I spent much of November 2010 discussing with a number of my planning school colleagues the miserable job situation many of us have been dealing with for most of 2010. The discussions ranged from job search strategies, to networking opportunities, water-cooler banter, life as chronically under-employed and the difficulties in meeting student loan repayment schedules. One item was particularly clear. We all agreed that while there appears to be a steady and relatively decent number of what appears to be entry-level planning positions advertised, it is uncommon for recently graduated planners to be hired for these positions. Interviews are also rare.  Unofficial and ad-hoc surveys among ourselves suggest that at least half of the SURP class of of 2010 have yet to secure planning related work.

I have been in the job market since April 2010 and I am still waiting to receive an invitation to a job interview or constructive feedback regarding any of the 45+ planning positions I have applied for. I have evolved my cover letter, expanded my search to include a wide geographic area, approached private firms and crown corporations, and inquired about internships and volunteer opportunities. I have found little success. I have rationally come to the conclusion that my job situation, as well as my colleagues, may not be entirely our own fault. We all are taking the correct steps in order to market ourselves properly, yet have yet to receive any solid planning work opportunities that reflect our educational backgrounds. Many, myself included, are considering leaving the planning profession, not because we want to, but because we have to. Something is missing in the equation.

Two strong themes emerged during our discussions: the nebulous and ambiguous nature of the entry-level planning positions being advertised, and that recent graduate-level students are either strongly over-qualified or strongly under-qualified for planning positions that appear to be entry-level. The over/under qualified situation is particularly troubling. During my final year at SURP, the program was in the process of being accredited by the CIP. When the accreditors consulted the students regarding the program they briefly discussed the desire of planning to become a more exclusive profession, similar to law, engineering and teaching. Part of this plan emphasized the importance of graduate level education to the planning field and the wish that this requirement form the minimum foundation of an educated planner.

While I feel that this goal is laudable and I support the emphasis on advanced education as a corner stone of the planning profession, I believe that there is presently a massive gap between a graduate-level education and expectations of entry-level planning work. This is the first theme emerging. Despite a bias toward graduate-level education in the planning profession, there is a distinct lack of appropriate entry-level positions that address the skills acquired in planning school.

I have identified three common so-called ‘entry-level’ job titles available to planners who have completed a graduate-level planning program. For each I have included a brief summary of the job (intended to be general) and an excerpt from a recently advertised position.

Planning Assistant – Not a commonly advertised position, but does appear on the job boards from time to time.  It could be argued that the planning assistant is lowest position in a planning office, next to student interns. Often this position only requires a grade 12 education, although sometimes a planning or administrative diploma is recommended. Most planning assistant jobs appear to be secretarial and administrative in nature, offering clerical support to planners and front-desk support to clients.

Front counter interaction answering public inquiries and correspondence related to departmental functions such as zoning or subdivision matters; including, but not limited to, maintaining zoning maps, land use maps, index files, and other graphs, charts and documents, inputs data into an application tracking system, confirms zoning and OCP land use designations on lots, provides other departments and the public with information regarding lot sizes, property location house numbers and legal descriptions of lots.

The Planning Assistant I is required to review development applications for completeness and compliance with Regional District bylaws, policies and procedures before further review by other staff and maintains details of applications on a computer terminal. Work also involves copying, collating, scanning, drafting presentation material, informational pamphlets, advertisements, and transcribing minutes of meetings , carrying out title searches and, performing drafting and mapping assignments as needed.

While planning assistants provide an essential service to many planning departments, it is clear that a graduate-level planning education considerably exceeds the job description. In many cases the support-like nature of the job may push human resources toward acquiring individuals with strong administrative and secretarial work experience.

Planning Technician – A rather commonly advertised position, planning technicians are involved in the technical and computer-based aspects of planning.  Duties often include map creation, models, diagrams, webGIS, AutoCAD, field work, data entry, and administrative work similar to the planning assistant.  In bigger municipalities and firms the responsibilities might involve more heavy GIS programming.  Planning technicians are often the product of applied urban planning programs such as the one at Langara College in Vancouver. Planning technicians also have their own professional organization separate from planners.

