Melissa Bowman

To break housing gridlock, we need to democratize unrepresentative public hearings | CCPA Housing policy has a democracy problem. Amid a housing crisis, highly unrepresentative public hearing processes contribute to land-use decisions that fail to reflect the perspectives and interests of…

"Given how deeply flawed and unrepresentative public hearings are, a good case could be made for the province to simply require the replacement of self-selected public hearings with mini-publics."

#Poetry #MaryOliver

"Restrictive zoning banning apartments on most land and limiting their size in the few places they are allowed has become nearly universal among American cities. It’s hard to imagine what we’ve lost by denying so many people the ability to live how they choose."

Why Would Anyone Live Like That? Freedom of choice is at the heart of the housing debate

"Some people, for their own reasons, prefer living in denser housing. Others may deem such housing undesirable, even distasteful. Fair enough; everyone should be entitled to live how they prefer." It's only a problem when residents of the latter try to prevent the former from being built.

It's not quite ready to be fully opened to the public yet...but very soon. The concert offered a nice sneak peak of what's to come shortly!

I the Mountain on stage

So great to be back at the Queen St. Commons tonight...with the amazing I, the Mountain, no less!

To quote @philmarfisi.bsky.social: Michael.

Hope terminating cliché Illustrated thoughts Vol. II: despair is becoming a pressure relief valve

"Utopia says everything will turn out fine.
Dystopia says everything will fall apart.

And even though those seem like opposite conclusions, they bend toward the same behavior: Inaction." -Jon Jon Wesolowski thehappyurbanist.substack.com/p/hope-termi...

March Committee Meetings get underway next Tuesday. Here are a few highlights that will have an impact here in Kitchener and across the Region!

🚑 Year-end updates from our paramedics
🏗️ An update on the Charles Street Terminal project

We definitely need to keep Matt around, so hopefully Doug Ford won't go interfering in our regional council elections, as he seems to be threatening to do!

Text: “These changes could mean that the true costs of different energy sources can be known to consumers. At a time when new, lower-emissions technologies offer other choices to residents, it is time to look at this subsidy that we provide to legacy energy sources like natural gas.”

“It no longer makes sense for a for-profit company to have free access to one of our community’s biggest assets — our streets,” Coun. Matt Rodrigues told Canada’s National Observer. #WRcouncil buff.ly/kf2eYix

It's important that Niagara residents know that some of the people pushing amalgamation are going off of baseless claims. Hyperlocal representation, within reason (no one is suggesting we have 300 person township councils), is a plus for local democracy. It also won't save the $ proponents think.

An illustration of a traditional alarm clock indicating two o'clock, with a blue and gold text above reading "Daylight Saving Time" and a reminder below to "Set Your Clock Ahead One Hour."

Don’t forget to spring forward! ⏰ Daylight saving time begins this Sunday, so set your clocks ahead one hour before bed Saturday night. Longer days are on the way!

Listen, a rule must apply in every and all situations. It's why I wear rain boots every single day. They are either good for all weather conditions or for none, Scott. Don't go complicating things by suggesting that my rain boots might only be best used in some weather conditions!

The Habitat That Makes Us Fully Human Cities, friction, and the quiet work of belonging, on the New Polity podcast

"A well-made place puts you in contact with other people—neighbors, shopkeepers, strangers you’ll see again, people you don’t get to curate out of your life. It’s a form of discipline. It asks you to be more patient, more aware, more generous than you might otherwise choose to be."

Toronto police chief to launch ‘anti-corruption’ project in wake of Project South scandal Chief Myron Demkiw's announcement comes after seven current officers and one retired constable were arrested in a major corruption investigation.

Problem with police? Who better to fix it then...the police?! www.thestar.com/news/crime/t...

Local News and Views (Feb 2026) An overview of local news and other happenings in and around Waterloo Region

In response to the frigid temperatures we’ve had this winter so far, the Working Centre has transformed St. John’s Kitchen to also serve as a warming centre from 8:30pm to 7am every night until the end of March. citified.substack.com/p/local-news...

Toronto Police civilian oversight board chair resists calls for public inquiry into Project South allegations Province’s top police watchdog already vowed to hire an outside official to conduct a review of corruption

The mayor needs to yank Shelley Carroll off the police board today. This is bananas. Here’s a gift link. Are there any elected officials in Toronto standing up for residents? She must go.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Some states are making school zones more dangerous Sometimes politicians just don't care about saving lives because they're worried they might lose a few votes.

"People need consequences for dangerous driving. Automated cameras deliver fair, unbiased enforcement where officers can’t patrol constantly, holding reckless drivers accountable in high-risk areas like school zones while freeing up police for other duties." -Andy Boenau

Information Session for Youth Considering Running for Municipal Office from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Free. Click to learn more. www.amo.on.ca/information-...

Matt Elliott: Why it will take Toronto 13 years and more than $50 million to recover from Doug Ford’s hasty speed camera ban Impulsive political decisions like the speed camera ban can have long-term impacts.

"Keeping pedestrians and cyclists safe from bad drivers will now require some creative policy — and extra funds beyond what Queen’s Park has promised to municipalities. One thing is certain: more thought will have to go into addressing the fallout from Ford’s decision than ever went into making it."

Text: Anything larger than a duplex is regulated under building codes as a commercial building rather than a residential one, even though apartments are, obviously, residences. That saddles multifamily homes with costly construction requirements that housing advocates argue are not evidence-based and can balloon the cost of building to crippling levels.

"A morass of construction codes, fire safety requirements, utility rules, and even tax policies, treat even small multifamily buildings fundamentally differently from the way they treat single-family homes." buff.ly/zWtTbMP

Stop calling housing regulations “small-bore.” Not everything is a conspiracy.

"Housing markets are connected and when you build new private market housing, it loosens up supply down-market for everyone." -Jerusalem Demsas www.theargumentmag.com/p/stop-calli...

"The Garbage Man Can!" Part 2 Waterloo Region welcomes automatic cart-based waste collection

Waterloo Region welcomes a new automated-cart waste collection system starting today. Today's Citified takes a closer look at what that means for residents. citified.substack.com/p/the-garbag...

Matt Elliott: What Doug Ford’s ritzy new Science Centre is really costing us and our kids The Ford government’s current cost estimate for the new Ontario Science Centre is much higher — for a building with a smaller footprint than the old location.

My @thestar.com column this week: there’s no science that can make sense of Doug Ford’s decision to move the Science Centre.

The new facility will cost more and deliver less — and waste a whole bunch of time that parents and kids will never get back.

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

DEBATE: Do People Take "DEFUND" Seriously? (w/ Matt Stoller & Alec Karakatsanis) Monopoly expert Matt Stoller joins public defender, author, civil rights lawyer, & founder of Civil Rights Corp to hash out their online disagreements about the "defund" movement. Many lefty guests…

"Investments in the system of support and care, housing, healthcare, education, and so on are the way to public safety." -Alec Karakatsanis (1.35.55)

Office The GIF ALT: Office The GIF

It's difficult to build a beautiful city and also prioritize vehicles.

Total Lunar Eclipse on March 2–3, 2026 – Where and When to See Total lunar eclipse on March 2–3, 2026: Where and when is the Blood Moon visible and what will it look like? Visibility map, animation, and local times.

🌕➡️🔴 Lunar eclipse alert!

Depending on where you are (mostly: Central/Eastern Asia, Oceania, most of North/Central America), you may be able to see a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE ("blood moon") overnight!

You can find information about timing and viewing locations here: www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/luna...