With all the talk about pedestrianizing parts of downtown Toronto, it seems like a good time to resurrect an old "Historicist" column about the Yonge Street Mall of the 1970s. #TOHistory #TOpoli jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2026/04/30/t...

My latest Paris dispatch on how 300 streets outside of schools became some of the coolest places in the city. But even more importantly, these family-centric improvements provide ubiquitous reminders that this society prioritizes children

between the haze #street #photography

The BUS Collective’s public art project, the Little Free Cinema, aims to bring experimental film to the masses. www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

Construction demolition

It’s the launch party for Jane’s Walk tonight! Good Toronto. Young @jasonthorne.bsky.social says some words. Check out all the walks this wknd www.janeswalkfestivalto.com

Petition calling on the City of Toronto to halt plans to remove a native pollinator garden located at the northwest edge of Trinity Bellwoods Park, near the dog bowl. www.change.org/p/save-the-p...

In Kensington Market, an artist’s ‘demonic’ wall had to be painted over. Some say the move hurts the area’s ‘imagination’ www.thestar.com/news/gta/in-...

C’mon, life is short. It’s okay to get excited about flowers ✨

White Clover (Trifolium repens) shot in Whitman yesterday.

‘One of my joys’: Meet the Toronto subway musicians bringing rhythm to rush hour www.thestar.com/news/ontario...

Between Ave T & U on the promenade in Seaside Oregon there is an ongoing community knit project full of knit & crotchet versions of the creatures that live in our tide pools. #InverteFest

Church Street in the Village should be pedestrianized, argues @chanface.bsky.social . He shares the story of the campaign to get it started with a temporary pedestrianization of two blocks this summer. spacing.ca/toronto/2026...

We have discovered, yet again, that pedestrianization *raises* traffic to stores & *boosts* sales. All the fear-mongering was baseless! I'm sure this time the lesson will stick & the *next* group of merchants around the *next* proposed pedestrian street won't raise a bunch of nonsense objections!

Laneways & alleys are the special places between. Join along as I wander around the alleys of Leslieville looking for some gems. To start, right off the streetcar, an abandoned Jeep. She's been here a long time, sunken into the dirt pad, decaying in place. Beautiful rust. #AlleywayTO #UrbanGaze

Moss Rose Purslane (Portulaca grandiflora) shot in 2018.

I'm doing a Jane's Walk again, finally! It's the same one I did in 2019, when it worked really well! Can I pull it off again? Let's find out, shall we? Sunday May 3, 3:30, near Osgoode Station. #janeswalkTO

Making Corktown even prettier

All motions on the park vending item CARRY via show of hands. Pilot project allowing food vending in some parks will start on June 25. List of parks TBA.

"The lesson ... should be clear: changes that bring more activity to public spaces tend to be good for the health of public spaces." - @graphicmatt.com www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Pleased to see "Messy Cities" at #2 on the @spacingstore.bsky.social 2025 bestseller list! (From the new issue of @spacing.bsky.social )

I just got woken up from my earth day hammock nap by someone walking the trails in the Don Valley playing a guitar. I don't know where this sort of thing can happen. Well I'll take it. Life is good. #LoveTheRavines #RavineRambles #HammockTO #ParksTO #EarthDay

It’s a beautiful night for a walk - care to come along as we start in the alleyways north of Danforth/west of Coxwell?

Helmut Smits www.helmutsmits.nl

Amazing things happen when you give streets back to people. Wigglefest in full bloom.

Another example in Toronto (on Victoria Park near Danforth).

Wild front yard decoration house

Parody historical plaque (probably by @joderoberts.bsky.social )

Garage door Mandalorian

Dinosaur in tree. Part of my #DinoGarden series.

I love self seeding plants. We had a petunia sow itself in a crack in our concrete from a hanging basket on our upstairs neighbors balcony this year.

After a good scramble around the ravines, nothing is better than chilling in a hammock next to creek. The rains eventually arrived and drove me away. But in all, life is good. #LoveTheRavines #RavineRambles #HammockTO #ParksTO

Medieval Blake Avenue #murals

Sign of spring!

a tiny detour on the walk to work this morning. little wonders hide just around the corner if you look 🙂

There's good mess, and there's bad mess

How a grassroots initiative rewilded a portion of the Don Valley www.thestar.com/news/insight...

"It turns out the folks who installed [the bench] did not go through a formal approval process, and it was technically illegal. But people have come to understand that when benches serve as "tree guards," ... they are allowed to stay." www.sociallifeproject.org/campaign-to-...

A wonderful discussion about "Messy Cities" hosted by the Brampton Board of Trade, with my co-editors @johnlorinc.bsky.social @zahraeb.bsky.social and @shebuildscities.bsky.social and lots of great questions from the hosts and the audience. Starts around 17 m mark. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhWs...

Common Blue #Violets (Viola sororia) shot last Sunday. #Wildflowers

Conflict between legacy and new food trucks for space in downtown Toronto. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Get involved in the Church Street pedestrianization effort! torontocentreprojects.ca/en/projects/...

Found art

Ha - I thought I had it on 3 but it turns out there was another option (Saturday April 10) Wordle 1,757 4/6* ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Flowers on Portland Street #streetart #mural

Epic: “Libraries and justice for all.”

Wax Begonia (Begonia cucullata) grown out of a street gutter, shot on September 29, 2024. #Bloomscrolling #Begonias #StreetFlowers #RebelPlants

Is Toronto finally embracing messy sidewalks? City staff recommending lifting the moratorium on new sidewalk food vendors, and opening up to other sidewalk vendors, and loosening busker rules. www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

In the early 2000s, the City of Tirana initiated a program to bring colour and life to the drab, grey Communist-era apartment blocks of the city.