Mark (he/him)
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markedwardson.com
Mark (he/him)
@markedwardson.com
720 followers 1.6K following 1.1K posts
Civil engineering, transit, active transportation, housing, and Civ 6 shill | @WilfulAlpaca on twitter. | Vancouver/Victoria
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Reposted by Mark (he/him)
I have gotten lots of questions over the years for a python version of cancensus. @dshkol.bsky.social has now built a python port!
Yet another way to make StatCan census data more accessible.
the cancensus R package has had 81k dls since 2018. It's the best way to interact with StatsCan data for R users.

pycancensus is a full python port, with equivalent data access and manipulation grammar, output, and geospatial retrieval.

check it out here: github.com/dshkol/pycan...
GitHub - dshkol/pycancensus: python port of cancensus R package
python port of cancensus R package. Contribute to dshkol/pycancensus development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
I seem to remember this coming up as an idea in California, and the consensus was that it would probably only get used for dead-simple applications that an Architect would feel comfortable taking on the risk for?
www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentar...

A junior MLA is introducing a Member Bill to allow Professionals to certify that a permit application meets city bylaw/code requirements. Any thoughts on how effective this would likely be @lanefab.com @424.bsky.social?
It will be worse, since the UBC crank profs will endorse "plummeting property values" as the solution
If you haven't visited already, the Holocaust Museum and nearby memorial is worth a visit
After a lengthy abstention, decided to listen in to QP today and it's just crazy how paranoid, crackpot beliefs are just a daily part of the house debates now

youtu.be/yMfDD3NEJ_M?...
October 21 2025 Question Period
YouTube video by Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
youtu.be
in hindsight, biking to elementary school via mckenzie was insane
the internet tells me that Dave's Hot Chicken is actually a well-known chain, but I genuinely thought that a name that generic only existed in developers' conceptual renders for the zoning hearing

(aside: the protected bike lane here is done! I used to bike this stretch to school as a kid. Not fun)
Reposted by Mark (he/him)
engage.bctransit.com/victoria-reg...

Looks like a Saturday in-person consultation session for the VRTP has been added for 2-4pm on the 25th at the Uptown Walmart. Probably a good call as students and commuters were largely timed out of all the previous sessions as they were all during the day. #yyj
Victoria Regional Transit Plan
We need your input! BC Transit is seeking input into the long-term goals and network design priorities for the Victoria Regional Transit Plan. The plan is being developed with input from the Capital R...
engage.bctransit.com
Uhhhhh you're right

Okay I now support the city shaking down developers, just this once as a treat
Heck you could try to get CF to pay for it
Yeah though this particular case is annoying because it's a question of obtaining a basement from a bankrupt department store desperate for cash
National Centre for Indigenous Laws, at UVic, just opened
It would still be a fairly inconvenient transfer but I am annoyed that the city or TransLink has not found a way to make this happen yet
Reposted by Mark (he/him)
this is really quite cool. Includes an interactive 3d representation of Waterfront Station (which is handy if you've ever argued on the internet about extending the Canada Line)
And my loose understanding is that the local framing of left-centre-right more closely maps to the provincial parties than it does in BC, but I'm open to being wrong on this front as well
I don't intend to over-state the case but find it's more common for AB media to describe a candidate's relationship to the UCP than it is in BC, though there's probably a media consumption bias on my part here as well

calgaryherald.com/news/local-n...
Early returns show more conservative Calgary city council taking shape
Results from a pioneering civic election Monday appeared to show conservative-leaning Calgary city council candidates gaining ground.
calgaryherald.com
BC municipal politics are also more ideologically orthogonal from provincial politics than what I gather AB is like, which adds to the interest
For better or for worse I think BC is spicier. There's just been a lot more unpredictable outcomes

No shade on AB municipal politics but provincially AB feels more static and predictable
No it's pretty great, but yeah it's not big and a bit out of the way for a lot of tourists
Reposted by Mark (he/him)
We have a bike counter on the multi-use trail going over the bridge. The rush hour is real! You can also see the impacts of unusual weather (snow in Victoria 🤯) and the impacts of seasonal darkness.
Reposted by Mark (he/him)
This panel discussion at the UBCM conference is very informative

It features David Rosenberg, lead lawyer for Cowichan; Robin Junger, former chief treaty negotiator; and a lawyer focused on municipal legal issues

Really worth a watch
Implications from the Cowichan Tribes decision
In a recent landmark ruling, the BC Supreme Court granted Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title to about 800 acres in the City of Richmond including fee simple lands. Our panel of lawyers reviewed the case...
www.ubcm.ca
Reposted by Mark (he/him)
Pragmatism.

In a context where funding for mass transit projects was sorely lacking, the city didn't waste time on pipe dreams; instead, it acted on what it had control of and fiscal capacity for: bus service levels and patterns, allocation of street space, and traffic flow organization.