My job stalking landed me at the City of Surrey website tonight where I noticed an open Planner I position.  Surrey, like most larger communities, operates a rather silly and confusing online application system.  One doesn’t need to create an account to view available positions, but I thought it might be a good idea in case registering brought up anymore information on the positions.  So I set up an account and attached my resume and browsed back to the Planner I page.  No new information, so I logged out.

A minute or so later Outlook complains that it has new mail to push on me. It’s from the City of Surrey.

Dear Bryan,

Thank you for taking the time to apply for the Planner 1 job opening. Due to the volume of applications received, only applicants being actively considered for this job opening will be contacted for further discussion. Please do not be discouraged by the passage of time – as we often handle 100 vacancies or more at any one time, its not unusual for 2 – 4 weeks to pass before we have an opportunity to touch most files. We will do our best to work as quickly as we can.

Thank you for your interest in this opportunity and in joining a team focused on serving our community.

Problem is…I didn’t bloody apply for the job!  I didn’t click apply, or touch anything that would indicated that I wanted to submit a resume for the position.

I just wanted to look at the job…and was considering making an application…but it seems now that I’ve applied for it.  So I had to come up with a cover letter and fill in all of the redundant online forms (full of the same information that is on my resume).

I had a similar experience with the City of Calgary online application system yesterday.  To apply for a job one has to create an account and fill in the same kind of crap that is already on your resume.  One will then select the job in question and attach a resume.  One would then assume that there would be a box to attach a cover letter.   Nope.  That’s it.  Once the resume is attached the system locks out and the application is sealed.  Turns out…(in small print on a completely different page) that your resume and cover letter need to be in the same document.  So I sent a resume to a job, but no cover letter…unlike the Surrey job, I actually had a cover letter ready to go for this one. 

These  City HR sites operate some of the worst internet scripts I’ve ever seen online.  Even free do-it-yourself message forums offer up an infinitely better user interface and file management tools.  It’s unbelievably sloppy work.

What ever happened to old fashioned emailed cover letter/resume?  Too common for the big cities?

Technorati Tags: application process, canada, city of calgary, city of surrey, job hunting

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Jasper, Alberta is the exchange point between The Canadian and The Skeena, with the latter running between Jasper and Prince Rupert.  I remember when I was about 10 years old I decided that I wanted to live in Jasper.  That hasn’t changed.  Young population with everyone zipping around on mountain bikes.  My kind of scene.  Too bad they don’t hire planners.  

  Jasper Train Station

My first year of planning school we were told that small fridge = good city (a remark regarding local foods).  I think that full bike racks = good city.  As a resort community within a National Park, there are a lot of reasons why Jasper is the way it is.  Still, as far as resort communities run, I find Jasper remains a real community.  The ‘tourist’ centre is actually quite small and embedded within the greater townsite.  Everything is scaled and designed properly.  It’s a real place, relative to Banff, Tremblant or Whistler. 

China is everywhere these days.

Mount Robson, highest point in the Canadian Rockies.  I’ve visited it numerous times and have trekked Berg Lake, but the view is quite different from the rail line which is on the opposite side of the valley.  Robson is a baby by Himalayan standards, but what makes it interesting is it’s imposing mass…it dwarfs all surrounding peaks and dominates the horizon.  When I visited the Chinese side of Mount Everest, I couldn’t help but think of Mount Robson.

The Skeena is tiny…only four cars, one of which is baggage.  There were about only 30 people on the train (95% tourist) to Prince George meaning everyone gets a seat in the dome car.  The train also slows down for bears and stops for Mount Robson.

Technorati Tags: jasper, mount robson, rockies, the skeena, travel, traveling, urban planning, via rail

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Two years.  Sometime in 2007 I decided I wanted to go to planning school. I can’t even remember what first pushed me toward that profession, but I do remember exactly where I was when I got into Queen’s – February 2008 in some dodgy net bar in Phnom Penh Cambodia.  I wasn’t expecting to get into any grad program and was putting out feelers for the Canadian military (enlisted), so it was quite a surprise.  I’m a pretty awful student, not too down with academia, and would rather eat glass then do research…not exactly prime grad student material.  Given that, it has been an immense privilege to have been given the opportunity to get that chunk paper and check out some built forms with a bunch of great people. 

