Hi everybody! Thanks for reading the first re:Build last month and a big thank you to those of you who sent your thoughts and feedback!
I’m travelling but I wanted to send this out to deliver on my promise of a monthly newsletter and to keep strengthening the habit of writing. Plus, I've been working on a couple things that I'm excited to share with you!
Quick Update: Andrea and I spent the last few days celebrating her sister’s birthday (and Bastille Day) in Paris. Today, we arrived in Madrid where we’ll be spending a few days. If you've got tips or recommendations, we’d love to hear them.

Le 14 juillet
🚓 Sunday we joined hundreds of thousands of people along Avenue des Champs-Élysées, one of Paris' most iconic boulevards, to watch the Bastille Day parade. Le 14 juillet commemorates July 14, 1789, when the people of Paris stormed Bastille prison to free prisoners and take weapons. The prison was used by King Louis XVI to hold political dissidents and had become a symbol of the brutality of the monarchy. The storming of Bastille led to the beheading of King Louis XVI and was a pivotal moment in the lead up to the French Revolution.

Today, the parade showcases military troops and new tech, like this flying Frenchman with an assault rifle, straight out of Iron Man. But the celebration’s revolutionary roots have not been lost. When calls for President Macron to resign were met with tear gas and batons, the tension between some people and military was impossible to ignore.
Bastille seems to be as much about patriotism as it is about resistance and control. The large open space surrounding the Arc de Triomphe provides a natural gathering place for protesters. It’s also where 12 streets converge making it easy for police to get there in a hurry. Far from coincidence, this street pattern was part of the redesign of Paris that can be traced back to the days of our friend, King Louis XVI. Before having his head cut off by guillotine, he began a grand reconstruction of Paris to beautify the city and allow for easier military maneuvering. His reign may have ended before his plans got very far but the creative destruction was completed and expanded upon by Napolean III and Baron Haussmann. As much fun as the parade was, Bastille Day showed me that control through urban design is as relevant in Paris today as it was 200 years ago.
re:Ideas
New Post: A Case for Shared Equity in Toronto
🏡 The Toronto Region Board of Trade recently used a series of income maps to show how service and blue collar workers, like paramedics and social workers, face limited housing options in Toronto. This research and two follow-up articles, here and here, inspired my new article about how shared equity mortgages work and how expanding shared equity programs can open up more affordable housing options for the workers Toronto relies on to function. You can find the post here.
Shared equity mortgages can help people own a home. The owner contributes a 5% down payment on home and receives a loan that's considered to be equity by banks, usually 10-15% of the value of the home. This effectively reduces their mortgage requirement and monthly costs. There are no payments while the owner is living in the home. When the owner sells, the loan is repaid based on the current value of the home. The interest rate on the loan is equal to the increase in the value of the home. If the home decreases in value, no interest is paid.
re:Work
🔨 In June, I joined the Board of Home Ownership Alternatives as a Director. I'm looking forward to working with them over the next three years. HOA is a non-profit financial institution providing shared equity mortgages and financing for affordable housing projects. Together with the non-profit developer, Options for Homes, they've helped over 3,000 families become homeowners in Toronto. The behind the scenes work that HOA does has been critical to the success of Options for Homes. I think there's a much bigger opportunity for non-profit shared equity to play a larger role in affordable housing strategies that cities need to be exploring.
re:Read
📗 Order without Design by Alain Bertaud.
Alain Bertaud is the Indiana Jones of urban planning. He brings economic logic and predictive models to the planning discipline. This book examines planning with quantitative rigor while maintaining appreciation for cities as complex systems that are best understood when planners and economists work together.
This is one of the best urban planning books I’ve read. It’s changed my understanding of housing policy and the relationship between cities, labour, and housing.
"The need to do something tends to trump the need to understand what needs to be done. And without data, anyone who does anything is free to claim success."
The more I dig into housing policies, the more this rings true. Here is a quick expert from the book:

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
¡Hasta la próxima!
Angus