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Kyle Spaans

@kspaans.bsky.social
128 followers 416 following 151 posts

Of Code ⌨️ (spaans.ca) Bass 🔊, and Brew ☕️ (and urbanism🔰)

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Reposted by Kyle Spaans
Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
It’s actually happening. Ford is set to rip the Bloor bike lane out tomorrow. Lets get every person on a bike in the GTA out for this. Tuesday Oct 13th. 5pm. Tom Riley Park
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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Correct 🌶️🌶️🌶️ take on housing. Concrete example: if we think rooming houses and micro suites are not adequate housing, the humane response is not to outlaw them but to strive to create conditions where nobody chooses to live in them.
In housing, the most important type of urban supply is the supply that almost everyone would reject, given the choice. Will cities ever allow that housing to return? Will we ever find a formula for municipal governance that funds the public services that would improve the conditions of the housing that serves the important function of being the supply of the most inferior version of the good? The cure for the potato famine wasn’t to harvest more lobster and caviar. Maybe most people would choose more lobster and caviar if they had the resources. They might eat potatoes because they lack those resources, but they aren’t just eating potatoes because they aren’t allowed to eat lobster and caviar. They are matching their demand with the supply of an inferior good.
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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 13/10/2026
"By suppressing new development with impact fees, cities are essentially exchanging a consistent source of annual tax revenue for a one-time fee." more startling revelations from urban economics. many people do not know this.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
“Results show that approximately 414 million metric tons of carbon emission could be reduced if everyone in the world cycled 1.6km every day like the Danes…This climate benefit could be increased to 686 million metric tons if the Dutch cycling pattern was followed with daily cycling of 2.6km.”
nature.com
Historical patterns and sustainability implications of worldwide bicycle ownership and use - Communications Earth & Environment
High bicycle ownership does not necessarily correlate with high bicycle use, with substantial health and environmental gains possible by worldwide pro-bicycle policy implementation, suggests a global ...
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dillo saint dillo @dillo.media · 09/10/2026
YUP
kei truck with lights under. they're purple
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Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Be Ready For Action. follow @cycletoronto.bsky.social and @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social for updates
ripping out bike lanes is premeditated raod violence

be ready tuesday oct 13th.

over tope of images of a red doug ford on blue background
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.” “Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million/yr on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” Investing in bike infrastructure saves money.
grist.org
One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss
Copenhagen, the bicycle-friendliest place on the planet, publishes a biannual Bicycle Account, and buried in its pages is a rather astonishing fact.
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Flying over uptown Toronto (North York), with its corridor of towers along the Yonge Street subway, and density that sharply drops off one or two streets back.
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Melissa Bowman @dtkmelissa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Like the pipes running under our feet, local media keep us supplied with the essentials of a good life. They keep us connected. And they keep their eyes peeled for abuses of power in our midst. In short, they’re essential community resources worth supporting." www.therecord.com/opinion/cont...
therecord.com
Why Ontario municipalities should prioritize local media in their marketing budgets
Ontario voters should ask where their municipalities’ advertising dollars go, Mirko Petricevic writes
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Reposted by Kyle Spaans
Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is a rare thing - an *entirely* accurate story on Canadian (in this case, Ontarian) property tax policy, by @jeffreybgray.bsky.social. Ontario's situation is so hideously complicated that Jeff needs to drop several sidebar paragraphs to cover every base. Literally the only thing I'd add -
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Subhed: "Couple says city erred when it approved..." Okay they can say that but *did* the city err? Or is this just what novel city policy looks like in application? (Answer: the city did not err.) www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Toronto needs more homes. These neighbours say they're paying the price | CBC News
An elderly downtown couple says they’re shocked and upset that the city has approved a duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home that they say will tower metres above their chimney and rend...
