cities on a whole minute

I just attended a presentation at Surrey City Centre about the plans for the redevelopment of that area. Assuming this goes anywhere, the great shame will be that it took so long for Surrey to wake up to the disastrous results of its failure to stand up to urban sprawl. . . .

The photographs below show a bench in Minoru Park in Richmond. It is a beautiful park, awash with shrubs and flowers, hidden from the bustle that surrounds it by trees and hedges. The paths circle a lake flocked with ducks and geese; here and there are clusters of benches where workers from nearby offices can relax and take their lunch. . . .

As we left the Safeway on Hastings this evening, we noticed that a board on an easel showing plans for the redevelopment of the lot and the store. Currently, there’s a big parking lot surrounding the store on the north and east sides. They plan to tear it all down and replace it with . . . a store with a parking lot on the west side. There are three important changes here. One: the store will be bigger. Two: there will be underground parking. And three: the entrance will have a high peaked facade above it with Safeway in huge letters. . . .