Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Hugh Millward

Civixplorer @civixplorer.bsky.social · 16h

🛣️ How highways are made.

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 14h

Bay of Fundy area was extremely dry.

Trevor Heywood @metroscapes.ca · 16h

New drought map from @agriculture.canada.ca is out. "At the end of the month, 85% of the country was classified as Abnormally Dry (D0) or Moderate to Extreme Drought (D1 to D3), including 76% of the country's agricultural landscape."

Canadian Drought Monitor map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as of September 30, 2025. https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-production/weather/canadian-drought-monitor/current-drought-conditions

Reposted by Hugh Millward

Streetsblog USA @usa.streetsblog.org · 16h

Kids aren’t riding bikes like they used to… but that doesn’t mean we can’t get them back in the saddle.

Friday Video: Five Simple Ways To Get Kids Biking To School — Streetsblog USA

Kids aren't riding bikes like they used to — but that doesn't mean we can't get them back in the saddle.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 15h

European Obesity Rate By Country 2024

See how it compares to US States: brilliantmaps.com/obesity-r...

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 14h

Correlates with median house values.

VineMapper @vinemapper.bsky.social · 15h

Median Real Estate Taxes Paid For Housing Units Without A Mortgage #Mortgage #Taxes #RealEstate #PropertyTaxes #GIS #American #VineMapper #America #USA

Reposted by Hugh Millward

Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 15h

Over the last 60 years, the world population has more than doubled.

This has inevitably reduced the land available per person to live and grow food.

How have we managed to feed a rapidly growing population with ever-shrinking land resources?

A line chart showing the change from 1961 to 2023 in global cereal production, yield, land use, and population. All figures are indexed to 1961, which is given a value of zero.

In this time, the world population has more than doubled. And the world can now produce more than three times as much cereal from a given area of land as it did in 1961 (i.e., an increase in yield of 214%). In the same period, land used for cereal has only increased by 14%.

The data sources are the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (2025); HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); and the UN WPP (2024). The chart is licensed CC BY to Our World in Data.

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

Ben Christopher @frombenc.bsky.social · 16h

Newsom signed SB79.

calmatters.org/housing/2025...

Newsom signs massive California housing overhaul

After weeks of waiting, California’s governor signed a bill that will allow mid-rise apartment buildings near major transit stops in California’s biggest metro areas.

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 15h

I take a look at #Paris's super-métro, which alone will carry 3 million passengers a day, in this HIGH SPEED dispatch:

www.highspeed.blog/the-new-fren...

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 15h

Newsom signs historic housing bill to bring density to transit hubs

Newsom signed Senate Bill 79 into law on Friday. The historic bill, which looks to add density to transit hubs across California, is one of the most ambitious state-imposed housing efforts in recent memory.

www.latimes.com

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 14h

And a few diseases to Europe too?

Civixplorer @civixplorer.bsky.social · 14h

⛵️ The Columbian exchange reshaped global diets and economies, and also triggered disease, especially in the Americas.

🔎 Encyclopædia Britannica

Reposted by Hugh Millward

Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 23h

Which Language Does Every Country Want to Learn?

brilliantmaps.com/which-lan...

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 21h

Explore the data on life expectancy for individual countries: ourworldindata.org/grapher/life...

Life expectancy

An interactive visualization from Our World in Data.

ourworldindata.org

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

Active Travel Please! @activetraveltt.bsky.social · 22h

Safe walking, cycling, and scooting routes to schools don’t just benefit students, they improve safety for everyone, improve children’s health, independence and social connections – all while easing pressure on our road network.
#ActiveTravel #PoliticalWill
bq.org.au/news/why-cha...

Why changing school drop off habits could be a silver bullet for congestion – Bicycle Queensland

bq.org.au

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 19h

But Brexit was finalized in 2020.

Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 20h

Regional EU GDP Per Capita 2004 vs 2014

To understand Brexit look at the UK.

