New street furniture is being installed in Toronto, but locals are already sick of it. They're called "information pillars" and are supposed to offer helpful directions and info to pedestrians, but critics complain that they're mostly advertisements.
"'They're 95-per-cent advertising and the information they offer is of negligible value,' said Tim Grant chair of the Harbord Village Residents' Association. 'It is clearly a billboard.'
The pillar is the latest design to come out of Toronto's mammoth 2007 deal with Montreal-based Astral Media. Under the agreement – one of the largest of its type in North America – the company designs, installs and maintains new street furniture, including transit shelters, garbage bins and pay toilets."
In exchange, the company gets to keep the revenue it makes from advertising. It's a common deal in cities, where bus stops and benches are often provided through similar exchanges. But many in Toronto worry that the information pillars are simply public space sold into private hands.
Thanks to Nate Berg
FULL STORY: Critics peeved over new sidewalk ‘information pillars’

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

High-Speed Rail Tracker
Smart Cities Dive follows high-speed rail developments around the country

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service