Brian F. Kelcey
@stateofthecity.bsky.social
Was @stateofthecity on Twitter. Veteran of a B-Grade, Film Noir genre of politics known as "local government." Current gig: second tour of duty in the Winnipeg Mayor's Office. Hometowns: Victoria, Winnipeg, Toronto. Working on 'Debt City' (see debt.city)
Counterpoint, on New York. (And from what little I'm seeing, my own take is, I'd say generalizations in either direction feel wrong at this stage)
Noah Shachtman@noahshachtman.bsky.social · 3h agoWithout getting into sourcing, this article is off-base. Some of New York's biggest power players are talking to Mamdani *all the time*. I met with one just the other day who said he's had 10 meetings with Mamdani since he won the primary.
TFW you lost a draft post not because of the error you thought your app had made, but because it's 5:30am and you didn't realize you were posting with two separate phones at once.
Had a chat with my kid about the concept of nostalgia. His immediate response was to ask me to play Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald singing 'Let's Call the Whole Thing Off,' which I did; we hadn't played it for a year or two at least. I guess I got lucky with the whole kid thing.
i don't like to police genre, but it's not dark academia unless somebody gets squished in one of these bad boys
Public land, in British Columbia
Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)@ubchart.bsky.social · 22h agoWhy do we need a map of public land anyway? Our report "Land Use and Governance in BC" covers the barriers, and potential solutions, to building more affordable housing across BC. We just republished it online for easy reading. See for yourself: buff.ly/RYtax1x
West Hollywood, CA is watching you, in West Hollywood, CA lataco.com/weho-flock-c...
West Hollywood Sold Its Soul to Flock Cameras ~ L.A. TACO
The City Council voted 3-2 to install a network of cameras that photographs and logs the license plate of every vehicle entering and leaving the city.
lataco.com
And hey, I still consider myself a British Columbian but I'm an Islander, not one of those Vancouver Vancouverites. We're different. And it's important that we are, dammit.
Vancouver, BC. Research Co, online panel, 401 sample. H/t @jmcelroy.bsky.social, but I'm reposting the whole doc because I want to see if anyone else sees the one number I've been watching for out of curiosity this whole time, but which I can't (yet) talk about. researchco.ca/2026/08/04/v...
1/3 of the Vote Could Suffice in Vancouver’s Mayoral Election
Few likely municipal voters held positive views on the recently abandoned Villages Plan.
researchco.ca
Brooklyn, NY
Paul (parking reform) Barter@paulbarter.bsky.social · 2d ago"[NYC's] property tax system keeps sending the same message it sent in 1988: there’s no cost to leaving good land idle, so you might as well park a few cars on it." by @danieltrubman.bsky.social danieltrubman.substack.com/p/the-willia...
Today, for work, I have decided to dress as a late 1980s cop show
75 days to local elxns in BC 77 days to Alberta's pre-referendum on separation 84 days until E-Day for city elxns in Ontario 86 days to E-Day for Winnipeg City elxns 92 days to E-Day for the US mid-terms Local elxns aside, I feel as if there's a lot of sleepwalking on this continent right now
St. Catharines, ON (pop 140k) and Lincoln, ON (pop 25k) on the Niagara Peninsula
CTV News Kitchener@ctvnewskitchener.bsky.social · 2d agoState of emergency declared in St. Catharines, Lincoln due to flooding - A pair of municipalities in Niagara Region, St. Catharines and Lincoln, have both declared a state of emergency due to flooding following heavy rainfall.
After-mayoring, in / out of New York City
Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 2d agoThere he is! There's our guy!
The first two movies of the Bourne trilogy are a story about how the decision to accept short-term gig economy work ultimately kills a young German woman.
New York City. "The MTA last week reported paid bus ridership fell nearly 8% in June compared to the same month last year, despite the subway and commuter railroads bringing in more fares." gothamist.com/news/mamdani...
Mamdani hasn't made NYC's buses free. Riders stopped paying anyway.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber suggested the mayor's 2025 campaign pledge led to a rise in fare evasion on buses.
gothamist.com
Missed this in June: 'upgrading' derelict property tax, in Ireland. www.rte.ie/news/2026/06...
Govt to introduce new Derelict Property Tax
The Government is to introduce a new Derelict Property Tax in 107 cities and towns across the State.
rte.ie
Why it's important that historically-accurate people argue back against the silly "a GM conspiracy killed all the streetcars, just like in that movie" story.
Christof Spieler@christofspieler.bsky.social · 2d agoI think the conspiracy is comforting to people -- "a few bad guys did this." The reality -- "electeds, planners, and most of the public believed that the car was the future and rail transit was outdated" is actually more unsettling since it raises the question of what we're getting wrong now.