NextStopDowntownCanada.com will be launching on January 1st
Whether you are a writer, journalist, video maker or streamer it is incredibly difficult to carve out a place online while maintaining your independence, and supporting sites and services who are generally aligned with your values. Just when you think you’ve found a good thing your latest platform comes out and says it sees no problem making money off of Nazi’s and hate speech, as Substack did just a few days ago, or Twitter continues to do.
Originally I started this page out as a side project, and to see if it was something that I enjoyed doing. In recent months I had found myself wanting to not just continue publishing articles, but to step things up and do so on a more regular and consistent basis. If I decided to go that route though, I wanted to make sure it was being done on a platform that I could have the most control over, and feel comfortable staying on for the long term.
This is why I chose to start NextStopDowntownCanada.com. Though it does mean moving away from free options and spending a few dollars each month to keep it running, it means being less reliant on the whims or culture of sites like Substack, or alternatives like Beehiiv or Buttondown who seem like they could become equally problematic one day.
Starting January 1st the new site will host all the new articles I will be publishing, and over time have an archive of all the posts here as well. There will also eventually be a revamped free newsletter once I find a good option for that. Over the next few months I will most likely continue to post new articles here, as well as the site, before freezing my activity on Substack completely.
The first article to kick off the new site revisits one of the first ones I published on Substack which looked at transit oriented development on the evolving and modernizing GO train lines in the Toronto and Greater Golden Horseshoe region. I won’t spoil the details but the surge in development just 20 months later is quite staggering. It would probably surprise even ardent urban affairs observers, and should also exposes some future concerns that should raise several red flags. This will be followed by a look at the record breaking population growth numbers that Canada is currently seeing, along with its implications on what is already inadequate long term planning for cities and transit. Articles on how the Canadian urban decline of the 1970’s is not as advertised, the design legacy of CN in the 1960’s and 70’s, the still growing crisis of a lack of skilled trades people in Canada, and the impact that inclusionary zoning and other policy changes may, or may not, have on Canadian cities are also in the pipeline. Investigative work into transit specific topics is also on-going, with Montreals REM, the Ottawa LRT, and the HFR program being three in particular I am looking to tackle.
The state of Canadian cities, transit, and urban and rural affairs in general grows more chaotic with each passing week, so there is no shortage of subjects to address. I am looking forward to regularly posting articles once again.
If you want to follow me on social media you can find me on Bluesky @johnnyrenton or Threads @itsjohnnyrenton. I hope everyone finds some happiness during the holiday season and stays warm and dry.