Steve Hurst

The only way to move more people through McKenzie Avenue faster is with bus lanes paired with cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

It would be paired with community and regional growth as well as rapid transit from BC Transit!

Mind. Blown. What I wouldn't give to be able to use one of these Site Covers for my projects. Absolutely next level.

Fortunately, council supported it and we are moving this project ahead, as long as the many new city fees still make sense for this build.

Hopefully, the official community plan will be amended to allow these in the future. Small socially connected neighbourhoods within neighbourhoods are needed.

Courtyard buildings are the answer.

The Unfinished Metropolis: Igniting the City-Building Revolution

American cities have stagnated. Residential neighborhoods, transportation systems, and commercial districts have changed little in 50+ years.

My new book, "The Unfinished Metropolis," explores how that happened — and how to fix it.

Preorder now: shorturl.at/PInVb

Study after study shows that it's remarkably cheap and easy to solve the problems of homelessness and poverty with low-barrier supportive housing and universal basic income, but our own fear that someone, somewhere will get something they didn't "earn" keeps us looking for other (punitive) options.

A world without traffic? Three urban experts rethink how cities move Gridlock is costing us billions, but bold solutions like bus-only lanes, congestion charges and flexible work hours could get cities moving again

NEW: “Toderian says it’s easy to be distracted by futuristic innovations like electric cars, drone delivery networks & hyperloops. ‘The real solutions are a lot less sexy and a lot more common sense… Tech won’t save us if we get the fundamentals wrong.”

I was 1 of 3 urban experts asked to weigh in.

A few months ago, a friend visited me in Utrecht. As we biked around to do daily errands, she kept saying, "This is like a dream. This is like a dream."

I do believe all cities the world over to soon come to their senses, limit car movement, and build a dream of safe, abundant streets for people.

Reading Impossible Toronto, on how Toronto’s side streets can be redeveloped with a denser, more European form. Applicable really to almost anywhere in North America though. Free here: impossibletoronto.ca

You might think that the mayor of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's vast Northwest Territories, would be a fan of giant pickups.

Nope. He's disgusted by car bloat.

www.linkedin.com/posts/benjam...

YIMBYs (like @ahvancouver.bsky.social) often say, "legalize apartments", or "end the apartment ban".

I don't want to speak for anyone else. But when I say that--things like this is what I'm talking about. No street, no neighbourhood, is too good for housing like this.

Housing is good!

One neighbourhood in Montréal, the Plateau-Mount-Royal, has applied a similar measure starting last year:

ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/203...

🎉 Congratz Zurich! Paris has also taken a similar measure. I wonder when/if an American city will take a similar approach.

Disappointed to see the reactionary UBCM call for repeal of single stair building legalization in BC.

Nearly the entire world builds single stair buildings safely and has been for decades. There’s tons of data. The idea they are inherently dangerous has absolutely no merit to it.

Hallways are the problem, not the number of stairs

Cartoons illustrating how both fossil fuel vehicles and electric vehicles are struck in the same massive car-dependent elevated freeway infrastructure that has replaced much of the walkable, mixed-use neighbourhood-building in at least North America.

There are many versions of this kind of image out there. The best ones illustrate why “better cars” will never be more than part of the answer, and actually help “lock in” the #CarDependency that’s the real problem. They also show why status-quo interests usually want to focus on the vehicles.

Noise pollution is a common problem in urban environments. The morning begins with cargobike deliveries all over Paris. Bikes are quiet, efficient, & carry large loads. Streets are for people & the morning is for quiet.

#paris #cargobike #bike #15minutecity #urbanism #climate #climateaction #noise

Wow! Not exactly textbook project management when you can’t give a delivery date.

I’m anti car dependence in a big way. I drive when I need to but I also walk and cycle for a lot of trips. Urban form where you live is a primary determinant of how you’re able to get around.

The thing about investing in public transit is that it *scales* — the more people use it, the better it gets. For everyone.

Whereas the more cars there are, the *worse* everything about driving gets. Traffic. Parking.

[Ever noticed that in just about every car ad it’s alone on the road? Yeah.]

“It is wasteful and it's economically absurd. As one transportation analyst put it: "The car is an incredible consumer of land and the biggest contributor to congestion". We've created a system where the most resource-intensive, rapidly depreciating asset in most households” used 4% of the time.

4 and 6 storey single-stair co-ops mixed among single fam houses, in a neighbourhood with 50' lots.

Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change. Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.

“Over the past 20 years, Paris has undergone a major physical transformation, trading automotive arteries for bike lanes, adding green spaces and eliminating 50,000 parking spaces.

Part of the payoff has been invisible — in the air itself.”

Leadership, strategy, real action, common sense. #Paris

And obviously not the disaster that was likely predicted at the public hearing.

BIcycles V2

Folks, give @victoria.ca a follow on this platform.

Our comms team is facing the reality of going from 40,000 X followers to 978 Bluesky followers. We’re doing the right thing by ditching the toxic platform, but we need those followers back.

bsky.app/profile/vict...

YouTube video by Shifter Who wins the argument about bike lanes when evidence is required? #bike #bikecommute

Did you ever wonder what might happen if the debate over bike lanes came down to which side has better evidence? Well, in this case, it did.
youtube.com/shorts/h0DNV...

People riding bikes in a protected bike lane in downtown Vancouver

It’s REALLY important that #Vancouver’s Downtown Business Association, who were originally against downtown bike-lanes, are now among their most vigourous supporters, because of the evidence that they are better for downtown business than any street parking they replaced.

Bike-lanes mean business.

When cities keep doing the wrong thing The reopening of Portage and Main in Winnipeg is an example of a city finally correcting a past mistake

A very efficient and straightforward argument for density and transit in cities. Many more reasons why we need these, but this is a great start for those needing an explanation. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/dad5c74...

I couldn’t find Russell on this site, but his LinkedIn post is spot on. This applies to many cities, #OttCity included.

@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@seandevine9.bsky.social
@arieltroster.com
@jleiper.bsky.social
@neilsara.bsky.social

@sjamieit.bsky.social
@otttransitriders.bsky.social