Cities

I have lamented global responses to COVID-19’s Omicron tidal wave. Criticism is easy, suggesting other strategies more difficult. However, I did commit to putting forward ideas to turn chaos into order.  Crisis management is always political Short term crisis management generally works to the political advantage of the governing party. The crisis creates opportunity to […]

The Oxford Learners’ Dictionary defines chaos in five words – a complete lack of order.  Well, a complete lack of order defines global Covid-19 responses. The scrambled reactions to the Omicron surge do not leave many world governments looking good.  Confusion I don’t know what signals your governments sent you when the Omicron variant emerged. […]

We are staying! That is the short answer to the question in The Fairest of the Seasons : “I want to know do I stay or do I go And maybe try another time” We are staying! It was a tough decision. I didn’t like the thought of the quarantine time waiting for PCR test […]

The dreaded Covid test! I had gone twenty months without being tested. Then I made the decision to accompany my sister to Houston for her 87th birthday and that of her twin, our brother, who lives there.  Different Tests: One kind of test to board a plane from Canada to the US – C$80 each […]

I am in a rut. Not a deep, dark depression but just a little, muddy hole that I am finding difficult to escape.  The First Eighteen Months of Covid I thought that I was managing the restrictions of COVID 19 pretty well. I had found a new pass time – writing! New clients and new […]

Québec has municipal elections on a set date every four years. Candidate campaigns are now in full swing with voting scheduled for November 7. Items high on the agendas in most municipalities – housing and population density. Focus Pointe-Claire I live in Pointe-Claire, an on-island suburb of Montréal. It has a lot going for it […]

It has been too long! The last time I posted a newsletter was just before the Canadian general election. I told you that I had voted for the New Democratic Party (“NDP”).  Well, the election has come and gone. The make-up of the House of Commons hasn’t really changed. The Liberal Party of Canada and […]

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term  “Third Place” in 1989. He defined home as the First Place and “the office / factory floor/ etc” the Second Place. Oldenburg’s Third Places were neither home space nor work space. Boundaries between work, home, and play fade Since 1989, information and communication technologies have helped fade the boundaries […]

I have been struggling a bit since writing the issue that dealt  with prejudice hate, and discrimination. I just have too many interests. So, I am finding it difficult to focus on one of them. I have wanted to get back to writing about the kind of city that I would enjoy. So what to […]

Developers have their eyes set on Montréal’s Chinatown, a tiny  but very accessible area of the city near the central business district. This distinctive neighbourhood just a short walk from Old Montreal, University of Montréal Hospital Centre, and McGill University, anchors Montréal’s Chinese community. Additionally, it is an area of the city where people congregate. […]