Conducts on-site inspections for compliance with approved Development Permits, including building form, parking, landscaping and other items as required. Performs other related duties as assigned by the Manager of Planning and Director of Development Services. Responds to inquiries from the public, the development community and staff, with a high degree of accuracy and accountability, respecting land use  regulations and application processing. Processes and coordinates intake of development applications. Compiles data and development application status reports. Provides site maps and graphics for inclusion in reports using the current GIS system.  Obtains Certificates of Title from BC Online computer system. Prepares draft Preliminary Layout Approvals for the Approving Officer. Responds to legal “comfort letters” from the Development Services Department.

It is not uncommon to find planners holding planning technician positions, however a graduate-level planning education could be considered too general in regards to the heavy technical nature of the position. Often graduate planning programs only provide basic, introductory instruction in GIS, AutoCAD and database management. The professionalized nature of planning technical work also acts as a barrier to many graduate trained planners as there could be a bias toward hiring proper planning technicians over moonlighting planners who are merely passing through on their way to a more appropriate planning position.

Planner I – On initial inspection, the position of planner I is the most suitable for the education received from a graduate-level planning program.  Such positions usually require a bachelor degree (not necessarily in urban planning) as a minimum education requirement, although many larger municipalities and firms now require a master’s degree. A key component of the planner I position is the strong emphasis placed on experience. It is very common to see 5+ years of planning experiences as a minimum requirement for consideration. This is completely understandable as these positions generally carry significant responsibilities and considerable work autonomy.

Advise the Director of Development Services and staff on planning and related matters. Act as Approving Officer for the Town.  This requires the review and approval of subdivision applications for the Town.  This includes the following: reviewing the application to ensure it is complete; undertaking a site analysis; where necessary, meet with applicant to address any ongoing issues with respect to subdivision application; ensuring completion of internal and external notifications for review and comment; create a statement of projected costs including off-site services, CRD give preliminary approval, and when necessary with conditions;  and give final approval. Prepare, amend and enforce bylaws associated with the Official Community Plan, Land Use and other related bylaws. In consultation with the Director of Development Services, prepare planning studies. Prepare co-ordinate and/or process applications for Official Community Plan and Zoning bylaw amendments for submission to the Director of Development Services. 

After reviewing this job description it is fairly obvious to most recent graduates that they are not remotely qualified for the position of planner I. They may have some theoretical understanding of the requirements and possibly some light experience gained from a summer internship, but the experiential bias is clear.

It is important to stress that the job descriptions vary widely. I have seen Planner I jobs that read like a planning assistant position and planning technician descriptions that look more like IT programming. The private sector may also offer more specific entry-level positions, yet I have noticed that such positions are not what I would consider common.

Planning graduates, in 2010, are chronically under/over qualified in relation to the available planning jobs. Upon graduating from planning school, former students now find themselves with a skill set that is not appropriate and a level of experience that is not high enough to satisfy the requirements of most planner I positions. In many competitions we are fighting for entry-level jobs against people with 10+ years of experience.

I, along with others, feel that there is little being done by the universities, the profession and the planning industry to address this substantial gap.

When I was a geography undergraduate at the University of Victoria, I seriously considered becoming registered professional forester, up to the point that I was a student member of the Association of British Columbia Forest Practitioners. Similar to becoming an RPP, there are several routes to becoming an RPF, all requiring a certain amount of logged hours working under an RPF and an examination before being conferred full membership. During this process, one holds the title of F.I.T (forester-in-training) a designation somewhat similar to planning’s ‘candidate’. The huge difference however, is that F.I.T is more than just a title, it is job description. I would routinely see positions advertised with forestry firms and government organizations that specifically catered to skill set of an F.I.T. The forestry profession has recognized the importance of practical workplace training, the limitations of a university education and responded in kind with a progressive career track. The F.I.T designation fosters the creation of appropriate job descriptions and the notion of nurturing new graduates into forest professionals. I have been told that career progression and training in engineering operates in similar, if not more structured fashion.