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ScarletCoral @scarletcoral.ca · 24/09/2026
Probablement le seul raton laveur de #Montreal qui se promène en #Bixi 🦝🚲 Probably, the only raccoon in Montreal riding a #biximtl #velomtl #bikemtl
Une personne roulant en Bix avec un raton sur l’épaule 

A person riding a Bixi with a raccoon on the shoulder
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Olivier Tesquet @oliviertesquet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Le Figaro nous apprend que le mystérieux créateur du compte Balance ton Claude est en réalité Samuel Fitoussi, investisseur dans l’IA et… chroniqueur au Figaro. L’un des premiers a avoir relayé la polémique autour de Thélyson Orélien. www.lefigaro.fr/culture/qui-...
lefigaro.fr
Thélyson Orélien accusé d’avoir écrit son roman avec l’IA : Le Figaro révèle qui se cache derrière «Balance ton Claude»
INFO LE FIGARO - Les spéculations allaient bon train. Le véritable créateur de ce compte X entend dénoncer le «slop» de l’IA et restaurer la confiance envers l’écriture humaine.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It turns out that high levels of immigration become politically toxic if there isn't the housing for newcomers and we've left "should there be enough homes" as a question answered by municipal councils (and they've mostly decided the answer is "no.") So federal policy is thwarted by municipalities.
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Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
#polaris2026 Angine de Poitrine have won the 2026 Polaris Album Prize for Vol. 2, and SOCAN Polaris Song Prize for "Fabienk." Angine de Poitrine a remporté le Prix de l'album Polaris 2026 pour Vol. 2, ainsi que le Prix de la chanson SOCAN Polaris pour "Fabienk." - @polarismusicprize.bsky.social
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Fred Savard @fredsavard.com · 21/09/2026
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New literature review on housing ladder spillovers: When rich tech workers move in, low-end rents go up. So does it follow that adding high-end homes would reduce them? Yes. Changes at the top of the ladder can propagate down and affect prices at the bottom. 1/
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august 🍂 @auguststreet.ca · 17/09/2026
majority of drivers who got a ticket in the mail did not commit another infraction. automated enforcement works to discourage unsafe and incompetent driving that blocks public transit and endangers people on bike or in crosswalks. we need this in toronto
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GO ALTO @go-alto.ca · 15/09/2026
The UPA commissioned a survey on Alto, tested many of its own arguments against the project, and compared it with a particularly favourable version of TGF. After all of that, 59% of Quebecers still supported Alto. We took a closer look at what the numbers actually show. go-alto.ca/en/updates/u...
go-alto.ca
UPA survey still finds majority support for Alto | GO ALTO
The UPA sought to show that support for Alto weakens as people learn more about the project. Its own survey still arrives at a difficult result to ignore: after the full exercise, 59% of Quebecers sup...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/09/2026
ProPublica spoke to dozens of people who had lived in homeless encampments when cities cleared them out in “sweeps.” We distributed notecards so people could tell us about the toll in their own words. ➡️ This is what they wrote:
Handwritten notecard. Prompt at the top asks: What object was most devastating for you to lose, and how have you been coping? Answer below: Dentures. Were thrown away and coping isn't somthing I can do. It’s made me feel ugly, unworthy, can’t go get a job with no teeth. So how can get off the streets until another pair can be made?
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Brandon - "Fietser" @americanfietser.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Dolly would probably want us to go get ice cream so my wife, daughter and I will go get ice cream.
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Lloyd Alter @lloydalter.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
We should use this time not only to stop using products from the USA, but also the tired, high-carbon planning and development patterns we copied from them. We can build, instead, a walkable, wooden world.
lloydalter.substack.com
Mark Carney says, “You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked.” Here’s how we can fight back
I wrote a pile of posts when tariffs were first imposed last year. It’s time to get serious about them.
