on the Grid - Renovating the Waterfront: Kelowna, Canada’s Downtown Parks Plan

As a waterfront city, Kelowna, Canada is heavily reliant on its shoreline. Okanagan Lake provides many things for the city, though the limited points of access pose a complex question when it comes to the provision of space. Competing for use of the shore are the tourism industry, public parks, boat launches, marinas, a logging mill, and the natural riparian environment.

Read the full post on the Grid.

on the Grid - How and Why We Should Put People Before Vehicles

The Victoria Transportation Policy Institute and Walkable Communities provide many tips and resources to encourage pedestrian activity. While some of these aspects are in the care of urban planners, such as human scale in block length and street width, others can be achieved by individual property owners or developers.

Read the full post on the Grid.

on the Grid - Kelowna’s Rails With Trails Active Transportation Project Stopped in its Tracks

As people continue to flock to cities, urban planners and property developers are increasingly pressed to come up with novel land use solutions to everyday problems. One problem that affects nearly every aspect of city life is transportation, with transportation networks strained by the pressures of increased usage and the sustainable agenda. Thankfully, creative solutions meet these multiple challenges head on.

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on the Grid - Master Planning for a LEED Certified Neighbourhood in Kelowna

The site of the former Kelowna High School sits vacant only blocks from the downtown waterfront. The city of Kelowna, Canada, has grandiose plans for this piece of property: a mixed-use neighbourhood anchored by a large public park. The project is aptly titled Central Green.

Read the full post on the Grid.

on the Grid - Tending the Urban Forest in Vancouver and Toronto

On opposite sides of the country are two of Canada’s iconic cities: Vancouver, British Columbia and Toronto, Ontario. In this age of green building practices and sustainable development, both cities are pushing forward to be leaders in environmentally conscious city planning and design. Toronto has adopted a green roof strategy and passed bylaws to require new developments to include green roofs. Vancouver has declared an intention to become the greenest city by 2020.

Both cities are making strides to expand the urban forest, though in very different ways.

Read the full post on the Grid.

on the Grid - Xeriscaping and Landscape Design Challenges in Canada’s Desert

Canada is often imagined as a country of towering mountains, vast prairies, frozen lakes, and lush forests. However, tucked between two mountain ranges is the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, a semi-arid swath of land containing the country’s sole desert.

Kelowna, Canada, is the largest city in this region, and is subject to the many challenges of developing in an arid valley. Most obvious in these summer months is the dry heat, which makes the upkeep of traditional Kentucky bluegrass landscapes difficult without excessive watering.

Read the full post on the Grid

on the Grid - Is Human Scale Important to Cities Without Skyscrapers?

Cities are built for a variety of reasons, but are ultimately places for people to live, work, and play. As such, architects and urban planners need to keep in mind the concept of human scale, or designing buildings and spaces for human use. This impacts everything from the height of buildings to the size of street furniture.

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on the Grid - Smart Growth Incorporated in Rutland Town Centre’s Community Plan: Kelowna, Canada

With one of the fastest growing populations in Canada, Kelowna has been investing considerable time and effort into long-range planning. The city’s most recent Official Community Plan (OCP), revised in 2011, imagines Kelowna in 2030. Key aspects of this plan include social, environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability. Smart growth is the driving ideology in many of the policies.

 Read the full post on the Grid

photo (c) by South Pandosy BIA

on the Grid - What is the Purpose of a Park?

Summer has arrived in Canada’s Okanagan valley, and with the warmer weather, people are venturing outside to enjoy the many parks in Kelowna. Among these is Mission Creek Regional Park and Greenway, arguably the most visited park in the city. It includes an educational centre, salmon spawning channel, picnic areas, and a playground. The greenway offers a lengthy trail system that traverses through several of Kelowna’s iconic landscapes.  

 Read the full post on the Grid

photo by jamica1 (c) All Rights Reserved

Chillin' with the Ogopogo

It's summer! And, oddly enough, summer always tends to be a busy time of year for me. True, I do have plenty of time to fall asleep on the beach and become sunburnt, but I never fail to fill my schedule with other things. This time around? Work, beach volleyball league, blogging for the Grid, scoping out jobs for the fall and winter, and then whatever it is I do over on Protagonize. That will include the Summer Poetry Tournament, and then if I can get the Prose Competition off the ground that will be yet another hat to wear.

Definitely not complaining, though. I enjoy being busy, and being busy with work means the bills will get paid. Whoo! This whole "being an adult" thing isn't too different than what I was doing before, really. The only major difference I can identify so far is that I can't claim student benefits on anything. No student bus pass, no student price rate, no student bank account, no student internships. I'm just a regular person now. Whoo?

One thing will never change, though: I'll still ride any noble steeds I come across in my travels. Such as my buddy the Ogopogo up there. We talk on Twitter sometimes, we're cool like that.

Birthday Blog

Sorry about the lack of posts in the last while (Music Mondays aside). I've been on the busy side, researching for my blog posts on the Grid, working lots, and then travelling to Vancouver and Victoria. It's been a busy couple of weeks.

Victoria has been rad, suffice to say. Brought a friend over who had never been to the Island before, so I got to play the part of tour guide for a day or two. Went to a Janelle Monae concert (again), and she was simply astounding (again)! Covered "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger," among others. And then it was my birthday, so I went to see the peacocks and we chased ladies together. I'll have picture later, I promise.

Now I'm taking a quiet day off, sitting at my laptop and writing one of those aforementioned Grid blog posts. One down, one to go: due date is tomorrow! After that comes a week for reviews and edits, then it'll go live... uhm... July 11th, I believe. I'll have that link here on my personal blog, don't you worry.

So with that, I better get going! Tomorrow is Canada Day, so I already know I won't get anything done at all. Cheers!

Photo by Will Clayton

Professional Blogger

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook may have noticed that I've been posting links to a website called Global Site Plans, a branding consultancy for environmental design, civil engineering, and urban planning firms. For those who read my last post on graduating, you might remember me saying I had more good news to share, but that it deserved a post of its own.

Well, this is that post.

On the day of my grad, I was offered an (unpaid) internship position as a writer for Global Site Plans' blog, the Grid. I've been doing the paperwork and preliminary write-ups (one paragraph autobios are tough!) over the weekend, and soon I'll receive a crash course in WordPress and professional blogging. My internship is set at six months, but I can extend that if I choose. Over those months I'll be contributing 12 posts/articles to the Grid, which may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that these will need to be researched and revised, not just spur of the moment postings.

So, uhm, that's about it! I'll still be posting on here, and you'll probably see links to my posts for the Grid when they're available. Cheers!

photos by photosteve101 and Global Site Plans