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Barb Van Kerkhove

@bvankerk.bsky.social
43 followers 50 following 31 posts

politics watcher, loves the outdoors, locavore foodie, trying to be the change

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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Thank you, #ROC Public Market for giving us access to delicious, healthy, affordable food; supporting our local farmers and small businesses; and creating community. You are a cornerstone of Rochester!
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Looking for another mapping program for my android phone that does NOT use Google maps. Any suggestions? #LakeOntario #BoycottGoogleMaps
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Rochester NY celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day. Join the celebration! #ROC
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
This is why we need to dramatically reduce the manufacture and use of plastics on the front end. This means a combination of carrots and sticks so companies use less. Remember, Reduce is the 1st of the 3 R's. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/c...
nytimes.com
Advanced Recycling Hits a Rough Patch
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
California is addressing at least some of the housing crisis with ADUs. It took the state at least a decade to gradually change its laws to encourage their development. Now CBS Sunday Morning has a story on ADUs! www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1UD...
youtube.com
ADUs: A solution to housing in your own backyard
YouTube video by CBS Sunday Morning
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Really enjoying exploring the Housing Data App, housingdata.app, developed by Sid Kapur, @sid-kap.bsky.social. The charts comparing permits across cities and places over time are very informative! I'm sharing a clarification question or two I have, so others can see Sid's answers.
housingdata.app
Housing Data
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
They spend millions to make sure you stay car dependent, and to make sure you think that’s normal. So normal in fact, that you’ll actually fight to protect that dependency, in the name of “freedom.” Their profit depends on it.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
And be sure to read the comments! Lot's there positive (festivals, music, parks, Lake Ontario) and not-so-positive (mainly weather, the name of our region).
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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 10/03/2026
This is good. The city and county should review our processes as well.
gothamist.com
Mamdani halts NYC's 'predatory' private tax lien sale process
The mayor is ordering a six-month suspension in order to review the controversial system and add homeowner protections.
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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 17/03/2026
This isn’t in the story but 9 of the townhouses will have ADUs owners can rent out if they choose. Fascinating.
wxxinews.org
Neighbor group seeks to build townhouses on remaining Inner Loop lot
The half-acre lot at 125 Charlotte St. was one of the first shovel-ready parcels the city offered up after tearing out and filling the eastern leg of the sunken highway.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Thank you, @cityofrochester.bsky.social, for (finally) plowing the South Ave sidewalk under I-490. Now people can safely walk to/from the South Wedge & downtown #ROC. And thank you to the City staffer in the downtown sidewalk plow I spoke with last Tues am. You made it happen that day & yesterday!
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
The Trump administration needs to be held accountable for this. AND so do AI companies. Just another reason, among many, to say NO to AI. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
nytimes.com
‘They Couldn’t Break Me’: A Protester, the White House and a Doctored Photo
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Hey, #ROC. Check this out.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 19/01/2026
The Legacy Museum, which is “perhaps the closest thing America has to a national slavery museum,” is free from government control and displays the “history that the Trump administration aims to de-emphasize—if not outright erase,” @clintsmithiii.bsky.social argues.
bit.ly
The Power of Private Museums
The Equal Justice Initiative’s historical sites in Montgomery, Alabama, show what’s possible when history isn’t subject to federal funding cuts or executive orders.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Sadly the current right-wing coalition government in Finland has foolishly cut the funding for the nation’s “Housing First” success story, and homelessness is predictably now on the rise again. That just reinforces the fact that such programs work, if lazy political ideology doesn’t get in the way.
ysaatio.fi
Homelessness on the Rise in Finland - Y-Säätiö
Asunnottomien ihmisten määrä on kääntynyt kasvuun. Nyt asunnottomien määrä kasvoi Helsingissä, vaikka asunnottomia asutettiin vuoden aikana vaikuttava määrä.
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NBC News @nbcnews.com · 03/07/2025
Legislation making its way to President Trump’s desk stands to have wide-ranging effects on the economy — bolstering tax benefits for businesses, higher-income households while threatening health insurance for millions of Americans. More: nbcnews.app.link/lE2aQBZdIUb
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
It's impossible to make sense of American zoning, historically or today, without understanding that it has almost nothing to do with separating residential and classic nuisance. It's a mechanism of segregation, that's it.
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Fall leaves @fall28.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Three more in comments.
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Nate Blouin @nateforutah.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Federal officials should be immediately decrying this. Full stop. Enough of the "we're working behind the scenes" crap. Give people some confidence that you're doing the right thing.
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Peter Norton @norton.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
The experts on walking are the walkers. On February 23, 1954, Rochester banned jaywalking. As an experienced walker, Sally Otis had something to say on the subject.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Welcome walkers, wheelchair users, and bicyclists.
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Peter Norton @norton.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
