BEFORE / AFTER.

Here's what the school pick-up was like BEFORE at our children's elementary school.

A real rodeo. Lots of near misses. Cars parked in the crosswalks. Distracted drivers pulling up just when hundreds of kids are trying to arrive on foot or by bike.

This June we changed things...

🧵

CanU is excited to invite you to the Opening Reception of the CanU Forum CHA[lle]NGE 2025! Hosted and sponsored by Urban Strategies Inc.!
📅 Wednesday, Oct 15th
⏰ 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
📍 Urban Strategies Inc. (197 Spadina Avenue, 5/F)
🎟️ Open to all
Register now: canuusi2025.eventbrite.ca

Partner with CanU to build a more sustainable & inclusive future. Your sponsorship supports communities across Canada through better urban design. 🔗 canu.ca/sponsorship2025

Cities stand at a crossroads. Will we rise to the challenge—or be overtaken by change?

The CanU Forum 2025 : CHA[lle]NGE
📅 October 16 - 18, 2025
📍 Toronto, ON | Limberlost Place @ George Brown College Waterfront Campus

More info: canu.ca/toronto2025

#urbanism #canadianurbanism #cities

Added to #UrbanismBookClub!

First crossing of Portage and Main.

If you've seen the final designs for 132nd in #Edmonton, you'd know that this will be one of the best redesigned streets in all of Canada thus far. It gets so, so much right. #Ottawa should look to these designs for our own.

I really hope 132nd continues as planned.

www.edmonton.ca/sites/defaul...

If road deaths were a virus, we’d call it a pandemic. Safer transport helps us all – and we need it urgently | Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Jean Todt Deaths on the road costs countries up to 5% of GDP. Centring transport around people, not cars, can propel development

If road deaths were a virus, we’d call it a pandemic. Safer transport helps us all – and we need it urgently | Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Jean Todt

Paris was NOT built like this... it's in process.
Streets in front of schools are unsafe, drivers too fast, pollute classrooms nearby.
Solution? SCHOOL STREETS.

Doable anywhere.
Watch 30 min. video & share. #Cities4Everyone.
Learn from Paris & Barcelona, how & benefits.
bit.ly/4i5yi0c

Cities are not software to be optimized. The most vital parts of urban life, human interactions, spontaneity, and community, don’t "compute" in data-driven models. We lose something essential when we pretend they do.

This used to be a highway with lots of loud polluting cars just driving through Paris. Now, it is a beautiful pedestrian & bike path along the Seine for all to enjoy on the first spring-like day of the year.

#paris #urbanism #15minutecity #pedestrians #bikes

@slowdiveofficial.bsky.social @masseyhall.bsky.social

NEW: Our first CANU Canadian Urbanism Starter Pack! Tell us who we’re missing, and please share to support these urbanists and organizations! #UrbanistShoutOut go.bsky.app/UHPtW3W

CanU board retreat 2025. Lots of big ideas for our 2025 forum in Toronto. Stay tuned for dates and topics.

And if you have ideas for topics, speakers or tours, let us know!

#CanUrbanism #Urbanism #Design #UrbanDesign

Street restaurant seating

Street restaurant seating

Street restaurant seating

Street restaurant seating

Every city that made it easier & quicker for restaurants and cafes to create well-considered outdoor seating on the street outside their business during the pandemic should have used that experience to establish a smart, permanent program, because it made the city better.

Every single city.

Will Americans Ever Lose Their Taste for Telework? The pandemic-era rise of remote work has hammered transit ridership and devastated downtowns. A transportation researcher looks at the long-term effects of our new commutes.

“Prior to the pandemic around 5% of the workforce worked from home as their primary commute. Now it’s probably around 15%, with some regional variation. I’m a little surprised by how high the work-from-home rate has stayed…but I think it will stabilize at a rate not far from where we are now.”

A Blueprint for Better Bike Lanes Over the past decade, protected bike lanes have gone mainstream in US cities. A new traffic engineering guidebook invites them to think even bigger.

NACTO has released an updated version of its Urban Bikeway Design Guide, which aims to help cities build comprehensive, interconnected bike networks that work well with transit systems and boost walking and street safety. I have my copy in hand and will be diving in
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Government announces new law that could drastically change parking lots nationwide — here's what you need to know "From a return on investments perspective, [these] definitely make sense."

The French Government has announced a new law that “could drastically change parking lots nationwide — France is taking a major step toward renewable energy by requiring large parking lots to install solar canopies.”

Less parking, and where you still have it, better use of parking spaces.

An important point on walkability’s perception and actuality in car-oriented vs pedestrian-oriented space. COSs trick us into not realizing the extra walking that we do, with none of the pleasure we get in a truly urban environ. HT to SteelCraft and David E White, FAICP on LI. for the initial post.

CHECK OUT this Canadian Urbanism Starter Pack created by our past/founding @canurbanism.bsky.social President @brenttoderian.bsky.social! Share it, suggest who’s missing, and help grow the #CanadianUrbanism community here on Bluesky! go.bsky.app/QWdmJjk

CanU’s symbol

Hello everyone! The Council for Canadian Urbanism aka CanU @canurbanism.bsky.social is really happy to be part of this INCREDIBLE explosion of city-building conversation here on Bluesky, across Canada and around the world!

SO important! #CanadianUrbanism

NEW: Paris has released a new 5-Year Pedestrian Plan!
- 300 million € to be invested by 2026
- 100 new hectares of pedestrian space
- 100 more “streets for kids”
- New focus on 0 pedestrian deaths #VisionZero
- Longer pedestrian cross times geared to seniors

Leadership.

HT @david_belliard