Heyyyyyy, so excited to dive into Life After Cars by the team at @thewaroncars.bsky.social ! Car dependence is not inevitable. We built this hell and, together, we can fix it. Congratulations @sarahgoldhagen.bsky.social @douggordon.bsky.social @naparstek.bsky.social

What a Mamdani-Style Agenda Could Look Like in Metro Vancouver. I devoured this insightful read from @khelsilem.bsky.social Lots for urbanists to debate here. open.substack.com/pub/khelsile...

Britain's best new building is a machine for building social relationships. This project reflects so much of our work on social wellbeing in housing. Help people connect with neighbours AND the wider community Bravo! www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Happy news from what is arguably becoming Metro Vancouver’s best City: an ocean swimming platform! www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Mariahilferstrasse Vienna. Now the highest grossing street in Austria

Just a lovely, thoughtful essay about Arcosanti and its desert legacies: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Imagine what this happy city hero could achieve at the national level.🥳

If we really want safe, vibrant streets, we should focus on design rather than just lower speed limits. neat new work from Carlo Ratti's team: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

That feeling when the Governor signs your bill allowing more homes near public transit & you then walk from your 39-unit apartment building to get on the subway. Housing + transit = perfect combo

Canada is spending millions on an ambitious affordable housing program. If we design right, we can solve the affordability crisis and the social disconnection crisis at the same time! Crucial lessons from @happycities.com for Minister @gregorrobertson.bsky.social happycities.com/blog/afforda...

OK so OpenAI is making "personal deepfakes" a feature of its TikTok competitor. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Urbanistas ecuatorianos! Estaré pasando unos días en Quito en diciembre. ¿Hay algún urbanismo transformador o vivienda colectiva que realmente deba ver?

Vancouver! Monumental urbanist and Messy Cities co-author @Zahra Ebrahim will speak at the VPL with @fabulavancouver.bsky.social Oct 14. It's going to be a cracker. vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/68b20...

Neighbors built a protected bike lane between two Atlanta schools for just $10,000. Awesome! youtu.be/vMZ98Dre_Us?... via @YouTube

Get ready for more road deaths, America. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Hey Vancouver urbanists, what do you know about new mayoral candidate Rebecca Bligh?

Imagine turning a detached home into a 6-story micro tower. I know so many friend groups who dreamed of living this way over the years. With zoning changes, design accommodations and single staircase rules, they could have it.

Russian disinformation gets recycled and spewed out by chatbots. Expert says: if you want better answers you have to follow up and ask the chatbot for evidence. How many ppl will do that? @holden open.substack.com/pub/mikecaul...

if i write another book this probably needs to be the cover (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press)

Google search is being replaced by AI chat. This means few people will click through to websites that do actual journalism. Google will scoop up ad dollars. Quality will keep sliding. Me, I pay subscriptions for high quality journalism to avoid AI slop. aisecret.us/google-com-n...

While Twitter was once the platform of choice for a majority of science communicators, those same people have since abandoned it in droves. And of the alternatives available, Bluesky seems to be their new platform of choice.

To understand America’s searing class divide, visit Disney World. This story will break your heart. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

Why is your city so damn boring, and how can you fix it? @cobylefco suggests you start with more narrow streets and buildings. Quick read: open.substack.com/pub/building...

'Fossil fuel companies have developed and funded a complicated network of fake public interest groups, politicians and lawyers to oppose wind power by spreading disinformation. Legal firms have also received fossil fuel funding to sue wind projects out of existence. electrek.co/2025/08/25/s...

It's a good time to remember what actually causes homelessness. A top cause: lack of affordable housing. Not a top cause: character flaws among unhoused people. More analysis in this older Bloomberg story: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Yes, it's still much safer to ride the bus than it is to drive. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Here is a clear analysis of the BC Supreme Court's decision to recognize that the Cowichan Tribes, Stz’uminus, Penelakut, and Halalt nations hold Aboriginal title to some land in Richmond. Thank you @khelsilem.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/khelsile...

