Global advisor on better cities, city planning, transportation & urban change. City planner + urbanist leading TODERIAN UrbanWORKS Inc. Past Chief Planner for Vancouver BC. Past/founding President of the Council For Canadian Urbanism. International writer, speaker & media.
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2026-05-18T19:13:04+02:00 Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “We could never do THAT in OUR city!” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian One of the biggest disinformation campaigns ever applied to cities involves the constant claims that “driving pays its way.” It’s actually MASSIVELY subsidized, while things like walking, biking, public transit & supportive housing for the unhoused actually SAVE PUBLIC MONEY. HT to the classic Andy Singer cartoon. #UrbanTruth npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Gas prices? What gas prices?” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian If you’re in your car in traffic and you see people moving smoothly on bikes in a protected bike-lane, or a full bus zooming past you in a bus-only lane, sure you could be mad at them for moving faster than you, or you could be someone who understands geometry and knows that providing mobility choices that take less space makes getting around cities better for EVERYONE. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Safe, protected bike-lanes are: npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Not density OR trees. Density AND trees. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “A city’s creativity doesn’t depend on cars. That’s the 20th century. We’re in the 21st.”— Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Don’t buy a cow, or a car, and expect your city to give you someplace to park it. #UrbanTruth npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian If you haven’t watched this before, you should. The brilliant Carl Sagan testifying before the United States Congress in 1985 on #ClimateChange. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas and city center in 2021.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW THIS WEEK: We’ve officially launched the URBAN TRUTH COLLECTIVE, to tell the truth more persuasively about better cities, and unapologetically call out the lies and liars! Explore our new website https://www.urbantruthcollective.com/about-1 and please help us spread the word! #UrbanTruth npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian A good thing to remember every time you’re thinking about supporting US businesses or tourism, Canada. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “The effort to quiet Paris complements the wider campaign to make Paris greener, cleaner & less car-dependent, which include vehicle restrictions in the center, crackdowns on polluting vehicles, & an ambitious expansion of bike networks. Those have cut the city’s average noise level by 2 decibels.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian I’m still not sure if enough Americans fully understand how hard it is for the rest of us to continually see polls showing “how unpopular Trump is” when he’s still ridiculously and shockingly more popular than he should be in any sane nation. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “The collapse of the AI bubble is going to be ugly…AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector & tech monopolists run amok.“ npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back to a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Elon Musk admitted to his biographer that the reason the Hyperloop was announced—even though he had no intention of pursuing it—was to try to disrupt the California high-speed rail project to get in the way of that actually succeeding.” — @parismarx.com in @gizmodo.com npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Pope Leo said in a Christmas Eve sermon on Wednesday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn should remind Christians that refusing to help the poor & strangers today is tantamount to rejecting God himself.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Electric cars are no more dangerous for pedestrians than petrol and diesel models, researchers find.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW/LISTEN! Been really looking forward to this one — my interview with Jason from @npub1z7x…q5jf is LIVE on many podcast platforms plus YouTube! We cover a LOT of really important ground on how to ACTUALLY ACHIEVE BETTER CITIES IN REAL PRACTICE; how city planners can and should be a lot better, a lot less boring, and much more effective (and NOT Neutral!); and how to actually transform the public and media conversation out there about better city-making! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Xevlt7aes npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Never forget, if you design a city for cars, it fails for everyone, including drivers. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian ICYMI: "Paris started with periodic, strategic closures of key streets, then day-long closures of the entire city center, always in the context of the conversation about air quality, livability & noise…It's a very smart way of doing it." — @npub1ztg…g0py in BlogTO. #Paris npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian WATCH: If you REALLY want to understand a BIG reason why cycling [aka riding a bicycle] is so dangerous in North America, and one of the biggest villains in the origin story of our unsafe status quo, invest some time watching this one, by NOT JUST BIKES (@npub1z7x…q5jf). Then share it. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian It's a goal of mine to help make this the most famous, well-known and UNDERSTOOD quote about cities in history. Please share it as much as you can. