In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS VP Marketing Eric Prefontaine imagines the ultimate team of Pokémon to bring along on any public transit adventure.

From Jirachi, who could grant a wish for timely buses, to Meowth, a germaphobic treasure hunter, each Pokémon offers a unique advantage for a smooth ride. This fun list is sure to make any commute more exciting!

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Cole Swanson explores the concept of "psychogeography," a term coined by the Parisian art collective, the Letterist International, in the 1950s.

Originally linked to the practice of aimless wandering (the "dérive"), psychogeography examines how the environment influences emotions and behaviour. The post delves into its roots in radical urban proposals and its connection to Marxism, noting its influence on modern movements like parkour and video games such as Disco Elysium.

Despite its historical associations with extreme leftist ideology, psychogeography endures today, inspiring urban exploration and creative thinking.

In this YIMBY Rant, GAPSS VP Internal Beth Bennett discusses the many issues surrounding the Tesla Cybertruck, from its unattractive design and safety concerns to its hefty price tag and environmental impact.

Beth highlights how the vehicle’s design flaws, including blind spots and frequent technical failures, raise significant urban wellbeing concerns.

Ultimately, Beth expresses strong disdain for the Cybertruck, questioning its practical value and appeal.

In this YIMBY post, GAPSS Member Hussain Cochinwala reflects on the challenges of navigating icy and wet sidewalks during the colder months.

While heated sidewalks in busy areas offer a solution, they are expensive and difficult to maintain. A potential alternative, developed by researchers at Drexel University, is self-heating concrete that uses low-temperature liquid paraffin to prevent ice buildup. Currently being tested on Drexel's campus, the new concrete shows promise in keeping sidewalks clear without the environmental drawbacks of salting.

The long-term durability of this solution remains to be seen, but it could significantly improve commuter safety and comfort.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Robbie Brooks highlights the City of Surrey's plan to develop a new entertainment district along the Fraser River, aiming to create a vibrant area with restaurants, bars, and public spaces.

However, this land is currently vital industrial space, which is increasingly scarce in Metro Vancouver. The post discusses the need to balance urban development with preserving critical industrial land that supports the region's economy, particularly its port operations and job market.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS VP Internal Beth Bennett explores the origins and global popularity of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, focusing on Chicago’s iconic green river tradition.

From the Irish roots of St. Patrick, who played a key role in spreading Catholicism to Ireland, to the origins of Chicago’s green river in 1961, the post delves into why this holiday has become a worldwide event.

Celebrating Irish culture through food, drink, music, and parades, St. Patrick's Day has become a global celebration of culture and connection—whether or not you're Irish!

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Raymond Li reflects on the long-standing vacancy of the Northlands Coliseum, a building that has stood empty for nearly a decade.

Despite various attempts to repurpose it, including a failed Hockey Canada bid, the building is now set for demolition as part of a larger transit-oriented development plan. The City of Edmonton, now the owner, is focused on revitalizing the area with a transit village and new LRT stations, but the transformation is expected to take time.

This post highlights the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the site and its future.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS VP External Rylee Thomson discusses Edmonton's ongoing LRT expansion and its importance in creating a sustainable, high-capacity transit network.

While buses are essential for coverage, the long-term benefits of LRT—such as reliability, environmental sustainability, and cost-effectiveness—make it a crucial investment.

A balanced approach integrating both LRT and buses will help Edmonton achieve its transit goals, support urban development, and meet the city's climate objectives while preparing for future growth.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Luka Zvonkovic explores the challenges Edmonton faces in attracting major concert tours, particularly due to its geographical isolation compared to cities like Toronto and Vancouver.

Despite the city’s vibrant local music scene and venues like Rogers Place, artists often bypass Edmonton due to touring logistics and costs.

However, with Calgary’s new 920-million-dollar Scotia Place Arena set to draw attention, both cities could become more attractive for major artists, potentially making Edmonton and Calgary a package deal for future tours.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Vanessa Wietrzyk shares her passion for traveling to concerts, particularly in Vancouver, and offers tips for making these trips affordable.

She emphasizes the joy of discovering new artists and the lasting memories created while attending live shows with friends. Vanessa also provides helpful advice on finding cheap flights and staying on top of concert alerts.

Her experiences showcase how traveling for music can deepen connections to both the artists and the cities you visit, making it a must-try adventure in your youth.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS President Callista Kruger highlights Edmonton's rising trend of adaptive reuse, where old buildings are transformed into modern spaces while preserving their historical charm.

From the revitalization of the Brewery District to the ongoing transformation of the Army & Navy Department Store, these projects blend sustainability, creativity, and heritage. By reimagining neglected structures, Edmonton fosters economic renewal and strengthens its community identity, offering a compelling alternative to urban sprawl.

