iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by It's Jamie

Pat Bickerton @pbickerton.bsky.social · 5h

@sjamieit.bsky.social has posted similar graphs before but it bears repeating. There are a LOT of watermains approaching end of life in 15-20 years. This wave of liabilities is beyond the 10-yr planning horizon, so naturally, council hasn't budgeted for it and is even defering maintenance.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 9h

Okay so, the CILP policy was changed in 2015 to add repair and renewal, even though it goes against the fundamental principal of this being meant for growth projects. This was justified because of the large backlog in renewal projects. Yet another example of austerity budgets.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 9h

I've been reporting that fountain to 311 for years. Ridiculous that you had to use CIL to replace it. I actually thought you weren't allowed to use CIL for things like this? Shouldn't broken equipment simply be replaced with tax dollars? bsky.app/profile/sjam...

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 14h

Take a look at the pink pipes downtown.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 14h

1967 You can use this map from @pbickerton.bsky.social to find the age of pipes a bit more easily than the city's tool. bickertonpa.github.io/Ottawa-Water...

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Oh yeah, well I promise to LOWER property taxes 2.5% And in my second year I will lower property taxes 50% by uploading all of our roads to the province and making all our parks into provincial parks.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In the latest development with the broken drinking fountain, the city has now removed the fountain... ... and built a new one! This took years!

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Yeah, along the Lachine Canal.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"I'm not gonna jack up people's water bills to cover new infrastructure spending. We have a plan for what we're doing with the rates over the next few years, and I'm gonna stick the that plan." - @mark-sutcliffe.bsky.social His plan increases water rates 62% by 2035 www.iheart.com/podcast/962-...

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I was a little skeptical that a roundabout would work on a pathway, but it seems that if you just put enough arrows on the ground, people will understand how to use it.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

New parking lots are not permitted within 600 metres of a rapid transit station under the zoning by-law. This is likely a zoning violation. You could give 311 a call. This motion from March suggests there may be a temporary community garden plot at some point:

pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com

Demolition Control Exemption –139 Parkdale Avenue and 122 Forward Avenue - City Council - March 11, 2026

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This is an interesting photo to go along with what was written. That's the Greenbank Realignment project, a very expensive, very wide, suburban road project - not housing. And the area surrounding it, south Barrhaven, is the complete opposite of the "vibrant, walkable communities" he speaks about.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

She's going about 8km. It's the same distance as my commute but I bike mine in 20 minutes.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My mother-in-law, who hadn't been on a bicycle since the 1980s, visited us last year and we biked to toddler swimming class together. She's now biking 40 minutes to work everyday in Montreal because she has a separated bike lane the whole way there.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I don't even have an Ottawa area code phone number. Not sure how they're getting this info.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

SOMEBODY has been underinvesting in infrastructure maintenance while bragging about having the lowest tax increases in the province.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I just saw this one being shared.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This AI generated map was floating around online this week also, with the 417 running south of the airport and Chelsea west of Kanata, amongst many other issues including the "data" itself. Kanata and Orleans apparently didn't exist until after 2001...

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Another bad AI generated map I saw this week was from a bus company offering rides from Carleton Place to downtown Ottawa.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This might be one of the worst AI generated maps of Ottawa I've seen. How hard is it to use a screenshot of an actual map?

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Reposted by It's Jamie

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A residential street near a highway gets blocked off to car traffic and turned into a bike route. (1re Ave, Montreal)

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This guy almost had a very bad ending to his day today. Blowing through stop signs is already a bad idea, trying to pass a car at the same time is a recipe for disaster. Good reaction from the driver on this one, but they should used their turn signal. Hope everyone learned some lessons.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I found another 2019 cover that doesn't quite get the logo right either. Much closer than your example though.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Newspaper article from 1992.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Here's the information plaque and city webpage for the piece: ottawa.ca/en/arts-heri...

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Strathcona's Folly. This cool art piece made with bits and pieces of old buildings was really popular with the kids in the park. The generic, safety approved playground equipment nearby was mostly not being used.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

David Hill's campaign sign... Pick one.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The golf course is hardly greenspace. Even the councilor there describes it as some horribly contaminated hellscape. At least the proposed development will have actual parks which will be open to the public year round.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Now take a look at this side by side of the infrastructure surrounding the Kanata Lakes Golf Course Redevelopment and compare that to Tewin. "We're not saying were going to build housing in areas where it's not suitable, or where the infrastructure doesn't exist".

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Tewin is not "responsible and appropriate", nor is it is "close to public transit", or in an area where "growth is sustainable and responsible". There are "a lot of logistic and Infrastructure barriers" Extending just our water infrastructure to Tewin is expected to cost $590 million.

cbc.ca

Tewin's $590M infrastructure bill locks in 'forever sprawl,' councillor says | CBC News

Coun. Shawn Menard is faulting the "huge expense" of building oversized infrastructure for a new community in southeast Ottawa that could grow beyond 100,000 residents.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In a follow up as to whether the golf course is not 'responsible development' he said: "There's lots of spaces in the city where you could technically be allowed to develop, but that doesn't mean the infrastructure is there. That doesn't mean that it's the right place for development to happen."

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Last year he was asked during his housing plan announcement how he can justify the contradiction. He responded, "we're saying yes to housing where it's responsible and appropriate" and not "where the infrastructure doesn't exist." "We're saying yes to responsible, appropriate development."

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

On the Tewin development, @mark-sutcliffe.bsky.social says he doesn't want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting the development. "We shouldn't waste taxpayers money on a lost cause." Meanwhile in Kanata Lakes, he's spending millions to block 1,480 homes from being constructed there.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Mark Sutcliffe a no-show at the Ottawa Student Mayoral Debate tonight.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Shocked. Shocked, I say. How could this have happened? The water main there under O'Connor Street is only 123 years old (1903). Practically brand new! /s I'm sure the city was hoping to kick that can down the road for at least another decade. It's not even on the planned 5 year construction map.

cbc.ca

Broken water main soaks O'Connor and Albert streets in downtown Ottawa | CBC News

A broken water main at a downtown Ottawa intersection filled the vicinity with water and is forcing lane closures on nearby roads on Monday morning.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

He sneaks up until the squirrel notices him and starts to run. Then he keeps sneaking until they're up a tree. THEN he runs.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This dog would not survive in the wild.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It was NCC BikeNight tonight. [8x speed]

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hmm, you're right. I asked my guy at the city and he came up with a solution:

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Think Ottawa cyclists could handle this?

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The property line is actually much further back. The city owns right up to the City Center back driveway overpass. Enough room for a bike roundabout.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

"Sean Devine publicly supported the introduction of a congestion tax. This is part of his War On Cars strategy."

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Good thing I was anticipating it, because I've seen it happen several times, and not already up to speed going down the hill.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Driver goes straight through the red light, from the left turn lane.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The city's new policy to automatically replant city trees after they're removed is great, but I haven't seen any of the trees that have been removed since it passed actually get replaced yet. I'm hoping they're just part of the fall planting this year.

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

In the city's aerial imagery, it's under construction in 2023, nearly finished in 2024, and finished in 2025. In the latest Street View (2022) it still looks like this:

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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I think this one was just built in 2024.

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