Um...that was kind of the whole point (and then to use revenue from those who didn't slow down to fund more permanent road safety improvements). www.therecord.com/opinion/colu...

“If we’re serious about community safety, we need to invest in the things that create it: housing; mental health supports; youth programming; accessible transit; and poverty reduction. These are the factors proven to reduce harm, not just throwing more money and more officers at the issues."

Kitchener’s Downtown Cycling Grid project has earned the 2025 Active Transportation Achievement Award from the Transportation Association of Canada While there's always more to be done, it's great to see the city receive this recognition 😀🚴🏼‍♀️ kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/11/11/k...

Perfect example of how the province loves to burn cash for nothing. Public funds are taking a double hit here: money has to be spent to take speed cameras out after municipalities spent millions putting them in, and said cameras were essentially a user pay model for funding road safety projects.

"Rhetoric that paints our neighbors as villains in a political drama may win points in a partisan campaign, but it’s corrosive to civic life. It divides us. It flattens the complexity of human motivations into binaries." -Charles Marohn

"Savings" or "de-funding"?

Let's give this a try, instead. #WRPS www.therecord.com/news/waterlo...

"We can’t make city planning decisions based on fear. We need the courage to keep the big picture in mind. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of precisely 'those people' — a perspective that hasn’t been nearly as present in the public debate."

"When governments were slow to provide medical treatment to AIDS victims in the 1980s, and some doctors and nurses refused to treat them at all, the LGBTQ community organized their own care, strengthening the collective fight for wider equality."

This headline. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Fewer regulations and more Sesame Street, please! From @shawnmicallef.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

If we want to #SupportLocal, we need to create the conditions to allow for more small-scale, independent businesses in our neighbourhood. In Toronto, since 1989, "the number of local neighbourhood retailers has dropped precipitously from 2,137 to 1,406." www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

"There’s a tendency at city hall to spend too much time tending to the whims of those who grumble about life in the city, instead of those who are bringing life in their city. It might make for good politics — the grumblers definitely vote — but it often makes for lousy governance." -Matt Elliott

"Bottom line: you cannot build a more cost efficient city without the density." -Don Iveson buff.ly/vlHvqMK

In general, it seems silly for cities with 100k+ populations to have part time councillors. Shrink the councils if you need to, but part time councils in medium sized cities seem built to privilege representation from dual income, upper middle class households who can make this work.

I really appreciate Jessi's reflections in this latest piece - definitely worth a read. fieryjessi.substack.com/p/we-missed-...

"The convenience and choices cars provide can’t be denied, but cars also take priority over people all the time. We’ve structured our entire approach to housing around the needs of cars. In many cases, if a development can’t accommodate enough parking spaces, it can’t be built at all." -Philip Mills

Budget season is here! Speak up for public transit at budget input meetings happening November 18 and December 3 at 6pm. (1/2) Sign up to speak: www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/regional-... Learn more about the budget and do the survey: www.engagewr.ca/region-water...

Kitchener GO Train weekend schedule! (Sat & Sun) 7:49 Kitchener -> Union 9:35 15:49 Kitchener -> Union 17:35 16:48 Union -> Kitchener 18:38 22:48 Union -> Kitchener 00:38 Great (if minimal) start for daytrips into Toronto. I hope no one in Toronto was planning daytrips to Kitchener.

Announced with much fan fare, the departure times for weekend GO train service are here — just two round trips each day, leaving Kitchener GO at 7:49am and 3:49pm.

"There are too many cars and not enough roads. Absent a radical reform like a congestion charge similar to New York City — where a price on driving in the city causes people to look to alternatives — there’s no way to reverse the trend." -Matt Elliott

Speed cameras could prevent behaviour like this, but Doug Ford banned them

"Ontario claims it needs more federal money before it will sign. But the federal government has been increasing its contributions and provides 52.4% of the cost of the program, while Ontario’s child care funding has decreased since 2018-19 and in 2023-24 was $94.19 million less than in 2022-23."

Kitchener Council is likely to vote today in support of subdividing a lot that allows redevelopment of the space for industrial uses on land that borders the Huron Natural Area. This week's Citified looks at the reasons Council supports this redevelopment.

"Affordable housing is like an anchor, it keeps people rooted, especially those who’d otherwise be displaced. Market housing is like a pressure valve, it keeps the system from boiling over by giving high-income people somewhere to go that isn’t your building. You need both."

