Messy Urbanisms
@messyurbanisms.bsky.social
Images and articles relating to messy urbanism. Posts by @dylanreid
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"Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything" has been published by Coach House Books. Forty-three essays by a range of writers from around the world make the case that a degree of messiness is an essential element in all thriving cities. chbooks.com/Books/M/Mess...
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Private rooms for your phone calls - from a more civilized age.
November 12, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Private rooms for your phone calls - from a more civilized age.
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Impressive use of pooch puns. And I’m glad I read this news or I may have called Toronto Animal Services. My fav park. It’s impressive, whimsical work by Claude Cormier.
November 12, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Impressive use of pooch puns. And I’m glad I read this news or I may have called Toronto Animal Services. My fav park. It’s impressive, whimsical work by Claude Cormier.
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Not an urbanist, a 10 year old.
November 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Not an urbanist, a 10 year old.
A little tree aspiring to add to the canopy along the Danforth
November 8, 2025 at 2:58 AM
A little tree aspiring to add to the canopy along the Danforth
A couple of the hidden art deco friezes in a basement off the Queen Street subway station
November 8, 2025 at 2:56 AM
A couple of the hidden art deco friezes in a basement off the Queen Street subway station
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This year, I had an essay published in this anthology. I'm biased but I love all the essays. The book was on the non-fiction bestseller list in recent months, so I suppose I'm technically a bestselling author?
cc @messyurbanisms.bsky.social
chbooks.com/Books/M/Mess...
cc @messyurbanisms.bsky.social
chbooks.com/Books/M/Mess...
Messy Cities
Can messiness make our cities more liveable, lively, and inclusive?Crowded streets, sidewalk vendors, jumbled architecture, constant clamour, graffitied walls, parks gone wild: are these signs of a po...
chbooks.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:36 PM
This year, I had an essay published in this anthology. I'm biased but I love all the essays. The book was on the non-fiction bestseller list in recent months, so I suppose I'm technically a bestselling author?
cc @messyurbanisms.bsky.social
chbooks.com/Books/M/Mess...
cc @messyurbanisms.bsky.social
chbooks.com/Books/M/Mess...
The Bain Co-op showing its pride on the sidewalk
October 31, 2025 at 10:36 PM
The Bain Co-op showing its pride on the sidewalk
The introduction to "Messy Cities" opens by describing a desire line - specifically, this one in Withrow Park!
October 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM
The introduction to "Messy Cities" opens by describing a desire line - specifically, this one in Withrow Park!
Columnist @graphicmatt.com on finding the balance between messy fun and messy disturbance. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Matt Elliott: Now, Toronto has noisy pickleball games in its crosshairs. Are we becoming the City That Fun Forgot?
Tending to the whims of grumblers might make for good politics in election season, but it often makes for lousy governance.
www.thestar.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Columnist @graphicmatt.com on finding the balance between messy fun and messy disturbance. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
"Messy Cities" is featured on the @spacing.bsky.social podcast, as co-editors @shebuildscities.bsky.social , @zahraeb.bsky.social and @dylanreid.bsky.social discuss genesis of the book and the ideas behind it with host @glynbowerman.bsky.social spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
PODCAST: Spacing Radio 90, Bless this urban mess - Spacing Toronto
Change in cities is often slow, when using official channels. There is a desire to achieve the perfect plan, one that balances everyone’s needs an preferences. But sometimes you need to get down and d...
spacing.ca
October 17, 2025 at 6:07 PM
"Messy Cities" is featured on the @spacing.bsky.social podcast, as co-editors @shebuildscities.bsky.social , @zahraeb.bsky.social and @dylanreid.bsky.social discuss genesis of the book and the ideas behind it with host @glynbowerman.bsky.social spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
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The world’s longest rainbow path. The 600 metre “Long Walk to Equality” by artist Travis Myers at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island … the location of Canada’s first Pride in 1971.
October 10, 2025 at 10:44 AM
The world’s longest rainbow path. The 600 metre “Long Walk to Equality” by artist Travis Myers at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island … the location of Canada’s first Pride in 1971.
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My friend Geoff wouldn’t stop complaining about this abandoned motorcycle, so this morning I decided it should become a garden and this afternoon me and his girlfriend Eva created this Motorcycle Garden Pocket! Thanks to the bike’s neighbour for the broken bike basket—it made for a nice planter.
September 15, 2025 at 10:40 PM
My friend Geoff wouldn’t stop complaining about this abandoned motorcycle, so this morning I decided it should become a garden and this afternoon me and his girlfriend Eva created this Motorcycle Garden Pocket! Thanks to the bike’s neighbour for the broken bike basket—it made for a nice planter.
