Author Archives: Richard Shearmur

“At this moment, 3 million Canadian households are precariously homed, living in unaffordable, substandard, or overcrowded housing conditions. Almost 1 in 5 households are currently experiencing serious housing affordability problems which puts them directly at risk of homelessness. In 2016 alone, an estimated 235-thousand people in Canada experienced homelessness with an average of 35-thousand people living on the streets on any given night.Continue reading “Can planners solve the housing crisis ?”

The latest planning fad – one that the mayor of Paris, no less, is attempting to implement – is the 15 minute city. It is a catchy phrase, one that mobilises people and catches the imagination. What does it refer to? “The “15-minute city” is an approach to urban design that aims to improve qualityContinue reading “The 15-minute city is not a city”

There is a lot to be said for managing downtowns as shopping centres. As planners think about resuscitating Montreal’s, and other, downtowns, it is worth considering. This does NOT mean privatization, surveillance and control. It could mean that: but these aspects of shopping centre management would not enhance our cities. I am not suggesting thatContinue reading “Planning post-COVID downtown Montreal as a shopping centre: why not?”

I have been doing very little urban bike riding of late – no commutes. So I’ve been able to pick the time of day and my routes in order to avoid traffic. But yesterday and today I’ve been obliged to run some errands, i.e. to actually cycle from A to B with intent, and performContinue reading “Another ride, another brush with infirmity”

Covid oblige, I’ve been forcing myself out on morning cycle-rides to replace my usual commute. I’ve been fairly successful, possibly due to the 20C weather we’ve been having in Montreal in early November. I go for quick 30 to 40 minute rides, which usually involve leaving the proletarian neighbourhoods just north of Snowdon metro stationContinue reading “Leafblowers”

Many pages, blogs and articles are being written about social media and the proliferation of fake news, conspiracy theories, and general misinformation. It seems that this is nothing new. When printing became common – between about 1450 and 1500, i.e. over a short period, similar to the time it has taken the Internet to revolutionizeContinue reading “Fake news, late medieval style”

In 2011, 11th October was declared by the United Nations to be International Day of the Girl. This an important declaration, both because of its symbolism and because it focuses opinion-makers (and the wider public) on the plight of young women across the world. This year, it sends out the following message. “As adolescent girlsContinue reading “11th October – the Problematic International Day of the Girl”

Last Tuesday, Joyce Echaquan died in Joliette hospital. It’s a desperately sad story: as she lay telling nurses that she was being overmedicated, the nurses threw racial slurs at her, telling her she was getting what she deserved. She died crying for help, belittled and insulted by ‘care’ staff. The Prime Minister of Quebec putsContinue reading “Systemic Racism in Québec”

They come back every year… and every year they’re beautiful. There isn’t much need to write anything…

The other day I picked up a collection of Lovecraft’s short stories, and am now half way through. They are an enjoyable, off-kilter, read, plunging one into a world beneath the surface of which lurk ghouls, monsters and age-old satanic rituals. These are perpetuated by individuals and families who are partly unsuspecting, partly caught upContinue reading “Reading H.P.Lovecraft in the Age of Trump”