Weeps in #OttCity, sobs in #OttLRT

Artificially high parking fees (esp. for monthly passes) has functionally been one half of Calgary's approach to encouraging CTrain use into the downtown core - the other being restricting the number of arterial roads into the core. It's cheaper + faster to take the LRT so most downtown workers do.

Japan really is, as @shawnmicallef.bsky.social called it, "a public pee paradise." There are public toilets everywhere, mostly spotless and with toasty warm bidet toilet seats. Public toilets are as essential a need as streetlights, and in Japan are almost as common.

I see there’s a post about microplastics going around with a photo of drinking straws, so here is my semi-regular reminder that the 3 biggest sources of microplastics are tires (45%), synthetic clothing particles (35%) and paint (~10%). Lay article attached:

"The building that was once home to Ottawa’s flagship Hudson’s Bay Company store is up for sale, stirring hopes among observers about its future look and purpose." Quoted is @toondreessen.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #CBC #news #Ottawa #HBC #architecture #urbanism

One of the most successful pedestrian streets in the world, the Strøget in Copenhagen, was filled with cars until a 2 year pedestrianization pilot project in 1962. The opposition argued “no cars means no business,” but the street has been a massive retail success, the city’s busiest shopping street.

Imagine a #BetterByWard: imagine a 2y pilot project w/the right supports, organization, design thinking. Imagine better #PlacesForPeople @stephanieplante.bsky.social @strongtownsottawa.ca @mayormarksutcliffe.bsky.social

The idea of a Christmas Book Flood makes me so happy!

Congestion Charge results: * Vehicle traffic down * Pollution down * Foot traffic up * Better public transport Sounds familiar, but this is New York, one year on, not Oxford.

It’s time for Canada to pull the plug on the F35. Doesn’t matter how good the stealth or radios are if it can’t fly reliably. #ElbowsUp

Drive-through progress we love to see. Final painting, signage, and setup are now underway. #construction #porjectupdate

Imagine congestion pricing in #OttCity: even just, say, just the urban area shown below, or a concentrated area bound by Bronson, 417, Rideau River… imagine how much better our city could be. Imagine a #BetterOttawa @strongtownsottawa.ca @bettertransitottawa.ca

I loved Ottawa, it's a surprisingly great city, and this particular intersection stuck out like a sore thumb. Right in the middle of the city, between downtown and perhaps the busiest urban neighborhood is a car-centric design right out of the 50s, forcing pedestrians into an underpass. Shocking.

How Elon Musk's DOGE became a fiasco of deception and accounting gimmicks -- failing in its mission to slash government waste Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

Driving at night with no headlights, no tail lights is a sign your license should be revoked.

From UrbaOttawa on IG; if we want to be an equitable and welcoming place we’d change our design thinking; the new bike lane oft has pedestrians (my guess; tourists who don’t know there’s another way) creating more hazards; we need a shift in design thinking. 1/

Ex: years ago, feds had $for housing; I offered a guaranteed solution with accessible homes designed constructed and occupied within 12 to 16 months; idea rejected because “needed to go to RFP” which takes 8 to 12 months alone. We could do both things if we’re willing to try, listen, trust. 1/

This. Cities need to take action and not study things to death. How long does #OttCity study something, consult, write “as we heard it” reports (not “what was said reports”) and dither around the edges before embarking on the most milquetoast of options? 1/

SERIOUSLY, WATCH THIS: If you really want to understand how huge SUVs and pick-up trucks have ended up being MOST of the vehicles out there in our cities, and the absolutely INSANE consequences of that, watch this easy-to-watch video by #NotJustBikes. Then please share it as much as you can.

1. They don’t need it. They just want it. 2. Even if they need it, who cares? It’s not theirs. End of story. 3. They better not try to take it or force its surrender. 4. Even threatening to take it should result in sanctions.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

2025 Headline of the Year nominee (February)

2025 Headline of the Year nominee (February)

“I think we do ourselves a disservice by calling such options ‘bold,’ when frankly they’re just pragmatic common sense given the real challenges cities face. The truth is, we tend to think of them as ‘bold’ because not enough cities are doing them, even tho they should.”— @brenttoderian.bsky.social

WATCH: Seriously, if you’re following ANY bike-lane debate, you HAVE TO WATCH this news story. You actually can’t make this up. Ford claims without evidence that bike-lanes are bad for small business, and THE ACTUAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION obliterates him with data. Safe bike-lanes mean business.

