Category Archives for "Architecture"

If you read my title carefully, there’s a contradiction in it: An ROI from your front yard? Really? Most front yards are neglected wastes of space. Folks might think that grassy buffer zones (aka front yards) are somehow “green,” meaning environmentally important. Other than being the color green, grassed front yards are anything but. You […]

Keynote speech for: NOMA, Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association SMALL TOWNS, GREAT FUTURE? “Hi Bruce. I just got home and wanted to reach out to thank you for your riveting and informative presentation today. It was so well done. I had one city manager come up and ask me if it was possible to get a […]

My friends in Quebec at High Cube, led by Patrick Sauvé, build awesome container homes, offices, workshops and hunting cabins. Their model container home is now for sale for $79,995; that’s Canadian dollars (not USD). They’ll deliver the model to any place in Ontario or Quebec for free; ie, it’s included in the price. You […]

While watching Hockey Day in America, I was struck by how the city of Detroit had integrated its outdoor ice-skating rink into the very fabric of its downtown. Most of these things are done badly; in fact, it’s surprisingly hard to create vibrant street life. Most cities and towns fail at it. Loneliness soars as […]

As folks get older, they tend to earn less even before they officially retire. Many people will recall the “Freedom 55” slogan from an old advertising campaign. I tell young people I coach, “Don’t pay any attention to the idea of retiring any time soon… if ever.” Why? For two main reasons: I believe human […]

A friend’s 500 sq ft (approximate), 3-room apartment in a Hong Kong tower in a  desirable neighborhood is worth $4 million CAD, but rents for “just” $4,000 a month.  Cap rate?  About .8% pa. Conclusion? Real estate investing in HK brings poor cash returns, which means CDN real estate looks mighty tempting with cap rates […]

The Pit If you want your building interiors to be highly animated and increase collisionable hours, you could do (a lot) worse than copy the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism’s “pit” on the main floor of their building on Carleton University’s campus… What’s it used for? -speeches -parties -presentations -charettes -teaching -gatherings -random meetings/collisions -concerts […]

Years ago when I was teaching at Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism (a 14-year sentence), I was on campus walking to my office one beautiful early-fall day when I saw dozens of vans parked along a main road. From these behemoths, hundreds of excited freshmen and their parents scurried across the road […]

It was cool to see a tiny house parked by the Rideau river yesterday at my old stomping grounds–near the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism, where I taught for 14-years. But it would have been a heck of a lot nicer to see it inhabited. And for that matter, how about parking a few […]

by Bruce M Firestone, PhD Introduction OJ “Jack” Firestone came to Canada from Vienna (via England) in the 1930s and couldn’t believe his luck—to live in a nation that was largely peaceful, where folks of all races and religions got along (for the most part), where he could get a job, start a business, raise […]

Every year since I can remember MTO (ministry of transportation for Ontario) has been doing work somewhere along the Queensway–highways 417 and 174. You’ve heard the joke before: There are only two seasons in Ottawa–winter and construction. It’s one of the prices we’ve paid for not embracing light rail a lot earlier than we did […]

If we build more mixed-use communities, ones that are neo-urbanist, that are both economically and environmentally sustainable, plus they are walkable, animated, livable districts where people can— LIVE-WORK-PLAY-CREATE-MAKE-LEARN-ENTERTAIN-SHOP-EXERCISE-GROW-SOCIALIZE in one neighborhood, this will do more to reduce congestion than anything else I can think of…