I don’t see anything like this in planning. The nearest program I’ve seen that provides a properly tapered career path is the Government of Alberta’s land use planner internship program. However it is a very small program, situated exclusively in Alberta, open to non-planners and apparently extremely competitive.

In many cases, new planners are dropped in the abyss after graduation. On their own they face an astonishingly bizarre array of positions that require and equally bizarre range of qualifications. Often they are competing against planners with 10+ years of experience. Many of us were accepted into graduate school based on our diverse backgrounds, of which many are non-planning related. I hail from a forestry and education background and have extensive international experience. We were always told that this diversity was a strength of planning and that it reinforced the inter-disciplinary vision of the profession. I have since learned that the planning job market has little interest in my background, aside from the notion that I am the bearer of insignificant planning working experience.

I would argue that ideally, an appropriate entry-level position for an individual exiting planning school would be a combination of all three previously described ‘entry-level’ positions placed under the moniker of P.I.T (planner-in-training).  A P.I.T would then work toward the position of Planner I under the supervision of an RPP, within a specified time period, logging hours and then writing an exam.  Such positions would cater specifically to graduates by offering job description, compensation package and the official title of P.I.T that would help discourage experienced planners from monopolizing available jobs. Such a career progression may also assist in exclusivising the profession.

I’m writing to inquire whether the planning profession is aware of this problem. If they are, what is being done about it? Is anything being done about it? What can the unemployed do to help? How this would be implemented? What would be the responsibilities of the profession, the universities and the industry?  I have no idea. I never learned how to navigate bureaucracy at grad school.

I feel that this situation goes beyond a mere recession and the too-often employed “it’s the economy, stupid!” rationale. More planners are produced by planning schools every year and municipalities and firms appear to be less interested in employing us. Furthermore, if the planning profession is indeed fully invested in developing as a more restricted, elite profession then it is in its own interest to offer a more expanded role in supporting young planners into the work place. Such a role may involve advocating industry and government to create properly designed entry-level positions for aspiring planners and in conjunction with these entities, developing a planner-in-training program. If industry and municipalities significantly prefer new planners with substantial related working experience, then perhaps there is a role for universities in aligning student recruitment to reflect these values instead of continuing with the practice of accepting students from many disciplines and backgrounds. While I agree with this practice principle, I’ve discovered that these recruitment practices are not congruent with what the working world presently requires of a new professional. A graduate school rejection based on the incompatibility of my past experiences with the realities of the planning profession may have required me to pursue more realistic options rather than invest tens of thousands of dollars and two years of my life into a profession that offers little entry-level job prospects.

Synchronization between profession and training is paramount and, I stress again, I strongly believe that a planning-in-training process can hugely beneficial in addressing this fissure. Planning for the future must necessarily involve a greater investment in that future – the young men and women who will form the backbone of the profession for the next fifty years. A generation of new planners is floundering and sinking fast and we require help.

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However, I’ve noticed two reoccurring themes.  First, that we are all (at the same time) under-qualified, over-qualified and severely lacking in the appropriate experience for the planning profession.  Second, the nebulous nature of the ‘entry-level’ planning position.  Both I find particularly frustrating given that Canadian Institute of Planners is trying so dreadfully hard to be taken seriously as a professional organization.  During the student consultations component of SURP’s certification process last year, the CIP really pushed on us their goal of legitimizing the planning profession along the lines of Law and Engineering.  Despite their good intentions they appeared to be deeply mired regarding planning semantics (the age old “what is planning?” b.s) rather than actually determining how to properly link planning education with the professional world and exclusivize the job (the way engineers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, foresters seem to be able to do).

