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Thaneson Balachandran

@thaneson.bsky.social
40 followers 143 following 47 posts
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This consultation was also held in the evening, so people who had work could still attend. I attended, not many others did.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The article mentioned 5 applications for permits iirc, but either way Dong’s complaints are overblown. The ward is one of a few that has decreased in population, which was part of the rationale for piloting sixplexes. We got details for consultation in the mail for the sixplex project as well.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The NDP are actually close to their seat count if we did proportional representation (25 vs. 23). Liberals would have 37 seats, the OPC would have 53, and the Green Party would have 6. The remaining five-ish seats would be distributed to other parties.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Damn near all the bright white plastic bollards in Scarborough are destroyed. Proper/permanent traffic calming infrastructure needs to be implemented ASAP.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Are the bike lane and sidewalk level with the crossing (continuous) at some intersections? Looks like it is in the second picture.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Isn’t queen part of the slow zone until OL tunneling in the area is completed? Does this graphic show slow zones for maintenance only?
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Aligned pretty well with my councillor, Jamaal Myers. Most differences were on some motions I was not familiar with.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Cheaper/better elevators? 👀
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Inspired by your work and happy to see at least some neighbourhood retail is allowed, but sad to hear nevertheless. I strongly supported EHON, and was excited about the neighbourhood retail portion until it got watered down. Hoping it gets expanded outside downtown post election.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Yea that makes sense. I guess I assumed TSP would just extend the transit signal and delay the lagging left if the green phase was about to end but the way you described it sounds more flexible.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Basically, we move lefts turns to the end of the cycle so that any train/tram approaching an intersection that was red would just get a green light and can continue to move at regular speed.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
My assumption was the implementation of lagging lefts would allow for TSP since advanced left achieves the opposite goal (force through traffic to stop and wait for left turns). It’s been many months since the change was made, so it’s quite strange we haven’t rolled out proper TSP at this point.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
They still run that intersection with advanced left turn signals?! The ones by Kennedy station have been set so the left turn signal turns green last for quite some time now. Thought all the intersections on the above ground section of the LRT were like this.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Feels like I’m catching a cold for the second time this summer 🤦🏾‍♂️
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Same thing happened with Toronto’s Kensington Market. Business owners who typically drive to their shops can’t believe their patrons don’t also drive there, so instead of pedestrianized streets, there’s pedestrian sundays once a month from May to October.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Great work as always
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
If they do deliveries through UberEats or other apps maybe you could ask them if they have covers for part you sip from. I’ve seen Starbucks stick on a thicker piece of waxed paper to prevent spills, not sure about more local shops.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
The term he should’ve used was social democracy which as you mentioned includes capitalism, but lots of strong social programs through redistribution, which is what he wanted to achieve if elected as president.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Unfortunately I think Bernie’s first attempt at the Democrat primary is what caused a lot of confusion as he was the first person to mention the term “democratic socialism” to the public in NA. Democratic socialism is socialism with a leader that was voted for democratically.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Nearly bought a 20 year old bike that rode better than any other bike I had before. Unfortunately it was just a bit too big for me.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I’ve seen more and more docks pop up in Scarborough the past several months, but we’re lacking in infrastructure. Most people here ride on sidewalks still…
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I think unit size is also a factor. Smaller units would be easier to rent out to local businesses, but most of the ones I see are massive.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I think you’re missing my point. You’ve been using “AI” (was branded as machine learning before chatGPT in 2022) for at least a decade as well as many other services that host data centres for even longer. You’re on an app coded with AI right now. Your phone uses AI/ML to process each photo taken.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
While I understand not wanting a data centre near where you live, I don’t think people understand every time we do anything online we’re using a data centre. Even without LLMs we’ve been building more and more over time.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
and this is not just for harmless subjects or thoughts. In a neuroscience course I took in undergrad, we learned of a study that showed changes in neural signals associated with picking a side of a moral argument that were heavily influenced by attention to one side of the argument 2/2
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
In that case you are certain about something. However, when we don’t know something or are ambivalent to different sides of an argument, simply increasing attention or repeating of an argument or opinion will sway you one way or another. It’s why advertising and marketing are so important. 1/2
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
You would think we were trying to be the first nation to send astronauts to mars the way the dicourse around HSR has been going.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Or if your neighbourhood has nonsensical windy roads despite the terrain. When I couldn’t use the school bus in seventh grade, I could walk on the sidewalk in a U shape path home, which took 30 min, or I could walk through a forested area with no pedestrian infrastructure which took only 10 min.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
That said, if the ONDP is anything like the federal version of the party regarding housing policy, then maybe we shouldn’t give them the benefit of the doubt.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
If I were giving both her and the reporter the benefit of the doubt, maybe they couldn’t include the whole convo/cut the response or interview short since her reaction is not the focus of the article? Seems like a strange juxtaposition of quotes.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
News sites seem to hate mobile browsers so I’ll have to check out the article later, but are the business owners surveyed informed about the results? I typically don’t when I do surveys, but I’d hope they did so they would know the reality of how their customers arrived to their business.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
It’s also important to note that if you do want to support local businesses making goods locally, you need two things: an abundance of retail space, and related to that, non-exclusionary zoning. That is what makes local artisans and craftspersons thrive in places like Tokyo or Montreal.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Increased density and diversity of uses should improve perception about crime as neighbours run into each other more often, challenging the availability heuristic of seeing crime all the time on the news. The problem is we densify without any reason for people to explore their neighbourhood.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
I can agree with the tweet’s premise in high density areas or at public transit hubs, but I feel like it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation in the suburbs. We’ve replaced eyes on the street with surveillance cameras. Community and neighbours means less now in suburbs.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
I wonder if it’s because a lot of us grew up in suburbs and didn’t experience urbanism until we studied/worked in city downtowns. At that point we’re gaining education or developing a career in a different field.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
I will say the Toronto bike share app might be what is making the docked experience much worse than Hamiltons system. You also get charged more if you don’t lock a Hamilton bike at one of the system’s bike racks, so that prevents bikes being left in random places.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
I like Hamilton’s dockless system vs. Torontos docked system. A u-shaped lock is lodged into two holes when a Hamilton bike is locked. You just scan a QR code on the back of the bike to unlock it then pull the u-shaped lock out of the bike. There’s loops on both sides to hold the lock while you ride
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
I volunteered at a conference and the names were on both sides and the lanyard clipped onto two holes making it less likely to flip.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Can’t comment on other examples, just wanted to say it’s great to see builders include 447 bike parking spots for this property even after the province has been working towards removing the bike lanes there. Hopefully this and the pushback from residents and businesses makes the province reconsider.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Sucks that we are so averse to elevated rail when so many places have implemented it well, including within our own nation.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Looks great! Do we have evidence of bony protrusions/osteoderms for this species or any other pachycephalosaurs, or are you basing it on their close relation to Ceratopsia? Sorry if I’m using the wrong scientific term, but I hope you understand what I mean.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
This and a clip I saw on Reddit of someone cycling with many others on the DVP for the Bike for Brain Health event showed how cars are the reason cities are loud.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Happy birthday and congratulations on your illustration being used for the cover of Science!
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Ngl, I don’t see how non rail vehicles could ever be as smooth as a tram. Feels like your on a moving walkway. A shame that they’re so slow in Toronto and poorly integrated with our streets. Hopefully the push for TSP for the Line 5 and 6 results in some changes for the streetcars eventually.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered it!
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Where did you get yours? I’ve been looking for a Dutch bike.
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Thaneson Balachandran @thaneson.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Looks amazing. Have you illustrated any other stegosaurs?
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