Chris Drew

Algonquin Park

chrisjamesdrew — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:36:36 +0000

I’m off to Algonquin Park for the weekend. It’ll be the first time I’ve camped in the Northern section of the park. I’ll post more pictures when I return.

Leafs flag flies high above Toronto ahead of Game 7

chrisjamesdrew — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:46:53 +0000

Reblogged from Global News:

TORONTO – The flag of the Toronto Maple Leafs likely flew higher than any other in Toronto on Saturday.

Rob MacFarlane is a crane operator in Toronto who, inspired by Chris Hadfield, frequently tweets photos from high above the city.

Chris Drew, a Twitter follower of MacDonald’s, told Global News that he bought the flag from Real Sports and this morning, with the help of MacFarlane’s daughter and son-in-law, attached the flag to his crane.

Amalgamated Zoning By-Law Presentation

chrisjamesdrew — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:29:25 +0000

Today at City Council, Planning staff gave a fantastic overview of the new amalgamated zoning-by law. Here’s a copy of the presentation (I’ve asked staff to send me the Prezi link).

Post-War Apartment Buildings, Diabetes, and Rapid Transit

chrisjamesdrew — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:43:01 +0000

RT @Jen_Keesmaat: Some great @TOTower_Renewal maps as discussed at the #CPRoundtable today via @GraemeJStewart http://bit.ly/ZyJ1Rs http://bit.ly/16l0X6k

Presenting at the SURP Expo

chrisjamesdrew — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:44:16 +0000

Ryerson Planning students at the SURP Expo engaged in breakout group discussions after Al’s presentation.

It was great to be back at Ryerson University recently to do a presentation to the SURP Expo. The SURP Expo is an annual conference organized by students in the School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) and the Ryerson Association of Planning Students (RAPS). I did a short presentation on my two most memorable planning experiences: the closure Gould Street campaign and the Jarvis bike lane debate.

I also invited my friend and City of Toronto Planner Al Rezoski to co-lead the session with me. Al is one of my planning mentors and an amazing resource for neighbourhoods. Here is a copy of the presentation he provided. Our overall goal for our SURP Expo session was to encourage planning students to get more involved in the planning world and move beyond just studying planning in the classroom. Al provided some fantastic examples of how students could contribute to planning issues, policies, and projects in their local neighbourhoods.

In addition to doing presentations, Al and I prepared a breakout group exercise. We asked the students to answer this question and then present back to the room:

Toronto is about to host two major international events – World Pride 2014 and the Pan Am/Para Pan Am Games in 2015. What neighbourhood improvements do you think need to be in place in order to host these major international events? How would you engage local residents & business owners in formulating improvements and taking ownership in the improvements?

Today in Toronto

chrisjamesdrew — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:35:03 +0000

Clearing snow by hand on the 401. (h/t https://www.facebook.com/1079TheBreeze)

Jarvis Street Bike Lanes

chrisjamesdrew — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:49:41 +0000

Sadly, Toronto Council reaffirmed their decision to spend $250,000.00 to remove the Jarvis Street bike lanes. Here’s an interview I did with CBC News.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/watch/News/Canada/Toronto/ID=2286227347

From Last to First

chrisjamesdrew — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:00:19 +0000

Today I had the pleasure of visiting the new Ryerson Mattamy Athletics Centre. What an amazing building! They have restored Maple Leaf Gardens and Ryerson University went from last place for athletic space to first among Ontario universities. I donated to Ryerson and got one of the arena seats engraved with a plaque with the names of my father, mother and brother.

Research and Innovation in Ontario

chrisjamesdrew — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:06:14 +0000

Today I had my first opportunity to visit a clean room lab at the MaRS Discovery District on College Street. It was an amazing experience and very different from my urban planning background. It was an opportunity to learn more about options available for a product in development that I’m involved with. More details soon! (Photo credit: Dan Voicu)

Blog Posts

chrisjamesdrew — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:38:58 +0000

I’ve contributed two blog posts to my good friend Joseph U. blog recently. Joseph periodically asks for guest posts to his blog. Here are two of my recent posts:

1) “Chris Drew: People, Plenary, and Places: 2012 LPC Biennial Convention”

Excerpt:

The 2012 Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) Biennial meeting was the fifth Biennial meeting I’ve attended as Liberal delegate from Toronto Centre. As with previous Biennial meetings, it was a great experience and offered some unique moments as these meetings always do. I’ve compiled a few observations on some of the hard-working people I noticed, the excitement of the constitutional plenary session and the place where 3,000 Liberals from across the country gathered, Ottawa.

2) “The 2011 “You Go Girl!” Awards. Presented by: The Equivocator”

Excerpt:

I didn’t support her nor did I vote for her. I was so busy with other things in life that I barely knew who she was when she was elected my Councillor for Ward 27. What a difference a year makes! Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam has been in office for a little over a year and I have been impressed with her work. She stood up for the Jarvis Street bike lanes and the principal of consultation and working with neighbourhoods.