When I was an undergrad I was seriously considering becoming an Registered Professional Forester…up to the point that I was a student member of the ABFP .  Like planning, there are different routes to becoming an RPF all requiring a certain amount of logged working hours and an examination before being conferred full membership.  During this process  you were referred to as an F.I.T. (forester-in-training) similar to planning’s ‘candidate’.  Doesn’t seem to be a huge difference, however when I was looking into becoming an RPF, I would routinely see advertised positions specifically targeting F.I.T’s.  This is clear evidence that the forestry profession recognizes the need for workplace training and encourages firms and government agencies to create real entry-level positions that foster learning and growth for the next generation of foresters.  I’m told that engineering operates in a similar fashion.

Aside from a half-assed mentorship program, planning doesn’t seem to have anything like this.  Once you finish your degree, you are essentially on your own faced with an absolutely bizarre array of positions that require an equally bizarre range of qualifications.  Hence the over/under qualified individual.

Going off my 8-plus months of job searching I’ve determined that planning doesn’t have entry-level jobs that are suitable for  graduate-level education candidates.  It leaves me scratching me head because the CIP wants to move in the direction where a master’s degree becomes the minimum qualification to becoming a planner (one could possibly argue that it already is). I’ve observed three positions that probably could be classified as entry-level, yet don’t appear to be appropriate for an entry-level education.

Planning Assistant – Not a terribly common position, but one does see the odd one advertised.  This is possibly the absolute lowest position in a planning office (unless they are a wealthy department that hires interns).  This positions is so low that 9/10 times it only requires a grade 12 education.  They might ask for a diploma in planning.  The below is a partial description from a job posted a few months ago.

Front counter interaction answering public inquiries and correspondence related to departmental functions such as zoning or subdivision matters; including, but not limited to, maintaining zoning maps, land use maps, index files, and other graphs, charts and documents, inputs data into an application tracking system, confirms zoning and OCP land use designations on lots, provides other departments and the public with information regarding lot sizes, property location house numbers and legal descriptions of lots.

The Planning Assistant I is required to review development applications for completeness and compliance with Regional District bylaws, policies and procedures before further review by other staff and maintains details of applications on a computer terminal. Work also involves copying, collating, scanning, drafting presentation material, informational pamphlets, advertisements, and transcribing minutes of meetings , carrying out title searches and, performing drafting and mapping assignments as needed.

If one is coming out of a graduate-level planning program, one is heavily over-qualified for this position and HR may be looking for someone with secretarial experience.

Planning Technician  – A rather commonly advertised position, the techies tend to deal with the computer side of planning.  Maps, models, diagrams, webGIS, CAD, field work, data entry, admin work similar to the Planning Assistant.  In bigger municipalities the work might involve more heavy GIS programming work.  Planning Techs are usually the product of Applied Urban Planning programs such as the one at Langara College .  They also have their own professional association.

Conducts on-site inspections for compliance with approved Development Permits, including building form, parking, landscaping and other items as required. Performs other related duties as assigned by the Manager of Planning and Director of Development Services. Responds to inquiries from the public, the development community and staff, with a high degree of accuracy and accountability, respecting land use  regulations and application processing. Processes and coordinates intake of development applications. Compiles data and development application status reports. Provides site maps and graphics for inclusion in reports using the current GIS system.  Obtains Certificates of Title from BC Online computer system. Prepares draft Preliminary Layout Approvals for the Approving Officer. Responds to legal “comfort letters” from the Development Services Department.

It’s not uncommon to find planners doing tech jobs (I wouldn’t mind it) but graduate GIS/CAD training could be considered to general and rudimentary.  On the other hand, a planner could also be considered too educationally over-qualified.

