Ennis Davis, AICP of Modern Cities provides a review of Next City's 2017 Vanguard Conference in Montréal and suggests what it could mean for cities of the future.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

(Ennis Davis)

Thursday’s activities kicked off with breakfast at the Crew Collective & Cafe, a co-working environment housed in the enormous lobby of a former early 20th century bank. This also served as a chance to network with alumni from various years and catch up with members of my own 2013 class, Kareeshma Ali (Chicago), Efrem Bycer (San Francisco), and Lou Huang (Brooklyn) who made the trip. Witnessing their growth and community involvement over the course of the past four years was worth the trip itself.

(Ennis Davis)

From there, the alumni track took us to the Montréal waterfront for a La Petite Navire Boat Tour of the Old Port of Montréal. Ceded to the Old Port Corporation in 1978, this waterfront area has grown to become a cultural gem featuring museums, retail, residential, recreational space and water-related activities mixed with a few port related and industrial facilities that still remain in the vicinity. The Lesson for Jacksonville’s urban advocates is that as our own urban riverfront redevelops, embracing and incorporating legacy industry and maritime related facilities only add to the community’s unique urban environment. In addition, what good is a waterfront you can’t interactively play with? While both cities feature ports operating on rivers, resulting in shipping channel currents through their heart, Montréal has implemented creative opportunities for the public to interact with St. Lawrence River.

(Cristina Garmendia)

After leaving the waterfront, we were led on a tour of Quartier des Spectacles with Guy Favreau, the vice-president of architecture and sustainable design of Aedifica Architecture. Formerly a red light district, Quartier des Spectacles is an arts and entertainment district designed as a center for cultural events and festivals. One of the highlights of the tour was witnessing how a roadway median can become a vibrant linear public space with something as simple as the installation of swings.

(Ennis Davis)

Following the tour of Quartier des Spectacles, we transitioned to Aedifica for a series of Alumni TED Talks. This is a part of the Vanguard Conference I always look forward too because it’s a chance to learn about initiatives other Vanguard members are intimately involved in within their own communities. This year’s talks were provided by Cid Blanco (Rio de Janeiro), David Thomas Moran (Orlando), Kathy Risko, Jay Wall (Toronto), Zahra Ebrahim (Toronto), Matt Bernstine (St. Louis), Paola Aguirre (Chicago), Marlon Williams (Brooklyn) and Karen Kubey (Brooklyn).

(Ennis Davis)

Alumni TED Talk Topics

Cid Blanco (2016) - The Metropolitan Challenge David Thomas Moran (2014) - There’s Already an App for that (so Open Up Your Transit Data) Kathy Risko (2012) - Advocacy & the Importance of Building Relationships Jay Wall (2015) & Zahra Ebrahim (2015) - We Are Cities / La ville, c’est nous Matt Bernstine (2016) - Community & Institutional Partnerships Paola Aguirre (2015) - Public Space, Public Art, Public Service Marlon Williams (2015) - Diversity and inclusion in planning Karen Kubey (2015) - How Can an Architect Advance Health Equity?

(Ennis Davis)

The night’s events culminated at Concordia University with a speech by Jeff Speck, AICP, CNU-A, LEED-ND, Hon. ALSA, about “Why Access is the New Mobility”. Prior to the event, alumni had a brief opportunity to mingle with the 2017 Vanguard Class at the Hive Cafe Solidarity Cooperative. There I met fellow Florida A&M University (FAMU) graduate and 2017 Vanguard Jonathan Quarles of Detroit. No matter where I go, it’s always good running into another FAMU Rattler. So with another FAMU graduate, Bryan Lee, Jr of New Orleans also present (Vanguard Class 2015), the familiarity felt like a small slice of Tallahassee, FL.

(Ennis Davis)