Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Oh The Urbanity!

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 16h

I know it's sort of a cold take but your perspective on US foreign policy dramatically improves once you consistently read or watch non US media

13 66 460

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 17h

It's just kind of fascinating how people experience the same weather very differently.

Like how, when we visited Florida a few years ago during their "winter", people started putting on sweaters at 20°C.

1 2

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 21h

Wow! Montreal’s public bike share system (BIXI) was featured in the TIME Best Inventions Hall of Fame for 2008, not far from the iPhone and Google Street View.

While not the very first bike sharing system, it was one of the earliest and it was the model for many other systems, from NYC to London.

TIME Best Inventions Hall of Fame

See the most iconic inventions of the past 25 years

time.com

3 15 79

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 22h

Cleaning and maintenance was the real challenge for me too. It’s why I like winter Bixi so much. Otherwise I would maybe buy a belt-drive bike

3

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 22h

Canadians: “We the north! I love hockey, skiing, and taking my kids sledding. Did you hear about a light dusting of snow shutting down some southern US city?”

Canadians, when you suggest
it’s possible to bike past September: “but what if I get… cold?”

16 20 190

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 23h

My experience in Montreal is that normal errands and commuting are fine nearly all winter, but there are days where I consider it dangerous to be outside for too long.

I can spend hours outside in the summer filming things but this isn’s so possible much of the winter.

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 1d

A snow machine? Like a snow blower? This machine was invented in Montreal actually.

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 1d

That’s just downtown. Mostly useful for going between your office and a restaurant for lunch or something.

1

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting. There were a few days this summer where we kept our baby inside because of smog, but not so much for heat.

(We were pretty timid with a newborn in the cold this past winter though.)

1 3

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 1d

What’s funny is how winter cycling is still a big novelty for lots of people.

They’re happy to walk, ski, skate, sled, or snowshoe in the winter.

But biking in anything below 15°C? Impossible! Crazy!

Fortunately, attitudes have changed a lot in central Montreal. It’s fairly normal now.

4 2 41

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t know hot climates, but I do live in one of the coldest/snowiest large cities in the world.

Winter can be a challenge. But also, it’s just a fact of living here.

You learn to dress for the cold. The city is good at plowing.

Walkability in the winter is totally normal and unremarkable here.

Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 2d

Is climate really a barrier to making cities walkable? Only if you listen too much to elites ... humantransit.org/2025/10/nobo...

"Nobody Walks Here. It's too Hot or Cold or Wet or Dry." — Human Transit

Almost everywhere I travel as a consultant, someone asks me whether it’s realistic to expect people to walk given the extremes of their climate. They don’t just ask me this in Edmonton and Singapore. ...

humantransit.org

12 10 95

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 1d

Today I learned that the CFL (Canadian Football League) has rules limiting the number of Americans on each team:

“Teams can dress a maximum of 19 Americans not including quarterbacks and the nationalized American.”

GAME RULE RATIO
Each team may have a maximum of 45 players (min. 44), including three quarterbacks, at least one global player, 21 national players including one nationalized American. Teams can dress a maximum of 19 Americans not including quarterbacks and the nationalized American.

4 3 33

Reposted by Oh The Urbanity!

Deny Sullivan @denysullivan.bsky.social · 3d

Very good, and convincing video on Montreal party politics. I'd like to see Halifax get parties into municipal politics, to bring more coherency and simplicity for voters

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 5d

This video is a long time coming.

People always ask me: what makes Montreal so ambitious on urbanism? (At least for bikes and pedestrians.)

I've been thinking through this and asking Montrealers, and in this video I want to cover *part* of the answer.

The Secret of Montreal’s Urbanism Success

YouTube video by Oh The Urbanity!

youtu.be

1 2 11

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 3d

I checked again today at rush hour to see how people handled high volumes. Cyclists were actually quite good at leaving space for pedestrians and other direction cyclists to cross.

(Knowing how to turn left? Not so much, like the guy at the end of the clip.)

1 12

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 3d

The REV Saint-Denis is great too, but I think this protected bike intersection might be my new go-to recommendation for people visiting Montreal who want to see high cycling volumes in the North American context.

(Rush hour at Bellechasse & Chistophe-Colomb)

10 38 230

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 3d

Why? Any thoughts on the points made in the video?

Reposted by Oh The Urbanity!

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 5d

This video is a long time coming.

People always ask me: what makes Montreal so ambitious on urbanism? (At least for bikes and pedestrians.)

I've been thinking through this and asking Montrealers, and in this video I want to cover *part* of the answer.

The Secret of Montreal’s Urbanism Success

YouTube video by Oh The Urbanity!

youtu.be

4 37 150

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 3d

Oh nice!

2

Reposted by Oh The Urbanity!

Sarah Dorner @sarahdorner.bsky.social · 3d

Some nice hypotheses about what works to get things done in Montréal. On the existence of municipal parties, they enable people to work together in ways they wouldn't at higher levels. In the past, progressives (including péquistes) worked with Hasidim to elect Projet Montréal in several districts.

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 5d

This video is a long time coming.

People always ask me: what makes Montreal so ambitious on urbanism? (At least for bikes and pedestrians.)

I've been thinking through this and asking Montrealers, and in this video I want to cover *part* of the answer.

The Secret of Montreal’s Urbanism Success

YouTube video by Oh The Urbanity!

youtu.be

2 4 18

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 4d

elections.montreal.ca/en/registrat...

Registration on the electoral list - Élections Montréal

After October 16, 2025, at 6 p.m., it will no longer be possible to register and therefore to vote.

elections.montreal.ca

1 2 9

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 4d

I had no idea — I only learned this from a YT comment.

You have to register to vote in Montreal, and the deadline (Oct 16) is a few weeks before the election (Nov 2). You can’t register on site on election day, contrary to federal elections.

In-person registration is still TBD.

2 options :

1. IN PERSON

Appear before a commission of revision between October 11 and 16.
The address and schedule are indicated on this link (to come).
A parent, spouse, or person who lives with you may submit an application on your behalf.
2. ONLINE (videoconference)

Fill out the online form before October 15 at 6 p.m.
A member of our team will review your request and contact you with the next steps.
Make an appointment via the message sent by our team.
At the time of your appointment, you will need to log in to Microsoft Teams and turn on your camera and microphone.
If you are unable to move due to health reasons, please contact us.

2 23

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 4d

(The organization in this video actually seemed to be a third party!)

Everything I’ve read for Canada has said that parties can only get the eligible voter list (names and addresses), and that they have to infer or fill in other information from elsewhere.

www.elections.ca/content.aspx...

Political parties' access to the personal information of electors

The Canada Elections Act states that Elections Canada must provide voters lists to members of Parliament, registered and eligible political parties, and candidates. These voters lists, also known as lists of electors, contain the names, addresses and unique identifier numbers of voters.

Political parties often supplement the basic information they get from the voters lists with information about voters derived from other sources.

1

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 4d

Maybe you shouldn’t have a system where you can even look up whether individuals have voted or not? Most countries don’t make that information public.

youtu.be/uR5gjNrfJig?...

Political postcard sparks concerns in Middle TN

YouTube video by WKRN News 2

youtu.be

10 32 110

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 4d

If I have to hear another low-information voter tell me how all politicians are the same, the Democrats and Republicans are equally as bad…

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 4d

This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.

5 6 78

Reposted by Oh The Urbanity!

Robert Zaichkowski @rzaichkowski.bsky.social · 4d

Protected intersections are spreading everywhere! Even Burlington - a suburb of Toronto - has them now.

1 2 49