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Once rare, 7-year car loans are fast becoming the norm. They’re often the only way buyers can afford new rides, with average sale prices surging 28% in 5 years to approach $50k.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW: “Toderian says it’s easy to be distracted by futuristic innovations like electric cars, drone delivery networks & hyperloops. ‘The real solutions are a lot less sexy and a lot more common sense… Tech won’t save us if we get the fundamentals wrong.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian You can be a “car guy” and not like car dependency. You can be a “car guy” and get that too many cars in cities is bad for everyone, including drivers. You can be a “car guy” and be tired of lies & manipulations like “the war on cars.” You can be a “car guy” and know more choice means more freedom. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “We can’t all be expected to bike.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “The rise in high-fronted SUVs poses a clear and growing threat to public safety, especially for children,” states the report. “With no benefit to society, it’s time for lawmakers at all levels to act.” Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian One of the most successful pedestrian streets in the world, the Strøget in Copenhagen, was filled with cars until a 2 year pedestrianization pilot project in 1962. The opposition argued “no cars means no business,” but the street has been a massive retail success, the city’s busiest shopping street. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian This is an INSANE decision by the E.U. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW: 1km of Montreal’s Ste-Catherine Street will become permanently “pedestrian only” (less than perfect term since it will be a people-place for a LOT more than walking). 225+ new trees, vegetation-covered pits for rain drainage, more seating, illuminated canopy, financial help for businesses, etc. https://bsky.app/profile/brenttoderian.bsky.social/post/3lx3l6uzmgs2v npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Helsinki has not recorded a single traffic fatality in the past 12 months, city and police officials confirmed this week.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian PARIS: “If we’re honest, we’ll admit that many cities still need to take their first real steps toward more sustainable city-making. And every city needs to go much further & faster.” Forbes writer @npub1aez…xxkc interviews me on our bold new PARIS EXHIBITION launched by Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the City of Paris. #Paris npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian In a sane world, this would be the biggest, most important news story in the world. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian This is really important. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian As our cities get hotter and hotter, dark coloured buildings make no rational sense, even if you like that aesthetic (I do). npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Whether it’s city cooling, air cleaning, quality-of-life & comfort, storm water management, habitat/biodiversity, or many more reasons, urban greening is one of the smartest “common sense” things a city can do. Paris has been showing cities everywhere how much farther and faster you can go when you really want to, even in a really “tight” city (both above ground and underground). Great to reconnect with Paris Deputy Mayor Christophe Najdovski — that’s his portfolio. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Want greener, cooler cities that are a “breath of fresh air?“ In case you thought Paris wasn’t ambitious enough this weekend, on top of our new exhibition, they opened the wonderful new “Urban Forest” in the square in front of City Hall! Part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo and her great team’s brilliant urban greening strategy. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian As a general rule, in every election everywhere, we really might want to consider not supporting the candidates that billionaires like best. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian EXPERIMENT: Since Slate has been attacking Bluesky lately, yesterday I tried a simple test. I posted the QUESTION below on Bluesky, X, Mastodon & LinkedIn to test my sense that Bluesky gets the most engagement (replies, reposts) with urbanism content. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian What’s the MOST IMPORTANT THING you wish your local elected leaders understood about better cities for EVERYONE? npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Once again, Montreal is showing the rest of North America how to transform streets for people — 8 commercial streets in Montreal will be “pedestrianized” [turned into great people-places] this summer with 7.3km across 6 boroughs. Plus additional smaller sections. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian How tall is this Downtown Vancouver building? npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian BIG NEWS: I’m very honoured to announce that I’ve been collaborating with the CITY OF PARIS under Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s leadership to co-curate a unique exhibition opening this summer at Paris City Hall on BOLD URBAN TRANSFORMATION around the world. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Don’t forget those who insisted that actions needed to avoid the #ClimateCrisis were “too expensive.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian The Canadian Election is on Monday. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Your periodic reminder that cities aren’t loud, cars are loud. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian ‘I feel utter anger’: From Canada to Europe, a movement to boycott US goods is spreading. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. Four out of five people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian You can’t overstate the historic importance of today’s speech to both American and Canadian citizens by Canada’s Prime Minister. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Mike Myers, Canadian legend, on SNL tonight. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Don’t forget those who insisted that actions needed to avoid the #ClimateCrisis were “too expensive.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Better for congestion AND better for crashes! npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian A big part of the reason the rich bad guys are winning is that they understand that buying mainstream media and social media isn’t about making money on that mainstream media or social media. It’s about power and control, and making MUCH more money as a result of that power and control. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian AMAZING JOB ALERT! Commissioner of Transportation & Infrastructure Services. I’ve been advising the City of Kingston Canada for 7 years now, and they’ve become a rock star city for innovation & boldness among mid-sided cities. This is a KEY LEADERSHIP role! Deadline coming fast, check it out. https://careers.cityofkingston.ca/CL2/XWEB/XWEB.ASP?CLID=61577&PAGE=JOBDETAILS&JOBID=J1224-0216&BRID=362443&UTM_SOURCE=NJOYN&UTM_MEDIUM=RSS&UTM_CAMPAIGN=PCANDIDATES&LANG=1 npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Before choosing bottled water over tap water, remember it takes more than 10X the water that a bottle of water holds to make the plastic bottle and transport the water. And that’s before considering the fuel and GHGs, the 1000 year bottle life, and the RIDICULOUS amount of $ we’re paying for water. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian WATCH THIS! Every person in Ontario should watch & share this new video, whether you care about Toronto’s success & bike-lanes or not. An absolutely DEVASTATING slaughter of “The World’s Dumbest Bike-Lane Law” using facts, evidence and COMMON SENSE, by #NotJustBikes. @npub1z7x…q5jf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgFCQ7jEZxI npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Did you know, the hotel that #TaylorSwift is staying at in downtown Vancouver, wouldn’t exist without Vancouver’s heritage density bonusing system? npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Every year, billions of vehicles worldwide shed an estimated 6 million tonnes of tire fragments. These tiny flakes of plastic, generated by normal driving, account for 28% of microplastics entering the environment globally. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian BREAKING: "I will be Mayor of Paris until the last day, with the same energy as I’ve had since the beginning.” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, probably the best and most inspiring mayor in the world in recent years, has announced that she won’t run for a 3rd term. #Paris https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2024/11/26/anne-hidalgo-je-ne-me-presenterai-pas-a-un-troisieme-mandat-de-maire-de-paris_6414736_823448.html npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Hey, remember when car and oil companies successfully lobbied governments to create car dependent cities and suburbs, and once we became almost completely car dependent, WE became the loudest, angriest champions of unhindered road space for cars, unnaturally cheap gas, and subsidized free parking? npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian URBANISM BOOK ALERT: One of the most interesting cities to learn from when it comes to smart city-building is Oslo, Norway. My old friend Erling Fossen has a new book ready for pre-order on Oslo urbanism, and I wrote the forward. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian IMPORTANT: “What impressed Mr. Toderian most was not just the exclusion of cars but what replaced them. ‘They weren’t lazy about it. They didnt just throw up barriers & ban cars,’ he said.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian I’m surprised that while my Bluesky account has grown by 8000 followers — DOUBLED to 16k+ — in just the last week since the election, my Mastodon count hasn’t changed at all. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Trump wants Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General of the United States of America. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian "Without our bikes, we would not have been able to buy much-needed food and water supplies and then quickly deliver them to cut-off villages within half-an-hour.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian The “E-Bike Effect:” Those who bought e-bikes increased their average daily bicycle use from 2.1km (1.3 miles) to 9.2km (5.7 miles), a 340% increase. The e-bike share of all their transportation increased dramatically too; from 17% to 49%. Via @Treehugger npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian IMPORTANT: “That ignores a big determinant of political behavior: where people get their news & information. It’s odd how little attention has been given to this, given that in the past decade we’ve had a revolution in how information flows.” Via [@politico](https://flipboard.com/@politico ) https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/09/social-media-traditional-news-elections-00188548 npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Nations too often let us down. My biggest faith is in cities. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Want an example of a broken system? Florida DIDN’T “reject” the proposal to include a right to abortion in the constitution — they voted 58.2% in favor of abortion rights. But it needed 60% to pass, so it failed WITH A MAJORITY. