Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

A water fountain, one installed to serve thirsty neighbors, reduces the scale of a city. It can transform a city neighborhood into a rural village. As urbanization has increased, water, like many other goods and services, has become privatized (delivered to individual homes) rather than available to the public at large from a community source. [2018]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Flatiron buildings were perfect for intersections where two streets came together at an acute angle. They needed a more triangular shape, one that was like the front of the appliance we still use for pressing clothes: an iron, or flatiron. This one is the Gooderham Building. [2010]

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

 

These berries look a little rough, or raspy, on the surface, and that is probably how they got their name: raspberries. If you find some from Île d'Orléans for sale in Quebec, buy them! Île d'Orléans is known as the Garden of Quebec and has served in that role for centuries. It is located in what geographers would call Von Thünen's inner ring. [2018]

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

How many uses can you think of for a lamp post? (1) Providing illumination, obviously. (2) Holding up pole banners. (3) Anchoring bike racks. But, certainly, the list does not stop there. How might you apply these concepts to a lamp post? Aesthetic enrichment, audio entertainment, advice dispensation, attention catching, aides memories. [2018]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle. Using the distance decay model, predict the first foreign country into which Starbucks expanded. Using the same model, predict the city. Today, Starbucks does business in 83 countries. Strike that: 82 countries. Thanks, Starbucks, for pulling out of Russia! [2010]

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! Montreal is Toronto's chief rival (although it used to be the other way around). Built in the neo-Gothic style over a hundred years ago, Saint-Édouard Church could easily be mistaken for a cathedral. Be sure to see yesterday's post. [2009]

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here is one man looking for one ride. It's what we call a one-to-one relationship. The setting: Upper Town in Quebec City. [2018]

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

The flow below is not water and the stream bed is not rock. The stream of traffic under this covered bridge glides along on a veneer of macadam. Although not an authentic covered bridge, definitional boundaries are being tested since this one has been built to look a bit like the medieval wooden crossing in Lucerne, Switzerland. [2013]

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

 

In Quebec City, the summer season is short, but the summer blooms are beautiful. It seems like the perfect place for gardens and potted plants. Why? First, days are long. Second, temperatures are mild. Long days maximize photosynthesis. Mild temperatures minimize evapotranspiration. In the summer, being half way to the North Pole has it advantages. [2018]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Who spake these words in 1994? (Yes, so long ago it deserves an archaic past participle.) "My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get?" City skylines should also be like a box of chocolates, so diverse in colors, shapes, and textures (= flavors!), you never know what you are going to get. [2010]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The city is Toronto. What's the name of the lake? Superior or Huron or Michigan or Erie or Ontario? Deep, large lakes are rare around the world. When they do occur, it is always in the plural, and they are always in the middle of great (as in the three largest) continents: North America, Africa, Asia. Why? [2010]

Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada

♫ These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ♫ ~ Signs: We are such a literate culture that we litter our landscape with language. There are words everywhere, and sometimes full sentences. Keep your eyes open for commercial, political, and iconic cultural signs. And, if you're a geographer, you will love place-name signs and should not miss tomorrow's post. [2012]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

People of Toronto: The Annex is a popular student-oriented neighborhood of Toronto that exhibits all the fine qualities of mixed-used development: plentiful services, arts opportunities, convenience, and walkability, all on top of a land use plan that was born almost 150 years ago. [2011]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

People of Toronto: The Baldwin Steps (110 of them) transcend an escarpment that marks the edge of Lake Ontario's Pleistocene predecessor. Just think: They were almost wiped off the city's cultural landscape in the 1960s by an expressway! Now they are a major open space resource and recreational corridor. [2010]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

People of Toronto: Toronto crossed the line in 2016 when the Census proclaimed it a majority minority city. For the first time, those of European descent were found to constitute less than half the population. But even those of Euro descent come in dozens and dozens of ethnicities. [2013]

Sabrevois, Quebec, Canada

Roadside giants have been with us since the mid 20th century. Here, the antique giant knows he is getting old. Each year, more and more, he feels under the weather. That is why he was so glad to see that new house being built within one good stride of his place in the world. But, as he watched the roof go on, he knew it was not big enough for any giant. [2009]

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

"The World Turned Upside Down" was played when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, the last battle of the American Revolution. Let's play it again when Lord Coronavirus surrenders to the international army of scientists who are still wondering when their last battle will be fought. [2013]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Members of a jury are a nation's pillars of justice. But here there are only 11. "The missing pillar invites you to imagine that you are the twelfth juror." Jurors, yes, but also telamons and caryatids. What are they holding up? Not just the pediment of a Greek temple, but the entire Canadian justice system. [2013]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"Own a piece of the sky."
Kiss the clouds as they fly by.
A condo on the 44th floor?
Only if you are not poor.
[2010]

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The Atwater Market, complete with clock tower, was built in the 1930s. (But you could tell that just by looking, right?) Judging from the size of the market hall, the neighborhood must have been at least a bit posh. With the rise of Montreal's suburbs, decline set in. But, now, it's been gentrified. "Flowers only for you" says it all. [2009]