Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 1041

It’s about 6:30 am on new year’s eve day and I’ve been awake since around 4:00 am because of jet lag. I initially resisted, but now I am up and starting my day. 

The coffee shop downstairs doesn’t open for another hour so this is coming to you live from my surprisingly spacious hotel room. (I’ve been in far smaller both here in Hong Kong and in New York.) There’s a wide array of teas available in this room, but sadly no coffee. I could go for a coffee right now.

I took the express train in from the airport last night, which is what I did the last time I was in Hong Kong over a decade ago. It takes just over 20 minutes and it is a great way to get into Central. It immediately signals to you that this city thinks and cares about efficiency.

The experience of landing and getting into a city is an important, but often neglected, consideration. For many people this is their first impression of a place and so it only makes sense to pay attention to it. 

Think of it like fine dining. Most nice restaurants will greet you at the front, take your coat, and show you to your table. Few expect you to come in the backdoor and wander bewildered through the kitchen. But that’s what some cities ask you to do after you land.

Come to think of it, I left Toronto aboard our own airport express train. That’s standard practice for me. And so I started and ended my 2-day journey on efficient rail. I’m good with that.

Before signing off for today, I would like to apologize for missing yesterday’s post. I was in the air for over 19 hours without internet. I also didn’t have much to say. As always, you should expect me to show up here every day. But expect more travel-related posts over the next week to go along with my Instagram posts .

I would also like to point you toward  this tweet storm by Shawn Micallef (discovered during jet lag haze). Please do me a favor and check it out. It is a hilariously accurate satire about many of the city building challenges that cities face today, told by way of a miniature “Dickens Village.”

Mildly proud of the “Dickens Village” I set up. Mom collected in 90s. Is like Victorian London ceramic Sim City. pic.twitter.com/TPEVKT8GJA

— Shawn Micallef (@shawnmicallef)

December 30, 2017

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And with that, I wish you all a happy new year. See you on the other side. Bring on 2018.

Photo: Night shot of Gloucester Road from pedestrian overpass

This morning Fred Wilson posted this chart on his blog :

What is clear is that when it comes to US digital ad revenue, it’s the Google and Facebook show, followed by everyone else. Microsoft/LinkedIn is a distant third. Fred calls it “ the digital advertising duopoly .” And his view is that the tech industry needs to figure out new approaches to monetization that still allow free content to be consumed. 

I’ve said this before, but Facebook buying Instagram for $1 billion seems like a bargain when you look at a chart like this and you see what they were able to do with the platform. Instagram’s 2018 revenues are projected to be bigger than every other company on the list minus Google but including YouTube.

Also notable are the flatlining of Twitter and the projected growth of Snapchat. 2017 was a rough year for $SNAP . But it appears that somebody believes they’ll be able to turn things around with their app redesign and reconstituted ad platform. Be that as it may, it’s still the Google and Facebook show – at least for the time being.

I just finished going through my list of 2017 goals. I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to, but I did manage to check off a number of professional and personal goals.

Some of the remaining goals have been pushed to 2018. But there are also items that I have since realized aren’t worth pursuing and so I have dropped them from the list.

All that said, it was a great year. Here is a rapid-fire summary of 2017 told through posts from this blog.

• The province of Ontario rejected Toronto’s proposed road toll plan . The plan wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. Unfortunate short-sightedness.
  

• Honest Ed’s – a Toronto landmark – said farewell . Certainly the end of an era for many people in this city. I just went to the farewell party.
  

• Toronto continued to demonstrate that it is a terrific place for tech and startups. Top Hat announced a $22.5 million (USD) Series-C funding round.
  

• I went heliboarding , which is something that had been lingering on the bucket list for far too long. Easily one of my greatest life experiences.
  

• Snapchat Spectacles became more broadly available. Highly promising, I thought, but then Instagram ripped off Stories . Product ended up bombing. Still, we had a riot playing with the glasses in Whistler.

• Designing for families in high-rises became a priority here in Toronto. And there’s evidence that the market is starting to respond. We are certainly trying to.

• Studio Gang Architects announced their first project in Toronto and in Canada.

• I followed through on my personal goal of returning to photography as a hobby .

• Autonomous vehicles received even more discussion and debate. Relevant video here . Relevant post here . The post is a good summary of the possible impacts of autonomy. Do not assume that the notion of a “car” will remain the same. 

• My fascination with Berlin and techno music continued.

• Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan was announced. Coupled with changes to the way development applications get appealed, it was a year of significant change for the real estate and development industry. Next is inclusionary zoning .

• We discovered that population density actually impacts how people vote .

• Opendoor continued its mission of trying to reinvent the way homes are bought and sold. By May 2017 they were selling  300 homes per month .

• Americans continued to follow the sun and sprawl and relocate to warmer southern cities.

• Meaningful progress was made with respect to laneway housing in Toronto . But we’re not quite there yet. The city refused my laneway house in the summer. Significant community opposition. 2018 will bring further positive change.

• The mania around Hamilton (Ontario) kicked into high gear. Hamiltonians got grouchy about the increase in Toronto expats. Slate acquired a retail plaza / development site and hosted a “ pre-design community meeting .”

• Amazon bought Whole Foods for $13.4 billion . A big deal as they clearly work to figure out online grocery.

• I participated in an interesting design charrette organized by B+H Advance Strategy about the “mall of the future.” Everyone is trying to figure out the future of retail right now.

• Everyone and their grandmother started buying Bitcoin. Small Swiss canton continues to try and establish itself as “ Crypto Valley .”

• Slate and Globizen introduced Junction House .

• I hit the 4 year mark on this daily blog.

• 2017 became the year of the condo in the Greater Toronto Area. Or at least that’s what I used in the headline.

• Amazon announced need for second HQ. Every city in North America goes nuts. I predicted that Toronto would win  (even before Sidewalk Labs made its Toronto announcement ). We’ll see what happens in 2018. Though, I still think Toronto is winning this.

• The “night mayor” finally crossed the pond with New York City Council voting to establish the Office of Nightlife . Toronto should have moved on this sooner.

• We announced new Buca concept and unveiled Ravine Bench at Yonge + St. Clair (Toronto). #SitTO

• Tony Seba predicted that 2021 will be the year that the economics flip for autonomous electric vehicles. Internal combustion engine and individual car ownership to be disrupted.

• Singapore capped vehicle growth at 0% .

• London released a  new Plan  in draft form. Strong emphasis on optimizing housing density and on going car-free.

• King Street Transit Pilot launched in Toronto . Streetcar speeds increased overnight. Some concerns that it could be impacting businesses along the street.

• Developer Urban Capital published Volume 7 of its annual Site Magazine . I penned article about their pan-Canadian mission to build from coast to coast.

Thanks for reading. Onward my friends.