Trump is disgusted by American cities. His fix harkens back to a Gilded Age movement known as City Beautiful, which put aesthetics before equality. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Remarkable new study finds that people who are most sensitive to feelings of disgust tend to be the most opposed to urban density. 1/5 nextcity.org/urbanist-new...

Hi, I’m a PhD level expert and I know many PhD level experts. They’re mostly great at what they do, but also great at admitting what they don’t know, and finding the right resources to fill in those gaps. One problem with these systems is they are not designed to own up to their limitations.

What a beautiful meditation on the tear-jerking power of place from reforming academic and friend Colin Ellard: open.substack.com/pub/colinell...

AI wants to become your kid's trusted friend. AI is not a friend. It is an attention vampire that will distort your kid's social development. www.afterbabel.com/p/ai-emotion...

Don’t believe the personal rapid transit hype. Tesla didn’t use the Boring Company to dig a tunnel or use autonomous pods to get workers between a transit stop and its nearby “Gigafactory” in Berlin. Nope, they leased a regular 120-seat train. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

It’s become one of those regimes

I'm a digital skeptic, but Sijal Nasralla's story on @newpublic.org points to a movement building deep, caring community through gaming. Fortnight is a great place to start! 🎮🕹️⌨️ open.substack.com/pub/newpubli...

"Combating misinformation isn’t just about sharing facts, it’s also about understanding identity, building trust, and creating space for truth to take hold." How misguided beliefs are formed: @jayvanbavel.bsky.social with Matthew Facciani open.substack.com/pub/powerofu...

“The places doing the best in terms of economic efficiency, traffic safety, social equity, and environmental sustainability are frequently the places with the fewest highways and major arterials per capita.” Erick Guerra in Overbuilt. Must read. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

That’s one hell of an article title. And one hell of an image in the article. “Call to drop Range Rover sponsorship of Wimbledon as SUVs 82% more likely to kill children.” Good idea. www.londondaily.news/call-to-drop...

On Canada's national birthday, many of us said: "We have a great country, but there is still a lot of work to do." What do you and your friends say on YOUR nation's birthday? Nationalism can be healthy or narcissistic, according to @jayvanbavellab www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/healthy-vs...

Most people think that talking to a stranger would suck. But when thousands did it in this experiment, they got happier. Watch this wildly inventive data visualization and storytelling by @alv9n.com pudding.cool/2025/06/hell...

A broken housing market is driving inequality across Europe: "From 2015 to 2023, house prices in the EU rose by just under 50%. From 2010 to 2022, rents rose by 18%. Sounds familiar! The solutions are staring us in the face... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A bunch of Seattle homes now feature sky bridges between them. Fascinating story about unintended consequences of zoning rules: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/r...

It's not a loneliness crisis. It's a depersonalization crisis, in which tech, standardization and efficiency stop us from seeing each other fully. Wonderful article by @allisonpugh.bsky.social (author of The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World). aeon.co/essays/our-c...

Scientists say that replacing government workers with AI chatbots is "terrifying," given Grok/Claud/Lllama's propensity for hallucinations. www.scientificamerican.com/article/repl...

Study of trust in science in 68 countries finds Australia is the #1 high-income country for trust in science www.nature.com/articles/s41... (only Egypt, India, Kenya, and Nigeria were ahead)

Small towns are growing dependent on ICE and immigrant detentions in shoddy private prisons. Fascinating and horrifying journalism: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Want safer better streets? Your city needs shorter fire engines. Great read: opticosdesign.com/blog/if-you-...

Oh this is very cool. Congrats @brenttoderian.bsky.social !

Ce fut un immense honneur de participer à #RVCV25. En cette période de confiance sociale affaiblie, nous devons concevoir nos communautés de manière à renforcer les relations !

Digital tech is designed in ways that hurt people and communities. There is a better way: Eight Policy Principles to Guide our Relationship with Digital Technology. Thank you @iyerland.bsky.social www.afterbabel.com/p/eight-poli...