Jennifer Keesmaat
jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social
Jennifer Keesmaat
@jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
please contact me if you control "dark money" and want to pay me to promote high rise trousers, walkable neighborhoods, and adopting shelter animals
August 29, 2025 at 3:15 AM
We are breaking ground at 275 Merton, a partnership with CreateTO, the Housing Secretariat, + Priority Development Review. 30% affordable + deeply affordable Rent-Geared-to-Income units. Using a “checkerboard” approach, affordable homes are integrated throughout!

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
There’s a way to build affordable housing in Toronto — and we’re doing it right now
We can either entrench the systems that failed us in the past, or use this moment to create a housing model that creates a more sustainable future, Jennifer Keesmaat writes.
www.thestar.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
6th fl taking shape at our Cielo Condos. Heritage work is beginning, as the tower rises. Trust me, building over the subway has been no small feat! Very proud of my team.

Take a look: urbantoronto.ca/news/2025/07... Thanks for covering, @urban_toronto
July 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
6th fl taking shape at our Cielo Condos. Heritage work is beginning, as the tower rises. Trust me, building over the subway has been no small feat! Very proud of my team.

Take a look: urbantoronto.ca/news/2025/07... Thanks for covering, @urban_toronto
July 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
What happened to Transit City? Why does building transit in Ontario take so long? @spaikin.bsky.social asks former Toronto mayor David Miller, former chief planner @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social, and @johnlorinc.bsky.social about the past, present & future of moving people in the GTHA. #topoli
Whatever Happened to Transit City? | The Agenda
YouTube video by TVO Today
www.youtube.com
June 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
I’ve long admired cities that seamlessly integrate cafés along park edges—which is why we jumped at the opportunity to make it happen on our Merton Street project. Here are our most recent building and park designs, by @GH3architects.
June 4, 2025 at 11:58 PM
I’ve long admired cities that seamlessly integrate cafés along park edges—which is why we jumped at the opportunity to make it happen on our Merton Street project. Here are our most recent building and park designs, by @GH3architects.
June 4, 2025 at 11:58 PM
There are many global precedents to learn from—but North American cities are, uniquely (though not exclusively), in a troubling state of decline.
May 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
And then my own piece that could help tie these issues together: something I hope @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social sees, and takes action on 5/@yasirnaqvicdn.bsky.social @brucefanjoy.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: Canada needs an architecture policy
And by ‘architecture’ we shouldn’t just think of buildings. We should think of buildings and landscapes as well as transportation infrastructure, plazas and parkways as elements of the built environme...
www.theglobeandmail.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
This is also reinforced by something @jordanmoffatt.bsky.social wrote for the @ottawacitizen.com, that the disconnect in planning/transportation planning etc is leaving us worse off. 4/ ottawacitizen.com/opinion/zomb...
Moffatt: Zombies, fairies and dragons in Ottawa’s new transportation plan
This fantasy document won't solve our traffic problems. But other cities have found a way to slay bottlenecks.
ottawacitizen.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
Then turning to the opinion section @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social points out the social promise that isn’t being kept (something I agree w/and have pointed out here in #Ottawa); an excellent piece on the need for social infrastructure 3/ www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: By letting public spaces and services fail, our cities are breaking a fundamental promise to the people who live there
Cities can’t honestly sell people on urban density if they cannot assure them that the infrastructure needed will be provided
www.theglobeandmail.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
Followed by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social second piece on Old City Hall and, again, another call for design quality, public realm and access and fresh thinking; 2/ www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and...
Toronto’s Old City Hall could soon be a home for its civic treasures. It can be more than that
A historic building, set to be transformed into a museum, is also a chance to put our ‘Beautiful City’ rhetoric to the test
www.theglobeandmail.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
A great weekend for #Architecture and design news in today’s @theglobeandmail.com ; first up is @alexbozikovic.bsky.social review of St Lawrence Market w/call for action on better public realm 1/ www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market celebrates grand opening, but the redevelopment has its flaws
Questions remains as to how the landmark project is 11 years late and over budget
www.theglobeandmail.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
We’re starting to get density and transit right in our cities. But we are not delivering on the promise.

The risk? Families and young people will give up on our cities for good. But there is hope. We can fix this.

My latest in today’s @globeandmail.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: By letting public spaces and services fail, our cities are breaking a fundamental promise to the people who live there
Cities can’t honestly sell people on urban density if they cannot assure them that the infrastructure needed will be provided
www.theglobeandmail.com
May 10, 2025 at 2:33 PM
New York traffic falls after $9 congestion fee introduced. The early data backs up what New Yorkers saying all week – traffic is down, the streets feel safer, and buses are moving faster.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
New York traffic falls after $9 congestion fee introduced
Traffic has fallen by 7.5% since the charge was introduced on 5 January, according to preliminary data.
www.bbc.com
January 14, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Congestion Relief Zone is the best name ever. Take away cars = relief.
My first time walking around the CONGESTION RELIEF ZONE on a non bone-chilling day and I am in love. Dramatic improvement. Here is 42nd & Madison — unfathomable that this usual clusterf*** of cars at this hour is this clear. As you can see however by the crosswalk, Manhattan is a ghost town now 🤣
January 10, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Keesmaat
As chief planner, I tried to get Toronto to adopt a congestion fee and make drivers pay to come downtown. New York caught on. Why didn't we? by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @torontostar.bsky.social
Jennifer Keesmaat: As chief planner, I tried to get Toronto to make drivers pay to come downtown. It’s still the right thing to do
By Toronto avoiding congestion pricing, we’ve ensured the very outcomes we sought to avoid: more traffic, more pollution and greater frustration.
www.thestar.com
January 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
New York City’s introduction of congestion pricing is a needed step toward smarter, more sustainable urban mobility. Decades of data from London and Singapore show that people quickly adjust their travel patterns, and NYC will be no different.
January 7, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Finding old friends over here, so nice!
January 6, 2025 at 9:56 PM