23 December 1942 | An SS doctor made a selection among prisoners in Block 20 at Auschwitz I (part of the camp infirmary). As a result, 30 prisoners were killed with phenol heart injections. Listen to our #podcast about medicine & medical crimes in Auschwitz: https://youtu.be/5hUoEAsCnoU

Someone tell JD Vance that no one ever asked people to apologize for being white. They asked white people to shut up for a minute so BIPoC could speak for a change. Oh, and they did ask white people for reparations for slavery, and for #LandBack

So floor‑crossing is supposedly ‘illegitimate,’ yet orchestrating a newly-elected MP in the safest Conservative seat to quit immediately after the election—just to force an expensive by‑election because your own riding tossed you out after you lurched to the far right—is totally fine.” Sure, Jan. 🙄

Frequent buses, a comprehensive and dense network, and reliable service would go a long way to mitigating the need for heated shelters. Des bus fréquents, un réseau étendu et dense, et un service fiable contribueraient grandement à atténuer le besoin d'abris chauffés.

I refuse to shut up about this: NYC started charging $9 to bring a car into our most transit-rich zone, the haters & trolls predicted doom, but traffic evaporated instantly and here’s Times Square tonite (even after the holiday tourists have left). For a better future, build transit & price driving!

Speaking of empties, it's dismaying to read about the hash that's being made of bottle recycling by the Ford government. Glad to read staunch circular economy advocate Valérie Leloup's cautions on where we're heading.

There’s nothing religious about the GOP in the United States. It’s 100% about racism, power and corruption.

Wow. Traffic in the glebe is terrible….everyone trying to get to Lansdowne for Xmas stuff/shopping etc. So glad we’re (checks notes) doing SFA about transport in for that half billion dollar investment. (Not actually glad…obv sarcasm)

We can change our world if we want to. It’s a question of whether or not we have the will, and usually that’s political. Well, to make effective change. To lead. To create a better world for our children and grandchildren. Whether it’s climate change driving laws Housing or otherwise, we can change.

When I'm accused of naivety for thinking the world can change for the better, I use this very example. I'm not old & in my lifetime, smoking went from absolutely everywhere, to "smoking sections", to the current reality. It took education, new laws, & peer pressure. All of it - no silver bullet.

“I was playing for my country — I shouldn’t be this uncomfortable,” the Olympian said. Ogden said. “The uniforms seem stuck in an age where women still have to look traditionally sexy while doing their sport — like they were designed for a beauty pageant, not performance.”

Love Santa? Love Venn diagrams? Love this #Christmas edition. #MerryChristmas

This Toronto apartment building should never have been torn down. Its demolition shows what’s wrong with the city’s housing rules #Opinion from @shawnmicallef.bsky.social

Same. I’m honestly stunned the whole country isn’t at a standstill already. Mass shutdowns until he’s deposed and the authoritarian slide is stopped. This isn’t normal politics; it’s a five-alarm fire for democracy.

I think today we don’t realize the stability and value of decisions that were made in the past; we don’t have 20% mortgage interest; we have trade agreements and policies that generally allow free flow of goods; this is why actions in the US are so destructive: there is no reset to the old way 1/

not that the present economic picture is rosy, but i do think that popular culture — and specifically nostalgia bait television — is a big part of the reason that our public memory of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s seems to miss the real economic pain that marked each of those decades.

Sometimes after a tough week I like to fill the soaker tub in the main bath with 80 gallons of hot water, add some lavender bath salts, light some candles and put on a Sade playlist, but then my neighbour Steve comes barging in, turns on the light and yells at me to get the hell out of his house.

A million trees was a great sound bite during the election. But when push comes to shove, it’s not about aspirations, it’s about will. We have the means and the budget, we just didn’t make it a priority. We’ve opted instead to cut down trees, expand our suburban boundary and hamstring the future

“All I want for Christmas is a decent tree canopy.” Ottawa’s Mayor promised during the last election campaign to plant one million trees during his first mandate. He’s currently 900k short. Investing in a smart tree canopy pays so many dividends. It’s one of the smartest things a city can do.

Dammit I’ve been hit…. #Whamageddon

Wow this is stunning! @jamestaite.bsky.social @petercoffman.bsky.social

Rick Grennel achieved a dream today by denying a Black woman her vote.

This is worth listening to and sharing — Canadian urbanist @brenttoderian.bsky.social (among many other things, founding president of CanU) interviewed by huge international YouTuber #NotJustBikes on how to actually achieve better cities! For one thing, do city planners & youtubers help each other?

More of this please. "The project involves preserving the existing concrete frame structure and installing a new timber-framed facade with bio-sourced wood fiber infill." maudcaubet.com/portfolio/br...