Suburbs that don't Suck – Streetcar Suburbs (Riverdale, Toronto)

Published on February 9, 2024

Interesting reviews relevant with
, and High Park Toronto Map, Suburbs that don't Suck – Streetcar Suburbs (Riverdale, Toronto).

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Car-dependent suburbs suck. But that doesn’t mean that all suburbs suck. It is possible to build suburbs that don’t suck, and the US and Canada used to design great suburbs all the time. But even though these pre-war suburbs are loved by many people, and in huge demand, they’re illegal to build today.

Special thanks to @DaveLikesBikes for most of the Riverdale footage used in this video: https://twitter.com/DaveLikesBikes

Patreon: https://patreon.com/notjustbikes
Twitter: https://twitter.com/notjustbikes
Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/notjustbikes
One-time donations: https://notjustbikes.com/donate

NJB Live (my bicycle livestream channel):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9v57F4xz46KaDsvWfCv8yw

References and Image Credits

High North Cannabis Testing
https://www.highnorth.com/

Suburban Space and the City of Rome: Liminality Fluidity and Differentiation
https://digitalworks.union.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1208&context=theses

Improving Modern Suburbs with lessons learnt from an Old NJ Town
Alan Fisher – The Armchair Urbanist

Pacific Electric Railway cars piled atop one another at junkyard on Terminal Island, Calif., 1956
By Los Angeles Times – http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0002tqg9, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56225649

Riverdale Population Density
https://www.areavibes.com/toronto-on/north+riverdale/demographics/

Other Population Density Figures from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam-Zuid

Toronto / E01 Region Housing Prices from MLS (not publicly available):
https://www.realtor.ca/mls

How Wide Should a Neighborhood Street Be? – Part 1
PlannersWeb

How Wide Should a Neighborhood Street Be? – Part 1

On-street parking: good or bad?
Urban Kchoze
http://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/02/on-street-parking-good-or-bad.html

NACTO Urban Street Design Guide
Lane Width

Lane Width

London, Ontario Zoning Map
https://london.ca/business-development/zoning

What If We Rated Schools by Walkability?
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/01/03/what-if-we-rated-schools-by-walkability/

Highschool Walkscore
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cjzOkz3JiH6CS0_4KRTgVQ73OvUdAIeZWpeQs_MERvI/edit#gid=1

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
Journal of Environmental Psychology
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494402902434

Do Minimum-Lot-Size Regulations Limit Housing Supply in Texas?
https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/gray-minimum-lot-size-mercatus-research-v3.pdf

Minimum-Lot-Size Regulations Mean Less Housing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adammillsap/2019/05/08/minimum-lot-size-regulations-mean-less-housing/

Toronto’s two front doors issue pits neighbourhood character against renters’ dignity, expert says
Toronto Star
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/04/14/torontos-two-front-doors-issue-pits-neighbourhood-character-against-renters-dignity-expert-says.html

Setbacks, Suburbs and the American Front Lawn
https://oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2011/05/setbacks-suburbs-and-american-front.html

Parking demand and zoning requirements for suburban multifamily housing
https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/metro/programs-projects/right-size-parking/pdf/willson-parking-demand-suburban.pdf

Scottsdale, AZ Zoning
https://library.municode.com/az/scottsdale/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=VOLII_APXBBAZOOR_ARTIXPALORE_S9.103PARE

Tustin, CA Zoning
https://library.municode.com/ca/tustin/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=ART9LAUS_CH2ZO_PT2REDI_9223SIMIREDIR1

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Chapters

0:00 Intro
0:05 Car-dependent suburbs suck
1:17 Suburbs are not the problem
2:15 Suburbs that don’t suck are possible
3:20 Introduction to “Streetcar Suburbs”
4:05 About Riverdale
4:24 Why Riverdale is great
5:17 Walkability & schools of Riverdale
6:05 Shopping & Groceries
7:24 Storing your ugly metal boxes
7:47 Population density
8:24 High demand & housing prices
9:46 You can’t build it: streets
11:07 You can’t build it: zoning
11:46 You can’t build it: schools
12:20 You can’t build it: housing
13:00 You can’t build it: lots & setbacks
14:23 You can’t build it: parking
14:40 Conclusion & summary
16:16 Patreon shout-out
16:28 Outro