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Strong Towns Ottawa

@strongtownsottawa.ca
1.2K followers 247 following 520 posts

linktr.ee/strongtownsottawa We're an urbanist group, focused on safer streets, giving citizens more options, and creating a more financially responsible city. Help us support bus lanes on Bank St: strongtownsottawa.ca/bank

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 15h
Did you get out to vote today yet? If not, what are you waiting for? You have until 8pm tonight for the final day of special advance voting in the municipal election! If you can't make today, make sure you set aside time on the 16th or 26th (final voting day) to vote! ottawa.ca/en/city-hall...
A sticker for voting early
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 03/10/2026
Amazing, thank you Carl! You partook in an extremely important part of our society! - Marko
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 03/10/2026
If you have some time this weekend, please consider getting out and voting in the special advance early voting locations! Poll booths are open from 10am-8pm on both days! You can find the location nearest you on the following site : ottawa.ca/en/city-hall...
Image from Elections Ottawa showing the voting locations available for the special advance voting days, from October 1st to 4th, 10am-8pm.

CARDELREC Recreation Complex (Goulbourn), 1500 Shea Rd.  
Churchill Seniors Recreation Centre, 345 Richmond Road.  
City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave W.
François Dupuis Recreation Centre, 2263 Portobello Blvd.
Greely Community Centre, 1448 Meadow Drive.
Diane Deans Greenboro Community Centre, 363 Lorry Greenberg Drive.
Minto Recreation Complex – Barrhaven, 3500 Cambrian Road.
Nepean Sportsplex, 1701 Woodroffe Avenue.
Richcraft Recreation Complex – Kanata, 4101 Innovation Drive.
St-Laurent Complex, 525 Côté Street.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 01/10/2026
Join us for our monthly meeting on October 8th, where we'll be focusing on the municipal election, and giving members a chance to debate key topics and questions that have been focused on in the election so far. To RSVP please use our following link! luma.com/0ouk4smo?tk=...
Strong Towns Ottawa's October Monthly Meeting poster, which shows the meeting occurring on October 8th, from 6:15-7:45pm, at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, at 400 Sparks Street.

The featured discussion is debating different topics and questions that have been central to the 2026 election.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 29/09/2026
Thanks to everyone who showed up to last week's social gathering! The Oktoberfest action was quite lively! Look forward to our next event, Thursday, October 8th, where we'll be hosting our monthly meeting, 6:15pm at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, at 400 Sparks!
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 28/09/2026
Not sure what to do tonight? Come join us to discuss Walkable Cities by Jeff Speck! You don't have to have read the book to participate, all are welcome to join us! More info can be found on our event page here : luma.com/67fnnpuw
A poster depicting the Ottawa Urbanism Book Club meeting for September 28th, from 6:15-7:45pm at Sunnyside Public Library, to discuss the book "Walkable City" by Jeff Speck
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 24/09/2026
Reminder we have our monthly social tomorrow night, 7pm, at Braumeister Bierhalle! All are welcome, no need to RSVP! They are holding their Oktoberfest festivities at the same time, so we will only have 1 table reserved for us, but there will still be other seating in the restaurant!
Poster for the Strong Towns Ottawa monthly social gathering at Braumeister Bierhalle, Friday September 25th, from 7pm. 

The image depicts a group of members sitting at 2 tables smiling while facing towards the camera.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 23/09/2026
We've sent out our questionnaire that you can see attached to all candidates for mayor and council. We've started receiving responses! If you want to see responses from candidates in your area, feel free to e-mail them and ask them to fill out the survey we've sent! We'll be sharing answers soon!
Strong Towns Ottawa's 2026 election questionnaire that asks candidates about 5 topics and a general question.

Housing : 

What actions, if any, do you believe the city should take with regards to housing affordability? What do you see as the limits for the city in that area?

Long-Term Infrastructure Planning : 

Ottawa faces a significant gap between its long-term infrastructure maintenance needs and projected revenues. How should the city approach closing that gap, and what trade-offs are you willing to accept?

Transportation :

How do you think Ottawa should prioritize competing demands on road space and transportation infrastructure investment over the next 10 years?

