This piece of chain is attached to a huge block of concrete, it was the staining of the concrete that caught my eye. It was taken at Portnalong (norse for "port of the ships") on Skye back in July.

I was attracted by the light on the ice cubes here...

It is Bondwoman's foot in this shot, I was just taken by the textures and the interaction of the tied lace.

I think that the title and photo say everything that needs to be said here...

subways and heavy rail. yes, they're sexy, cool and maybe a little bit lovable but they cost fast-growing cities heaps of money and an exorbitant construction time frame that can hurt business and neighbourhoods (cambie street is a case-in-point). the new skytrain line from the airport to downtown is not even complete yet but vancouver city council is already toying with the idea of extending a new skytrain line from broadway/commercial to ubc. a recent, eye-opening study by ubc's design centre for sustainability, however, indicates that for the same price (a cool $2.8 billion) the entire metro region could be blanketed in an efficient light rail system that would bring accessible and efficient public transit the the doorsteps of hundreds of thousands of people in the region. this kind of thinking makes sense. housing, employment and commuting patterns in the region have evolved in a manner that was, really, unanticipated. commuters are heading out in all directions to work and do business, not just into traditional business and employment centres like downtown vancouver or the ubc area. an efficient, web-like transit system would do better to serve this emerging trend.

sustainable cities are accessible cities. sure, new heavy rail can seem glamorous, but if they will only serve a select portion of the population, their contribution to true sustainability is questionable. i applaud the work done by dr. patrick condon and his students at ubc for bringing this kind of information to bear here in this region. i hope this type of work will get citizens talking about what options are actually available in pursuit of the ideal city.

Happy scratching!!!

as a relatively new metro vancouverite in the planning field, these summits will be the perfect opportunity to get a better grasp on the discourse surrounding the areas major issues and opportunities.

It was the Clematis growing up through the other shrub (sorry just don't know what it is) that attracted me, not only the contrast of the different flowers, but the contrast of the whole with the stone building behind...

This is part of a propellor of a ship that now resides within the Ocean Terminal complex in Leith, and on a recent visit I noticed the light catching it at just the right angle to create these patterns of light and shade across the blade...