@canurbanism.bsky.social
The Council for Canadian Urbanism #CanU is a national organization of leading multi-disciplinary urbanists championing better city-building coast-to-coast! linktr.ee/canurbanism Conseil pour l'Urbanisme Canadien
Had a great time dipping back into the academic literature underpinning AEROTROPOLIS to explain to The Globe and Mail's @alexbozikovic.bsky.social why expanding Toronto's Billy Bishop is purely vibes-based and would be a mistake. #makepearsongreatagain
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
NEW: Watch our own @brenttoderian.bsky.social talk passionately about the creation of our @urbantruth.bsky.social Collective, & how @tomflood.bsky.social, @grantennis.bsky.social & Brent first teamed up but are designed to grow. “Better cities have been held back by the lies — no more.” #UrbanTruth
After a week of fatigue & being under the weather, I am feeling energized this morning as I complete the first article in my upcoming Azure series. In this piece, I look closely at how infrastructure is defined, and apply those definitions to public joy, proving that public joy is infrastructure.
Happy to be included in this great and important Starter Pack, along with a lot of Canadian urbanists and communicators! The @urbantruth.bsky.social keeps knocking it out of the park.
“…persons living in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods have higher levels of social capital compared with those living in car-oriented suburbs. Respondents living in walkable neighborhoods were more likely to know their neighbors, participate politically, trust others, and be socially engaged.”
What do you think, Toronto? #SoundsGreat
NEW: “We’ve let the lies be far too successful, and that’s significantly hurt our cities. No more.”
The brand-new @urbantruth.bsky.social has a blunt op-ed in @usa.streetsblog.org written by Canadians @brenttoderian.bsky.social & @tomflood.bsky.social, & American in Paris @grantennis.bsky.social.
“Shaw Street was busy with bikes, but it wasn’t working for everyone. There were too many motor vehicles using the street for riding to be comfortable…But in 2020, the City of Toronto undertook a project that decreased vehicle volumes by up to 60% and tripled the # of people biking in some places…”
“Travelling five times a year, maxing out her TFSA, building an emergency fund, and having the freedom to see her friends when and how she wants: Those are just a few ways Deeksha Singh [of Calgary] said she can use the estimated $14,000 a year she saves by not owning a car.”
Language matters. @hfxgov.bsky.social has a plan of 'towards zero' deaths on our roads. But behind every statistic is a person, so who lives & who dies in that scenario? Who would you be willing to sacrifice? #RoadSafety #VisionZero youtu.be/GAZ7sI-LDvo?...
check out our recent project mapping street space allocation in Toronto
we find that more than 80% of transportation infrastructure in Toronto is designed for cars, far more than how people actually travel
w/ @lanrickbennett.bsky.social & Mia Wang
schoolofcities.github.io/who-are-stre...
🇨🇦 Bike infrastructure is a low cost, high impact solution for housing & health. But $500M in federal funding is now at risk.
If approvals aren't issued now, we lose the 2026 construction season.
TAKE ACTION: Email your MP by March 13!
✉️ EN: bit.ly/VCBatfletterEN
✉️ FR: bit.ly/VCBatflettrefr
Not all edge-growth is car-dependent suburban sprawl. But far too much of it is.
It doesn’t need to be. #CarDependency #Sprawl
For modern, love the #architecture of #OttCity; its location is tough tho; poorly connected to the city w/little development around it due to generations of ineptitude and poor thinking; is changing w/some new dev underway but it remains a challenge; montreal is excellent from an urban perspective
A BIG thank you to everyone for all the interest and energy during our official LAUNCH WEEK! Trust us, this is just the beginning, as we continue to “build this plane while we’re flying it.” Please keep helping us spread the word, and stay tuned for more details on how to get involved. #UrbanTruth
What say you, Canadian urbanists?
I’m not a fan of politicians trying to make people angry for votes by claiming there actually IS a “war on cars” (there isn’t — if anything there’s been a war on every OTHER way of getting around since the 1960s).
A politician just made the claim on LinkedIn. Here’s the reply I posted. #UrbanTruth
They still want us to think cars equal freedom. But car DEPENDENCY is the opposite of freedom.
Mobility freedom comes from mobility choices.
#UrbanTruth
"Conspiracy theorist relieved that proposed local amenities have been voted against and will now be a 30 min drive away."
@urbantruth.bsky.social
Provincial budget fallout begins... The Province is walking away from funding for the student transit pass program. This is creating a $1.2 million dollar hole in HRM's budget and means the program where students get transit passes may not continue
It's just an endless loop of "drivers are struggling with the number of drivers, we just need to make it easier to drive" forever and ever.
The province's own commissioned report was like "you're gonna spend a lot of money on this and traffic will get worse."
“Many cities have also begun re-examining right turns on red (RTOR), a vehicle-prioritizing rule that exists in only two countries in the world. You can probably guess which ones.” — @brentbellamy.bsky.social #Winnipeg
Check this out — Canadian urbanist @brenttoderian.bsky.social (who has launched the @urbantruth.bsky.social with @grantennis.bsky.social & fellow Canadian @tomflood.bsky.social) is the guest on @thewaroncars.bsky.social podcast with @sgoodyear.bsky.social! Discussing Vancouver, & better city-making!
Now THIS looks interesting…The Urban Truth Collective @urbantruth.bsky.social is taking on “the truth about cities in an age of disinformation.” And 2 of the 3 originators are Canadian! Our founding CanU president @brenttoderian.bsky.social, and our friend @tomflood.bsky.social.
Worth following!
In the @thestar.com I write about Cumberland Terrace and what it and other such malls tell us about Toronto. 😘
An exciting edition to the study of public life and the literature of urbanism and cultural studies! Black Public Joy, by Jay Pitter, explores Black people’s public joy histories, sacred rituals, movements, and contemporary expressions. /x
As I can take my bicycle on the CTrain in Calgary, at any time of the day now, I use it a lot more! If our bus routes had their own dedicated lanes (not stuck in traffic) I would use them more as well. #yyc #yycbike
It’s startling how much more urban third-tier Canadian cities are compared to Midwestern cities in the US that once saw their competition as Chicago, or booming Sunbelt cities
Looks like something worth keeping a close eye on, Canadian urbanists! #UrbanTruth
My first job after grad school included working on the design of two Eglinton Crosstown Stations. Very jazzed to ride the line today. And it was fast! #TTC #Toronto