Asking rents are the most affordable they've been since pre-COVID

I'm sure toxic masculinity plays a role, but in my experience the lack of doctors and wait times matters too

No sympathy! Make it deeply financially costly, but let people move onto the extra housing!

Yeah, cool, so a short 🧵 about Halifax's finances. Right now, after 14 or so year of taxes Halifax is at the precipice of a debt crisis which has the genuine potential to be destabilizing to our government. Most likely reforms instead of revolution but destabilizing none the less. Why now? /1

1/ The NS government says families will save $1,400 from tax cuts. But averages hide who really benefits. We ran the numbers. 🧵

People like this should at least have some goddamn shame

Very good piece by Neil Lovitt of Turner Drake on the CAP www.turnerdrake.com/who-wears-th...

On the shameful news that council might raise taxes on new housing open.substack.com/pub/deny/p/w...

This was the best thing we had going in terms of solving the housing shortage. Affordability Andy and the gang are going to screw over young people and renters

What history tells us about Halifax’s budget debate by @stillots1.bsky.social

Robie Street heritage demolitions and Erica Hilton’s death are not related By @katieyingram.bsky.social

I think a lot of people want Nova Scotia's austerity budget to be about reverse class warfare, or trickle down economics. But the biggest single cause of a big deficit is the HST cut last year. That wasn't about helping the rich

"Ample" here is generous. Current under construction stock accounts for only about half our estimated housing shortage. So...

What's better: Ferries or LRT? We're going to choose neither

An obvious case to make the equivalent units deeply affordable, and thus money losing for the property owner

BREAKING: Bridge tolls coming back, but only for EVs

I wasn’t ready for how emotional the councillors would be…

Canadian cities need to pull themselves up by their own taxbases

Excellent write up from Sam here. Makes me wonder how much smoother and productive this budget would be with him as Mayor

Gather 'round children, the 9-year loyal Trudeau backbencher is gonna teach us about spending restraint. Gather 'round children, the government bureaucrat is gonna teach us about driving efficiency.

This makes far more sense when you realize Fillmore doesnt care at all for efficient or leaner government and has the principles of a flag in the wind

It's always the cadillac for the social media Mayor Andy Fillmore, and the corolla for your services

The latest in our Halifax series: How Halifax's skyline rises unevenly in 'bigger is better for a developer' landscape www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/...

New blog! With some news about me open.substack.com/pub/deny/p/w...

The problem with caring about municipal politics is its penchant for hackery, buck-passing, and general incompetence as the lowest level of government

Good advice from someone who won’t fund transit either

Quite shameful display from CBU faculty association here

This is inherently going to feed complaints - the buildings haven't finished yet!

The best reason for tolled express lanes (HOTs or managed lanes) is that the price can manage demand, keeping the lanes flowing ~properly, which maximizes *flow and speed*. Of course you also collect money, which could be used to fund alternatives like more buses or bike lanes, or more car lanes

Who is the villain in this story? Is it Nova Scotia Power? I don't think so. As a rate-base utility, maintenance investment is very profitable for them, to them point that we could worry about "gold-plating". Rather, I think the villain is us. We aren't willing to pay for reliability.

Best thing Tim Houston did was freeze development fees. This council would be devouring the young right now

Incredibly generous frame for a petition organized by the lobby group for big landlords. They do their part without the CAP but Jesus can we add another view

LOL

This is a CAP story too. New developments are gonna give you a good lift when the typical home has a taxable assessment of $200k

New blog! open.substack.com/pub/deny/p/a...

Big cities caucus and the @fcm.ca is an extortion cartel in service of keeping property taxes low. That is the goal. Not housing. Not transit. Not better cities.

Bus lanes? What bus lanes?

Anglo Canadians can't take their eyes off the U.S. to learn from Quebec

You’re welcome (without forgiving current Fillmore council)

Someone on CBC just mentioned that there might be up to a ten percent increase in municipal taxes and questioned if it was worth it. I'm a suburban homeowner. For me, we're talking about an increase of $12 a month. Just let me PAY. Hell, let me pay twice that. Give me my municipal services!

The biggest villains in Canadian housing, and its not close

Such a weak argument, and one that doesn’t hold well in Nova Scotia, where the post-2015 growth surge killed off housing affordability in a very straightforward way. Cc: @csaulnier.bsky.social

FWIW, U.S. states are moving away from carpool lanes. They aren't an effective filter. The trend is towards express lanes (sometimes with an HOV exemption)

I regret to inform you that the provincial response to rising congestion is "maybe later" and "look at this model I bought"

Another piece that implies far more government control of people and businesses than we have. Prices are the signal that we have

Luncheon on traffic

$570k price cap in HRM is very binding imo

How does Mike Savage feel about this from Fillmore? Does the former mayor feel like he squandered Halifax’s opportunity for modern, sustainable recreation?