A trip to MaRS

Yesterday I went on a tour of the MaRS discovery district. This is an interesting attempt to create a focus for research and commercialisation, mostly in the biosciences. If it's successful it will be one of very few such urban ventures in North America and has the potential to create 40,000 or so jobs in Toronto. So what is it?

It's a complex of laboratory, office, service and support businesses located at the corner of College and University Avenue, so a stone's throw from Hospital for Sick Children, The Toronto Hospital. U of T Faculty of Medicine, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto Rehab etc. The idea is that ultimately it will contain about 10 million square feet of usable space though right now there is a little under 2 million. The idea is that by bringing together researchers, venture capitalists, IP lawyers etc in the same ecosystem that serendipitous things will happen and make the complex more than the sum of its parts, which in turn will attract more players. Being in the certain of a major city such as Toronto is also seen as a competitive advantage over the more typical suburban science park.

It's an interesting idea but right now it doesn't really seem to be quite there. Maybe it's just too soon to judge but there are a few things that bother me. Architecturally it's grand but dull. There's nothing about the physical space that excites. In fact at present it feels draining rather than energising. This may be simply because it's not yet reached critical mass or it may be symptomatic of bigger problems. Worryingly, the MaRS corporation doesn't seem to have anybody on staff tasked with facilitating interaction. It's just assumed that it will happen. I'm also bothered by the current tenant mix. There are certainly some innovative/entrepreneurial types but large chunks of space are occupied by public sector bodies who seem to see this as an excuse to get into swankier offices than the government will usually pay for (office space here commanda a 20%+ premium over the downtown core average). What is University of Toronto Asset Management doing there?

I think there's a really neat idea here that if developed properly could be really exciting. I think there's also a huge risk that this will go the way of the typical Ontario public/private partnership, never quite making it but surviving almost indefinitely on government handouts.

Final neat bit. Frederick Banting's desk is in the lobby of the MaRS offices.

TGIF

Inspired by majea I invite you to bung some top five list questions in my general direction.

Top and bottom five things about living in Toronto

from rhythmaning

Top things about living in Toronto

1. It's an all round good place to live. Not too big, not too small, plenty to do, not too expensive etc.

2. Great rugby scene. Maybe not the best rugby in the world but great people.

3. Varied and eclectic arts scene. We don't have the Met or the National Theatre but we have a fringe festival, clowns, Opera Atelier and all manner of good stuff.

4. Cheap, good quality ethnic restaurants. It's easy to find a really good lunch for $5.

5. Diversity and tolerance. Some people whinge about racism in Toronto but they haven't lived in London or Paris or Chicago or just about anywhere else actually. This is a city where 35% of the people are 'visible minorities' and 99% of the population are pretty happy about it.

ETA after reading oursin's post about London. The whole rus in urbis thing. The parks. The way the ravines function as wildlife corridors. The peregrines nesting on the office towers. Watching a red tailed hawk make a kill on a city street.

Bottom things about living in Toronto

1. Long, dull, grey winters.

2. "Canadian cringe"..

3. Too far to the ocean.

4. Too many of my friends live either on other continents or the far side of this one.

5. Impossible to find good black pudding.

Top five principals of change management

from frankie_ecap

1. Respect. Most people aren't wilfully obstructive. Listen to what they have to say and take it seriously.

2. Learn from judo. In judo one uses one's opponent's weight and momentum to one's advantage. Let people create their own momentum for change.

3. Walk the walk. If the change agents and the organisation's senior management don't model the desired behaviours, people will, rightly, become cynical very fast.

4. Embrace complexity. Don't try to design change in detail. Set broad goals, create an appropriate environment, design helpful interventions and let things happen.

5. Be ruthless when (and only when) you have to be. If, for example, there is a senior manager who is willfully obstructing the programme, get rid of them, and make a lot of noise about it.

Top five holiday destinations

from badasstronaut

1. Chiang Mai. Lots to do. OK climate. Great food. Cheap.

2. Olympic Coast National Park. Fantastic hiking. The ocean. Wildlife. Solitude.

3. West Penwith (outside the tourist season!). Coastal hiking, terrific rock climbing, good pubs.

4. Northumbria and the Borders. The UK's hidden treasure. Lovely people, fantastic scenery, oozing history. And nobody goes there.

5. Quebec City. Fascinating city. Great restaurants. Excellent centre for day trips to some of the most beautiful places in Canada.

Top five desserts

also via badasstronaut

I'm not really much of a dessert person but...

1. Cheese (see above)

2. Chocolate/raspberry mousse cake

3. Raspberry bavarois

4. Chocolate profiteroles

5. Cheesecake

Top five useful inventions

also via badasstronaut

1. The corkscrew. Well I would say that!

2. Cat trees/scratching posts.

3. The wheel.

4. Codex bound books. Scrolls are a pain in the butt.

5. Book shelves. Something one never has enough of must, ipso facto, be useful.

Top five things I miss about England

and the top five reasons I'm glad I left.

from gillo

Top five things I miss

1. Friends. Easily the biggest loss, especially the Durham crowd.

2. English pubs with decent beer at reasonable prices.

3. Easily accessible, high quality rock climbing.

4. Good, independent wine merchants. The LCBO is way better than it was twenty years ago but I miss Tanner's and the Wine Society.

5. Proximity to the ocean.

Top five reasons I'm glad I left

1. I really don't miss the underlying current of low level violence that permeates England. I would rather walk through Moss Park at 2am then the down the high street of an English town at 11pm on a Saturday night.

2. Racism. It's everywhere. From the overt antics of the BNP and so on to the "many of my friends are Asian but..." which is considered reasonable and polite in my parents' circle. Rowan Atkinson's Tory party conference monologue was spot on.

3. Authoritarianism and the cringing to it. It took centuries to gain the liberties that Brits seem happy to give up now in the space of less than a decade.

4. The traffic. Do you really think that 100 mile long tailbacks are a rational transport policy?

5. Caravans. WTF. You already have stupidly crowded roads. What's with letting people tow their little houses along them like a bunch of snails?

Voice Post:

Weird things

Since all the cool kids are doing it. Five weird things that I do.

1. I'm obsessively early for things. I'm often the first person to show up for an event and my brain simply cannot process the concept of "fashionably late".

2. I twiddle my thumbs. A lot.

3. I can't play any game less than seriously. That doesn't mean I'm hyper competitive and absolutely have to win but it does mean I play to the best of my ability and it pisses me off when other people prat about.

4. I wear bow ties more often than a four in hand. (And, yes, I can tie one).

5. I'm one of those mathematical types who, pace the lurking Kantians, knows that numbers (including "imaginary" and "complex" numbers) are in some sense, probably Platonic, "real".