Interesting things are happening down near the water on the East side of Toronto: someone is trying to build a Walmart. I rode my bike down there about a month ago and the whole area is being dug up in preparation for a sort of "power centre" (to borrow a phrase from Radiant City).

The new complex calls for roughly 2000 parking spots, yet claims to be an "urbanised" environment and Councillor Paula Fletcher isn't falling for it for a second.

Today City Hall denied Walmart permission to build its box down there and it did so in part due to support from people like her. It wasn't a big leap really, no one wants the damn thing there anyway so she's just acting as her constituents have asked. Frankly, I think that that area would be much better served by a mixed use residential/greenspace/commercial area, especially since it's right on what is possibly one of the prettiest bike lanes in the city.

Nice job Paula, keep up the good work. The fight isn't over yet (it rarely is with Walmart). The issue is expected to be brought before the Ontario Municipal Board sometime in the next month and sadly, that particular institution is not known for it's smart urban planning. If anyone has any ideas regarding how we might help the OMB make an intelligent decision, I'm all ears.

I'm here at Open Cities for an all-day "unconference" about the design of our cities. I'm too groggy to come up with a good description, so here's what's on the website:

Open Cities Toronto 2007 is a weekend-long web of conversation and celebration that asks: how do we collaboratively add more open to the urban landscape we share? What happens when people working on open source, public space, open content, mash up art, and open business work together? How do we make Toronto a magnet for people playing with the open meme?

You are invited to discuss, dance, debate, and download Toronto’s potential to become an epicentre and an example of a community that thrives on openness. We’ve all chosen to live here for a reason – let’s figure out how we can combine our talents to build a city-wide community of openness.

I'll be blogging throughout the day so you can check back to see what's happening "as it happens" so to speak... unless you're reading this through Facebook, since apparently, their software isn't smart enough to process changes to pre-existing posts.

Update: 12:15pm

It's been fun so far, Misha Glouberman has been a fabulous ring-leader. I've had some good conversations from so many different people. One guy wanted to build a mobile FM transmitter for Uganda, and I met a couple of women wanting to revitalise the street food vending in Toronto. My favourite so far though, has to be the woman who organises seemingly random dancing sessions around the city. Fun times are being had.

Update: 1:21pm

I just finished my first conversation and I have to say that I'm not that impressed. It's interesting conversation, but at this point, it feels more like a sort of mental masturbation than anything else. We share ideas, but nothing else comes of it. Maybe I'll feel differently later.

Update: 5:21pm

So it's finally over and I'm pleased to say that my attitude has changed. I've had some good conversation, but more importantly, I've learned a lot of handy stuff as well. On top of that, I've come up against two cool projects that some of these people want to do: an Kevin Bracken and Lori Kufner (New Mind Space) are advocating a true 24hour Toronto, and Mark Surman is attempting to creat an Open Source Chamber of Commerce. Both ideas sound fabulous, and it's solidified my faith in gettogethers like this one.

I'm heading over to the after-shindig-bbq at Ft. York. Hopefully, there will be more interesting things there.

Spacing has a lovely piece of satire surrounding the street furniture in Seattle today. It's worth checking out if only to see how a city committed to urban beauty does its job.

I attended Toronto's Executive Committee meeting today to depute on the new Street Furniture Harmonisation Program. Unlike the the last time deputed at City Hall however, my deputation was much clearer. Sadly though, despite the stronger opposition this time, we lost everything.

This whole Strong Mayor system is quite interesting really. Basically, you have a group of councillors who's sole function is to vote as the Mayor wishes -- regardless of what their constituents want or what they personally feel. This was most evident in Councillor Moscoe's statement that he was going to vote for this project, but he'd be "holding his nose" in doing so. I was appalled really at the lack of interest in Democracy.

We had city staff, who despite the high praise hefted upon them by Miller, really did a shit job on this project. They used financial and quantifying numbers not from their own research, but from numbers supplied by the ad companies bidding on the contract. In one case, they even re-wrote the system of measurement, claiming that even though the amount of ad-space (and eye-level ads) was increasing, the "units" of advertising were smaller.

So lets be clear here. Six square feet of ads on a garbage can on the ground, vs roughly twenty-four square feet of illuminated, eye-level ads are comparable in the eyes of city staff. ...I don't know what to say here.

It was right about at this point where David Meslin referred to this whole process as legalising bribery... and he was right. Astral Outdoor is paying Toronto a lot of money to violate our bylaws.

From our position, we deputed on a variety of different subjects. From the lack of allowed public input, to style comparisons with other cities, to the environmental concerns surrounding energy for illuminated ads, to the fact that Astral Media has a well-documented history of non-compliance with city bylaws. Only one of us mentioned the overabundance of ad-space in this contract, but that was the only thing Miller's council focused on at the end... that is, he focused on it and promptly dismissed it.

I don't know what it is that causes me to think that this sort of thing would work. Clearly, when this project came about two years ago, there was no need for consultation or debate. In a sharply divided council favouring the Mayor, Miller gets what Miller wants. Logic be damned.

Looking to take a tour of a neighbourhood in Toronto? Or maybe you're just curious about the history of a pretty building on in Parkdale or Cabbage town? Whatever your interest, Jane's Walk is a free guided tour through the neighbourhood of your choice by a knowledgeable Toronto resident. Prominent Torontonians such as John Sewell and Adam Vaugn are on the list of tour guides, and some the list of neighbourhoods is also really diverse.

I'll probably be going to one, though I'm not sure which one yet. If you're interested in a particular trip, let me know and maybe we'll go together.

Thanks to Stephen for the link :-)