All the best to the 2010 Supers

Technorati Tags: 2010, grad school, Kingston, queens university, surp

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*tangent* – recently (past three months or so) I’ve noticed that I’m becoming more ambivalent (than usual)  toward planning research.  As identified in a class last night, planning research is not linear often leads to yet another “$50,000 dollar study to explore the causality between walking and the number of movie rental stores in the neighborhood”.  Can research be  an excuse not to do anything?  That is where science, tech and engineering deep-sixes the pseudo-sciences…they seem to go places with their knowledge.  

The point is, while I should be diligently scribbling away on my Master’s report,  I finding wandering around Portsmouth Village far more fulfilling and useful.  Taking crappy photos, thinking about the space and then forcing my thoughts onto the internet feels like a better and more tangible use of time and energy than reading yet another article (complete with Chi2, R2 and other advanced numbers) about why walking, affordable housing and growing food etc.  is good for us.

So, this is Portsmouth Village (est. 1784).  It’s got everything one needs in a complete, mixed-use village.  Pub, pharmacy, secondary suites, sidewalks, places of worship,  sushi, sandwiches, hardware store, giant anchors, sailors, the 1976 Olympic summer games, ample green-space, some brown-space, museums, water, houses, mini-vans, trucks-on-blocks,  traffic, trees, shrubberies, convicts, boats, small dogs, trash,  home businesses, bikes, a general stores, movie rentals, a laundromat,  an insane asylum, modernist buildings, new urbanist stuff, old limestone homes, old wood homes, underground parking,  graffiti, government hacks, empty park benches, ducks and other small woodland creatures and most importantly, a Yonge Street.

Unlike Kingston’s other attempt at New Urbanism, the Portsmouth development actually seems to work…kind of.  At best, it jives well with the older architecture, at worst it adds another layer of diversity to an already patchwork of buildings and styles.

One of the nicest parts of Portsmouth Village is the waterfront trail which bypasses the old (and very creepy) psychiatric hospital and links into Lake Ontario Park.

If one is not down with limestone architecture, there are a couple of lakeshore condos.  Not much too look at, but they offer a killer location.

   …and so does Kingston Pen.

Had a bad day?  Or maybe you just want to ask your girlfriend to marry you.  There is plenty of old concrete wall space @ the abandoned crazy house for all of your public message needs.

This inukshuk is guarding against American invasion.

Lake Ontario Park shoreline.  There is a small graffittied cavern near the boulder on the horizon. 

Delicious and nutritious Lake Ontario water.

A message to God, enshrined on stone.

Back in the day the old psychiatric hospital obviously wasn’t big enough.

Did you take your meds today? 

It’s even creepier at night.

Heavily modified limestone home, next to a post-war house, next too a duplex.  All kinds of homes here.

Presently, Tim Horton’s is the heart and soul of Portsmouth Village, providing nourishment to thousands of downtown commuters, local residents, St Lawrence College students and prison staff each week. Unfortunately, it is also the ugliest addition to the community and has brilliantly succeeded in destroying the historic value within the center of the Village. 

The main drag.  Must like traffic to live here.  

It’s just a good, interesting and nice place to live which embodies pretty simple and basic planning principles.  Building diversity, mix uses, functional green spaces, tight and multi-modal transport friendly, good connections to the greater community.   Nothing fancy here…no over-designed, over-planned, over-researched, over-budged approaches.   Sure it has it’s bad eggs, the Tim’s, the traffic down the centre, some inefficient land uses and strange parcel designs, some gentrification,  but it is fairly obvious that the community works.  I’m sure that most people would agree.  Keep it  simple.  Planning doesn’t need to be rocket science.  90% is just observation. Good spaces have been around for centuries…Portsmouth is testament to that.