Reposted by Messy Urbanisms
Kloveniersburgwal, Amsterdam in 1980 and today. Canal side car parking replaced by canal side dining
October 7, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Kloveniersburgwal, Amsterdam in 1980 and today. Canal side car parking replaced by canal side dining
This iconic Kensington Market mural is finally complete — 43 years after it was painted on a dare
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
This iconic Kensington Market mural is finally complete — 43 years after it was painted on a dare
The artist behind one of market’s oldest murals has returned to restore it, with help from a city grant and a local land trust.
www.thestar.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:40 PM
This iconic Kensington Market mural is finally complete — 43 years after it was painted on a dare
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
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this dissonance is most pronounced in Koreatown, where so many of the working class in restaurants, grocery stores, small shops, etc. do not drive but the #1 political issue that makes residents and visitors go crazy alike is the lack of (free street) parking thanks to its high density
Reflections on last week's #WeekWithoutDriving in a city that still refuses to acknowledge the existence of its nondrivers — which a comprehensive new report claims make up one-third of LA's population
One-third of Angelenos do not drive
Walking back the "car-free" games promise is unconscionable in a city where the people who don't drive are also the most vulnerable users of our streets
www.torched.la
October 6, 2025 at 8:32 PM
this dissonance is most pronounced in Koreatown, where so many of the working class in restaurants, grocery stores, small shops, etc. do not drive but the #1 political issue that makes residents and visitors go crazy alike is the lack of (free street) parking thanks to its high density
Reposted by Messy Urbanisms
Our pop-up spaces on MacLaren, Frank and Florence hosted more than 160 events and drew 2,500 people to downtown Ottawa. Dance lessons, yoga classes, craft nights, street art tours, and chess tournaments — the creativity was endless.
October 6, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Our pop-up spaces on MacLaren, Frank and Florence hosted more than 160 events and drew 2,500 people to downtown Ottawa. Dance lessons, yoga classes, craft nights, street art tours, and chess tournaments — the creativity was endless.
On the vibrancy of mixed, small size independent street retail and the uninviting monotony of large scale "clean and utilitarian" new developments.
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: Soulless ‘big box’ storefronts are erasing downtowns’ character. But there’s still time to save our cities
New retail developments are replacing small storefronts in downtown areas, leading to a kind of suburbanization of urban cores
www.theglobeandmail.com
October 4, 2025 at 1:55 PM
On the vibrancy of mixed, small size independent street retail and the uninviting monotony of large scale "clean and utilitarian" new developments.
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Sidewalk chalk pink flower
October 3, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Sidewalk chalk pink flower
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School streets give life. We need repair and nurturing and life-giving initiatives in our cities. We can do this, NYC. We can be a place that is building communities up instead of tearing them down and apart.
Call me crazy, but I think public space should actually benefit schools, the kids that live in the city, and residents
October 3, 2025 at 7:23 PM
School streets give life. We need repair and nurturing and life-giving initiatives in our cities. We can do this, NYC. We can be a place that is building communities up instead of tearing them down and apart.
Reposted by Messy Urbanisms
We’ve launched! 🚀 The new Churchill Park Rocketship Playground is complete!
Plan your next visit to Churchill Park (did we mention the weather this weekend looks beautiful?!) and climb, slide, swing and explore this exciting new play space! 🛝
Plan your next visit to Churchill Park (did we mention the weather this weekend looks beautiful?!) and climb, slide, swing and explore this exciting new play space! 🛝
October 3, 2025 at 5:58 PM
We’ve launched! 🚀 The new Churchill Park Rocketship Playground is complete!
Plan your next visit to Churchill Park (did we mention the weather this weekend looks beautiful?!) and climb, slide, swing and explore this exciting new play space! 🛝
Plan your next visit to Churchill Park (did we mention the weather this weekend looks beautiful?!) and climb, slide, swing and explore this exciting new play space! 🛝
Reposted by Messy Urbanisms
“Some still insist ‘downtowns will never attract kids and shouldn’t try.’ Then they design downtown to virtually repel kids, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Vancouver proves the opposite can be true...”
Canadians @johnlorinc.bsky.social & @brenttoderian.bsky.social in this Cali article!
Canadians @johnlorinc.bsky.social & @brenttoderian.bsky.social in this Cali article!
People want to have kids and live downtown. Can they? - Western City Magazine
For decades, planners focused on attracting young singles to dense urban cores. That dynamic has shifted, in part because ...
www.westerncity.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:21 PM
“Some still insist ‘downtowns will never attract kids and shouldn’t try.’ Then they design downtown to virtually repel kids, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Vancouver proves the opposite can be true...”
Canadians @johnlorinc.bsky.social & @brenttoderian.bsky.social in this Cali article!
Canadians @johnlorinc.bsky.social & @brenttoderian.bsky.social in this Cali article!
How this neglected laneway’s revitalization united an East Toronto neighbourhood www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...
How this neglected laneway’s revitalization united an East Toronto neighbourhood
Through murals, play spaces, and a shared vision, residents in Taylor-Massey turned a forgotten laneway into a vibrant community hub.
www.thestar.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:04 PM
How this neglected laneway’s revitalization united an East Toronto neighbourhood www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...