“Welcome to the fourth edition of Cities of Opportunity. New York leads the 2011 study, which analyzes and ranks how 26 global centers of finance, business and culture perform across 10 key indicators. But it is followed closely in the top five by Toronto, San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney — cities more notable for quality of life and balance than global business dominance.

Download the full report, or read the policy analysis and full transcripts of the interviews conducted of key influencers. We also include the indicator discussions as well as a complete chart pack of the data for you to download. As the report uses publicly available data sources, we also provide definitions of the variables as well as a complete list of the sources used for each variable”

DOWNLOAD THE FULL STUDY HERE:

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/cities-of-opportunity/2011/pdfdownload.jhtml

From the City of Toronto Website:

“City of Toronto is proud to present the annual Doors Open Toronto — one weekend, once a year — when close to 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a city-wide celebration.

The program allows visitors free access to properties that are either not usually open to the public, or would normally charge an entrance fee. Many locations have organized guided tours, displays and activities to enrich the visitor experience.”

Visit the City of Toronto Website for more details: http://www.toronto.ca/doorsopen/

THE NATIONAL PARKS PROJECT FILM COLLECTION – THEATRICAL LAUNCH
An exclusive one-week run of screenings of the National Parks Project Film collection, with special guests and Q&As at every screening!
Royal Cinema (608 College St.) Showtimes & Screening info here: http://bit.ly/jv7sC3

The NPP is a collection of 13 short films showcasing the grandeur of Canada’s national parks and celebrating the spirit of creative adventure. Each film was created by a noted Canadian filmmaker working together with three musicians; the artists were given five days in a national park, to collaborate on a film and soundtrack inspired by the environment. Covering all of Canada’s provinces and territories, the collection highlights the diversity of this massive country’s landscape, from the lush mystery of the Pacific rainforest, to the fragile dunes of the Maritime coast, to the epic rivers and mountains of the Canadian north. In total, the project features the work of 52 artists, including brand new works by acclaimed directors Zacharias Kunuk, Hubert Davis, Catherine Martin, Scott Smith, Peter Lynch, Stephane Lafleur, Daniel Cockburn, Jamie Travis, Keith Berhman, John Walker, Louise Archambault, Kevin McMahon and Stura Gunnarsson.

Toronto – April 14th, Spanish Centre
46 Hayden Street (416) 925-4652

ABOUT THE FILM:

In the impoverished and extremely isolated region of Northern Argentina known as “El Impenetrable”, the children of a detached elementary school eagerly await a visit from their “Godmothers”, a charity mission from the city of Buenos Aires. When they arrive, life in the hamlet of Los Pereyra changes completely. Both delighted and bewildered, the children learn many things from their cosmopolitan visitors, including a glimpse of privileged life and, perhaps, a realization of their own poverty.

More info:  www.lospereyra.com

A Place Called Los Pereyra from Jueje Jueje on Vimeo.

In the impoverished and extremely isolated region of Northern Argentina known as “El Impenetrable”, the children of a detached elementary school eagerly await a visit from their “Godmothers”, a charity mission from the city of Buenos Aires. When they arrive, life in the hamlet of Los Pereyra changes completely. Both delighted and bewildered, the children learn many things from their cosmopolitan visitors, including a glimpse of privileged life and, perhaps, a realization of their own poverty.

Thu Jun 9, 2011, 5:00 pm to   9:00 pm

Phone: 416-365-0816 ext.221
Email: cgee@canurb.org

More Info HERE

The Canadian Urban Institute presents an Urban Leadership Seminar on how integrated energy planning can help acheive further reductions in Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions while also contributing to future city building.

Fri Mar 25, 2011, 7:30 am to   11:30 am

Phone: 416-365-0816 ext.221
Email: cgee@canurb.org

More info HERE

Could it be that we will be so overloaded with information that there will be a new kind of blog, a metablog that only references and promotes other blogs with deeper content? Would that even need a blogger? Would it be like iTunes Genius? I digress.

Well, the time is nigh and indeed it should be the duty of all in the blogosphere to shout out and big up  blogs of high quality.

If you don’t you are not doing your blog-and-roll duty, creating a buz buzz buzz (Sorry, Kim Mitchell).

So, without further ado I bring you one of the most interesting architecture/urban blogs:  “Vanishing New York: a.k.a. The Book of Lamentations: a bitterly nostalgic look at a city in the process of going extinct” by an intrepid fellow named Jeremiah. He also now has a facebook page, which makes it easy to follow.

I came across this blog when I was doing some research on Edward Hopper for a lecture on social capital. As far as I can tell, Jeremiah is the only person to actually do the legwork and research needed to demonstrate that the diner that was the setting for Hopper’s most famous painting “Nighthawks” never really existed. The story and the blog were featured in the New York Times.

Jeremiah’s blog, which is highly interactive and peppered with photos, documents stores, residences and institutions that are vanishing or have vanished from New York City. Reading the blog is addictive. If you have ever been to New York, then there is a building that you cherished that has recently become vacant or has been demolished. My discovery was the Vesuvio bakery, which I adored, down in Soho.

The very fact that this blog exists, and draws people who are not denizens of New York speaks to the character, history and immediacy of New York. Vanishing Toronto Blog? Anyone?

Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York:

http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/

The buildings reflect light, unlike their Hobbit-hollow-on-the-road-to-Mordor predecessors. The streets now actually resemble city streets, boulevards even. There are mixed heights together with widened perspectives. The buildings appear better spaced and the space between buildings no longer looks like an afterthought. The glazing and cladding reference the sky and the lake. A new aquatic community centre is being built to replace the old, odd one that is attached to a smokestack. This is a great thing for Regent Park. It actually looks like a part of Toronto.

There will be integrated stores and banks and underground parking. Mixed use and mixed income are the catchphrases.

But despite the Regent revitalization being in-step with the design-times, there is a creeping sense of deja vu. Is it possible that this might not be the “fix” for that the troubled neighborhood that everyone envisions? Someone dreamt up the previous incarnation with some set of “ideals” in mind. Is the concept of affordable housing in Toronto as now as the new buildings? Will the new buildings transform the old community?

This is not a question that can be answered now or even soon. Despite the good looks and good neighborhood planning and great ideas about mixed income cohabitation, this is an experiment in social housing, and the concepts are really hypotheses about what makes good public housing. How do we define the good in this case? What outcomes are most desirable? Only the next 20 years will tell whether the new Regent Park is more successful than the old.

In the meantime, there is an excellent website that reminds us that the road to social housing hell is paved with good design-driven intentions and that the devil is in the details. Top down design did not bring the bottom up. Not in these cases.

Peruse these (in)famous public housing projects and judge the odds on Regent Park for yourself. I think they are better than even.

http://www.oobject.com/category/15-housing-projects-from-hell