Adaptive reuse not only celebrates the city’s architectural legacy but also paves the way for a vibrant, sustainable future.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS VP External Rylee Thomson explores how immigration policies shape relationships, particularly for undocumented individuals.

Barriers like financial instability, limited work opportunities, and the threat of deportation complicate love and family life for many, especially in mixed-status families. Despite these challenges, some couples navigate these obstacles, advocating for reform that prioritizes human connection over restrictive borders.

The post underscores the importance of policies that support love and family rights, calling for a future where immigration laws do not limit who we can love and where we can build a life together.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Elise Beaton shares three creative Valentine’s Day date ideas for urban planners.

From making mental maps of significant places to exploring the concept of 15-Minute Cities on a quick date, and even diving into the planning policies of your dream city, these suggestions offer a unique, planning-centric twist to the holiday.

Whether crafting maps together or discussing zoning laws, these ideas combine romance and urban planning for a memorable day.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Alazar Abebe discusses Edmonton's upcoming transformation of a series of parking lots into Warehouse Park, a $44.8 million urban park project aimed at revitalizing the city’s downtown core.

Set to open in Spring 2025, the park will provide residents with a much-needed green space for recreation and community engagement, offering features like picnic hills, dog parks, and playgrounds. This initiative, funded by the Capital City Downtown Community Revitalization Levy, addresses the challenges faced by residents in densely developed areas with limited access to nature.

The project aims to create an inclusive, year-round space that will enhance the city’s vibrancy and foster a collective identity.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Raymond Li explores the fictional city of Revachol from Disco Elysium and its remarkable representation of urban life.

Drawing parallels to real-life former Eastern Bloc cities, Revachol stands out for its deep socio-spatial conflict, making it a powerful example of urban storytelling. The post delves into the game's exploration of failed commercial areas and the underlying forces behind urban decay, questioning everything from neoliberalism to gentrification. It also highlights the game's unique Shivers mechanic, which enhances the player's spatial awareness of the city, blurring the lines between geography and the supernatural.

Through Revachol, Disco Elysium offers a compelling look at how cities shape and are shaped by their inhabitants.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS VP Internal Beth Bennett explores the growing connection between video games and map comprehension, noting how games like GTA V and Assassin’s Creed help players navigate real and fictional worlds with ease.

The post highlights how these games teach players to understand spatial relationships, scale, and geography, even without formal training. Drawing on a personal experience, Beth reflects on how the map of Los Santos in GTA V helped her better grasp the scale of real-world disasters, underscoring the power of maps in both digital and physical contexts.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS VP Planning Neil Roy Choudhury uses the video game Decimate Drive as a springboard to reflect on the absurdity of modern car-centric cities.

Drawing attention to the inherent danger of having pedestrians so close to fast-moving vehicles, the post critiques the societal prioritization of cars over human life. Neil humorously compares this to medieval philosophical debates, suggesting that we are too focused on optimizing traffic and infrastructure rather than questioning the foundational reliance on cars that leads to millions of deaths each year.

Ultimately, the post calls for a deeper rethinking of how we design cities for human well-being, rather than simply accommodating metal death machines.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Luka Zvonkovic discusses the overlooked impact of urban ambient noise, particularly from car traffic, on physical and mental health.

Highlighting the dangers of prolonged exposure to noise levels above 70 decibels, the post explores the health risks, including hearing loss, cardiovascular issues, and mental health problems, especially for children.

Luka proposes solutions inspired by Dutch urban planning, including redesigning roads into distinct categories, implementing traffic calming measures, and prioritizing pedestrian-friendly areas to reduce noise and create healthier environments.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Cole Swanson explores the potential of revisiting the New Town movement, often seen as a relic of the past.

While acknowledging its past flaws, the post argues that as global populations grow, the idea of creating “Newer” Towns offers an opportunity to build from scratch and design more sustainable, innovative communities. The challenge, however, lies in making these towns both economically viable and attractive enough for people to choose to live in them.

By learning from past mistakes, the post suggests it may be time to rethink these urban planning ideas in the face of modern housing and development challenges.

In this YIMBY Post, GAPSS Member Robert Brooks highlights the growing threat of wildfires, using the recent destruction in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades as a stark example.

Drawing comparisons to past fires in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, the post emphasizes the increasing frequency of catastrophic wildfires driven by climate change and human development.

It urges communities, particularly those in fire-prone areas, to prioritize resilience planning—pointing out critical oversights in building design, evacuation routes, and emergency resources that have exacerbated the damage. With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, the need for proactive planning has never been more urgent.