Technorati Tags: Kingston, kingston penitentiary, lake ontario park, photography, photos, portsmouth village, urban planning

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Despite  the  accepted  health  benefits  of  walking,  in  some Western  cities  it  has  become  an almost  counter-cultural  activity,  and  ‘a  sign  of powerlessness  or  low  status’  (Solnit  2000,  253). 

Hah hah!  I always knew there must be actual, academic evidence for this!  No longer must I merely speculate or muse regarding how I feel when I walk about Kingston’s Gardiner’s road or the highway 401 power centres. 

I now have a citation that conforms somewhat the laws of academia.  

Wanderlust:  A history of walking.  As suspected, it is been signed out of the library.

Technorati Tags: grad school, Kingston, surp, urban planning, walking, walking school bus

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My trip is from the doorstep of my suite, to transit route #2, on to the Kingston Bus Depot with a final deposit at Toronto Pearson International Airport.  Only the walking and transit portion I actually field tested today, with the 3.5 hour trip to the airport assessed through memories of past expeditions to that destination.

So what does this have to do with Starbucks? There is one a couple of stops beyond the Bus Depot.  Heading all the way out to the boondocks of transit route #2 just to ‘see what it is like’ is not the most thrilling experience.  Have you ever been on route 2?  If you have, you’ll know what I mean.  Usually when I need to ride #2 up north I end up being on the receiving end of a conversation with an “interesting” person. 

One could argue that having coffee alone at Starbucks isn’t that thrilling either.  But they offer 2 hours of free wi-fi now.  To someone like me, without home internet, this is worth riding the #2.

…maybe not worth the Division/401 power centre though located near the end of the #2 route.  Unfortunately, the Starbucks located right in the middle of this jungle.   

Everything about the the Division Street/Highway 401 power centre is designed to reduce a pedestrian to the status of a whack-a-mole…endlessly dodging the never-ending traffic…all alone without any back-up.  “Hostile” doesn’t even come close, although I think Gardiners Road does.  After being spat out of the bus into a mountain of slush/mud paste piled up on the transit stop one then has the option of visiting a half-dead strip mall, numerous drive-thru’s, or a couple of giant box stores all separated by bizarrely disconnected parking lot system full of stressed out 401 drivers.  To assist you in all of this is a painfully incomplete sidewalk system.  

To be fair, this power center is targeting the 401 highway traffic and last I checked there were not too many people taking a Sunday walk down the 401.  However, it seems like the planners had a pow-wow and said “Ok team, what we are trying to do here is create a place exclusive of Kingston.  We don’t want anyone from Kingston coming here and if they do, they are never going to want to come back”.

The fact that there is actually a transit route running through this mess is rather amusing.  This space is so bad for people without motorized wheels, so terribly bad that the transit route should be removed in the interests of public health.  You can’t have people wandering around a space like this unless they are carrying their own air-bags. 

That brings me to the Starbucks.  It’s not your average Starbucks, in the sense that it is free-standing and has a giant 50ft-high sign broadcasting itself onto the 401.  It is also the only Starbucks I’ve visited that I had a hard time finding and getting to, the main entrance.  Normally a business is interested in attracting customers into their establishment.  Not here, where the axiom is “keep everyone outside in their cars”.  This Starbucks likes to emphasis it’s drive-thru*…so much in fact that site planning wizards arranged the drive-thru lane to wrap around the front of the building, pushing the walk-in entrance to the back of the building.  “Relaxxxxxx…people don’t walk” was the driving ideology here.   It’s not even connected the sidewalk running down Division Street, leaving one to walk down a heavy traffic street just to get in.  When I entered the wide-eyed barista asked me if I had actually walked here. I said yes, and I mentioned that I had heard that you get a free coffee if you arrive alive.   Well, she didn’t really ask that…but it seemed like it would have been an appropriate question providing the nonsense I had to navigate through for a basic cup of coffee.  If there are Starbucks customer loyalty awards, I should get the gold.

