Round Up: Alphabet city, mom-and-pop life cycle, scaffolding makeover, geographic polarization

Google's parent company to build futuristic neighborhood in Toronto

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has now moved on to more urban planning endeavors and with it has ambitious plans to transform a waterside neighborhood, which will house its Canadian headquarters, into an ideal neighborhood that reduces pollution, commute times, and landfill.

And similarly in the US.

The death and life of mom-and-pops

A longform Curbed NY article gives another viewpoint to the saga of small retail decline. Closures are hitting suburban malls and desirable shopping neighborhoods alike. High-rent blight continues despite the typically understood invisible hand of capitalism — old businesses closing and new ones quickly replacing them which is broken.

Scaffolding is about to get a lot less ugly

Through a design competition, a new style of scaffolding has emerged. You might start to see it in person but for now it is in the initial stages of rolling out. Features of the scaffolding include transparent overhead and more decorative umbrella-like uppers.

Richard Florida Notes Unexpected Effects of the Creative Class’s Rise

And you thought that just politics was becoming increasingly polarizing. Now, according to Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and his newest The New Urban Crisis, cities have become increasingly concentrated and prosperous at a faster rate than previously assumed, causing unexpected consequences and geographic polarization.