We need public options for the entire supply and distribution chain

This is still only one piece of the puzzle though. To restore affordability it would make sense to prioritize building and converting more existing stock to non-market housing so there’s competitive pressure on the remaining/existing landlords to keep rent low.

Vienna has done a wonderful job to show the world what’s possible after a century of continuous improvements with non market housing.

It’s exciting to see that the government could cut up to a year of development time with these blueprints. I’m curious what they’ll come up with that reflects the best of what modern BIM, digital twin, offsite manufacturing, CLT, and modular construction technologies can do.

Hopefully there will be a variety of to choose from for different kinds of environments and tastes. Personally I’d like to see some 6 storey apartments complexes, designed to accommodate car free lifestyles.

Rational Reminder is related to Canadian personal finance

The Agenda by Steve Paiken is a TVO News program available as an audio podcast, based on Ontario news

Ça s’explique is a French language, Radio-Canada podcast about the news

Hey OP, it’s a good idea to check to see if there’s already a post for an article in a community, it helps to keep the discussion in one place

Checkout this post from last week: https://lemmy.ca/post/6518929

NIMBYS will be the downfall of this country. We don’t need more feasibility studies, we need bold action, ambition, and an inclusive permissive environment.

Canada, like many other places, has tried to balance minority rights with democracy but lately it seems like we’re doing a bad job of it and subsequently failing to address people’s basic needs. Strong mayor powers were supposed to address this but the Bonnie Crombie is missing in action.

This outcome could have been avoided if she had voted to break the tie. It shows how unserious she is about addressing the housing crisis and how terrible she’d be as OLP leader, and maybe premier.

Not as much as they hope it will.

Electric or not, we need less cars in cities, not more. Rather than making the next generation of mildly more sustainable but just as dangerous and space inefficient road congestants, we should be thinking harder about how best to meet people’s mobility needs in more safe, sustainable, and effective ways.

People need options not more car dependency.

Those resources are better used to build up public transportation, (e-)bike shares, sidewalks, and the accompanying infrastructure to go with it all, with seamless handoffs between modes.

Electric cars are here to save the auto industry, not the planet.

BBC coverage. Looks like this is getting global attention.

I wonder how different Toronto could have been if she had been elected mayor in 2018

We’ll see soon enough if he signed up enough new Liberal party members before the deadline today to overcome Bonnie Crombie’s lead. I suspect not, which is a shame, he seemed like the most promising OLP leadership contenter. In that case, I doubt progressives will choose the OLP next election, and will see more promise in the ONDP.

You might be interested in Nate Eskine-Smith.

https://www.meetnate.ca/policy/housing/

He did an AMA on Reddit 2 days ago, and discussed proportional voting among other things.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/16dq9tv/hi_im_nate_erskinesmith_and_im_running_to_be_the/

If the sorry state of city finances and infrastructure are a problem and priority, then building and maintaining pedestrian, bike, and rail infrastructure are potential solutions.

Take a look at this study detailing the cost benefit analysis of bike infrastructure in Portland, Oregon. Millions of dollars can be saved. https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/43289/8/Gotschi1.pdf

Another study concluded that “creating or improving active travel facilities generally has positive or non-significant economic impacts on retail and food service businesses abutting or within a short distance of the facilities”. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01441647.2021.1912849

“Building a new roadway for automobiles can cost tens of millions of dollars to construct, and many of the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects and facilities are extremely low-cost in comparison. This infrastructure can also serve to improve safety for all road users, while also promoting healthier lifestyles through more bicycling and walking.” https://www.pedbikeinfo.org/cms/downloads/Countermeasure Costs_Report_Nov20131.pdf

That assumption is not a good one. The video highlights that both competing proposals, which include Siemen’s conventional “high frequency” option and Alstrom’s high speed rail option, are set to build new track through the Canadian shield in the area around Peterborough which would slow down speeds significantly. There’s too much geography navigate around on this proposed route for HSR. Instead the video hosts suggest using the existing freight lines beside Lake Ontario and extending GO service to Peterborough which has much more potential for HSR.

This is the third time this article has been posted here today