Mixed-Use Development :

How do you see the relationship between land use policy such as zoning, building types, the mix of uses, etc... and residents’ quality of life and daily mobility? What room do you think there is for commercial use in residential neighbourhoods? What is the city getting wrong and what should it be doing differently?

Transit :

Where do you see the future going for OC Transportation over the next 4 years if you were to win your election?

General : 

If you have the time: Is there any other specific policy or zoning change that you would really like to see implemented, and why?
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 23/09/2026
We've sent out our questionnaire that you can see attached to all candidates for mayor and council. We've started receiving responses! If you want to see responses from candidates in your area, feel free to e-mail them and ask them to fill out the survey we've sent! We'll be sharing answers soon!
Strong Towns Ottawa's 2026 election questionnaire that asks candidates about 5 topics and a general question.

Housing : 

What actions, if any, do you believe the city should take with regards to housing affordability? What do you see as the limits for the city in that area?

Long-Term Infrastructure Planning : 

Ottawa faces a significant gap between its long-term infrastructure maintenance needs and projected revenues. How should the city approach closing that gap, and what trade-offs are you willing to accept?

Transportation :

How do you think Ottawa should prioritize competing demands on road space and transportation infrastructure investment over the next 10 years?

Mixed-Use Development :

How do you see the relationship between land use policy such as zoning, building types, the mix of uses, etc... and residents’ quality of life and daily mobility? What room do you think there is for commercial use in residential neighbourhoods? What is the city getting wrong and what should it be doing differently?

Transit :

Where do you see the future going for OC Transportation over the next 4 years if you were to win your election?

General : 