It’s quite a nice store inside.

The summer view on Google Street View provides proof that there is actually a sidewalk connecting the Starbucks to the greater community.  Still, the place remains very freaky to walk through.   Winter, however, is a completely different story. 

*The concept of a drive-thru the ultimate in North American laziness and public isolation brought on by an addiction to their car seats.  In many cases, there are usually more people at the drive-thru than in the actual restaurant.

Technorati Tags: bus, coffee, highway 401, Kingston, pedestrian, space, starbucks, travel, urban planning

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Distributed in kind of a webGIS format, the webpage presently incorporates parcel data, forest covers, health services into Microsoft Bing Maps.  Fairly basic data set at the moment, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it expanded in the future.  Some data analysis is available via a link to BC Hectares.  There is also some free .kmz files which can be downloaded and inserted into Google Maps as an overlay.  I haven’t played around with that too much yet.

The real benefit is the high quality ortho images.  I was able to drill right down to the building level.

Mackenzie BC – Land Fabric

Azu, BC – Land Fabric

Powder King and Azu Subdivision…kind of 3D (old photos of the area)

Technorati Tags: azu, bc, canada, geobc, gis, mackenzie, maps, powder king, urban planning

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They are like ants: clever, weak and living in groups

A new term (for me, at least) describing a sub-cohort of China’s massive migrant worker population.  From my understanding of the article, name is applied to the 22-29 year old, largely rural floating population in China’s major cities.  Rather than forming the minions of construction and labour workers, the ant tribe are recent university/college graduates a product of the China’s massive increase in post-secondary enrollments earlier in the decade.

Extremely poor salaries combined with the extremely high cost of living have forced many belonging to this social cohort to the outskirts of the cities into China’s latest migrant urban spaces.    

Technorati Tags: ant tribes, china, migrant workers, urban planning

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Pahar Ganj is the ‘budget traveller’ area of Delhi and is where I have been staying.  PG is Delhi’s version of Khao San Road in Bangkok or Thamel (photos) in Kathmandu.  While Thamel is an example of what thirty-plus years of constant budget traveler business can accomplish, PG is an example of what half of that might get one.  Predominantly mud, chunks of concrete, asphalt and enormous amounts of scattered white pollution and the occasional cow, the streets make for an interesting exercise in navigation, especially during a rainstorm.  Brown-outs are common and harsh poverty and hard lives are apparent everywhere. Sanitation is poor and basic municipal services such as refuse collection appear almost non-existent in many parts of the city.  Heavily armed para-military forces are present in most public places of importance, a testament to the criticism India received regarding poorly armed security force response to the Mumbai bombings.  Drought conditions have encouraged water-saving measures in most hotels – I am collecting my shower water on orders of the hotel.  Apparently, it is donated to those without access to any water source so I am attempting to use little soap as possible as I’m positive that it will be used for drinking purposes.

Perhaps I am being harsh; Delhi is, after all, a home for 12.5 million people.  There is a definite method to the mayhem and it is a good example of people adapting on their own to poor surroundings.  Traffic is not nearly as bad as comparable Chinese cities, possibly a combination of lower incomes, fewer streets capable of handling traffic and liberal use of traffic circles.  Surprisingly, I feel far, far safer from traffic on the streets of Delhi than on the streets of Shanghai.  Driver respect for the pedestrian is terrible in China.    They have a good metro system as well, good journalists and newspapers, amazing bookstores and unrestricted internet access.

Food is fantastic and PG offers bountiful taste sensations and ample roof top dining space, although I would not go as far to say the roofs will rival their Lhasa or Thamel counterparts.   Typical trinket shops with the usual brightly coloured poncho/shawl/pashima/pyjama/clown pant clothing, odd jewellery, pieces of metal, wood and plastic, hello kitty products and assorted selection of fabric pieces line the main bazaar.  Interspersed between these one finds dozens of guesthouses.  Similar to Nepal in this aspect (or is Nepal similar to India) hostels akin to those in other parts of the world do not really exists.  Seems like every third hole-in-wall is some sort of “travel-agent.”

