As Toronto's new chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat made the media rounds last week, her deft comments left local urbanists drunk on the possible. As the city's boosters sober up, John Lorinc recommends two chief priorities that must be tackled.
In advance of Keesmaat being "dropped through a ring of fire when she starts the job in September," Lorinc identifies two major challenges for her to take on, "that are every bit as important as the mobility issues she foregrounded in the media last week."
Challenge number one is jobs. According to Lorinc, "The City has a lot of the land zoned for industrial or commercial
uses, much of which is either sitting fallow or at risk of being gobbled
up by voracious condo developers. In my view, job one for the City, broadly, and Keesmaat, as chief
planner, is developing a novel and imaginative strategy to bring
employment back to the 416, and not just the office/institutional
districts downtown."
Challenge number two is figuring out how to diversify residential development to add mid-rise buildings to the heap of "shabbily constructed glass towers." Lorinc argues that, "Mid-rise buildings will age well, allow homeowners to retire in their
own communities, and hold out the possibility of family-sized units -
all goals that support the official plan. Yet the planning department
has been unable to figure out how to restrain the high-rise sector and
encourage the mid-rise sector. Keesmaat's predecessors have died on this
hill, and there's good reason to think she will, too."
FULL STORY: LORINC: What should be on the new chief planner’s to-do list

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

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

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont