You are now in the main content area

Blog

These blog entries are intended to provide informed discussion of contemporary urban policy issues and to respond to requests for public input into proposed urban policies such as infrastructure financing, land use planning, affordable housing and economic growth.

Photo credit: James Thomas

Walkable Streetscapes Can Make Local Businesses More Attractive  

October 1, 2024 - Attractive local businesses can make cities more walkable by providing desirable destinations. This study, authored in part by Assistant Professor Bon Woo Koo, from TMU’s School of Urban and Regional Planning, explores whether features that enhance walkability also make local businesses more attractive.

Using street view images and computer vision, it examines the relationship between walkable streetscape features and customer satisfaction of restaurants and coffee shops, based on Yelp review scores in Atlanta, Georgia. After accounting for factors such as pedestrian accessibility, restaurant type, and neighbourhood characteristics, the study finds that landscaped sidewalks, more visible greenery, and more enclosed streetscapes (higher building-to-street ratio) positively impact customer satisfaction. Suggestions for planning walkable streetscapes are provided to enhance street vibrancy and economic opportunities for local businesses.

Key findings:

  • Restaurants and coffee shops on pedestrian-friendly streetscapes tend to receive higher Yelp customer review scores than similar shops on less pedestrian-friendly streetscapes;
  • Specifically, customer review scores increase when streets are narrow and lined with tall buildings, have more street greenery, and have sidewalks that are landscaped to separate them from traffic;
  • Contrary to conventional belief, being at an easily accessible location does not necessarily lead to better customer satisfaction; and
  • Walk Score correlated with higher customer review scores only in very unwalkable areas (e.g., quiet and secluded places) or highly walkable areas (e.g., vibrant commercial strips), but not in between.

Read the blog

Previous Posts

September 26, 2024

An Update on Why Housing is Much More Affordable in Metropolitan Ottawa Than Metropolitan Toronto 

September 23, 2024

Not Addressing All the Costs to Drivers and Passengers Results in Excessive Automobile-Restricting Policies

September 3, 2024

Post-Pandemic, Housing Prices in Most Ontario Metropolitan Areas Remain Elevated Compared to Metropolitan Toronto

August 16, 2024

The Majority of the GTA's Combined New and Existing Home Sales Are Concentrated Outside the City of Toronto's Borders

June 18, 2024

Residents Fleeing the City of Toronto, Peel and York Regions to Find More Affordable Homes

June 10, 2024 

Toronto Tops in 2023 Population Growth in Canada and the United States

June 7, 2024

Percent Increase in GO Passenger Trips Three Times the TTC in the First Quarter, 2024 According to Statistics Canada

June 4, 2024

GGH Population Growth: Population Surges in the City of Toronto, Peel and Waterloo Regions in 2023

May 15, 2024

GDP Growth Rates in Guelph, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, and Barrie Exceeded the Toronto CMA 2009-2020

May 7, 2024

Why do the “Experts” Treat Housing Types as Irrelevant?

March 26, 2024

Toronto CMA Renters Increased Spending on Public and Private Transportation 2010-2019

January 24, 2024

Statistics Canada Vacant Residential Land Estimates for Toronto and Ottawa Metropolitan Areas: A Baby Step Forward

December 18, 2023

Existing Housing Stock Losses Outpace New Missing Middle Starts in the City of Toronto

October 17, 2023 

What Land Removal Criteria Should be Applied to Toronto’s Greenbelt?

August 22, 2023

Increases in Average Residential Property Taxes for Large Cities Within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, 2016-2021

August 8, 2023

Residential Property Taxes: Effective Rates and Burdens for Census Metropolitan Areas within the Great Golden Horseshoe, 2021

May 23, 2023

Toronto Second Fastest Growing Metropolitan Area, City of Toronto the Fastest Growing Central City, in the United States/Canada in 2022

March 27, 2023

The Gainers Are Many When Toronto and Peel Bleed Population

January 19, 2023
GGH’s Greater Population Growth in 2022 Compared to 2019 Centred in the City of Toronto and Waterloo Region

November 10, 2022
Missing in Action: New Low-Rise Apartments in the Greater Golden Horseshoe

September 15, 2022
Narrowing the Housing Price Gap Between the Suburbs and Downtown Toronto: Demand or Supply Driven in the Future?

September 12, 2022
School of Cities Critics Misconstrue Clayton/Amborski on Greenfield Development/Sprawl

July 12, 2022
The City of Toronto Has the Potential to Significantly Increase Its Annual Housing Production if Council and Staff Get on Board

July 6, 2022
Is All Greenfield Development in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Sprawl? A Resounding No

June 6, 2022
Five of the Ten Fastest Growing Cities in the United States/Canada Are Canadian - Montreal and Toronto Join List of Cities with Largest Declines in 2021

May 24, 2022
Greater Golden Horseshoe Housing Supply: Several Oddities When Comparing CMHC and Census of Canada Data

April 18, 2022
Metro Toronto Population Growth Crashes to 21st Place in U.S./Canada Ranking, Down from Third Place in 2020

March 3, 2022
The Greater Golden Horseshoe Growing Slower Than Forecast Largely Due to City of Toronto and Peel Region

February 2, 2022
Toronto CMA’s Continued Dominance of the GGH Economy Dependent Upon a Supply of Affordable Ground-Related Housing

January 14, 2022
Affordability Issues, Not the Pandemic, Drive Population from the City of Toronto and Peel Region

January 13, 2022
Brampton: The Land of Secondary Suites

July 12, 2021
Five Principles That Can Improve Housing Affordability in the GTA

July 7, 2021
The GTA Needs More Road Capacity: If Not Highway 413, Then Where?

June 16, 2021
The City of Toronto Now the Second Fastest Growing Among U.S. and Canadian Central Cities in 2020, Down from First Place in 2019

June 4, 2021
Some Observations on the Recent Pattern of Residential Building Permits in the GGH

May 27, 2021
Toronto Third Fastest Growing Among U.S. and Canadian Metropolitan Areas in 2020, Down from First Place in 2019

March 5, 2021
GTA Residential and Industrial Markets Booming While Office Market Suffers: 905 Area Outshining City of Toronto

February 24, 2021
Bleeding of Resident Population from City of Toronto and Peel Region Accelerated Again in 2020

January 18, 2021
Region of Peel and City of Toronto Remain Top Destination for Millennials in 2020, Even as Many Flee in Search of More Affordable Housing

November 10, 2020
What Halton Region Is Missing by Its Blanket Opposition to CN’s Proposed Intermodal Facility 

August 14, 2020
Shift in GTA’s Real Estate Demand to the 905 Area from Toronto Started Before COVID-19 GTA 

June 25, 2020
Federal Tax Expenditures Favour Homeowners

June 10, 2020
Toronto Now Fastest Growing Metropolitan Area in the United States and Canada, City of Toronto Still Fastest Growing Central City

March 11, 2020
Toronto CMA Losing Existing Population of All Ages to More Affordable Regions in Ontario

March 6, 2020
CUR's Top 4 Facts on Females in Real Estate

February 20, 2020
Where Are All the Canadian Millennials Moving To?

December 16, 2019
Toronto Homeowners Won't Be Overburdened by a Proposed Property Tax Increase to Fund Infrastructure

October 30, 2019
Millennials in the City of Toronto and CMA Are Heading to the Rest of the Greater Golden Horseshoe, but Are Being Replaced by Immigration

October 18, 2019
My Two Days with the Bertauds

October 7, 2019
Wondering Why the GTA Economy Has Been Growing So Fast and What the Future Holds? If So, Joe Berridge Is a "Must Read"

September 19, 2019
Takeaways from CUR’s Seminar on Leveraging Public Land and Public-Private Partnerships to Provide Social Housing

September 9, 2019
Time to Revisit the Population Forecast Underlying the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe

September 4, 2019
Single-Detached Houses Are Here to Stay in the GTA, Contrary to Media Reports and Planners' Dreams

July 29, 2019
Debating the Mortgage Stress Test: To Loosen or Not To Loosen?

June 14, 2019
Debating Bill 108 - How Economics 101 Can Help Planners Understand the Impact of Bill 108 on Housing Affordability

May 31, 2019
WOW! Toronto Was the Second Fastest Growing Metropolitan Area and the Top Growing City in All of the United States and Canada 

May 3, 2019
Ontario Government Proposes Legislation That Could Unlock Development Potential Around Transit Stations in Ontario

March 28, 2019
Another look at the Room the City of Toronto has to Raise Residential Property Taxes: Focus on Owner-Occupied Single-Detached Houses

February 22, 2019
Highlights from the CUR Seminar with Pamela Blais: “Hyper-Concentration of GTA Job Growth in Downtown Toronto: What Does It Mean for the 905 Regions?”

