Non-Fiction - Municipal Development and Insights

Your City’s Innovation Play Starts on Main Street - Canadian Urban Institute - Pick up an economic development strategy for any city — large or small — and it will aim to attract and nurture a tech and innovation ecosystem. It’s no wonder: tech jobs are well-paying, have great economic spinoffs and have the potential to transform a community’s reputation to attract further talent and investment.

Creating a competitive auto manufacturing property tax regime in Ontario - Municipal World - As the federal and Ontario governments work to secure generational investments in automotive manufacturing capacity, the challenge of accurately estimating and planning for the eventual property taxes remains a sticking point to bringing certainty to potential investors and their host municipalities.

New housing is crucial, yes, but businesses also need urban land - Financial Post - It is easy to look at a vacant plot of land in any Canadian city and conclude it would be a good place to build new homes and help ease the housing shortage. But we also need land where we can create, innovate and build things.

Data drives community economic development for Main Street - Municipal World - Main streets are meeting places within our communities. Whether it is a commercial plaza, a collection of two- and three-storey commercial properties in the heart of a town, or a big-city downtown core with offices and retail, these are places that bring together people, commerce, and public activities into shared spaces, creating experiences and connections between residents.

Inclusive Economic Development and Rebuilding Main Street - Municipal World - When we think about economic development, and those who are driving it across the city, main streets and small businesses don’t immediately come to mind. However, no matter where you are from, main streets are the backbone of any community and neighbourhood. They are an expression of why communities form in the first place – as places people want to come together to congregate, gather, and exchange.

Answering the call for digital adoption - Municipal World - Main streets are much more than commercial hubs. They are often the anchoring point for citizen interaction, providing a neighbourhood with a sense of identity.

In Defense of Public Servants: We Need Government To Get Us Through COVID-19 - As we head into 2021, with the pandemic raging harder than it was in the early days of 2020, it’s hard not to get discouraged. Yes, vaccines are starting to roll out. Still, infections are growing at a higher rate than in the first wave. Many are beginning to tune out medical and professional advice from governments on how to manage the pandemic. This is not going to make things easier, and we have much harder days ahead of us.

The Great Stratford Glass Debate of 2020 - As a former City Councillor in my hometown of Stratford, Ontario, I’ve had many reach out to ask my thoughts on the debate around the proposed float glass manufacturing plant the City is considering. I’ve pulled together my thoughts and what I would do below.

Canada’s COVID-19 Response is Frustrated by Short-Term Thinking - As we almost enter the tenth month of the pandemic in Canada, we continue to be obsessed with short-term thinking. Instead of thinking about how we need to adapt the economy and our lives over the long-term, our government responses carry the message we are just a shut-down or vaccine away from things going back to the good old days we enjoyed back in February.

Tech Moves Home and Toronto’s Commercial Office Market Faces Big Questions - Toronto’s downtown core has been on a tear over the last two decades. There are currently 121 cranes erected building both residential and office towers. The vacancy rate for commercial office space is around 1.4%, compared to about 3% outside of the core. And while 5 million sq. ft. of new office space came online between 2012 and 2017, another 10.1 million sq. ft. is in the pipeline to be built by 2024.

Saving and Rebuilding Main Street: COVID-19 Has Reminded us of the Value of Main Street - Having grown up in Stratford, Ontario, I always was attracted to vibrant downtowns and main streets. The stores, the architecture, the action on the street and, most importantly, the people. Wandering around, bumping into people you know, catching up — it’s the action and interactions that make life enjoyable. And, Stratford, is one of those unique places with a downtown that offers that life.

The Future of Manufacturing Is Urban: How Local Government Can Support Next Generation Makers - Municipal World - Toronto is not often associated with manufacturing, but it is home to the largest concentration of manufacturing operations and jobs in Canada. It’s larger than both the second and third biggest centres, Montreal and Edmonton, combined.

Green Economic Development - Capturing the Economic Opportunity of the Green Energy and Economy Act - Municipal World - Ontario is challenged like never before on what has historically been one of its most strategic competitive advantages – economic, flexible and reliable access to energy.

Eco-Economics: Industrial Areas Don't Have to be Wastelands - Eco-Industrial Parks are Environmentally and Financially Sustainable - Renew Canada - Industrial areas seem to be immune to the push for sustainability in communities.

City-Regions like Toronto at a Crossroads in their Energy Reliance - Municipal World - From our transportation and food networks, to the energy that powers our homes and consumer markets, the evolution of the modern city-region lies in the wide availability of cheap energy.

Dream House - Renew Magazine - There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of sustainable housing design competitions and showpiece homes in Canada.

Revisioning Stratford’s Market Square - Renew Magazine - While there is no doubt Stratford’s downtown has many significant assets, there are a few warts that present challenges for the community. One of these spaces is the city’s Market Square.

Preparing for Peak Oil - Renew Magazine - Municipalities will have to rethink not only their energy infrastructure and supply but also transportation networks and how to adapt existing municipal infrastructure for a more compact urban form.

Downloading Climate Change: Municipalities are bearing the costs of climate change - Municipal World - When it comes to climate change, the lack of federal and provincial leadership has effectively forced municipalities to pick up the tab — not out of politics, but out of necessity.

You Can’t Sue A Dog - XEN Magazine - If there was one thing I learned during my years of publishing, it was to have a good lawyer. And, having her dog own the paper was an even safer bet.

A Redevelopment Proposal for Stratford’s Cooper Site - The Local Option - Since the early 1970s, citizens have debated about what should become of the Cooper-Bessemer site.

Redesigning Stratford’s Market Square - The Local Option - Stratford is blessed with what could be a magnificent space surrounded by great shops in distinct heritage buildings; yet, instead of being a place where citizens can congregate and chat, Market Square is a parking lot.

Stratford: A City of Memory - The Local Option - Stratford has been a town where resisting planning trends in the name of community history has often been the norm. This foresight and respect for the past have allowed Stratford to develop into a unique and successful city.

Non-Fiction - Research

"Land-Use Change in the City of London: An Analysis of Zoning By-Law Changes and the Predominant Forces in the Land-Use Change Process" Masters of Public Administration - Major Research Report (2007).

Fiction

Tales of a Festival City Hack: Stories from the underbelly of Canada's Theatre Town - eBook - Known for its Shakespearean theatre and as the home of Justin Bieber, Stratford, Ontario is place of contrasts, diverse tales and interesting characters from all walks of life. Taken from his time driving taxi in Stratford during the late-1990s, a 20-something year old Chris Rickett shares some of the city's tales collected during his late night shifts driving the city's streets. Whether it be confrontations with the police and local Thespians, to life lessons from rambling rummies, this collection of stories offers another view of Canada's theatre town and the characters that roam its streets.