Within Reach

In this episode… Maybe its time we started talking about resilience and climate change, and how it affects our growing city. Jennifer is joined by Elliot Cappell, an international climate change specialist who focuses on climate resilience and is formally the Chief Resiliency Officer for the city of Toronto. They discuss what Toronto is doing to now, and into the future to help increase the city's ability to handle extreme changes in North America's weather patterns.

In this E​pisode… We like to believe there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...if we can find the 'pot of gold'. If you bought a home at the right time, in the right place...you might have the 'pot of gold' already. In fact, we've based a lot of financial planning on this idea there might be a 'pot of gold' beyond the horizon. This podcast is about trying make life easier, but with housing, there doesn't seem to be a quick fix...it's just getting too expensive. John Pasalis is the CEO of Realosophy...his company is a real estate brokerage that uses data to help people make better real estate choices. John joins Jennifer Keesmaat to talk about housing affordability and the impact on the next generation.

In this episode... We sometimes get trapped into thinking, big moves and big changes in big cities... demand big money; That there is little we can do in our own neighborhoods to make our city a better place to live. Amanda O'Rourke is the Executive Director of 8 to 80 Cities. A planner by training, she aims to accelerate action in reducing pedestrian fatalities with a project called "8 to 80 Streets". This project will transform sites across Toronto, showcasing how quickly different types of design elements can produce safer, more vibrant, and human centered streets.

City government…not exactly a topic that makes your heart skip a beat. But think about it, when garbage pick-up falls apart…it quickly makes your blood boil. Municipal services like water, road, and transit have the biggest impact on our everyday lives. Local government has always been the place to get in touch with your local elected official to impact change, but this simple premise has been a struggle in Toronto. Today on the podcast, we’re joined by John Sewell, former mayor of Toronto and recent activist… to chat about how we can make the city of Toronto a better place to live.

In this episode... We are social creatures. And while we like the anonymity of living in a big city, we also would like to think that in a crunch our neighbors will have our back.  Listen in as Dave Bidini describes the reinvention of the neighborhood news – and the launch of the West End Phoenix. What’s the role of the conversations taking place on our front porches in advocating for our city? 

Guest: Jeffrey Tumlin, Principal at Nelson|Nygaard (Transportation Solutions) Author of the book “Sustainable Transportation Solutions” It could be argued that we have a pretty shabby system for managing our road networks in cities – if the system worked, we wouldn’t be stuck in traffic. Most cities don’t have room for more roads, and as a result they need new approaches to better use the infrastructure we’ve got. Listen in as Jeffery Tumlin, a Principal and Director of Strategy at Nelson Nygaard in San Francisco and author, makes the pitch for putting a price on our roads, as a way to get us all moving.

We like to keep things simple. But city building is complex! The good news is that Larry Beasley, former Chief Planner for the City of Vancouver, has been deep in the weeds of advancing transformative change, and he divulges all in his new book, “Vancouversim”. Listen in as we discuss – and debate! – in this two part series a wide array of city building topics, from the missed opportunity of the Climate Strike to the changing role of leadership in creating sustainable, liveable, 21st century cities.

We like to keep things simple. But city building is complex! The good news is that Larry Beasley, former Chief Planner for the City of Vancouver, has been deep in the weeds of advancing transformative change, and he divulges all in his new book, “Vancouversim”. Listen in as we discuss – and debate! – in this two part series a wide array of city building topics, from the missed opportunity of the Climate Strike to the changing role of leadership in creating sustainable, liveable, 21st century cities.

Guest: Alexander Stahle, CEO of Spacescape/Author of the book “Closer Together-This is The Future of Cities”/PhD in Urban Design In this Episode… We shouldn’t be surprised by the competition for space that we see on our city streets – we’ve designed them for conflict and frustration. We’re getting what we planned for – the world over. But disruptive new approaches to getting around – like scooters and e-bikes – could inspire us to live differently, and live better. Listen in as Alexander Stahle, the CEO of the urban research and design studio Spacescape in Stockholm, lays out a vision for city living that brings us closer together.

GUEST: Janette Sadik-Khan - Former Commissioner of Transportation for NYC, Mayor Bloomberg If you live in the city, you would be forgiven for believing that a painful, costly, long commute is a given, a trade-off that you must make for your work. After all, isn’t a rotten, annoying commute just a part of every day, city life? Listen in as Janette Sadik-Khan, the former Commissioner of Transportation Planning for Mayor Bloomberg in New York, and author of Street Fight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution talks about what we got wrong and how to fix our 21st century cities.

GUEST: Janette Sadik-Khan - Former Commissioner of Transportation for NYC, Mayor Bloomberg If you live in the city, you would be forgiven for believing that a painful, costly, long commute is a given, a trade-off that you must make for your work. After all, isn’t a rotten, annoying commute just a part of every day, city life? Listen in as Janette Sadik-Khan, the former Commissioner of Transportation Planning for Mayor Bloomberg in New York, and author of Street Fight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution talks about what we got wrong and how to fix our 21st century cities.

Within Reach is a podcast dedicated to tackling the biggest challenges Toronto faces.