Planner I – Initially, the position of Planner I seems like the most appropriate for the education of a graduate-level planning program.  Usually requires a bachelor and increasingly a masters in urban planning specifically (some still accept other degree level qualifications).  However, closer examination of most Planner I positions I’ve encountered reveals a strong experience bias against those coming straight out of planning school.  It’s common to see 5+ year requirements (but I’ve seen 2).  Planner I is the real McCoy and often carries considerable work autonomy and responsibilities so it is hardly surprising that they want an individual who knows what they are doing and can work without direction.

Advise the Director of Development Services and staff on planning and related matters. Act of Approving Officer for the Town.  This requires the review and approval of subdivision applications for the Town.  This includes the following: reviewing the application to ensure it is complete; undertaking a site analysis; where necessary, meet with applicant to address any ongoing issues with respect to subdivision application; ensuring completion of internal and external notifications for review and comment; create a statement of projected costs including off-site services, CRD give preliminary approval, and when necessary with conditions;  and give final approval. Prepare, amend and enforce bylaws associated with the Official Community Plan, Land Use and other related bylaws. In consultation with the Director of Development Services, prepare planning studies. Prepare, co-ordinate and/or process applications for  Official Community Plan and Zoning bylaw amendments for submission to the Director of Development Services.

To be honest, I do not believe I’m qualified for any of that.

It’s important to also stress that the job descriptions vary so widely.  I’ve seen Planner I jobs that are more like Planning Assistant and Tech jobs that are more like IT programmer.

I would argue that ideally, an appropriate entry-level position for someone coming out of planning school (by planning school, I generally mean the graduate kind) would be a combination of all three job descriptions placed under the moniker of P.I.T (planner-in-training).  “Entry-Level” needs to be clarified and defined.  Emphasis placed on training, learning and collaboration with a supervising RPP.  A PIT would then work toward the position of Planner I within a specified time period, logging hours and then writing an exam.  Such positions would cater specifically to graduates, offer compensation and a title  that would discourage more experienced planners from taking said jobs and foster a more concurrent profession.

How this would be implemented?  No idea.  To be honest, I’m not sure firms and municipalities would be down with something that structured and out of their control.  I think they favour the present situation where they can push ‘planners’ where they need them and write vague job descriptions that troll in hundreds of people from a variety of professions.  However, I believe that if the CIP wants to be taken seriously as a profession they need to put their foot down and create a proper career flow that jives with the correct training, because right now I feel like a graduate education in planning is completely out of sync with the job market.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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Holmes taking it to crime on the top of the half-built London Bridge.  

However as Mr. Holmes dashes through the decrepit London brick warehouses and dockyards, I can help but think that some of those very same buildings are now the hippest, most expensive, most coveted places to live in a city.   Steam punk (love it, hate it) takes a lot of inspiration from that industrial period also seems to have more of a presence these days.  Bar 88 ( the bar in Shanghai as of summer 2009) is designed in steam punk fashion…although barely anyone knows that.  Steam punk is one of those styles that everyone has probably seen before, but didn’t know that there was an actual word for it.

* update – damn Wikipedia…some interesting sub-genres of steam punk…
atompunk, biopunk, clockpunk, dieselpunk and not necessarily a derivative, but its sounds cool; the retro-futuristic .

*update II -  Stone punk, bronze punk …

*update II – Steampunk pics

Technorati Tags: industrial cities, london bridge, movies, sherlock holmes, steam punk, 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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Why would I be mentioning King Penitentiary?  I often walk past it on my way down to Portsmouth Village and usually there is line of vehicles parked in front of the King Street entrance.  Visitors.  It is a rather depressing sight actually.  I often wonder who they are visiting.  Kingston Penitentiary is home to some of Canada’s most vicious criminals including Paul Bernardo and  Clifford Olson (formerly).  Today the distinctive smell of marijuana floated around the line of waiting vehicles.  “Man” I thought “If I had to go into that place as a visitor, I would probably want to get high as well”.

The other rather interesting item regarding King Pen is that the land values surrounding it are some of the highest in Kingston.

Technorati Tags: crime, Kingston, kingston penitentiary, land-use, prison, prisoners, urban planning

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