Ximena González
@ximenaka.bsky.social
📤 6888
📥 608
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Calgary journalist. Recovering architect. Reluctant urbanist.
http://ximena-gonzalez.com
pinned post!
We accept the abuse we think we deserve. Thus, i’m gonna start blocking not people i disagree with, but those who use their reach to gang up on others.
20 days ago
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Ximena González
Almoonir Dewji
about 4 hours ago
Great piece by
@ximenaka.bsky.social
on Marda Loop. I’ve met several residents who moved from denser cities and absolutely love the community. Hopefully the recent roadwork nightmare is finally behind them.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Ximena González
Tim Bousquet
about 5 hours ago
It can happen here.
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New from me! Unlike other established areas, Calgary’s Marda Loop has evolved organically. While this has created challenges for some, Marda Loop has become one of the city’s most desirable districts, as a growing variety of housing options and amenities increasingly attract young families.
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Organic growth breathes new life into Calgary’s Marda Loop
The downtown neighbourhood has experienced significant change in the last decade without a specific redevelopment plan in place
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/article-organic-growth-breathes-new-life-into-calgarys-marda-loop/
about 5 hours ago
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Ximena González
Julie S. Lalonde
about 6 hours ago
As the saying goes "If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the window and find out which is true.”
add a skeleton here at some point
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Ximena González
Heather Campbell
about 5 hours ago
Update regarding
@theannamurphy.bsky.social
. I am sharing this on behalf of Anna. Anna is awake and has seen the outpouring of support. She is deeply touched by the kindness shown by the community during this incredibly difficult time. Anna is not accepting visitors or calls at this time. 1/
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Ximena González
Alex Boyd
about 23 hours ago
🕵️♀️Minor job update. Send me stuff!
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I hope folks with a disability in my neighbourhood don’t need to take the bus this winter.
about 19 hours ago
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How can Canada align with a country that allows this?
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1 day ago
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2026: not looking good.
1 day ago
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reposted by
Ximena González
Jen St. Denis
1 day ago
"The above was inspired by the Washington Post Editorial Board’s apology for Trump’s kidnapping of Maduro, to the point that I could lift entire paragraphs and just change a few words."
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
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The arrest of Mark Carney will bring peace, prosperity, and freedom to North America - Halifax Examiner
As with the once-independent countries of Texas and California before it, Canada rightly should become a state under the flag of the United States.
https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file/the-arrest-of-mark-carney-will-bring-peace-prosperity-and-freedom-to-north-america/
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A country’s sovereignty is breached by a foreign government and all albertans can think about is how this will impact the price of oil 🫠
4 days ago
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A tale of two neighbours.
5 days ago
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War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.
5 days ago
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Has anyone checked in on Carney yet?
5 days ago
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Manifest destiny
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5 days ago
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Welcoming the new year in the very city i became aware that being/working as an architect was not really my thing feels kind of ominous.
7 days ago
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Last day in Guadalajara.
8 days ago
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An accurate depiction of me at work. (Remedios Varo, 1959)
8 days ago
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A fellow freelance writer wrote 180 pieces this year. I wrote 40 and got an eye twitch. I want to write, but maybe it’s time to consider this isn’t a sustainable career path for me :(
8 days ago
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These three buildings are not too far from each other. Is a lack of contextual fit really such a big issue? Hot take: the contextual city is a boring one.
8 days ago
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Clericot for lunch. Because.
9 days ago
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Barragan!
9 days ago
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[street name] brought to you by [corporation]
9 days ago
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Guadalajara moderne. (sorry but i know nothing about the buildings, i just liked them.)
10 days ago
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Layers of time in place.
10 days ago
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Guadalajara: a city that loves trees.
11 days ago
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Mexican Santas.
13 days ago
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Somebody’s master piece.
13 days ago
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[un]walkability
15 days ago
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We accept the abuse we think we deserve. Thus, i’m gonna start blocking not people i disagree with, but those who use their reach to gang up on others.
20 days ago
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Solving Canada’s housing affordability crisis won’t be cheap, yet the feds remain set on spending as little as possible to bolster the supply of non-market homes. The limitations of this approach are evident in Alberta, where a rental boom has been slow to protect the right to housing of tenants.
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Alberta renters don’t need more ‘supply’ — they need non-market housing options
Governments keep chasing the market while community housing providers quietly deliver stable, affordable homes that won’t disappear when profits rise
https://ricochet.media/justice/housing/alberta-renters-dont-need-more-supply-they-need-non-market-housing-options/
20 days ago
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Alberta renters have it bad. Part of the reason is the dismal amount of non-market housing options available in this province. In my latest story for
@ricochetmedia.bsky.social
i write about the limitations of Build Canada Homes’ approach to non-market housing.
ricochet.media/justice/hous...