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian PARIS: “City Hall says that its aim is to reduce thru traffic. That is, non-resident motorists driving thru while traveling from one side of Paris to another. Currently, between 350k & 500k cars use what will be the ZTL every day, & City Hall estimates that up to 50% of those journeys is thru traffic.” Via @npub1aez…xxkc npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian THIS IS HUGE. Paris City Hall has announced that starting on Monday, Paris will limit (not ban) car traffic in the city centre, as cities like Ghent have done. They’re creating a limited traffic zone (ZTL) about 2 sq miles in size, to clean the air & create more space for people. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Valencia, Spain. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW: “Wrong-headed is an understatement,” says Toderian. “This is like instituting a ban on intelligence.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian WATCH: Seriously, if you’re following ANY bike-lane debate, you HAVE TO WATCH this news story. You actually can’t make this up. Ford claims without evidence that bike-lanes are bad for small business, and THE ACTUAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION obliterates him with data. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW: “Do bike lanes really cause more traffic congestion? Here's what the research says. Studies from around the world show bike lanes ease congestion, reduce emissions & are a boon to businesses.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian IMPORTANT: Ontario Premier Doug Ford doesn’t JUST plan to block new bike-lanes, hamstringing cities from making improvements that help them succeed in every way we measure — he ALSO plans to obscenely waste public money and endanger the public by ripping out working bike routes that are already built. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian One of the most successful pedestrian streets in the world, the Strøget in Copenhagen was filled with cars until a 2 year pilot project in 1962. The opposition argued “no cars means no business” but the street has been a massive retail success, the city’s busiest shopping street. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Hell is other people.” — Jean-Paul Sartre. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Seville, Spain eliminated 5,000 car parking spaces and built an 80 km protected cycling network in just 18 months with 32 million €. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian IMPORTANT: According to the City of Paris, in the last 10 years 150,000 trees have been planted and 45 hectares of parks created in the city, all intended to not only improve quality-of-life today, but also help the city adapt to and manage summer heatwaves of 50℃ (122F) by 2050. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “What about all the cars? And where will we park?!?” One of the biggest elephants in the room in every North American downtown is the flawed assumption that prioritizing cars over people fuels downtown success. Read our Downtown Sacramento Livability Strategy tackling that and a lot more head on! npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian NEW: “The result is an endless cycle in which congestion leads to highway expansion, which invites more peak-hour trips, which brings back traffic & so on. The pattern is so inevitable that economists have dubbed induced demand the iron law of congestion.” Via @npub1zra…080t npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian STUDY: ‘Dual-mode households’ (cars & ebikes) can reduce their car use by 19% compared to those solely reliant on cars, particularly affecting shorter trips. This supports households moving to one car and adopting a ‘car light’ lifestyle. Via @MomentumMag https://momentummag.com/study-shows-how-e-bikes-are-shifting-the-transportation-landscape/ npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian IMPORTANT: This kind of small-scale retail, cafe/restaurant or service should be legal on every corner in cities/suburbs. A basic part of walkable communities. They aren’t easy financially, but at least they should be legal in policy and zoning. In plans I’m working on, I’m calling them “corner convenience.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “To use a technical term, it blew my mind,” said Vancouver’s former chief planner Brent Toderian…”They weren’t lazy about it—they didn’t just throw up barriers and ban cars. It might be the best bargain I’ve ever heard,” Toderian said. #Montreal npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “Better” cars just isn’t enough. As I put it recently in my advice to Irish cities, “Your goal SHOULDN’T be to replace a million fossil fuel vehicles with a million electric vehicles. It should be to replace a million fossil fuel vehicles with 250K electric vehicles. The answer HAS to be FEWER cars." npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian There are many versions of this image out there. The good ones illustrate why “better cars” will never be more than part of the answer, and actually help “lock in” the #CarDependency that’s the real problem. They also show why status-quo interests want to focus on the vehicles. npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian “This brilliant illustration, made by Swedish artist Karl Jilg & commissioned by the Swedish Road Administration, shows just how extreme the situation truly is — even in an urban district that's designed with pedestrians in mind.” npub1ztg06yhpggpnyyutcf47eflvgjjqw8wxmzjshekgd7zply2v976q6ug0py Brent Toderian Remember, there’s infrastructure, and then there’s Dutch infrastructure.
