I was in Cincinnati talking about ABCD with the School District. They want to use principles of ABCD to help animate their Community Learning Centers. That same week the Cincinnati Reds were busy installing new turf at the ballpark so lights have been on early...

We’re All Busy This past weekend there was a town hall meeting in our neighbourhood to talk about the challenges that many are facing. It was moving to hear stories from so many different perspectives and see how many neighbours showed up. It was a Satur...

There was an article in the NY Times written by a pilot asking the question, do people prefer takeoffs or landings? In an admittedly unscientific pool he discovered the most people prefer takeoffs while only 41% prefer landings. Comments were made about takeof...

What should we create? Several groups have been thinking about what their agencies can do to help insure safety for people they support during an emergency or difficult times. In some of the conversations there is talk of creating a program, or a plan and mayb...

Make connections and taking care of others at the Hampton Inn. When checking in recently at a hotel, the staff mentioned they host an evening reception so guests can meet and talk. The information book in my room also had a page on “Care.” It menti...

In your community work what are you measuring? This is another sign from the Tactical Urbanism project in Asheville, NC. This project is designed to make quick low cost changes and to see the impact. They’re paying attention to numbers of people in the n...

While in Asheville I learned about tactical urbanism. A group of volunteers had made changes at a busy intersection to slow down traffic and create more a welcoming area. One of this days projects was touching up the road painting in the background. Tactical u...

In a park in Vancouver there are the usual climbing things and swings and there’s also close to 20 toys lined up along a path. You will find riding toys of all sorts from big wheels to monster trucks to fire engines. There are also plastic kitchens, slid...

It was a fun way to start a Friday. 80 people joined the Near and Dear event starting at the Brantford Public Library and heading out to explore the downtown core. The day is all about learning about each other, sharing stories about our community, and having ...

That’s What It’s All About I have been thinking recently about how space can be created or modified to create an opportunity for people to slow down and connect. These Hokey Pokey dance steps create that in Chattanooga, TN. It creates an opportunit...