Simon

From Auckland to Vancouver, inner-ring neighborhoods are reserved for the rich to have low-density housing next to the downtown job center. This is regressive and inefficient, creating sprawl and forcing everyone else into long commutes.

Vancouver, BC gets about 335 rideable days a year by my rules: 308 green and 27 yellow. I set green above 3°C and red below 1°C. Find your number with Bike-Rideable Days by Shifter.

Scrutiny over the work and biases of journalists are ever so present as they should be. This is an important job and we do not want crappy journalism. This the lifeline of democracy. Wonder why politicians arent scrutinized the same way. The bad ones always get away with it.

That is true in Canada as well.

Merci! Et si on parlait aussi du vélo comme solution à la #crise du coût de la vie? L’essence est trop cher, tout comme les transports en commun peu fiables. Le #vélo = l’option de transit la plus économe sur le marché: pas d’essence, pas d’assurance, du « bon sens » pour nos portefeuilles.

This election was about a lot of issues. But we're thrilled that 10/11 winners tonight endorsed our entire first-year platform, and that the only incumbents who won all scored between A- and A+ on our road safety report card. Vancouver made it clear: road safety matters!

There were politicians across the province that lost who I thought provided good governance. But voters also rejected a lot of people that added toxicity, promised easy solutions, or had too much main character energy. It was an interesting mix, and now we see what the next four years hold.

Thank you Iona, Jarrett, Frances, and Caitlin. You are all some of the most experienced, hardworking people in the city, and you ran a campaign that was authentic, rooted in the belief that City Hall can be more. Your voices and your ideas have made this party, and this election, better.

If anyone still doesn’t understand why I frequently say that Montreal has been doing the best fine-grained civic city-building in North America, watch and share this video by @streetfilms.bsky.social with @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social. Ped streets, school streets, urban greening, bike-lanes, and more!

Next chance to vote is Saturday! You can vote at any of 59 locations across Vancouver between 8am and 8pm. Find your voting location here: vancouver.ca/election/202...

Today, the Vancouver Police Department issued a release saying "when it comes to the perception of public safety, the facts matter." In 2020, when the crime rate in the city was down, Vancouver Police Department Chief Adam Palmer argued that feelings mattered as much as facts.

It’s hard enough for cities in Canada to do smarter things given how often bad city leaders hurt their own cities. But it’s extra infuriating watching awful provincial premiers sabotaging cities by ripping out good things they FINALLY managed to achieve. Premiers should not have that power, period.

“The city’s transition away from the car, tho fantastically chaotic, has become a global role model. Under mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris was ‘the most influential city in the world’ says Canadian urbanist Brent Toderian. Hidalgo, stepping down after 12 yrs, exulted: ‘The bike beat the car.’” #Paris

All this. And what's more, the VPD's own data show that in 2022, when they were on a moral panic crusade about crime under Kennedy Stewart, Vancouver had actually seen the biggest 4-year drop in crime of any time period on this chart.

THIS. ⚡️🗳️⚡️

Vehicle crashes are a significant source of preventable injury and death in Vancouver, and traffic-related fatalities have skyrocketed under ABC, who have taken no meaningful steps to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, seniors, and schoolchildren. We can change that.

Road safety is public safety. Every year, the numbers speak for themselves. I'm proud of my work on Council to bring traffic fatalities and injuries to zero. We need political will to deliver results, and Ken Sim and ABC have shown us time and again that this isn't a priority for them.

READ: If you haven’t seen this yet, please take a look. Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people from making rational judgements about driving. This study co-authored by @ianwalker.bsky.social looks at where this bias comes from & how it works. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Commute got you down? We can fix that. OneCity Candidate Iona Bonamis 陶思穎 outlines Project Greenlight, which could save you weeks of your life in traffic. If you want City Hall to help you get you where you're going faster, volunteer, donate, and VOTE OneCity. #transit #vanpoli

Empty Homes 🤝 ABC After voting down increases to the Empty Homes Tax, and creating new loopholes for developers to leave empty homes vacant, and giving $3.8M to developers in EHT earmarked for affordable housing... ABC signs are now popping up in front of empty apartments and lots across the city.

Four years ago the vancouver municipal elections had 35% voters turnout. Help out by taking this poll before the election: create.engageleap.ca/elections/va... @brenttoderian.bsky.social @jmcelroy.bsky.social @fabulavancouver.bsky.social @savethecbc.bsky.social @cbcstephenquinn.bsky.social

What happened to needing private investors for the project to make sense? This new pipeline is 90% public money. We’re all paying for it. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

It’s remarkable how many people can move on a street when those people don’t feel the need to always take a massive car with them. Mobility in cities is about space.

For those curious, we unfortunately will not be doing a Vancouver debate. Ken Sim's team decided to focus on a limited number of events (five in total) with other organizations, telling us "we're making sure [voters] hear directly from us about our record." As they say, it is what it is.

There is more to keeping people safe than skyrocketing police budgets. Ken Sim and ABC voted down safety measures for pedestrians, for vulnerable people, and for climate safety. COPE will fight for a Vancouver that is safe for everyone.

Vancouver votes Oct 17. Here's a quick poll on what issues people actually care about, not what the campaigns say we do. Results go public Oct 14, 3 days before the vote. See where the city actually stands: create.engageleap.ca/elections/va...

Really fantastic to see "reduce pedestrian fatalities" in the COPE public safety pillar of their platform, with tangible concrete actions. Great work from @copevancouver.bsky.social recognizing that road safety = public safety.

Common problem

Subsidies to corporations and businesses are quite common in our societies. Some say most jobs are created this way. However when subsidies go against available resources and health of citizen you have to wonder why these are approved. Accountability is missing.

More discussion on the municipal elections. More information. Good stuff!

Vancouver has a housing shortage because it prioritized maintaining its single-family neighborhood character. blog.michaelwiebe.com/p/how-vancou...

The least qualified mayor needs to go. Being incompetent cannot be rewarded.

Notice served. One month til election day. Ken Sim and ABC have been working for their super-rich backers, while the rest of us get left behind. COPE is fighting to make the city more affordable, reverse the damage of Ken Sim, and to give power back to the people. Vote the COPE slate on Oct 17.

incredible things are happening in the politics

Huuuuuuuh scandal! A party leader spies on a journalist!?! Findlay should resign immediately

More of this discussion please. We need ambition for this community to be great. Right now BC is scared of talking about building things, scared of raising taxes.

Urban areas sterilized by a blanket of grey asphalt, built for the speed and convenience of machines will never appeal to the livability that humans, animals, and nature desire. But this, yes.

“Currently about 2/3rds of all Dutch children walk or bike to school, with 75% of secondary school kids cycling to school. By enabling safe and active travel, #Dutch cities prevent an estimated one million car journeys to school each morning.” — @modacitylife.bsky.social in book #CurbingTraffic

So the police getting more funding is resulting in more people getting hurt

Yes Margie is excellent! To me the 60% figure is a scandal. BC has such little journalism especially on local issues that i doubt it’ll be talked about.