December 13, 2018
Car-Owning Households up by 355,000 in the GTHA, 88,000 in the City of Toronto, and 26,000 in the Toronto Core since 2006

December 7, 2018
Rent Control Has Been Eased, Will GTA Rent Growth Follow?

November 22, 2018
Creative Ways to Build Affordable Housing in Expensive Markets

September 6, 2018
Cleanup and Smart-In-Up: A Look at Ontario’s Efforts to Connect Brownfields Remediation, Infill Development and Regional Growth Planning

June 22, 2018
Tough Going: Few Winners, Many Losers in the GGH Job Creation Game

April 26, 2018
Love it or Hate It: The King Street Pilot Still Falls Short on Transit Needs Along the Corridor

March 2, 2018
Province's Proposed Methodolgy Will Aggravate House Price Affordability in the GGH

February 23, 2018

CMHC Report Highlights the Importance of Supply to Making Housing Affordable Again

February 9, 2018
City of Toronto's Economic Success Poses a Conundrum for Province's "Growth Plan"

December 19, 2017
What is happening in markets for residential land in the Greater Golden Horseshoe?

November 23, 2017
Key Takeaways from the 2016 Canadian Census Housing Data Release
By: Diana Petramala

October 23, 2017
Ontario government not yet maximizing the economic benefits from its foreign buyers' tax to increase housing affordability
By: Diana Petramala

October 4, 2017
What can the GTA do to attract Amazon?
By: Diana Petramala

September 20, 2017
What is Meant by "Missing Middle Housing" and How a Greater Vancouver-Based Study Proposes to Rectify It
By: Diana Petramala

August 31, 2017
How Accurate was Statistics Canada in Estimating Annual Population Growth Within the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) 2011-2016?
By: Frank Clayton

July 17, 2017
Let's Give Homebuyers the Choice of Buying New Single-Detached Houses and Still Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By: Frank Clayton

July 14, 2017
 (PDF file) Where Millennials Live and 14 Other Interesting Facts from the 2016 Census - CMAs within the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area

July 12, 2017
Hey Toronto Media - Time to get with it: The "City of Toronto" is not the "Greater Toronto Area" 
By: Frank Clayton

June 29, 2017
Where Millennials Live and 15 Other Interesting Facts from the 2016 Census - Regional and Single-Tier Municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

March 3, 2017
Population Growth in the 905 Portion of the Toronto Economic Region Continues to Outshine the City of Toronto in 2011-2016
By: Frank Clayton

February 6, 2017
GTA Combined New and Resale Home Sales in 2016: Apartments Surge, New Single-Detached House Sales Shrink
By: Frank Clayton

December 13, 2016
Time for Toronto Councillors to Stop Being Skittish About Raising Property Taxes
By: Frank Clayton  

November 28, 2016
How Does Population Density in the GTHA Compare with Other Larger Urban Regions?
By: Cameron Macdonald


October, 2016
Economics and Land Use Planning: Insights from Britain - Overview
By: Professor Paul Cheshire

Blog #1: Collapse predicted if the current British land use planning system continues without radical reform  

Blog #2: Urban policy, including land use policy, is often ineffective because of a failure to utilize economic analyses and insights

Blog #3: The alchemy by which land use regulation turns housing in Greater London into gold 

Blog #4: Why costs as well as benefits must be considered when formulating or evaluating land use planning policy  

Blog #5: 'Radical reforms' to the British land use planning system proposed by Cheshire, Nathan and Overman 

September 23, 2016
Study Ranks 23 GGH Municipalities According to the Restrictiveness of Their Residential Land-Use Regulation
By: Cameron Macdonald

August 19, 2016

Surge in Ground-Related Lot Values Reflects a Shortage of Supply in the GTA
By: Frank Clayton

August 8, 2016
A Statistical Mystery: Diminishing Expansion of the GTA’s Built-Up Area at a Time of Surging Construction of Single-Detached Houses
By: Frank Clayton

July 15, 2016
How a Shrinking Supply of Serviced Sites is Stoking House Price Increases in the Greater Toronto Area
By: Frank Clayton

May 11, 2016
Did You Know: Travel Times for City of Toronto Commuters on Average are 60% Longer by Subway than by Car?
By: Frank Clayton

April 12, 2016
Toronto's Population Ranks High Up When Compared to Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas - Migration Patterns Key
By: Frank Clayton

February 4, 2016

The Fallacy that the City of Toronto Needs New Taxation Powers
By: Frank Clayton