[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Gatineau, Montréal, Halifax, wild turkeys and monk parakeets, Venice, Kamza

• The city of Gatineau is going to take land with constructions devastated by flooding and make it into a buffer zone. CBC reports.
• There is controversy around the idea of naming a REM station in Montréal’s Griffintown neighbourhood after Bernard Landry. Global News reports.
• Halifax has a third heritage district. Global News reports.
• The wild turkey is now thriving in many American cities, in New Jersey’s Toms River and even in Washington D.C. CityLab reports.
• The monk parakeet is thriving in European cities like Madrid and London. CityLab reports.
• The Conversation suggests that Venice may yet benefit from the attention brought to its problems by the recent flooding.
• Guardian Cities looks at the remarkably rapid construction of the city in Albania of Kamza, driven by (among other factors) remittances from emigrants.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Ottawa, Longueuil, Montréal, Winnipeg, Saint John, Halifax, Lethbridge

• The Ottawa Citizen suggests a recent audit of OC Transpo should have offered warnings of the Confederation Line problems to come.
• A project office has been set up for the extension of the Yellow Line in Longueuil and elsewhere on the south shore. CTV News reports.
• La Presse looks at the concerns of some artists in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie that they might be forced out by gentrification.
• That the Bay Building in downtown Winnipeg has been evaluated as being of little value offers an opening to Heritage Winnipeg. Global News reports.
• The New Brunswick government is forcing suburbs of Saint John to pay for city facilities that they also used. Global News reports.
• Short-term rentals are having a negative effect on real estate markets in Halifax. Global News reports.
• Downtown Lethbridge faces struggles to attract business. Global News reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Ottawa, Montréal, Halifax, Peripignan, Helsinki

• The Confederation LRT line, happily, has opened in Ottawa. Global News reports.
• Dorchester Square in Montréal will feature an open-air gallery for emerging artists. CTV reports.
• How, exactly, will the crane that collapsed in Halifax in Dorian be removed? CBC reports.
• Guardian Cities tells the story of how Gypsies in Perpignan resisted gentrification, here.
• Atlas Obscura reports on the summer custom, in Helsinki, of families cleaning their carpets with salt water on piers.

[URBAN NOTE] Ten city links: Montréal, Lac-Mégantic, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton …

• Tracey Lindeman writes at CityLab about how Montréal is trying to keep the redevelopment of the Molson-Coors Brewery site from killing the Centre-Sud.
• In the Montréal neighbourhood of Park-Extension, evictions–renovictions, even–are on the rise. Global News reports.
• Lac-Mégantic now has a train depot that bypasses the heart of this traumatized community. CBC Montreal reports.
• Halifax is now celebrating the Mosaic Festival, celebrating its diversity. Global News reports.
• Jill Croteau reports for Global News about Club Carousel, an underground club in Calgary that played a vital role in that city’s LGBTQ history.
• This business plan, aiming to bypass long lineups at the Edmonton outpost of the Jollibee chain, is ingenious. Global News reports.
• The Iowa town of Pacific Junction, already staggering, may never recover from a recent bout of devastating flooding. VICE reports.
• Avery Gregurich writes for CityLab about the Illinois town of Atlas, a crossroads seemingly on the verge of disappearing from Google Maps.
• The proposal for Metropica, a new sort of suburb in Florida, certainly looks interesting. VICE reports.
• Guardian Cities shares a cartoon looking affectionately at Lisbon.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Guelph, Hamilton, Lethbridge, Moncton, Halifax

• blogTO suggests some things people could do on a day trip to Guelph (and commenters come up with more suggestions).
• The lack of explicitly queer spaces in Hamilton is one thing that has come up in a recent study. Global News reports.
• The Alberta city of Lethbridge, third-largest in the province, now has a population of more than one hundred thousand people. Global News reports.
• Will the city of Moncton get rainbow crosswalks? Global News reports.
• Halifax has faced complications in trying to pursue a commuter rail option. Global News reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Hamilton, Halifax, London, Helsinki, Rustavi

• Some new high-rise housing developments in Hamilton are lacking in permits. Global News reports.
• Halifax is currently undergoing public consultations to see what is to be done with a statue of controversial British governor Cornwallis. Global News reports.
• Guardian Cities looks at how the ring-tailed parakeet has come to thrive in its adopted home of London.
• Guardian Cities reports on how the city of Helsinki has solved its problem with homelessness by automatically giving people in need housing.
• Open Democracy looks at the Georgian city of Rustavi, during the Soviet era dependent on a single industry like many others and left to cope with the collapse of this economy in the post-Soviet era.

[ISL] Five #PEI links: Bathygnathus borealis, real estate, CFL, bridge fees, politics

• On Prince Edward Island, footprints of the ancient pre-dinosaur predator Bathygnathus borealis have been found. Global News reports.
• VICE notes how the extreme shortage of rental housing on PEI is placing heavy pressure on the vulnerable.
• Out of Maritime solidarity, Charlottetown supports the bid of Halifax to finally host a CFL football team. Global News reports.
• CBC Prince Edward Island reports on a recent poll suggesting Islanders would overwhelmingly like the fees associated with crossing the fixed link to be radically reduced to abolished altogether.
• Prince Edward Island is again preparing to hold a referendum on electoral reform, shifting from first-past-the-post to proportional representation. Global News reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Ottawa, Kingston, Halifax, Chicago, Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong

• CBC reports on how Ottawa is storing its ever-growing mountain of snow removed from its streets.
• The city of Kingston, Ontario, is facing a growing shortage of family doctors despite it being a regional hub. Global News reports.
• The centenary of anti-Chinese riots in Halifax has just passed. (Would you believe I never learned of these at school?) Global News reports.
• VICE tells the story of how most people can, or cannot, afford to live in an ever-pricier city of Chicago.
• The SCMP reports on the “Greater Bay Area” plan just announced by China, an integration of the Pearl River area into a single global powerhouse. How will Hong Kong fit into this?

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Hamilton, Kingston, Montréal, Halifax, Los Angeles

• CBC Hamilton reports on an exciting experiment: For one year, as part of a test holders of Hamilton library cards will enjoy free access to the city’s museums.
• The City of Kingston is apparently seeking to rebrand itself. (How, I wonder, is it currently perceived?) Global News reports.
• The National Observer reports on the effect that an influx of tech companies has had on the residents of the Garment District of Montréal.
• Is there a pedestrian safety issue emerging in Halifax? CBC reports.
• Laura Bliss at CityLab reports on why a new tax in Los Angeles aiming to encourage mass transit use has not had that effect.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Oshawa, Halifax, Porto, Tel Aviv, Tehran

• MacLean’s looks at Dan Carver, mayor of Oshawa. Can this man, who overcame a very rough early adulthood, help the city survive the end of its automotive sector?
• A park in Halifax has been named in honour of murdered LGBTQ activist Raymond Taavel. Global News reports.
• Open Democracy notes how the rapid spread of rental accommodations in Porto, the second city of Lisbon, is threatening permanent residents with the loss of their homes.
• CityLab notes how activists in Tel Aviv are trying to save the ficus trees planted along major avenues decades ago from mass transit construction.
• Guardian Cities looks at how a lack of effective planning threatens to make Tehran unlivable for most of its residents.