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Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Not sure if anyone has a burning desire to read my 700-word treatise on keeping moving even when things don't go the way you'd hoped on a Friday evening, but I felt like I had to get some of these thoughts out: danseljak.substack.com/p/a-prisoner...
danseljak.substack.com
A prisoner of hope
Some reflections on the suprising end to the Finch Store saga
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Observing The City @observingthecity.ca · 20/08/2026
I will keep posting these videos on bike lanes that Ford is threatening to remove daily until morale improves. Today we are on Bloor at Brunswick, during afternoon rush hour on a Wednesday. No congestion to be found. 38 bikes and 25 cars over 2 light cycles.
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Dale Smith @journodale.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The rotting corpse of Canada's national magazine just published the NIMBYest of NIMBY complaints about high speed rail. Using an existing disused rail corridor would displace ATVs! OH NOES!
macleans.ca
Why I’m Fighting Canada’s High-Speed Rail - Macleans.ca
I’m the mayor of a small city near Ottawa. The $90-billion project could tear my community apart.
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Kevin Erdmann @kevinerdmann.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Building codes for multi-family are specifically designed to make apartments more expensive with the purpose of making it harder for poor families and immigrants to live here. If you have ever staked out the position that markets won’t produce affordable housing, what are you even doing?
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Less driving --> Safer cities "Urban areas with lower commute mode share by car and, to a lesser extent, lower VMT are most strongly associated with lower per capita transportation fatality rates." @wesmars.bsky.social doi.org/10.1108/JTAS...
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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
The replies and quote tweets here feel like a microcosm of why it's so hard to build non-market housing and get funding for it. People don't understand the programs that we already have, what about them works and what doesn't, and how much it costs to build housing. I'll try to be brief. 🧵
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Isaiah Bishop @isaiahbishop.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
I firmly believe any community consultations must actually be a random sample of the population, and that theres no actual value in anything else
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Toula Drimonis @mtltoula.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
www.lapresse.ca/arts/musique...
lapresse.ca
Oliver Jones 1934-2026 | Pluies d’hommages pour un « talent incroyable »
Jim West et Oliver Jones se rencontrent dans un club de Montréal, en 1982. L’année suivante, éclair de génie. Le producteur musical fonde la maison de disques Justin Time Records spécifiquement dans l...
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Gil Meslin @gmeslin.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Attention single-stair/missing middle people: as part of OBC review, the Province has opened a consultation on the Building Code, seeking to “identify ways to reduce unnecessary costs, delays, complexity, and administrative burden”. Runs to August 14. ero.ontario.ca/notice/026-0744
ero.ontario.ca
Consultation on Reducing Regulatory Burden in Ontario's Building Code | Environmental Registry of Ontario
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Laura G Mitchell @lauragmitchell.com · 18/07/2026
IMO car dependent places are awful for raising kids (I was raised in one). You turn into an Uber driver for your own kids or they’re stuck at home. I’m raising my kids in a city where we have everything we need close by and freedom to choose how we get around: walking, biking, transit or driving.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
To make my weekend easier & relaxing, my first @thestar.com column back from vacation is about transportation identity politics. Keeping people divided is useful for some political interests & ambitions. Maybe it’s good to resist that.
thestar.com
Shawn Micallef: I’m a cyclist, I’m a driver, I’m a TTC rider. Stop making me pick sides, just make it easier to get around
Cyclists, drivers, TTC riders and pedestrians can unite in service of a better commute
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Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 16/07/2026
TTC ran a “pilot project” to track the number of cars illegally passing streetcars at stops: “Preliminary data indicates that near-miss incidents may be very pervasive and that there is likely merit to developing a technology-based solution to this problem” Shocker. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Dashboard showing observed illegal passing incidents on Toronto streetcars from December 2025 to March 2026, including geographic distribution map, hourly trends peaking at 3 PM with 15 incidents, route breakdown with Route 501 having the most violations at 40 incidents, and period-based statistics across different time windows.
