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urbanism

January-February 2010

How having the web on your phone is changing urban living

Navneet AlangWebsite

I stood there on the street, squinting into my phone, needing to double check. Could the nondescript restaurant before me really have, as the anonymous web commenter put it, “the. best. hot sauce. ever.”? It didn’t seem likely. But sure enough, after popping inside, the fiery, garlicky concoction was a revelation. Later that day, when […] More »
January-February 2010

Booming trade in “slum tourism” dispels some myths, creates others

Mariellen WardWebsite

It can be an eye-opening experience that helps everyone involved move towards greater understanding…. It’s been happening in Rio’s famous favelas for some time. Now slum tourism—which turns a real-life ghetto into a “hot” tourist destination—has spread to Johannesburg, Manila, Cairo, and, in the wake of the blistering success of Slumdog Millionaire, Mumbai. But it’s […] More »
January-February 2010

“I think I might be a little bit racist. And I’d like to change.”

Lisan Jutras

When one writer found herself sinking into a mire of prejudice and resentment, she set out to find a cure. But maybe 12 steps aren’t enough. The first step to getting help, they say, is admitting you have a problem. That part took me years of halting, painful introspection and self-doubt. Later, I told friends—just […] More »

ThisAbility #37: Simply People, I Wish it Were that Simple

aaron broverman

If the LGBT community can have Pride Week, complete with parade, then the world’s most undervalued minority — people with disabilities — can have at least one day to come together for disability pride. That’s the idea behind Simply People.  Canada Wide Accessibility for Post Secondary Students [CANWAPSS] had its 6th annual Simply People Festival yesterday. […] More »
September-October 2009

Canada’s an urban nation. Why is our literature still down on the farm?

Darryl WhetterWebsite

CanLit has the literary equivalent of the Y2K bug—it can’t flip over into this century When he delivers public lectures, editor and writer John Metcalf is fond of illustrating CanLit’s paradoxical obsession with tales of the rural past by describing the query letter he once received from a then-unheard-of Russell Smith. Metcalf claims that Smith […] More »

Q&A: "Critical Manners" Vancouver founder aims to make streets less mean

Graham F. Scott

With the death early this week of Toronto cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard, tensions between cyclists and motorists, always common, seem to have reached a boiling point. A spontaneous demonstration and  memorial last Tuesday on Toronto’s Bloor Street attracted thousands of cyclists who blocked traffic and held a moment of silence for Sheppard. The incident has […] More »
July-August 2009

Is a 60-storey skyscraper the farm of the future?

Paul McLaughlinWebsite

Canadian architecture student Gordon Graff attracted worldwide interest when he designed SkyFarm, a 59-storey farm for downtown Toronto. What inspired you to design a vertical farm? Sometime in 2006, when I was first working on my masters at the University of Waterloo, I knew I wanted to focus on how to turn a city like […] More »

Friday FTW: Further adventures in backyard farming, honeybee edition

Graham F. Scott

One of the most popular articles in the last issue of This was on urban chicken farming. One of the British companies mentioned in that piece, Omlet, which makes a stylish backyard chicken coop called Eglu, is expanding its urban-agro-empire again. This time, they’re selling Beehaus, a colourful backyard apiary for starting your own honeybee […] More »
July-August 2009

Be an urban chicken farmer in 5 easy steps

Erica Butler

A growing number of Canadians are extolling the virtues of the urban chicken. And why not? They’re an affordable source of fresh, local, organic protein; eat lawn-destroying insects; produce nitrogen-rich fertilizer; and are fun to have around. Intrigued? Here are some key steps toward taking on your own personal flock. 1. Look before you leap. […] More »

Coming up in the July-August 2009 issue of This Magazine

Graham F. Scott

The July-August issue of This Magazine is now in subscribers’ mailboxes (subscribers always get the magazine early, and you can too), and will be for sale on better newsstands coast-to-coast this week. Two pieces from the issue are already online: Jenn Hardy‘s cover story on the new generation of farmers using the principles of permaculture […] More »
July-August 2009

How farmers are going to save civilization

Jenn Hardy

Advocates for ‘permaculture’ say it can improve our diets, heal our environment, and improve our lives. Meet a new generation of farmers with some radical ideas for untangling our food chain (and saving the world in the process) Trent Rhode looks great in a suit. The 27-year-old resident of Peterborough, Ont., seems perfectly comfortable standing […] More »