Zeeshan Hamid's Urban Village Blog

Letter to My Old Master: Black History Month

Zeeshan Hamid — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:23:07 +0000

(A group of escaped slaves in VA in 1862) The 1865 edition of New York Daily Tribune ran a copy of this acid-tongue message from an ex-slave Jourdon Anderson, in which he responds to a missive from his old owner, Colonel P.H. Anderson, to return to work for him in Tennessee following his emancipation. Jourdon [...]

Motion on opening municipal data

Zeeshan Hamid — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:23:44 +0000

This Monday’s council meeting has a motion jointly requested by both Councillor Di Lorenzo and myself in regards to “Open Data”. Before I explain, let me thank Councillor Di Lorenzo for doing all the leg work in drafting and scoping this motion. He really is a true asset for us in Milton. Basically we’re asking [...]

Savoline / Main intersection open (pictures inside)

Zeeshan Hamid — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:03:11 +0000

This should take some traffic off Scott and make it easier for people on Savoline. Main Street will turn into a beautiful street once these trees mature. I’ll even take a picture at this intersection for today’s entry of my Z365 “A Picture A Day” blog. Savoline / Main intersection open (pictures inside) was [...]

China and transportation

Zeeshan Hamid — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:00:54 +0000

China is unveiling the world’s first 300 passenger bus : Many cities in China already significantly restrict car ownership. New bus will have a dedicated lane in local highways, and has five doors for easy entrance and exit. China also just unveiled a 500 km / hr train :- That’s not it, China is also [...]

Haunted House donates $11,243 to the Hospital Foundation

Zeeshan Hamid — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:46:29 +0000

Thanks to Councillor Di Lorenzo’s leadership and creativity, and hard work by countless others. Haunted House donates $11,243 to the Hospital Foundation was first posted on January 20, 2012 at 12:46 pm.

30 story building in 360 hours!

Zeeshan Hamid — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:27:05 +0000

So you want to erect a 30 story building that can resist a 9 magnitude earthquake, is 5 times more energy efficient than a conventional building, has 6” thick glass curtain wall insulation, four-paned windows with built-in shades, a heat recovery system and a 3-stage air filtration that purifies indoor air to be 20 times [...]

To Velodrome or Not To Velodrome

Zeeshan Hamid — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:32:22 +0000

Some history first: Back in early November a report came to the council about the velodrome. PanAm Games needed an indoor track cycling arena and Milton could be a possible location. My first reaction was “no freaking way”. However, I, along with most of my colleagues in the council, asked staff to see if they [...]

Snow Clearing Policy

Zeeshan Hamid — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:09:31 +0000

There’s a bit of confusion about Milton’s current snow clearing standards. Town of Milton does not plow every street. This webpage explains Milton’s snow clearing procedures. Specifically, you can use this map to see the classification for your street. Because of flash freeze two nights ago, many streets ended up with ice buildup. Trucks were [...]

Barcelona Central District

Zeeshan Hamid — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:05:48 +0000

Cities that are designed with strict Urban Design always stand out from the rest :- (the Mathematician in me can stare at this screenshot from Google Maps for hours) Barcelona Central District was first posted on October 31, 2011 at 7:05 pm.

Polling Station Locations Anger Voters

Zeeshan Hamid — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:18:46 +0000

From Milton Canadian Champion The province’s 40th general election was marketed as ‘easy’ by Elections Ontario. With 10 days of advance polls and 28 days to vote by a special ballot, the agency sought to make it harder than ever to give people an excuse not to vote. Tell that to the residents of southwest [...]

Provincial Legislative Assemblies in Canada

Zeeshan Hamid — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:59:54 +0000

Ontario, Newfoundland & Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and PEI are all headed for elections this fall (yes, five provinces). I wanted to see how different provinces in Canada choose to organize their legislative assemblies :- Province MPP/MNA/MLAs Population MPP / pop Ontario 107 13,167,894 123,064 Quebec 125 7,886,108 63,089 British Columbia 85 [...]

Coolest parking garage, ever!

Zeeshan Hamid — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 02:35:25 +0000

Talk about a fully automated and efficient parking garage. They were probably able to increase their parking capacity more than 10x. Coolest parking garage, ever! was first posted on October 1, 2011 at 10:35 pm.

Public Art

Zeeshan Hamid — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:08:52 +0000

One of the things I miss about both Seattle and Washington, DC is abundance of public art. Milton, being much smaller and really only going through serious urbanization now, is seriously lacking. Click through to see some examples of simple, but creative, public art.

Shana Tova

Zeeshan Hamid — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:57:22 +0000

If my Math is correct then tonight’s Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tova everyone! For those who still haven’t kept up with their new year resolution (like, ahem, myself), the Jewish New Year tonight is giving you another chance :). Shana Tova was first posted on September 28, 2011 at 5:57 pm.

Eid Mubarak

Zeeshan Hamid — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:34:19 +0000

Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating Eid today or tomorrow. Those not celebrating, have a feast anyway :). Eid Mubarak was first posted on August 30, 2011 at 7:34 am.