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Alberta renters don’t need more ‘supply’ — they need non-market housing options
Governments keep chasing the market while community housing providers quietly deliver stable, affordable homes that won’t disappear when profits rise
https://ricochet.media/justice/housing/alberta-renters-dont-need-more-supply-they-need-non-market-housing-options/
21 days ago
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reposted by
Ximena González
Ricochet Media
21 days ago
Alberta renters don’t need more ‘supply’ — they need non-market housing options Governments keep chasing the market while community housing providers deliver stable, affordable homes that won’t disappear when profits rise. New from
@ximenaka.bsky.social
:
ricochet.media/justice/hous...
#abpoli
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Alberta renters don’t need more ‘supply’ — they need non-market housing options
Governments keep chasing the market while community housing providers quietly deliver stable, affordable homes that won’t disappear when profits rise
https://ricochet.media/justice/housing/alberta-renters-dont-need-more-supply-they-need-non-market-housing-options/
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The results of Calgary’s civic election left me thinking: Why didn’t more diverse candidates run? So i looked into it for
@thetyee.ca
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Calgary’s City Council Is Very Male. Why? | The Tyee
Out of 82 contenders, only two women were elected. The loser is democracy, say some.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/12/10/Why-Calgary-City-Council-Very-Male/
29 days ago
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The town of Jasper is building back better, but protecting the remaining two thirds of the town with FireSmart practices remains a discretionary endeavour. Read more about this in my latest story for the Globe and Mail.
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Alberta towns scarred by fires look to change the way they build
FireSmart regulations face pushback on cost and a desire to preserve mountain aesthetic
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/article-alberta-towns-jasper-wildfires-building-regulations/
about 1 month ago
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For many Calgarians, the Old Y is little more than an aging building whose history harkens back to the early 20th century. For our city’s activist community, however, the Old Y is a beacon of hope. A space where history is written. Today, the building awaits its future.
thetyee.ca/Culture/2025...
2 months ago
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Alongside the cost of construction, development charges are rising in Calgary’s inner city, as city administrators say it’s only fair builders pay for the infrastructure needed to support increased density in established areas. Yet, it’s homeowners or tenants who end up footing the bill—why?
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Calgary builders say high fees in redevelopment areas hinder work, jeopardize affordability
Development fees for infrastructure upgrades can add tens of thousands to the cost of building a single townhome in a redeveloping neighbourhood
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/article-calgary-builders-redevelopment-fees-townhomes-affordability/
2 months ago
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Since i finished writing this essay, one pedestrian was hit and killed by a driver in downtown Calgary. Speed wasn’t deemed a factor.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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As drivers seem increasingly unable to pay attention to the road, should speed limits be lowered? For me, a reluctant driver, lower speed limits seem like a fair trade off to protect the physical integrity of our fellow humans.
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Driving a machine that kills
Should Calgary lower speed limits?
https://iwouldprefernotto.substack.com/p/driving-a-machine-that-kills
2 months ago
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I’ve been thinking about what Greg Robertson said last week, that we need to lower average house prices without affecting the value of individual homes—how do you even do that? Then it hit me.
2 months ago
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Regardless of statistics showing crime is dwindling, safety is a major concern for Calgarians—why? In my latest essay, i explore this question, alongside the implications of letting our bourgeois fears guide our city’s policy agenda.
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Are you afraid of poverty?
Why responding to middle-class fears won’t make Calgary a more equitable city
https://iwouldprefernotto.substack.com/p/are-you-afraid-of-poverty
3 months ago
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The tide is starting to turn in downtown Calgary. In my latest piece, i write about the sixth and latest office-to-residential conversion to reach completion, the iconic Petro Fina building, and how a combination of city-led initiatives is breathing new life into our city's core.
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Downtown Calgary’s latest office-to-rental conversion begins welcoming tenants
Formerly the headquarters of Canadian Fina Oil, the 11-storey Petro Fina building has been converted into 103 apartments
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/article-downtown-calgary-office-to-rental-conversions-petro-fina-building/
3 months ago
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I began writing this story with a naive question in mind: What do we lose when public education is privatized? A lot, actually. By following the MAGA playbook, the UCP’s push against public education not only undermines democracy, it jeopardizes the possibility of a better future for all Albertans.
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Inside the Right-Wing Attack on Alberta's Public Education | The Tyee
MAGA’s Project 2025 has become a blueprint for undermining Canada’s schools in the name of profit and privilege.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/10/13/Right-Wing-Attack-Alberta-Public-Education/
3 months ago
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Progressive Calgarians consistently push against privatization in health care and education, but they're seldom concerned abut the city's offloading of responsibilities to non-profit organizations — why? In my latest ✍️, i write about how privatization produces and reproduces inequality in Calgary.
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Can Calgary city hall fight privatization?
Striving to maintain taxes low won’t deliver a more equitable city
https://iwouldprefernotto.substack.com/p/can-calgary-city-hall-fight-privatization
3 months ago
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