Jennifer Keesmaat

please contact me if you control "dark money" and want to pay me to promote high rise trousers, walkable neighborhoods, and adopting shelter animals

There’s a way to build affordable housing in Toronto — and we’re doing it right now We can either entrench the systems that failed us in the past, or use this moment to create a housing model that creates a more sustainable future, Jennifer Keesmaat writes.

We are breaking ground at 275 Merton, a partnership with CreateTO, the Housing Secretariat, + Priority Development Review. 30% affordable + deeply affordable Rent-Geared-to-Income units. Using a “checkerboard” approach, affordable homes are integrated throughout!

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

6th fl taking shape at our Cielo Condos. Heritage work is beginning, as the tower rises. Trust me, building over the subway has been no small feat! Very proud of my team.

Take a look: urbantoronto.ca/news/2025/07... Thanks for covering, @urban_toronto

6th fl taking shape at our Cielo Condos. Heritage work is beginning, as the tower rises. Trust me, building over the subway has been no small feat! Very proud of my team.

Take a look: urbantoronto.ca/news/2025/07... Thanks for covering, @urban_toronto

Whatever Happened to Transit City? | The Agenda YouTube video by TVO Today

What happened to Transit City? Why does building transit in Ontario take so long? @spaikin.bsky.social asks former Toronto mayor David Miller, former chief planner @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social, and @johnlorinc.bsky.social about the past, present & future of moving people in the GTHA. #topoli

I’ve long admired cities that seamlessly integrate cafés along park edges—which is why we jumped at the opportunity to make it happen on our Merton Street project. Here are our most recent building and park designs, by @GH3architects.

I’ve long admired cities that seamlessly integrate cafés along park edges—which is why we jumped at the opportunity to make it happen on our Merton Street project. Here are our most recent building and park designs, by @GH3architects.

There are many global precedents to learn from—but North American cities are, uniquely (though not exclusively), in a troubling state of decline.

Opinion: Canada needs an architecture policy And by ‘architecture’ we shouldn’t just think of buildings. We should think of buildings and landscapes as well as transportation infrastructure, plazas and parkways as elements of the built environme...

And then my own piece that could help tie these issues together: something I hope @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social sees, and takes action on 5/@yasirnaqvicdn.bsky.social @brucefanjoy.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Moffatt: Zombies, fairies and dragons in Ottawa’s new transportation plan This fantasy document won't solve our traffic problems. But other cities have found a way to slay bottlenecks.

This is also reinforced by something @jordanmoffatt.bsky.social wrote for the @ottawacitizen.com, that the disconnect in planning/transportation planning etc is leaving us worse off. 4/ ottawacitizen.com/opinion/zomb...

Opinion: By letting public spaces and services fail, our cities are breaking a fundamental promise to the people who live there Cities can’t honestly sell people on urban density if they cannot assure them that the infrastructure needed will be provided

Then turning to the opinion section @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social points out the social promise that isn’t being kept (something I agree w/and have pointed out here in #Ottawa); an excellent piece on the need for social infrastructure 3/ www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Toronto’s Old City Hall could soon be a home for its civic treasures. It can be more than that A historic building, set to be transformed into a museum, is also a chance to put our ‘Beautiful City’ rhetoric to the test

Followed by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social second piece on Old City Hall and, again, another call for design quality, public realm and access and fresh thinking; 2/ www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and...

Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market celebrates grand opening, but the redevelopment has its flaws Questions remains as to how the landmark project is 11 years late and over budget

A great weekend for #Architecture and design news in today’s @theglobeandmail.com ; first up is @alexbozikovic.bsky.social review of St Lawrence Market w/call for action on better public realm 1/ www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Opinion: By letting public spaces and services fail, our cities are breaking a fundamental promise to the people who live there Cities can’t honestly sell people on urban density if they cannot assure them that the infrastructure needed will be provided

We’re starting to get density and transit right in our cities. But we are not delivering on the promise.

The risk? Families and young people will give up on our cities for good. But there is hope. We can fix this.

My latest in today’s @globeandmail.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

New York traffic falls after $9 congestion fee introduced Traffic has fallen by 7.5% since the charge was introduced on 5 January, according to preliminary data.

New York traffic falls after $9 congestion fee introduced. The early data backs up what New Yorkers saying all week – traffic is down, the streets feel safer, and buses are moving faster.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Congestion Relief Zone is the best name ever. Take away cars = relief.

Jennifer Keesmaat: As chief planner, I tried to get Toronto to make drivers pay to come downtown. It’s still the right thing to do By Toronto avoiding congestion pricing, we’ve ensured the very outcomes we sought to avoid: more traffic, more pollution and greater frustration.

As chief planner, I tried to get Toronto to adopt a congestion fee and make drivers pay to come downtown. New York caught on. Why didn't we? by @jenniferkeesmaat.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @torontostar.bsky.social

Support for congestion pricing skyrockets a year after implementation. Change is hard, but once people figure it out, they begin to take advantage of the upsides. Let’s hope NYC stays the course to realize its full potential. We need a good North American example to put some wind in Toronto’s sails.

New York City’s introduction of congestion pricing is a needed step toward smarter, more sustainable urban mobility. Decades of data from London and Singapore show that people quickly adjust their travel patterns, and NYC will be no different.

Finding old friends over here, so nice!