The beer here has some kind of preservative called glycerol, which apparently provides nasty headaches, and everyone with a set of legs wants to be your friend, practice English, and direct you to some kind of business while insisting that they “don’t want money.”

Few women on the streets.  Definitely a masculine society.

I’ve seen some absolutely bizarre travelers in just the two days I’ve been here.  Quite a large number of super skinny ‘I haven’t eaten anything other than dhal for the past 10 years’, 50-something, dreaded, bearded, pyjama wearing, hash smoking, uber-basic living individuals who do God knows what to earn their living.  Independently wealthy?  Or independent of wealth?

Having been suckered into a few classic overpaid transport newbie frauds, I am slowly getting my travel legs back.  It is quite amazing how travel skills diminish over time.  Delhi is hot and humid therefore I’ve decided not to spend too much time here and will be jumping out to Manali tomorrow afternoon.

Photos when I get a chance.

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Changing bridge architecture to a more future and modern inspired designs. I’m not terribly partial to these.  I like diversity in design, but some elements work well when they are standardized.

On top of the future bridge looking eastward toward the slabs I just walked through. The Radisson Hotel which is on the north side of People’s Square (and a good viewpoint) is the UFO-topped building flanked by two apartment slabs. 

Let the gentrification begin.  Just before the Nan Bei Elevated Bridge (and almost directly south of the train station) is the largest concentration of colonial warehouses along lower Suzhou Creek.  Which is grand total of about three.  Two on the south and one on the north.  Apparently, the area is collectively known as the Suzhou Creek Art District. 

The “Creek” art gallery.  Built in 1902, the former flour factory was the tallest building in Shanghai at the time.  I actually visited this venue before, in 2006 for some kind of swanky premiere.  Several floors of galleries with a lounge/restaurant on the top floor, if I recall correctly,  I wasn’t paying attention to the surroundings, or even where it was at the time – I didn’t go in the buildings this time.

The gallery itself is two buildings bisected by a tight lane down the center.

Walking through down the lane one is presented with the non-gentrified and and functional alley way of the litong variety.   

I elevated myself up on to the Nan Bei highway to get a rooftop perspective of the building and it’s surroundings.  The blue roof is some kind of modern warehouse.  The litong housing is in quite poor condition and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is slated for demolition, although it would be nice to see it restored, something akin to the litong restorations on the south side of the creek. 

Looking down onto the street from the highway, the art warehouse can be seen at the rear of the image.

Shanghai traffic at its worst.  Crossing the Nan Bei elevated highway bridge looking southward into Puxi. The high rises I believe are along Nanjing West Road….maybe around Jing An temple?  Not sure exactly.

Shanghai “Tequila” warehouses on the south side of the creek.

Restored litong housing units on the south side behind the tequila warehouse. A lot of the south side has this particular type of architecture interspersed between the towers.  The towers in the litong.  Despite the apparent high value of the real estate, the south side of Suzhou Creek retains a very working class feel, with scores of small business, many selling industrial and construction material/machinery.  

I found the planning efforts along lower Suzhou Creek to be quite fragmented in general.  Early projects are very visible in their slab like monstrosity.  While newer efforts are aesthetically better, they didn’t connect well to the Creek itself.  The Bund 33 project will be interesting to see in it’s completion as it might provide a more defined entrance to Suzhou Creek and I would like to see what is planned for the Si Hang Warehouse.  It’s a good space, it’s a real and genuine space (contrast that to Xin Tian Di) but requires more continuity and connection.

Technorati Tags: art districts, china, gentrification, photography, photos, redevelopment, shanghai, suzhou creek, urban planning, waterfront

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