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Glyn Bowerman @glynbowerman.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
What the Carneys of the world ignore is even the business case for slashing environmental protections doesn’t work. I work for a small business. We won’t get foot traffic until the smoke clears. No one will buy a coffee, sit on the patio, anything. This hurts business, it’s bad for the economy.
A view of College Street and an empty patio, covered in a smoky haze
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Toronto and Vancouver are having issues with cost / policing on pedestrian streets. How does it work in Montreal? Looks like Wellington Street costs about $900,000 for 1.3 km car-free for almost 4 months. Police exist but no “extra” presence. The street is not a major security concern.
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JayBeeArsenal @jaybee1886.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
People like walking and not being worried about getting killed by driver?! Never knew. More pedestrian spaces!
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 10/07/2026
Today on Volts: Property taxes combine a tax on land value with a tax on the value of the buildings on the land. The latter discourages building and encourages land speculation. Shifting the tax to the former -- a "land value tax" -- produces better land use. They're pushing for it in Spokane, WA!
volts.wtf
Want less sprawl and more urban infill? Try a land value tax!
A conversation with Greg Miller of the Center for Land Economics and Kitty Klitzke of the Spokane City Council.
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Alex Freeman @northernnerd.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
@mark-carney.bsky.social Removing GST from bikes would cost less than 0.4% of GST revenue. For e-bikes, taxes add $500+ to prices. Health and infrastructure savings likely offset the revenue loss. It's not a subsidy. It's a zero-rating that may net positive.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 09/07/2026
Might I suggest a land value tax? (More on that on Volts tomorrow!)
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I'm been wondering if it would come to this and apparently it has. huge move from cloudflare, which hosts a fifth of all websites on earth.
adweek.com
Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search
The nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators
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Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀 @aceckhouse.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
One week into SB 79 taking effect, and there are already over 200 new homes proposed in Palo Alto across 5 buildings. The last year in which Palo Alto permitted more than 200 new apartments was 2007. www.paloaltoonline.com/palo-alto/20...
paloaltoonline.com
Palo Alto sees wave of housing projects as state law kicks in
In just the first week of a new state law that allows denser housing developments near public transit, Palo Alto has seen a flurry of applications — and the three latest ones propose new apartments do...
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Lars Doucet @larsiusprime.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
If you've been laid off from games/tech, consider the local property assessor's office - Office near you almost anywhere in USA - GIS/coders in demand, gamedev/tech skills translate well - Better job security - Field is desperate for talent - Pay not astronomical but gamedev wasn't either
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Damien Moule @damienmoule.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
From Statcan, the fraction of residential property value owned by different types of investors. I don't want to get wrapped up in a sometimes conspiratorial debate but this seems to conflict with many people's ideas of what the housing market is like. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quo...
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
A city is voting on allowing a new grocery store. But only existing store owners get to vote, and shoppers don't get a voice. Owners don't want competition, so they block the new store. This is how housing works. Existing homeowners get a vote, future residents don't.
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More Neighbours Toronto @moreneighboursto.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Were you planning to depute about Sneaky Dee's and now find yourself with deputation energy to spare? Need to shut up annoying nerds who won't stop proselytizing about the need for new mixed use zones? Well do we have a thread for you! Developments at Community Council that could use your support:
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Damien Moule @damienmoule.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Since the last municipal election, I saved up $1,200 to donate to candidates this election. Here is a🧵that goes through my decision making process and hopefully serves as a donation guide to you if you're thinking about donating (which I hope you do as you can have a disproportionate impact) 1/
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 04/07/2026
Take all your "cover parking lots with solar panels" energy and channel it to this instead:
progressandpoverty.substack.com
Stop incentivizing surface parking lots
They are draining the economic potential of our cities. We need to make them financially unsustainable.
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Samuel @samuel.fm · 04/07/2026
today is a celebration of the US narrowly escaping British tyranny. unfortunately there’s no counterfactual of what would’ve happened if the British maintained territory in north america but we can only assume it would’ve been terrible
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