Strong Towns Ottawa
@strongtownsottawa.ca
https://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
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!
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
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!
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!
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!
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.
CTV News Ottawa@ctvnewsottawa.bsky.social · last wk.Lawson pledges to end vacant unit tax at first council meeting if elected mayor of Ottawa
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.
It's Jamie@sjamieit.bsky.social · 2w agoOn 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.
This caveman is unfortunately hitting a little bit too close to home 😅😅 www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWbD...
Caveman NIMBY
YouTube video by ReasonTV
youtube.com
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!
CTV News Ottawa@ctvnewsottawa.bsky.social · 2w agoLeiper pledges to add 1% infrastructure levy to property tax increases if elected Ottawa mayor
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.
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.
cbc.ca
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...
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!
eventbrite.ca
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...
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!
eventbrite.ca
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...
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!
eventbrite.ca
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/...
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.
cbc.ca
🫠 "$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
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...
cbc.ca
ScarletCoral@scarletcoral.ca · 4w agovia @cbcnews.ca "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'll cost taxpayers" #bikeTO #ONpoli #toronto
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/...
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.
cbc.ca
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
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!
“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.
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.
ctvnews.ca
$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.
CTV News Ottawa@ctvnewsottawa.bsky.social · last mo.Sutcliffe promises to boost funding for rural roads, advance ring road if re-elected mayor of Ottawa
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
Casual Social Gathering—August · Luma
Join us for our monthly casual social gathering, have some food/drinks, and have a good time!
luma.com
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.
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...
The Challenge of Planning
Policies meet reality; it shouldn't be this hard to build housing
substack.com
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...
Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · last mo.14 hours later and my mentions are still full of angry treatises about badly behaved cyclists. Bike lanes are not a reward for good cyclist behavior! They are infrastructure proven to make cities safer for ALL ROAD USERS. Whatever way cyclists have wronged you is irrelevant to the discussion!
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!
M. Nolan Gray 🥑@mnolangray.bsky.social · 2mo agoI've probably posted about these before, but I'm really fascinated by these developments near Sacramento State that add two stories of residential to what is otherwise vanilla sprawl commercial development. How did this happen? It's so rare to see these sorts of additions.
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!
CAFES Ottawa@cafesottawa.bsky.social · 2mo ago🗳️ Join The Peoples Official Plan (POP) and CAFES Ottawa for the Mayoral Candidate Forum & Meet and Greet on Wednesday, August 26. All Mayoral candidates have been invited to this forum. RSVP🔗 www.eventbrite.ca/e/mayoral-ca... 📅 Wed, August 26, 2026 🕕 6:00 PM 📍Nepean Sportsplex Hall A
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!
Elysia♡@ely.pub.moe · 2mo agoSome of the unedited JPEG photos I took for @bettertransitottawa.ca 's invasion of @strongtownsottawa.ca tonight! Featuring @seandevine9.bsky.social and @jleiper.bsky.social
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