Do we want livable, accessible units in neighbourhoods in Toronto? A 3 storey, single stair, elevatored, sixplex is not radical. It  should be the most simple, easily replicable way to provide livable housing within neighbourhoods… the “Toronto Special” of the 2020s. And yet…

"Viewing the police only as a source of safety ignores the experiences of racialized people, unhoused people, and the many other groups that are disproportionately targeted by police." -Ted Rutland tedrutland.substack.com/p/public-saf...

"People divided into tiny and constant arguments seldom build coalitions or lasting change. Keeping you online, outraged but isolated, is a fair trade for those who’d rather you never meet your neighbor, never build something real, never see what could be done together." -Jon Jon Wesolowski

“The single stair in some ways is just a more progressive way of doing things if it’s done the way it’s done in Europe.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

If you're in Waterloo Region, which organizations or initiatives are you aware of that have started locally since 2020 that help create a safe and thriving community? I'm writing something for Citified and I'd love to hear from you! Police-free and/or community-led approaches are especially helpful.

The #ion launched in June 2019. Since then we have had: a pandemic, a dramatic decrease in international students, a shift to work-from-home, and small changes like GRT transfers lasting 2 hours instead of 90 minutes. All of these impact ridership numbers. Maintaining 2019 ridership seems like a win

If you'd like to see better infrastructure and travel options for those outside vehicles, take a moment to complete this survey. www.engagewr.ca/connectedkit...

“People who have traditionally been able to evade law enforcement are sensitive to this issue,” Retting said. “Ultimately, one of the arguments against automated enforcement is that it doesn’t discriminate. It’s also a great argument for it.” www.cbc.ca/news/world/s...

ION Stage 2 LRT passes committee, Kitchener GO expansion, and better bus stops! Here's the latest in transportation in Waterloo Region and where you can get involved!

I refuse to accept these collisions as the 'cost' of fast and convenient roads. We must do better for our communities. www.thestar.com/news/gta/8-y...

I mean, the extra $20 million that the Waterloo Region Police Service have asked for might also be a contributing factor. kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/11/06/b...

I love that I have a circle of folks who when I send out an email on a Friday night, looking for the link to a council meeting on an issue from over 4 years ago, reply within moments, not only with the link but also additional helpful details. I'm surrounded by a team of Leslie Knopes & it's great!

We're over 5 years now with #ion, can we please quit with disparaging transit stopping at malls, please? Aside from the fact that malls often serve as mini transit hubs, do you know what they also are Mayor Liggett? Workplaces. www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/ar...

"A distracted pedestrian might cause a minor inconvenience. A distracted driver, enabled by street design that encourages high speeds, can end a life. To treat these as equivalent is to ignore the fundamental physics of power and force." -Lanrick Bennett

"As for ... roundabouts, speed bumps or cushions, not all school zones will be eligible for them. Even those roads that are eligible may have to wait at least a year and a half, with city staff adding that redesigning a road can take up to a decade." www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...

Considering a run for municipal council in 2026? These free workshops may be of interest! www.amo.on.ca/healthy-demo...

Yep.

"Despite Ford stating speed cameras are ineffective, regional data shows that since launching its program in February (following a pilot program that had been in place since 2021), average speeds in school zones have decreased by 15 km/h."

"Residents want practical improvements: safer, wider roads that let us travel quickly and directly, not an expensive train few will use." - Cambridge Cllr Helen Shwery leading us into the future by advocating for (checks notes) wider roads. www.therecord.com/opinion/lett...

This is quite concerning.

I'd like to see residents sue the provincial gov't given they're the ones who hold the real power to ameliorate the situation. It seems that the Church is trying to meet the needs of vulnerable people with limited tools. The province needs to get serious about homelessness & poverty.

The Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee meeting has started! Delegations about ION stage 2 will be starting shortly. Livestream here:

“Our premier seems to be taking acts of criminal vandalism like the cutting down of lifesaving speed cameras as if they’re policy demands and acquiescing,” said Spieker.

When the author of the piece on the state of our light rail transit system consistently refers to the LRT as 'street cars', it tips me off that you might not be as familiar with the subject at hand as you should be. www.therecord.com/news/waterlo...

"Speed cameras work, and they are cost effective because it shifts the burden of paying for speed cameras from taxpayers to law breakers." - Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...