I've been lucky to witness the emergence of the Fredericton Makerspace. I say lucky, because if we did not have some relentlessly dedicated volunteers pouring themselves into the project, it would still be one of those great ideas that never happened. But this week, I stood in the Makerspace woodshop and watched people build together.
Read MoreCities like to form on water. It follows that there are thousands of cities out there struggling with their own version of North Side, South Side. The phenomenon reminds me of Jane Jacobs on border vacuums.
Read MoreLet's say you're building an apartment building with over 20 units (arbitrary number). If it's not obvious that your parking should be opt-in and underground, maybe the development isn't a great idea to begin with?
At Strong Towns, we seem to like quick tools that help with the mental math of cities. For example, I loved the Strong Towns Strength Test which asked, "Take a photo of your main street at midday. Does the picture show more people than cars?" Maybe this parking lot thing is another weather-vane with built in wisdom. It's not to be relied upon, but can give you a good hunch to start from.
Read MoreSmart retailers everywhere are experimenting with urban-format stores, despite it forcing them to squish their big-box tendencies. This is probably my favourite so far. I can't tell if it's Québec standing up to Rona and saying, "Thou shalt not parking lot," or if it's Rona deciding that they want to grow their neighbourhood retail presence by forcing smallness upon themselves. Either way, it does the job.
Read More1) Chuck made a video appearance in Fredericton!
2) Also, I had my first experience of going door-to-door on my street.
Read MoreFredericton is more or less Stars Hollow. It is like a caricature of a Big Town, with more quirky personalities than you could script. Some of my favourite characters are those that have stuck it out the longest. I could list a growing roster of older adult friends I've made this year that I'd love to recruit to Team Strong Towns. Since this is a largely online community, we may miss out on a lot of their wisdom on here. So what I've learned from experience after great experience is just to go make friends with older people! They've been one of my richest sources of information and inspiration in trying to improve my city.
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