Extra, Extra: Community-Minded Cyclists, Underfunded Mayors, and Renovated Planters
Torontoist has been acquired by Daily Hive Toronto - Your City. Now. Click here to learn more.

Torontoist

1 Comment

news

Extra, Extra: Community-Minded Cyclists, Underfunded Mayors, and Renovated Planters

By

Every weekday’s end, Extra, Extra collects just about everything you ought to care about or ought not miss.

  • Bikes as a divisive force are getting a lot of media coverage lately, but the above video is a reminder that they can also bring people together. The video, by lenaC, shows a community bicycle clinic at St. James Town Festival, on June 4, where bike mechanics volunteered their services. The clinic was set up by The Bicycle Commons, who have been working with BikeSauce, MEC, and ThinkFirst on community events that aim to “support the development of healthy, sustainable communities.”
  • Meanwhile, in Montreal, cycling’s popularity is starting to strain the city’s infrastructure. Vélo Quebec, a cycling advocacy group, told the CBC that bike-path congestion is becoming a problem for cyclists, and it’s not unusual to see 20 or more bikes lined up at a red light on one of the city’s arterial bike routes.
  • Canadian mayors need more money and more powers, according to the Economist. “No kidding,” say Canada’s mayors, in response to the article.
  • Our country’s big-city mayors should buck up a little at this news, though, if they’re hoping for vibrant careers after their time in office: former Toronto mayor David Miller has been named as a Future of Cities Global Fellow at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
  • In January this year, Sean Martindale obtained a FEAST Toronto grant for a planter-box intervention project that he’d wanted to make a reality for years. After months of planning, in a 24-hour period on the weekend of May 20 and 21, 17 Torontonians carried out more than 30 planter interventions. Martindale has collected images of the resulting planter art, and posted them here.
  • For those about to rock: we’re proud to bring you Torontoist‘s brand-spankin’ new NXNE 2011 hub. It’s full of all sorts of festival-related goodness, including artist profiles, survival guides, and a NXNE Twitter feed, for up-to-the-minute news to keep you in the loop.

Like Torontoist? Send us tips, get involved, or follow us through Twitter, Facebook, or RSS.

Comments