...with City Planning in Toronto (Ep. 59)

What on Earth is Going on?

What are the challenges and pressures that face growing cities like Toronto? How do we make housing affordable in such places? And what does the future of the city look like?

Ben is in Toronto to chat with a panel of experts on the past, present and future of the city: Adam Brind, managing partner and broker of record with Core Assets Real Estate; Pamela Robinson, Associate Professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University; and podcast alumnus Blair Scorgie, Senior Planner and Urban Designer at SvN Architects and Planners.

About the Guests

Adam Brind

Adam Brind is a co-founder of Core Assets Real Estate. Since launching in January 2013, the company has quickly become one of the leading full-service brokerages in the Toronto market selling in excess of $500,000,000 in the first five years of operation.

As a real estate Broker, Adam has over 10 years of experience selling luxury properties and is one of Toronto’s foremost real estate Brokers putting him in the top 1% year-over-year, among Toronto Real Estate Board members.

Adam has a focus on the luxury markets in central Toronto including custom built homes, recently renovated properties and underdeveloped land. Adam’s team adds value by staying involved and advising his clients through low-rise building projects (infill homes, additions and renovations).

He often contributes to various media publications as both an author and an industry expert which have included the Globe and Mail, Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine, Toronto Life and many others.

Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University and continues to develop his skills and education. He has attended Harvard Business School and completed the Executive Education Program on Urban Development, Design and Construction.

Adam lives and works in central Toronto with his wife and two kids.

Learn more about Adam or follow him on Twitter (@AdamJBrind).

Pamela Robinson

Pamela Robinson (MCIP, RPP) is the associate dean, graduate studies and strategic initiatives at the Faculty of Community Services and an associate professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson. She is also a registered professional planner. As part of the geothink.ca research team, Robinson's research and practice focus on urban sustainability issues with a particular focus on cities and climate change and the use of open data and civic technology to support open government transformations. She serves on the board of directors of the Metcalf Foundation and has participated in four Metrolinx Community Advisory Committees. Robinson is an editor of Urban Sustainability: Reconnecting Space and Place (University of Toronto Press, 2013), Teaching as Scholarship: Preparing Students for Professional Practice in Community Services (WLU Press, 2016) and is a columnist for Spacing magazine.

Learn more about Pamela or follow her on Twitter (@pjrplan).

Blair Scorgie

Blair is a Senior Planner and Urban Designer as well as SvN’s Business Development Director. He holds a Master of Architecture, specializing in Urban Design, from McGill University as well as a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University. Blair is a Registered Professional Planner, and a member of both the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Ryerson University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning and was formerly the Acting Chair of the City of London Urban Design Review Panel.

Blair’s diverse project experience includes streetscape and public realm design strategies; architectural control and private realm design strategies; revitalization and intensification strategies; waterfront, campus and district master plans; policy reviews and amendments; development approvals and appeals; and urban design peer reviews.

Listen to Blair in Episode 22, learn more about him, or follow him on Twitter (@BlairScorgie).

The Quote of the Week

"The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand." - Italo Calvino (1923-1985)