Is he... pretending to be on a podcast? I kinda get the idea but it's weird

Time to fill out the survey for the Shelbourne Valley Action Plan. Slightly improved from the last one, but still mostly ineffective since it doubles down on discretionary approvals instead of proactive planning Survey open to Oct 13: hello.saanich.ca/en/...

In another edition of "I didn't expect this to happen to quickly", Spectral Labs has released a foundation model that appears to be pretty good at CAD work www.spectrallabs.ai/research/SGS...

Something I like about bike infra in the NL is that flashing crossing lights are not a thing; everything is either a red/green green signal or a yield crossing, depending on context No RRFBs, HAWK signals, "special crosswalks", etc. On busy roads there's no ambiguity if cars can go or must stop

We’ll soon know the outcome of Victoria’s new Official Community Plan. Thanks to all who spoke up for housing, including director Sam Holland, who put it plainly: “My entire generation is being displaced... doesn’t that matter more than character?” www.timescolonist.com/local-news/v...

Doing my best to gaslight ELIZA at the Philips museum in Eindhoven

Visiting the Hague for the first time and NGL I kept thinking about @nilo.bsky.social's old tweet (I liked it, it was fun for me, but it's got a very stodgy, serious vibe)

Seems kinda unserious to only lift the ban during the summer? Just let people use the parks whenever lol, I think VPD has better things to do than to go after bored teenagers

in general I think more people should accept that not everything in a city has to be *for you* in order to be beneficial, the whole magic of cities is that they cater to lots of different people in lots of different situations

Bike scramble signal in Bussum, NL

It's kinda crazy that the government went to the trouble of pissing off half their coalition to push through major project streamlining legislation (citing the need to build schools faster), but schools still need to get a rezoning from council This seems like such low-hanging fruit lol

23 storey, Indigenous-owned, mixed-use building proposal by M’akola. 208 purpose-built rental homes: studio, 1br,2br,3br. And 6,000sf of commercial space. Douglas at Finlayson, S. of Mayfair Mall. tender.victoria.ca/webapps/ourc... #yyj #housing

Today, the Center for Building published “Beyond Zoning” by John Zeanah, Memphis’s Chief of Development and Infrastructure. He chronicles the non-zoning barriers faced by Malone Commons, a low-rise multifam/mixed-use project, and how they worked through them www.centerforbuilding.org/publication/...

this really should be framed as a policy choice, not as a naturally occurring phenomenon

@ericlombardi.bsky.social of More Neighbours Toronto’s got an op-ed titled: “The condo market is crashing. Here’s how we keep building as prices fall.” The answer is to bring down hard costs to make projects viable at lower prices. Single-stair, elevator, European standards – time for code reform!

An e-bike ride sharing company has expanded once again on Vancouver Island.

have they tried going back to bell towers?

Once again tapping the "BC Housing should stop voluntarily following local zoning codes" sign This isn't even a question of changing laws, BC Housing is already exempt from zoning. The province would save itself a lot of headaches if it stopped tieing one hand behind its back

I really don’t like to criticize my fellow local governments, but I am OUTRAGED at this decision. This week, Sidney rejected its one and only Extreme Weather shelter, which was aimed at the dozen or so homeless SENIORS in the town. All paid for by BC Housing. www.timescolonist.com/local-news/s...

Very sad to see Saanich councillor @colinplant.bsky.social trying to sabotage small scale infill housing even more than it already is in Saanich. Saying no to infill housing means advocating for $3M mansions. That’s not the Saanich I want to live in, and it’s not the Saanich my kids can afford

As small change to the Zoning Bylaw allowed for markets to take place in our parks. It’s all part of our approach to create more spaces for people to come together and enjoy all the great benefits Saanich has to offer.

Oh no, #OakBayBC is doing Engagement About Cycling again / still / forever. It’s exhausting. At the link: if you’re a glutton for punishment you can sign up to attend a workshop and/or fill out a questionnaire if you live/work/study in Oak Bay. #yyjbike

Dutch wayfinding: pretty good We should borrow it

*deep sigh*

Noooo not more Surrey LRT Discourse

this is a structural problem, with a structural solution: create new revenue sources for municipalities. david miller campaigned on a 1% GST transfer to major cities. he might even have campaigned on it WITH gregor robertson as part of the fcm big city mayors caucus. that's a good place to start!

Trains x climbing Utrecht Science Park

Casteel de Haar

Rare example of vertical forests existing in real life and not just in renderings (Utrecht, NL)

Biked through North Delta again today and I'm still baffled at the number of maze gates they put everywhere on bike routes. Does someone's cousin own a company that makes maze gates or something? Even the railways don't use so many.

There's a reason why provinces stepping all over munis zoning isn't getting that much pushback - because councils make terrible decisions all the time

Housing policy can get wonky, but I'm a big believer that, fundamentally, it's about values. So I'm especially happy when an article that quotes me does so in a way that highlights and contrasts the values underlying these discussions, like this one (from May last year):

(Updated tweet w/ better description) Apartments (inc. plexes + stacked townhouses) continues to dominate housing starts in the CRD. Only case where this isn't true is Oak Bay, except you need to zoom in 10x to see the trend

"Urban sprawl" in Langford is just profoundly weird, and I'm convinced that almost none of this would exist if the core munis didn't have apartment bans

we must liberate via rail from the airline-brains

The Marine Drive multi-use path construction started pouring some curbs. Photos taken on Saturday near the Lions Gate Bridge exit (west end of the project). #NorthVancouver #BikeLanes #BikeYVR

This is getting dunks but I can see some valid use cases, e.g. as a sort of super fuzzylookup (essentially vlookup but matching strings that are only loosely connected, or _conceptually_ connected)

This is out of date, but this is an absolutely insane plot

Telus Ocean facade is looking good

My first Starter Pack! The Canadian urbanism and planning community on here is growing. Give these folks a follow. Some well known faces … and some you should get to know! (please re-post!) go.bsky.app/AEYL7FZ

fun piece from @thomasguerrero.bsky.social on the improvised King St woonerf in Victoria; fwiw I think there's a few other (imperfect) ones in CoV - Brighton St (+ other nearby streets), and a few streets in Jutland/Selkirk dev have _potential_ www.sidewalkingvictoria.com/blog/2025/8/...

Did you know Vision Zero Vancouver is entirely volunteer run? We're always looking for more help! If you can lend your time or your skills, please send us a message. Most activities require no experience at all. Read about volunteer opportunities here: visionzerovancouver.ca/vision-zero-...

I do not want to defend these people's motives, but it's frustrating how often staff+council put themselves in a place where NIMBYs can correctly say "but this goes against the guidelines you just wrote!"

It’s official: British Columbia’s best symbol is the Orca

I feel like [1:increases in design cost] is more attributable to [2:public entity not clearly defining scope] and that this and [3:increased construction cost not attributable to materials/labor] go [4:lack of state capacity from other factors]->[2],[3],[5:more consultants] not [5]->everything else

The Federal government needs to demand much better zoning or their pre-fab investments will be a waste. Even the TOAs in Metro Van allow only small, 200m circles @ >12 storeys, and BC does not require zoning proactively even within those small areas.

Victoria engagement on bike share parking is up! engage.victoria.ca/bikeshare

Brian Potter of the Construction Physics blog now has a book, which looks pretty interesting www.construction-physics.com/p/my-book-th...

voting for the flag because I'm actually on team orca (and because the flag is in the it's-so-bad-it's ackshually-good category)

Good morning! Is the sky really bluer here? Let's find out!