VALUABLE ARTICLE ALERT! Every city & civic leader in the world is probably talking about the “15-Minute City” since Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made it famous over the last year. But what does it REALLY mean? Good article by Public Square Congress for the New Urbanism: cnu.org/publicsquare/2…

People will drive to a mall to park far away from the entrance to walk long distances and shop but we assume we need to provide the parking right in front on all of our main streets and in our downtowns...

Much of our infrastructure lasts a bit longer than its projected lifespan, so we're tempted to wait to gather funds to replace it. Every extra year that its replacement costs aren't covered is a huge gamble—and it's a strategy that makes us fragile. bit.ly/37lBP8X

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children… to leave the world a better place… to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson #quoteoftheday

"The true joy in life is to be a force of fortune instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." - George Bernard Shaw #Happiness #Joy

A common problem cities have with “task forces” (on affordability, climate change etc) is the pressure to come up with new/original recommendations. In my experience, the REAL value of a task force is to create political energy to actually DO smart OBVIOUS things that will WORK.

What if local government only exists to distract the public from the more powerful levels of government

Hey municipal councillors and planners: if your city makes it harder to get a permit for a lane house than for a mansion, you're doing it wrong.

“It’s a superpower”: a neuroscientist discusses how the “cold, hard data shows that walking makes us healthier, happier & brainer.” Never forget, how we choose to design our cities makes walking as part of every day life either much easier or much harder. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

How can we summarise the past year from a broad historical perspective? Yuval follows up on the major article he wrote right at the start of the pandemic, in this weekend's Financial Times. bit.ly/YNH_FT - YNH Team

"You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do." - David Foster Wallace #quoteoftheday #GetWiser

The Town of Innisfail is looking for volunteer committee members to join the newly-formed Age-Friendly Community Committee. The committee will develop a Community Action Plan to guide the work of age-friendly initiatives in Innisfail. Visit innisfail.ca/committees for more info.

Will Wilkinson writing back in 2016 on the need to defend liberalism:

Greatest Hits: Building a nice place to sit is not rocket science, although rocket scientists would probably be better at it than our urban planners and designers. ed.gr/cwwws

When disaster strikes, you might need to evacuate on short notice. Be prepared: know the difference between an evacuation alert and an evacuation order, keep your emergency kit stocked and download the Alberta Emergency Alert app. Learn more at alberta.ca/BePrepared

30 minutes of walking a day - the closest thing to a miracle pill for your health, AND for reducing government public health budgets, and more. Infograph via walkmass Let’s deliberately design daily walking back into our cities & communities. #healthycities #walkablecities