Pencil Drawing by Helmut Smits. A collection of used coloring pencils arranged in appropriate size order to color in the void of a tree trunk fork. Photo by Malte Oing

Helmut Smits
www.helmutsmits.nl

Amazing things happen when you give streets back to people. Wigglefest in full bloom.

Semi-detached house with pointed arch window on 2nd floor. Right half is original red brick with cream-coloured brick trim; left half has been clad in white horizontal vinyl or metal clapboards.

Another example in Toronto (on Victoria Park near Danforth).

Wild front yard decoration house

Parody historical plaque (probably by @joderoberts.bsky.social )

Garage door Mandalorian

Dinosaur in tree. Part of my #DinoGarden series.

I love self seeding plants. We had a petunia sow itself in a crack in our concrete from a hanging basket on our upstairs neighbors balcony this year.

After a good scramble around the ravines, nothing is better than chilling in a hammock next to creek.

The rains eventually arrived and drove me away.

But in all, life is good.

#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambles #HammockTO #ParksTO

Modern Blake Avenue #murals

Medieval Blake Avenue #murals

Chalkboard reading "Wanted. Patio testers. No experience needed"

Sign of spring!

An alley descends towards a sunlit turn, green overgrowth above and to the right overhang a stone wall.

a tiny detour on the walk to work this morning. little wonders hide just around the corner if you look 🙂

There's good mess, and there's bad mess

This green oasis in the middle of Toronto draws muskrats, minks and more. But it didn’t just happen naturally. Here’s how volunteers made it happen In this green pocket of Toronto, invasive species have been pushed back and pulled out, over years and years, so nature can thrive.

How a grassroots initiative rewilded a portion of the Don Valley www.thestar.com/news/insight...

A Bench on Every Corner... Is More Than Just A Bench A bench is not just a bench. What happens around it makes it catalytic. This seemingly simple amenity can grow to become a key for transforming not just a corner but an entire community.

"It turns out the folks who installed [the bench] did not go through a formal approval process, and it was technically illegal. But people have come to understand that when benches serve as "tree guards," ... they are allowed to stay." www.sociallifeproject.org/campaign-to-...

Never Bored of Trade Podcast Episode 25 | Live Podcast with Co-Editors of Messy Cities YouTube video by BramptonBOT

A wonderful discussion about "Messy Cities" hosted by the Brampton Board of Trade, with my co-editors @johnlorinc.bsky.social @zahraeb.bsky.social and @shebuildscities.bsky.social and lots of great questions from the hosts and the audience. Starts around 17 m mark. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhWs...

Common Blue #Violets (Viola sororia) shot last Sunday.
#Wildflowers

Toronto vendors say extending legacy permits for food trucks would be inequitable The permits, set to expire at year’s end, were issued to about 15 trucks before 2014

Conflict between legacy and new food trucks for space in downtown Toronto. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Get involved in the Church Street pedestrianization effort! torontocentreprojects.ca/en/projects/...

Manhole cover with a grid pattern. Some squares of the grid are filled with fallen cherry blossoms

Found art

Ha - I thought I had it on 3 but it turns out there was another option (Saturday April 10)

Wordle 1,757 4/6*

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Flowers on Portland Street #streetart #mural

Epic: “Libraries and justice for all.”

Wax Begonia (Begonia cucullata) grown out of a street gutter, shot on September 29, 2024.
#Bloomscrolling #Begonias #StreetFlowers #RebelPlants

After more than two decades, Toronto may finally allow more of this on its sidewalks City staff are recommending changes to modernize Toronto’s rules around permits for street vendors and street artists.

Is Toronto finally embracing messy sidewalks? City staff recommending lifting the moratorium on new sidewalk food vendors, and opening up to other sidewalk vendors, and loosening busker rules. www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

In the early 2000s, the City of Tirana initiated a program to bring colour and life to the drab, grey Communist-era apartment blocks of the city.

Messy Cities is at #28!! Still going strong.

Interesting to see how cities have / have not evolved their COVID-era slow/open street programs. Here is a snapshot of the toolkit along San Francisco’s Shotwell Street.