Matt Emmons

"Cities are for the people." - Jane Jacobs

It's Official: the Cybertruck is More Explosive than the Ford Pinto - FuelArc News We now have a full year of data for the Cybertruck, and a strange preponderance of headlines about Cybertrucks exploding into flames, including several fatalities. That’s more than enough data to comp...

The Ford Pinto had a death rate of 85 people for 10 million cars sold. The Cybertruck hasn't sold 10 million, but the fatality rate so far maths out to 1,452 people killed per 10 million sold.

The Cybertruck may be the deadliest road car, for the occupants, ever sold.

fuelarc.com/evs/its-offi...

Prime Minister Mark Carney looked pretty stressed while watching this tense game from a bar in Chelsea, Que. this morning. Same, Mr. Prime Minister, same.

the CBC livefeed is hilarious

Just One More Goal
Bill Brownridge
2013

What a shot! Maker!

I mean, we wouldn't want to implement a policy where we'd surpass Vision 20%. 🤔
#Ottawa #Autowa #VisionZero

**Important update**

Some new details on what property owners can build by right on land zoned for residential under Pritzker's plan:
≤2,500 sq ft: 1 unit
2,500–5,000 sq ft: up to 4 units
5,000–7,500 sq ft: up to 6 units
7,500+ sq ft: up to 8 units

Great piece from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social, which touches on one of the big theories for why English-speaking countries do especially badly at housebuilding:

Adversarial and litigious common law systems (Anglo) vs judge-led civil law systems elsewhere.

samf.substack.com/p/build-the-...

The metro area with the most car-free households in 🇨🇦 is Montreal (18%), followed by Toronto (16%) and Winnipeg (14%).

Quebec City has more car-free than Vancouver!

Calgary and Edmonton have the least car-free households, but still get very respectable LRT ridership by North American standards.

Pretty much the most important thing happening in the world right now.
www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...

Yikes here are the numbers for the past 12 months. Everything is pretty much dead except healthcare/social assistance. Note that healthcare growth is largely not about the business cycle -- it's about the aging of the population and more elderly people needing care.

Ottawa-Gatineau. Subway under Bank Street. Termini at Lyon or Parliament Station in the north, South Keys station in the south.

Connects to all four existing OTrain lines, gets around pissy Bank St. businesses not wanting bus lanes where their parking currently is.

Happy superb owl Sunday 🏈🦉
#SuperbOwl

First, New Brunswick. Soon, the world.

Ottawa councillors seeking more legislative tools to deal with derelict heritage buildings Several councillors are calling for other ways to compel owners to restore and develop heritage properties before they fall into neglect.

In today’s @ottawacitizen.com, I discuss the need for better tools to prevent demolition by neglect of heritage properties. A vacant commercial unit tax could compel property owners to either take care of their buildings or sell to someone who will. ottawacitizen.com/news/ottawa-...

new-ish working paper on Los Angeles' mansion tax argues that the revenue estimates are severely overstated.

the paper argues that somewhere between 2/3 and *all* the direct revenue generated by the tax is offset by tax decreasing transaction volume.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Lessons from YIMBYism: Taking “Abundance” Back to Its Fundamentals Lessons from YIMBYism examines how supply-side reforms, public investment, and state capacity can make progressive social policy work as intended.

First: Supply matters. To decarbonize, you need green energy infrastructure. For universal health care, you need a lot of doctors. And you can't buy your way out of supply constraints solely through subsidies. You need subsidy *and* increased supply. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

This is nightmare fuel

The biggest thing that blackpilled me on housing costs was a paper from the mid 00s which said "as recently as the 1960s someone who was on drugs who did basic day labor could afford a safe small single room even in expensive cities. In an attempt to remove this cities invented homelessness

In Ottawa, on my commute on Rideau St going west on the bus from Wurtemburg to Rideau LRT entrance there are 8 stops with an average distance of 180m. Cutting out Charlotte and Dalhousie stops would improve operations and still fall within the 400m distance between stops that the article suggests.

How ‘single exit stairway’ buildings could make cities better and safer Several Canadian jurisdictions are re-examining their rules to allow ‘single egress’ buildings

Excited to see more discussion on single-egress stair (SES) housing. I started advocating for this with City of Ottawa staff in 2023 and recently started again. SES opens the door to more infill development and diversifies the range of units being built. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... 1/

1/ Something which I don't think gets articulated clearly often enough is that a system where countries generally respect international sovereignty and territorial integrity is not pure charity or morality by the United States, but in its direct interests.

Despite it being the strongest bear.

We have a new blog up dedicated to a summary of the analysis some of our members have done regarding the property tax for the city, and what that means for our city finances in general.

More to come in the future! Huge thanks to the members that worked on this

strongtownsottawa.ca/2025/09/04/p...

This building height diagram, shared by @stephenjacobsmith.com is from Germany’s regulations limits single-stair as follows:

•7m max height with an open staircase and ground ladder access
•22m max height w/ an open stair and aerial ladder access
•60m max height w/ an enclosed fire stair

Canada agrees to cut tariff on Chinese EVs in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products.

I don’t think there was ever a world where Detroit would’ve embraced cheap EV sedans, it’s just not in their DNA, but we’ve clearly lost that opportunity for good: apnews.com/article/chin...

I guess their mom will make it for them instead lmfao

Carney reaches tariff-quota deal with China on EVs, canola | CBC News Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has reached a deal with China to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for lower canola duties.

Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese tariffs from March to at least the end of the year, while Canada will accept 49,000 Chinese EVs at 6.1% tariff.

She found that there were NO fire deaths in these "high risk" houses in their data which covers 2005 to 2024. There were 187 home fire deaths in Houston during this time period, with this break down across housing types:

Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.

Common Sense, published 250 years ago today.

Daily reminder that the primary benefit of railway electrification is not to reduce railway emissions.

It is to enable faster acceleration which reduces travel time and thereby increases frequency without adding operating cost.

That then attracts more riders and thereby more revenue.