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.
PlanGirl Travels: Lessons to Bring Home… From Puerto Rico
Installment #16:
Recovery Planning in Puerto Rico
Planning West Magazine - Fall 2020
North America is struggling under a confluence of steep challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic; the legacy of systemic racism; and the climate crisis, including the massive forest fires along the west coast of the United States. Each threat compounds and complicates the others. I studied Puerto Rico for lessons to bring home to British Columbia.
PlanGirl Travels: Lessons to Bring Home
Installment #15:
BC Views of Three Asian Cities
Planning West Magazine - Winter 2019
I studied three "Asian Tiger" cities and found that many of the solutions we dub "leading-edge" in Canada, including those we refer to as "alternative development standards," are just the ordinary course of business in parts of Asia.
What Would Jane Jacobs Do?
Herizons - Fall 2018
Taking on the power of developers … Citizen-led walking tours … Legendary city planning maven Jane Jacobs creates an urban movement to bring cities’ priorities down to the grassroots level.
PlanGirl Travels: Lessons to Bring Home
Installment #14:
Portland
Planning West Magazine: Fall 2016
In this article, we head south to visit that great bastion of counterculture: Portland, Oregon. There are lessons we can pull from America’s “Most Bike-Friendly City” and “Top ‘Green’ City,” not to mention its “Best Beer Town.” Join me as I touch upon Portland’s greatest planning achievements and compare Portland’s initiatives to ones from across British Columbia.