Jocelyn Lambert Squires
@jocelynsquires.bsky.social
3.2K followers 1.2K following 1.3K posts
Toronto-centric voice for architecture and urbanism. Transit nerd. Recovering American. Research, writing, bikes, architect-adjacent. (EN/FR, she/her/elle)
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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
jasonthorne.bsky.social
Toronto’s Cycling and Pedestrian Projects Team continues to hit it out of the park. Out for a ride today and here’s just some of the new cycling facilities that I came across. New concrete planters and permanent curbs on Harbord Street. /1
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Really powerful visualization for the need for more diversity of rental housing types.
mikepmoffatt.bsky.social
Bonus Thanksgiving piece! We conduct an in-depth analysis of the migration of families from the GTA to Eastern Ontario, noting that more than three-quarters of Ontario couples with children reside in a ground-oriented home they own.

Read here: www.missingmiddleini...
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
metroscapes.ca
I was doing a bit of research, and gotta say, I really like how TRCA kicks off this 10-year watershed plan for Etobicoke Creek with the indigenous origin of its use and name. Three indigenous names point back to Alder trees.
Page ii of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan (2024-2034)

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ph/bgrd/backgroundfile-244329.pdf

"Etobicoke Creek Watershed is covered by Treaty 13 (Toronto Purchase), Treaty 14 (Head of the Lake Purchase), and Treaty 19 (Ajetance Purchase) signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. The land in the watershed is the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Treaties 13 and 14 reserved Etobicoke Creek as a fishery for the Mississaugas of the Credit."

"The Mississauga peoples used the land around Etobicoke Creek seasonally and as a salmon fishery before being displaced by settlers. This led to a collapse of the traditional economy.

"The Mississaugas’ relationship to water is embedded in their creation story, its teaching, and prophecies. This story, Kiinwi Debaadjmowin, tells us that everything is interconnected as intricate systems. This
interconnectedness is explained in the first seven fires of creation. Creation birthed life through the projection of first thought and heartbeat. The seven fires grew in succession – the stars, the sun, the moon, movement, seeds of life, Earth, and human beings."

"Origins of the word Etobicoke:
Adoopekog – place of the black alder
Atobi Coake – black alder creek
Eobicoke – the place of the alders"
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
The biggest barrier for me, an enthusiastic and tenacious pedals-at-all costs lifelong cyclist, is rebalancing, particularly in winter when I switch fully from my personal bike to Bike Share. I'm really excited to hear they're looking at user incentives for rebalancing (maybe my next hobby?).
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
nottaylorx.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving, Toronto. I'm grateful for the TTC and all its hard-working staff delivering transit service which I rarely have to wait more than 5-10 mins for at all hours of the day. Even with all its faults, the TTC delivers one of the most usable transit services in all of North America.
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Thanks for sharing! I was not following her before, and am now. 😎
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Thank you for sharing your insights!
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
I actually think the docks (per your next post) address the tourist issue... provided the kiosks work! You can sign up for a day pass without having the headache of creating an account. I don't always travel with access to data so I appreciate this when trying bike share abroad.
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Though I'm still unclear on why they picked the parking authority to take it instead of TTC. They seem to be quite competent, so no complaints, but why???
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
The Toronto Star wrote up a history of TO Bike Share, an interesting complement to @stateofthecity.bsky.social's thread on saving Montréal's bike share. TO followed in making it a public system after PBSC went bankrupt. (Plus, adorable bike graphics!)

(Article accessible with library card)
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Thoughtful thread on the challenges BIXI has faced to achieve the success it has today (and explains a lot I've wondered about Toronto's system, which was founded on the same tech).
stateofthecity.bsky.social
Praise for Montreal's bike-share system, from TIME. Worth a holiday thread on a couple of operational + political aspects of Bixi's history that are intriguingly left unsaid.
cultmtl.com
“Montreal revolutionized the bicycle-sharing trend. The tech behind BIXI became the backbone for bike-sharing programs in London, New York, Chicago and dozens of other places, turning two wheels into a genuine option for navigating cities.”
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
stateofthecity.bsky.social
15. As a non-profit, Bixi in Montreal was able to pull in other funding to backstop the City's initial 5-yr subsidy deal, including Loto-Quebec + Manulife. I'll add for cycling geeks: one of their recent moves (2023-24) was to end a longstanding practice of shutting the system down for the winter.
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
I moved away almost 15 years ago, and I can't believe the shift that's happened since
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
The article touches on some of the challenges to multiplexes in the suburbs, but one it doesn't cover in depth is parking, which I suspect is a huge barrier. Eg in Scarborough, on-street parking is not allowed. You'd need a lot of space/or money for a sixplex with six car spots.
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Only one word: 👻 PROCUREMENT 👻
impavid.us
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
akareynolds.bsky.social
We support this, BUT
impavid.us
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
how-sen.com
When I was a student here over twenty years ago, this was four lanes exclusively for cars.

Now children play here while parents go shopping.

And for the ‘but Toronto has winter!’ people, this is Montreal. Which is colder than Toronto.
Photo of St. Catherine Street in Montreal in 2025.
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
I miss these guys and didn't realize they've been accessible all along through the north Don Valley Trail access ❤️
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Yes!!! That one is brilliant!

I'm sure you know this one too: the Borden Park Pavilion, also by gh3. It's not pure infrastructure in the same way as it's habitable, but still such a delightful, whimsical structure.
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
It's important to celebrate our infrastructure! The RC Harris Water Treatment Plant is our most iconic example.

Edmonton does this well (and gh3 have won a lot of work there!).
jasonthorne.bsky.social
Great design isn’t just for iconic buildings. This is a stormwater treatment facility, but it’s nicely designed by gh3* architects!
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
No yelling but as Black man with a wife & kids living in Canada "Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy" I can assure you 110% the anti-Black / anti-Indigenous racism that is celebrated there has no relevance to shaping any policy period. We as a society do better without it. Cheers!
Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires
alexbozikovic.bsky.social
Interesting, but Canadians shouldn’t be too proud; much of the “urban” in Canada is still car-oriented SFH.

Canadian suburbs are denser than American ones. Density does not always translate into transit use or walkability.
reluctantaxe.bsky.social
A Redditor made a graph of the percent of population of US and Canada metro areas over 1 million that live in a given density. When they ordered them by average density the lowest ranked Canadian metro area, Edmonton, was ranked 14th between Miami and Washington. 6 of the top 15 were Canadian metros
Graph of Canada and US metro areas with a breakdown of percentage of people that live in density density bands
jocelynsquires.bsky.social
Spacing is such a great value for a publication. What else can you get now for $26? You can barely get a meal for that anymore!
shawnmicallef.bsky.social
Long walk on Eglinton for the next print issue of Spacing. Some highlights 1/~ (Do you subscribe? It’s not expensive. spacingstore.ca/products/new... )
Route map