Source: brilliantmaps.com/regional-...

Reposted by Hugh Millward

Halifax Regional Municipality @hfxgov.bsky.social · 19h

Halifax Municipal Archives is hosting a Cogswell District Scan-a-thon on Oct. 25 from 1-4 p.m. at Central Library. Do you have any photos, slides or negatives of the homes, buildings or people once located in this reimagined neighbourhood? Share them with us at the event! Learn more: buff.ly/A4HNxJj

Alt: A historic black and white Municipal Archives photo overlooking the what is now the Cogswell District, overlayed with white text that reads: Cogswell District Scan-a-thon. Saturday, October 25 from 1-4 p.m.

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Reposted by Hugh Millward

Ben MacLeod 馬志斌 @benmacleod.bsky.social · 19h

the affordability gaps, graphed:

A series of graphs from an October 2, 2025 report titled "House Price Assessment – Update" published by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The figure has 12 panels each showing affordable and average house prices at a monthly frequency from January 2015 to August 2025 in CMAs and in Canada (national level). In each panel, the y-axis represents house prices and the x-axis represents the month.

From 2015 to 2020, affordable house prices remain relatively flat or rise gradually in all jurisdictions. Affordable prices then fall sharply in 2022 but begin to recover steadily in 2024 and 2025.

Trends in average house prices diverge across different CMAs:
In Edmonton and Winnipeg, house prices remain relatively close to affordable levels from 2015 to 2025.

In Calgary, Halifax, Montréal and Québec, average prices rise above affordable levels between 2020 and 2022 and remain persistently higher afterwards.

In Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Canada (national), average prices follow an increasing trend and rise above affordable prices. Average prices peak in early 2022 before falling slightly but stabilizing above affordable prices.

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 19h

Earliest in the South and latest in the highlands? Surely it should be the reverse?

Reposted by Hugh Millward

Ben MacLeod 馬志斌 @benmacleod.bsky.social · 19h

"Out of the 11 Canadian cities studied by the report, Halifax has the widest gap between house prices and what the typical household could afford."

Halifax house prices much higher on average than what households can afford: report | CBC News

A recent report found that house prices in Halifax are, on average, 74 per cent higher than what the typical household can afford.

www.cbc.ca

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 19h

But decreasing household sizes mean demand per capita continues to increase. www.axios.com/2025/10/09/h...

Housing is outpacing population growth, but there's a catch

But affordability is also part of the story.

www.axios.com

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 20h

www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/sh...

Shopping malls transform into housing communities as developers tackle nationwide shortage

Mall-to-housing conversions face significant challenges including zoning law changes and high construction costs that can reduce affordability benefits for buyers.

www.foxbusiness.com

Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 20h

Poundbury is a good model, but is it affordable? thecritic.co.uk/new-towns-mu...

New towns must be good towns | Ike Ijeh | The Critic Magazine

When Lewis Silkin, Minister of Town & Country in Clement Atlee’s Government, visited the site of Britain’s first proposed new town in Stevenage in 1946, furious local residents made their feelings…

thecritic.co.uk

Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 20h

www.economist.com/internationa...

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport

Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war

www.economist.com

Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 20h

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Halifax council says planning changes are province's attempt to 'undo their own mistake' | CBC News

Halifax councillors say new planning changes from the province show the PC government is trying to fix a mess it created, and more public consultation on the issue will be “a sham.”

www.cbc.ca

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Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent. Important for context.

Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 1d

Demographic map of Israel & Palestine

See the numbers here: brilliantmaps.com/israel-pa...

Hugh Millward @hmillward.bsky.social · 1d

Percent of generation but not of consumption.

The American Geographical Society @americangeo.bsky.social · 1d

Renewables Overtake Coal:
Renewable energy overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity in the first half of this year - a historic first, according to new data from global energy think tank Ember.

Read more: mailchi.mp/americangeo/...

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