of its downtown for the future. Citizens targeted by a CP Rail security blitz on a well trafficked informal rail crossing between the Mile End and Petite Patrie neighbourhoods are fighting back with a protest and petition. While the petition is calling for a formalized level crossing in the area, many are content with the status quo, minus the $150 fines. In the year 2000 the Quebec Government tasked the municipalities of Greater Montreal to create a coherent land-use strategy for the region, a project that sat in stalemate throughout the decade. In a new bill passed recently,  the Province has sought compromise by lowering expectations and extending the deadline further. Alanah Heffez discusses the troubles and promises of the new move. John Lorinc used his column this week to explore a different aspect of the transit question. Focusing on the issue of Car Sharing, Lorinc criticizes Toronto's sluggish progress thus far. He also illustrates the improvements that candidates should be promising to bring Toronto in line with other North American cities and recognize car sharing as the cost-effective transportation solution that it is. Spacing editor Shawn Micallef launched a new feature this week profiling the work of students from his third year class at the Ontario College of Art and Design. By posting the work on Spacing, Micallef hopes that Spacing readers will challenge the student's and put their ideas to the test.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Taxi's can be unique and identifying feature of a city that play an important part in the street-scape. As Montreal moves towards implementing its bylaw allowing advertisements on Taxis, Alanah Heffez reports on efforts to create an attractive design promoting the city. The new bylaw is also inspiring some grumbling amongst taxi drivers who report some cabs with the new signs have been mistake for pizza delivery cars. Spacing Montreal is inviting readers to take part in its first ever reader survey of favourite parts of the city. Categories focus around civic initiatives, public personalities and hidden corners of the urban fabric. Spacing editor Sean Micallef generated a great discussion this week about taking the cycling movement to the next level in Toronto. In an appeal to cyclists, Micallef advocates that riders acknowledge the political nature of everything they do and that accordingly they must approaching sharing the roadways as part of a sensible dialogue with drivers. Is there an onus on cyclists to promote better behaviour amongst fellow riders? Major changes are coming to Toronto's iconic St Lawrence Market as the winning design was announced this week for the redevelopment of the 1960's era north market building. Spacing's Nicole McIssac covers the announcement and showcases the exciting new plan. As part of an always great events series, Veronica Simmonds profiles World Naked Bike day and public consultation on the Halifax Central Library. The Atlantic Snapshots feature this week focused on another distinctly Atlantic scene, this time in Saint John.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Its election year in a city where both traffic and transit development are gridlocked so mayoral front runner George Smitherman's release of his transportation platform this week inspired critical examination from both John Lorinc and Jonathan Goldsbie. While Lorinc focuses on the political motivations for Smitherman's plan, Goldsbie  looks specifically at the cycling initiatives to see if they hold sway, or a merely paying lip service. On a lighter note, the hording finally came down last weekend on renovations to the historic John Street Roundhouse near the base of the CN Tower. Spacing's Nicole McIsaac visited the new National Railway Heritage Centre built into and around the roundhouse and the public space surrounding it and profiles some its exciting features, including restored steam locomotives, historic buildings and a miniature railroad. Katie McKay reports from Halifax on the success of the May edition of the city's Critical Mass Bike ride which for the first time crossed the MacDonald Bridge over the harbour, closing a lane of traffic in the process. The success of the event was not in obstructing motorists, but in strengthening the breadth of the Halifax cycling community. Spacing contributor and McGill School of Urban Planning researcher, Jacob Larson introduces readers to the issue of integrating cycling into a broader new vision for transportation in North America. Readers are invited to take a survey on multi-modal connections in the Montreal Region. On the Lower Main, Alanah Heffez showcases an interesting temporary fix for the unsightliness of the buildings awaiting revised redevelopment plans involving a graffiti bomb by thirty different artists organized by the Corporation de développement urbain du Faubourg Saint-Laurent and the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. As the Place des festivales nears completion, Montrealers are getting a look at one of the most striking new public spaces in Canada. Spacing's Allanah Heffez reviews the new space bringing up both good and bad about the realized version of the square. Setting the stage for future investments in public space, the council of the Plateau neighbourhood recently announced interesting plans to expand a park in an area lacking in green space by closing off a street that runs beside it. The street has already been closed to car traffic and will be use the space to establish a farmer's market. Steve Bedard promotes the Halifax Open Street Party, happening this weekend in the city's North Commons. The event is hosted by the Halifax Cycling Coalition and The Bike Week Planning Council. In his weekly column, John Lorinc finds some cause for optimism about the future of Transit City despite cries from the Mayor's Office that the province will not carry through with the plan. Lorinc examines the Mayor's claim that the Eglington line will run from Leaside to Forest Hill and contrasts it against the recent actions of Metrolinx and his forecast for the Province's political future. In a call to action Hillary Best advocates the idea of 'Complete Streets' as was discussed during a recent conference held by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation. Best shows that the more we understand the idea of complete streets, the more apparent becomes their necessity to the future vitality of the region.

Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. In the Plateau neighbourhood, recently elected Project Montreal has put forward a new plan to deal with restaurant terraces on area sidewalks. The plan calls for terraces to be moved off of sidewalks and onto the street to improve pedestrian flow. Businesses in the area have taken a number of issues with the plan and threatening to close their terraces all sumer in protest. Allanah Heffez reports on the sombre mood surrounding cyclists in Quebec following the recent tragic deaths of four cyclists on a rural highway. While silent vigil rides dubbed "tour de silence" are taking part across the province police in Montreal have fallen back on the classic blame the victim approach stepping enforcement on cyclists but not motorists. The question of whether or not Toronto is really a world class city has finally been definitively answered. Thursday morning city officials gathered on the Waterfront to unveil Toronto's first public pay toilet, complete with friendly female voice, and soft waterfall music. Nicole McIsaac satisfied her curiosity about the new street furniture with a visit and shares her observations with readers. Moving on from the disappointing failure of the University Ave bike lanes proposal, cycling advocates were out in front of Queen's Park this week to push for intelligent new safety laws requiring drivers to leave at least three feet of space when passing cyclists. The new law could help address the main barrier keeping more people from cycling: safety. Responding to speculation that roundabouts may soon be coming to the streets of Halifax, Steve Bedard gives a ringing endorsement of the plan by reflecting on observations of how well the round arrangement works in Europe. Bedard notes in particular how well the French use roundabouts to manage traffic efficiently and promote shared roadways. As St John kicks off the celebrations of its 225th birthday, Abad Khan reflects on the city's priorities as demonstrated by the two year closure of one its most important pedestrian routes to facilitate bridge construction. Would the city have closed a road as well?