Welcome to
My Urban Curious Blog:
Authoritative, Affectionate, and Occasionally Absurd
I have been writing about cities, urban design, and the quirks of how people live together for more than twenty-five years. Some of that writing has been technical, or professional. Some has been quirky, or heartfelt. Some has been—let’s be honest here—slightly absurd, usually after an unusually strong espresso.
Climbing that ladder again: The Planner and the Pen
Brevity Blog, November 19, 2025
Being a successful professional and toddling writer together in the same body is hard. Having seen career successes, I’m now learning to embrace—or at least accept—a string of rejections that fall like the first rain drops on a cloudy day: not entirely unexpected, but disappointing all the same.
From Telok Ayer to Toronto and TROIS-RIVIÈRES
Plan Canada Magazine, Fall 2025
In From Telok Ayer to Toronto and Trois-Rivières, a Canadian urban planner visits Singapore to explore what Canadian cities might look like in 2100. Inspired by a walking tour through the historic Telok Ayer district and by conversations with Singapore’s planning and housing offi cials, the author refl ects on Singapore’s bold choices. The experience sparks a hopeful vision: that Canada can embrace long-range, imaginative planning grounded in global exchange, adaptive reuse, and people-fi rst priorities – aff ordable housing, accessible transportation, and placemaking. Travel becomes the lens that sharpens our capacity to envision and shape Canada’s urban future.