Walking did not merely decline. It was deterred. When authorities were drafting plans for Rochester’s downtown expressways, few Rochesterians ever drove downtown. The great majority rode streetcars and buses – and walked.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
More on Rochester transportation history.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
We can learn from transportation history.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
“We found there’s this perfect one-to-one relationship. If a city increased its road capacity by 10% then driving in that city went up by 10%.” Still one of the best articles on why building bigger roads leads to more driving. Understanding #InducedDemand Via @wired.com
wired.com
What's Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse
The concept is called induced demand, which is economist-speak for when increasing the supply of something (like roads) makes people want that thing even more. Though some traffic engineers made note ...
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Thanks for printing @economist.com and for bringing it to my attention @hcrichardson.bsky.social, but I really don't want to wait that long.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Read how the NY Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act makes both economic and environmental sense. Pass it this session! www.beyondplastics.org/publications...
beyondplastics.org
REPORT: Projected Economic Benefits of the NY Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act — Beyond Plastics - Working To End Single-Use Plastic Pollution
New report from Beyond Plastics estimates roughly $1.3 billion in savings over 10 years after passing key packaging reduction legislation in NYS.
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Urban Institute @urbaninstitute.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Is owning a home less valuable than #renting? In an Urban Wire post, Urban researchers offer a method for more accurately comparing the value of renting versus owning a home that #policymakers can use to address systemic barriers to #homeownership.
urban.org
Measuring the True Value of Renting versus Owning a Home
Accounting for differences in property and neighborhood characteristics, the value of homeownership relative to renting is greater than what existing methods suggest.
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Senator Rachel May @rachelmayny.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
We’re always thinking of innovative ways to address the lack and cost of housing. @alexbores.bsky.social and I sponsor the Land Value Tax Bill (S1131), which we discussed on Capitol Pressroom. This would shift the tax burden from buildings to land, spurring housing development and economic growth.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Blue sky through budding trees, so we can take a break and breathe.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Another example of the Trump administration supporting corporate profit on the backs of the poor and working class.
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Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Direct File makes it free and easy for millions of Americans to file their taxes. Getting rid of this popular program makes zero sense. Trump's admin is taking money out of the pockets of working people and giving it away to their Big Business and tech bro buddies.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 09/04/2025
Through new policies and aggressive cuts, the Trump administration is taking steps that will encourage more pollution while muffling the science that shows its harms. The very air that Americans breathe will likely become less safe, @zoeschlanger.bsky.social reports:
bit.ly
Breathing in America Is Going to Get More Dangerous
A third of Americans still breathe unhealthy air after decades of improvements—which the Trump administration wants to roll back.
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Reconnect Rochester @reconnectroc.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Join us on Thursday to learn about the grassroots effort for frequent, reliable, and accessible public transportation as well as safe streets for walking and biking all across New York!
Image of people holding protest signs including one big sign that is slightly cut off but reads "us get around new york!" 
Over the photo is text that reads: "'New York State is spending billions on highways - while New Yorkers wait for a bus that's never coming.' Want to help change that? Join the New Yorkers for Transportation Equity coalition! Thurs. April 10 6PM 1115 E Main St Light Refreshments"
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
#ROC shows up for #HandsOff! #HandsOffDemocracy #HandsOffCFPB #HandsOffImmigramts
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Half of business owners on this Toronto street estimated that more than 25% of their customers arrived by car. In fact, it was 4%. And the % of customers who who walked or cycled? 72%. Retailers routinely overestimate the # of “car customers.” Via @carltonreid.com www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...
Toronto shopping street
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Patrick S. Tomlinson @stealthygeek.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Vaccines are why 1 of every 4 of us didn't die in infancy. Fluoride is why most of us keep our teeth into old age. The ACA is why 21 million of us can see a doctor. The FDIC is why we don't lose our life savings. And a handful of GOP billionaires want to take it all away.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Stop single use plastics.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
🤨 Agreement on facts is much harder to find these days.
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Damon Beres @damonberes.com · 25/11/2024
On climate debt: "Indebtedness breeds austerity, and if countries are unable to shield themselves from the effects of climate change and to transition away from fossil fuels, then that crisis deepens into an issue of global security." @zoeschlanger.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...
theatlantic.com
Climate Diplomacy’s $300 Billion Failure
Climate negotiations at COP29 ended in a deal that mostly showed how far the world is from facing climate change’s real dangers.
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Hope we can soon edit out posts in @bsky.app .
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Barb Van Kerkhove @bvankerk.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Interesting that I'm reading and posting about this on #Bluesky. I still have an X account but I rarely go on it anymore.
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