If you have the time: Is there any other specific policy or zoning change that you would really like to see implemented, and why?
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 21/09/2026
"Lawson said the tax has failed to reduce rents, pointing to rising rental figures between October 2022 and October 2025." No one single measure is going to reverse all of the factors that are leading towards rising housing costs, but that doesn't mean the policy isn't providing a benefit.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 21/09/2026
The argument that "only 1.3% of units were vacant" is not a reasonable argument at all, because it ignores the fact that the number would most likely be higher if it were not for the tax. Also 1.3% of units being left vacant is a LOT of units sitting vacant. Our vacancy rate at any time is about 3%.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 21/09/2026
What possible reason could we have to oppose the vacant unit tax? It's a simple form that's easy to fill out, and is extremely beneficial. It not only ensures properties aren't being hoarded and kept vacant, it also uses the funds to directly build more housing. This is a win-win.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 18/09/2026
It is interesting how we can completely change our tune when it comes to wealthy homeowners not wanting more neighbours around them. The city should fairly apply their standards all throughout the city, not just to benefit a few wealthy people who have the time and money to whine about it.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 16/09/2026
This caveman is unfortunately hitting a little bit too close to home 😅😅 www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWbD...
youtube.com
Caveman NIMBY
YouTube video by ReasonTV
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 16/09/2026
We have an infrastructure funding deficit of over $10 BILLION dollars. This is not something to sneeze at. All candidates need to start taking this issue seriously, if we have any hope of providing a functioning city for our current and future residents!
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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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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14/09/2026
Another reminder about the upcoming mayoral debate happening this Thursday at the Centre town United Church from 6-8pm! It'll be a great opportunity to hear from leading candidates and hang out with other STO members! Sign up to get your tickets at the link below www.eventbrite.ca/e/mayoral-ec...
eventbrite.ca
Mayoral Eco Debate, Leading Candidates
Leading mayoral candidates are invited to discuss how we can build a climate-ready, greener and livable Ottawa for all!
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Hans on the Bike @hansonthebike.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Confederation Park in #Ottawa right now
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 08/09/2026
Wanna hear what the leading mayoral candidates have in store for our city? Well then come out to the mayoral debate that we're putting on with other members of POP (Peoples Official Plan) on the 17th! Thank you to all orgs helping with this Get your tickets here : www.eventbrite.ca/e/mayoral-ec...
eventbrite.ca
Mayoral Eco Debate, Leading Candidates
Leading mayoral candidates are invited to discuss how we can build a climate-ready, greener and livable Ottawa for all!
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 08/09/2026
Wanna hear what the leading mayoral candidates have in store for our city? Well then come out to the mayoral debate that we're putting on with other members of POP (Peoples Official Plan) on the 17th! Thank you to all orgs helping with this Get your tickets here : www.eventbrite.ca/e/mayoral-ec...
eventbrite.ca
Mayoral Eco Debate, Leading Candidates
Leading mayoral candidates are invited to discuss how we can build a climate-ready, greener and livable Ottawa for all!
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 06/09/2026
Thank you very much Chris! - Marko
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 06/09/2026
We spoke with Kimberley at the CBC about the terrible policy proposal of turning paid parking throughout the city into free parking. In short this would hurt all people in our city, even the drivers who are looking for parking. You can read it here : www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Free on-street parking would create bigger hurdles, urbanism groups say | CBC News
An Ottawa mayoral candidate's pitch to make on-street parking free would create more hurdles for drivers and not help businesses, some groups say.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 04/09/2026
It would actually cause even more people to drive around looking for parking, because now you have even fewer spots that will be available for use since people will leave their cars in the slots that are most in demand. Free parking has been proven to lead to more cruising around areas and traffic
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ScarletCoral @scarletcoral.ca · 04/09/2026
🫠 "$27M was spent on installing bike lanes along a 13-km stretch of Bloor Street, a 3.2-km stretch of Yonge Street and around a 3.6-km stretch of University Avenue and Queen's Park [...] #Toronto estimated that removal of the full 19-km stretch of bike lanes [...] would cost $48M" #bikeTO #ONpoli
cbc.ca
Toronto's bike lanes cost millions to install. What's the price tag for their removal or reconfiguration? | CBC News
With bike lane removal and reconfiguration plans along some of the city's busiest roads now underway, questions persist over what the endeavour will look like and how much it's going to cost taxpayers...
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 04/09/2026
Free parking is an awful proposal that would lead to more traffic, less parking available for you when you need it, more pollution, more cars on our roads, more noise, etc... There's literally no positive that would come from this besides a further subsidy to cars. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
All on-street parking should be free, says mayoral candidate Alex Lawson | CBC News
An Ottawa mayoral candidate is promising to remove every single parking meter and pay station in the city if he's elected, making all on-street parking space free.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 03/09/2026
Also nice to see the shoutout for Bank Street bus lanes in there as well ;)
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 03/09/2026
The study done here is fantastic as it really gives us the data that many already know by intuition, cars make our streets less enjoyable and increase pollution significantly. Making alternative options attractive improves our streets for all. Wonderful work! www.youtube.com/watch?v=91TB...
youtube.com
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Laine Johnson @lainejohnson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I've heard from many people that they can't find their name on the voters list using the online checker. In fact, I'm not on the list! Today, I wrote to the Elections Office asking them to look into the matter. I suspect the problem is with the software, not the list itself, but let's be sure!
