Jennifer Keesmaat

@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

@dieworkwear.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

please contact me if you control "dark money" and want to pay me to promote high rise trousers, walkable neighborhoods, and adopting shelter animals

@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

We are breaking ground at 275 Merton, a partnership with CreateTO, the Housing Secretariat, + Priority Development Review. 30% affordable + deeply affordable Rent-Geared-to-Income units. Using a “checkerboard” approach, affordable homes are integrated throughout!

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

thestar.comThere’s a way to build affordable housing in Toronto — and we’re doing it right nowWe can either entrench the systems that failed us in the past, or use this moment to create a housing model that creates a more sustainable future, Jennifer Keesmaat writes.
@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

I’ve long admired cities that seamlessly integrate cafés along park edges—which is why we jumped at the opportunity to make it happen on our Merton Street project. Here are our most recent building and park designs, by @GH3architects.

@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

I’ve long admired cities that seamlessly integrate cafés along park edges—which is why we jumped at the opportunity to make it happen on our Merton Street project. Here are our most recent building and park designs, by @GH3architects.

@toondreessen.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

And then my own piece that could help tie these issues together: something I hope @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social sees, and takes action on 5/@yasirnaqvicdn.bsky.social @brucefanjoy.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: Canada needs an architecture policyAnd by ‘architecture’ we shouldn’t just think of buildings. We should think of buildings and landscapes as well as transportation infrastructure, plazas and parkways as elements of the built environme...
@toondreessen.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

This is also reinforced by something @jordanmoffatt.bsky.social wrote for the @ottawacitizen.com, that the disconnect in planning/transportation planning etc is leaving us worse off. 4/ ottawacitizen.com/opinion/zomb...

ottawacitizen.comMoffatt: Zombies, fairies and dragons in Ottawa’s new transportation planThis fantasy document won't solve our traffic problems. But other cities have found a way to slay bottlenecks.
@toondreessen.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

Then turning to the opinion section @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social points out the social promise that isn’t being kept (something I agree w/and have pointed out here in #Ottawa); an excellent piece on the need for social infrastructure 3/ www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: By letting public spaces and services fail, our cities are breaking a fundamental promise to the people who live thereCities can’t honestly sell people on urban density if they cannot assure them that the infrastructure needed will be provided
@toondreessen.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

Followed by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social second piece on Old City Hall and, again, another call for design quality, public realm and access and fresh thinking; 2/ www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and...

theglobeandmail.comToronto’s Old City Hall could soon be a home for its civic treasures. It can be more than thatA historic building, set to be transformed into a museum, is also a chance to put our ‘Beautiful City’ rhetoric to the test
@toondreessen.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

A great weekend for #Architecture and design news in today’s @theglobeandmail.com ; first up is @alexbozikovic.bsky.social review of St Lawrence Market w/call for action on better public realm 1/ www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

theglobeandmail.comToronto’s St. Lawrence Market celebrates grand opening, but the redevelopment has its flawsQuestions remains as to how the landmark project is 11 years late and over budget
@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

We’re starting to get density and transit right in our cities. But we are not delivering on the promise.

The risk? Families and young people will give up on our cities for good. But there is hope. We can fix this.

My latest in today’s @globeandmail.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: By letting public spaces and services fail, our cities are breaking a fundamental promise to the people who live thereCities can’t honestly sell people on urban density if they cannot assure them that the infrastructure needed will be provided
@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

Congestion Relief Zone is the best name ever. Take away cars = relief.

Travis R. Eby@travis-robert.bsky.social

My first time walking around the CONGESTION RELIEF ZONE on a non bone-chilling day and I am in love. Dramatic improvement. Here is 42nd & Madison — unfathomable that this usual clusterf*** of cars at this hour is this clear. As you can see however by the crosswalk, Manhattan is a ghost town now 🤣

@picardonhealth.bsky.socialReposted by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

As chief planner, I tried to get Toronto to adopt a congestion fee and make drivers pay to come downtown. New York caught on. Why didn't we? by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @torontostar.bsky.social

thestar.comJennifer Keesmaat: As chief planner, I tried to get Toronto to make drivers pay to come downtown. It’s still the right thing to doBy Toronto avoiding congestion pricing, we’ve ensured the very outcomes we sought to avoid: more traffic, more pollution and greater frustration.
@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

Support for congestion pricing skyrockets a year after implementation. Change is hard, but once people figure it out, they begin to take advantage of the upsides. Let’s hope NYC stays the course to realize its full potential. We need a good North American example to put some wind in Toronto’s sails.

@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social

New York City’s introduction of congestion pricing is a needed step toward smarter, more sustainable urban mobility. Decades of data from London and Singapore show that people quickly adjust their travel patterns, and NYC will be no different.