Dave Thompson 🇨🇦

Saanich reviewing flurry of fresh development applications totalling 2,800 units of high density housing | Citified.ca About a dozen new development applications comprised of thousands of units are now before Saanich planners.

Saanich reviewing development applications totalling 2,800 units of high density housing
victoria.citified.ca/news/saanich...
#yyj

‘Disgusting act of hate’: Victoria synagogue vandalized with antisemitic statements B.C.’s premier and public safety minister are condemning the vandalism of Canada’s oldest surviving synagogue and pledging to support police and the community while an investigation is underway.

Heinous shit. Wtf is wrong with people

#VictoriaBC #antisemitism

When does the next bus come? GoTriangle reduces wait time on its busiest routes The regional agency joins GoDurham and GoRaleigh in offering bus service at 15-minute intervals between Durham and Chapel Hill.

Raleigh increased bus service from every 30 min to every 15 min on its route serving Glenwood Ave. Ridership then doubled in the year that followed.

Over last year, city’s high-frequency routes have had 89% ridership growth.

People will ride when you give them service that they can rely on!

Denver rent is back to 2022 prices With 20,000 new units on the market, prices are down about 3.7 percent.

The city’s renters are finally catching a break after a building boom in recent years led to a glut of space that landlords are struggling to fill.

Comment: Look for climate action within your community David Suzuki asked people to imagine a healthy and resilient community and work to make that a reality.

Attracting pension funds to invest in green economy (climate mitigation and adaptation via clean electric heat pumps). Policy needs stability, scale and ­transparency.
@adriandix.bsky.social @sethdklein.bsky.social @davidsuzukifdn.bsky.social #climateaction
www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comm...

YouTube video by Oh The Urbanity! The Problem With Left-Wing NIMBYism

The Problem With Left-Wing NIMBYism

Yes we will need much more on adaptation and resilience. Climate impacts are here, and will be getting worse not better.

If you are seeing City-planted trees dying can you please let me know at my City email?

The Second Tower Principle Lessons from crisis in the age of Trump

Please read my reflection on the Second Tower Principle.
US democracy and the international rules based order is disintegrating..
Like folks in the second tower, some see the danger and refuse to sit still.
Others assure us life will go back to normal.
charlieangus.substack.com/p/the-second...

"Woke" transportation gonna ruin everyone's lives and destroy the city
#urbanism

"Woke" transportation lol
#urbanism

Costs of climate action came up today in our meeting. The context was energy efficiency, which is not a very effective way to reduce GHG emissions and electrification which is an effective way. I want effective, and electrification does not raise costs significantly.

Suspended driver stopped doing nearly triple the speed limit in Oak Bay 2 drivers nabbed in 2 days doing double speed limits on Oak Bay streets

Suspended driver stopped doing nearly triple the speed limit in Oak Bay.
www.oakbaynews.com/local-news/s...
#yyj #safety

Tell us #yyj

NEW: Looks like CycleToronto won in court. Justice Schabas finds Ontario's law (AND version 2) to remove bike lanes infringe S7 of the Charter and is not saved by S1, in large part because the govt had no evidence to back up its claims.

👋 Are you a local elected leader with a climate-related question? We’re here to help.
Our 'Ask Us Anything' service provides timely, in-depth responses to elected members climate policy questions.
🔗 Learn more or submit a question: climatecaucus.ca/ask-us-anything

#LocalLeadership #ClimateAction

Occasional reminder that:
1. We need a higher vacancy rate
2. Blocking housing causes harm to renters
#housing #affordability #urbanism

Vietnam setting bans on gasoline motorcycles next year, followed by cars Vietnam is taking bold steps to clean up its streets – and quiet them down. Starting next summer, the major...

“Vietnam is taking bold steps to clean up its streets – and quiet them down. Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gas-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut emissions.”

And that’s just a 1st step — the program will expand beyond downtown, & to include cars.

“This is the cognitive dissonance we live with. Americans love walkable places, as long as they’re elsewhere. We’ll defend parking mandates, zoning codes, and car dependency at home, even while praising the places those rules have made impossible.”

Good read.

Opinion: Canada, don’t make the same mistake with LNG that Australia did LNG exports exposed Australians to high global gas prices, allowed gas producers to price gouge and drained the country of low-cost gas reserves

Warning Canada!

Big Gas promised Australians LNG exports would mean plenty of low cost gas and enormous economic benefits.

None of it was true.

Instead we got gas shortages, manufacturing closures higher energy bills and few economic benefits.

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Image of cover of housing strategy annual review

If you want to really understand housing, get past the narratives and dig into the City's latest Housing Strategy Report. More: davethompsonvictoria.ca/2024-housing...
#yyj #Housing #affordability

Also many hundreds of bikes locked up at the Deuce Days along the harbour. The notion that everyone who uses bicycles "hates" cars is visibly and hilariously wrong.

Even in Canada's housing shortage.

Part of the polycrisis. The people that get hurt the worst are the ones with less money. Always the way.

It's in many places throughout the world, but not all places.

It's about supply and demand, both. As the CMHC report you cited notes, demand has been increasing quickly in Ottawa.

Nope

Venn diagram showing you can’t achieve stable services, low density and low taxes at the same time.

My semi-regular reminder of a really important reality about cities, density, services and taxes.

Any questions?

Graphic recently cleaned up by @kathrynmathias.bsky.social. #CityMakingMath

And if they do it again, it will show how out of touch they are with the public

I've heard similar anecdotes. And we are approaching a 2.5% vacancy rate, which is still below 4% (balanced) but much higher than it has been.

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