Text of a letter to the Ottawa Elections Office asking them to look at their voters list checking software.
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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
“The tax dollars of rural residents were invested in infrastructure elsewhere in the city that they themselves never benefited from.” 🤨 Excuse me? Don't make me bust open the spreadsheets.
ctvnews.ca
Sutcliffe promises to boost funding for rural roads, advance ring road if re-elected mayor of Ottawa
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he will boost funding for rural roads, provide dedicated funding for rural infrastructure priorities and advance building a ring road if re-elected next fall.
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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
$50 million for rural roads (over 4 years) on top of existing funding levels. Where does this money come from? A reminder that LRT frequency was cut from 5 to 10 minutes to save $1.6 million/yr. 70,000 bus service hours were cut in New Ways to Bus to save $10 million/yr.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 25/08/2026
Reminder that we have our regular monthly social gathering happening this Friday at 7pm at Baumeister Bierhalle! It's a great opportunity to kick back, relax, and chat about things happening in our city, all while meeting a diverse set of people fighting to make it better! luma.com/uvhanppk
luma.com
Casual Social Gathering—August · Luma
Join us for our monthly casual social gathering, have some food/drinks, and have a good time!
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 23/08/2026
Yes fantastic point Melissa. Similarly we have an effort by the NCC to "close the QED" to cars and often the conversation is framed around the Queen Elizabeth Drive being "closed" when in reality it's open and more accessible to many sorts of people than before! - Marko
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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Cathy Curry at Planning Committee today: "You are all aware [...] what is going on in Kanata right now with the flooding, almost 600 homes, and you can imagine my reality when most of them are along the golf course lands." No they aren't. Most flooding was in Beaverbrook, with its 1960s sewers.
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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The challenges of planning: it shouldn’t be this hard to make housing. City costs, delays, interference in design killed the housing we explicitly plan & say we want @jleiper.bsky.social @shawnmenard.bsky.social @seandevine9.bsky.social @mikepmoffatt.bsky.social substack.com/@toondreesse...
substack.com
The Challenge of Planning
Policies meet reality; it shouldn't be this hard to build housing
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 17/08/2026
Could you imagine we stopped investing into road infrastructure because the average driver speeds? Or rolls through stop signs? Or doesn't stop before turning right on a red? Or blocks the box? Or blocks the crosswalk for pedestrians? Etc... It's very tiring hearing these double standards...
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 15/08/2026
Amazing stuff. It might not seem like much but this is just as important as transit oriented development, safe cycling infrastructure, good pedestrian connections, and all of that!
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Elysia♡ @ely.pub.moe · 15/08/2026
some of the processed photos i took at @strongtownsottawa.ca last night 😊 #elyisaphotos
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14/08/2026
Want to hear from mayoral candidates and get an opportunity to meet them in person? Then check out the following event that POP is putting on! Thank you so much to the wonderful people and orgs for helping put this together! Municipal politics is important and staying engaged is crucial!
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14/08/2026
Thank you to all of our wonderful members who showed up, as well as to @bettertransitottawa.ca for coming to present, and all of their followers for attending too! Big thanks as well to councillors Sean Devine and Jeff Leiper for taking interest in such an important topic!
Members posing at the Strong Towns Ottawa monthly meeting in August 2026, where Better Transit Ottawa presented
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Elysia♡ @ely.pub.moe · 14/08/2026
Some of the unedited JPEG photos I took for @bettertransitottawa.ca 's invasion of @strongtownsottawa.ca tonight! Featuring @seandevine9.bsky.social and @jleiper.bsky.social
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Better Transit Ottawa @bettertransitottawa.ca · 14/08/2026
What a great turnout! Thank you to everyone who came out tonight.
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Miser @misernyc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
It's frustrating that so few pedestrians realize how much the micromobility movement has improved their lives.
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yuka @dragons.tf · 12/08/2026
tomorrow. one night only. we take over STO. two groups enter. one group leaves. be there. lyon station. 6pm.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 12/08/2026
Crazy that the nerdy bus and numbers group thinks they've got a shot at **STRONG** Towns Ottawa. And we've got home ice advantage.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 12/08/2026
Wait, what?!
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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I’m all for saving money. But this all comes from the wrong place: deferring infrastructure investments is a quick way to kick the can down the road. In 20 years these politicians won’t be here but you’re failing pipes. Roads and community centres will be. And that’s when the bills will be due 1/
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 11/08/2026
If you don't want to add to the financial burden of residents then seriously invest into the services they rely on, like public transit, affordable housing, etc...
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 11/08/2026
Where have these "savings and efficiencies" gotten us over the last 4 years? All we've seen is a deterioration in our services and more cuts. Having your bus come less often isn't a "saving". "Record investments" will happen just by virtue of following inflation, that doesn't mean anything.
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 11/08/2026
Completely understand why you wouldn't want to attend, a lot of our members are feeling the exact same way after last night, and it certainly isn't the first time this has happened. - Marko
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 11/08/2026
This Thursday night only: come listen to @bettertransitottawa.ca talk about buses & numbers! 6pm, St. Peter's Lutheran Church All are welcome, no need to RSVP luma.com/bbim7cln
luma.com
Monthly Meeting—August Better Transit Ottawa Takes Over · Luma
Join us for our August monthly meeting. Better Transit Ottawa will be taking over and showing off some of the tools tracking bus statistics. You'll have the…
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