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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 8h

This is really good to see. It brings predictability to development, not just for developers but also for residents who know what kind of development they can expect to see. Hoping this work will continue and reliance of site-specific zoning will get further reduced.

Josh White @jwhiteyvr.bsky.social · 9h

Vancouver City Council approved establishment of standardized apartment zoning districts today, as well as a significant City initiated rezoning in the Broadway Plan and Cambie Corridor areas. I delivered these remarks in closing during the item at Council:

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 10h

My guess, regular lane painting equipment is designed for roads and the bike lane and line placement is too narrow for it to work. So they had to wing it.

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Reposted by Jens von Bergmann

Frances Woolley @frwoolley.bsky.social · 22h

Great to chat to Dan Fumano @vancouversun.bsky.social about BC's property tax deferment program.

My take: "the B.C. model, where significant interest rate subsidies are accessed by those with above-average home values, does not seem to be an effective use of government funds.”

How B.C.'s property tax system delivers big benefits to multimillionaires, and why some say it needs to change

B.C.'s property tax system is uniquely generous for wealthy homeowners. Some people think that should change. Find out more.

vancouversun.com

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 1d

Ack, we should coordinate next time.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 2d

Barely. But worth it.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 2d

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 2d

Dang. Can’t believe I missed that. 30 yers already. Maybe I’ll walk over and try to sneak in and catch the tail end…

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 2d

Quite a few people have taken this as a diss of Trent Reznor. Which makes me sad.
This is a screenshot from a David Bowie music video from the 90s in which Trent is playing “Johnny”.

Link to the video is now threaded below the quoted post, it’s a good video to watch if you haven’t seen it.

Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 5d

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Reposted by Jens von Bergmann

Christine Boyle @christineboyle.bsky.social · 2d

Nerdy Sunday! Getting ready for the Fall legislative sitting by baking zucchini muffins and watching a recording of a #Housing webinar from @1alexhemingway.bsky.social from the new @bcpolicy.bsky.social.

bcpolicy.ca/2025/10/03/s... #BCPoli #AffordableHousing

Photo of a countertop with a laptop, a bowl of muffin mix and a recipe book. In the background is a window with solar panels visible outside.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 3d

Yeah. Except too many people who missed the context were reading this as a diss on Trent. Which made me sad.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 3d

Agreed. I am just trying to understand the argument for up-front charges. What they are based on to justify them. I am open to the idea that there are edge cases where up-front charges are useful or better, but I’d like to see a clear explanation/accounting. Especially applied to infill development.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 4d

Still hoping to finding a lifecycle cost analysis of water and sewer infrastructure with a clear explanation which costs should not be financed as user fees (like we do with electricity infrastructure) and which costs should be paid upfront.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 4d

A simple and effective way to fight street disorder and crime? That makes money too? Cities must be all over this…

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 4d

The fact that SF cameras have already caught thousands of people going more than 15 miles over the speed limit is a perfect illustration of why these cameras were needed in the first place. www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s...

S.F. speed cameras are generating mountains of tickets and fines. Here are the totals so far

August was the first month that San Francisco’s automated speed cameras generated citations with a fine. One camera accounted for a quarter of all the tickets, according to data.

www.sfchronicle.com

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 4d

Some people did serve prison sentences, even just last year someone was sentenced to 10 years in prison on murder charges stemming from his role in the secret police. But consequences were mostly via removing former operatives and “unofficial operatives” from public roles and jobs (e.g. teachers).

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 4d

Speaking from the German perspective, yes, Germans did (to some degree) learn who worked for the secret police. Everyone could go and requests to see their personal files, if they existed and weren’t destroyed in the tumultuous last days of the regime, and learn who was spying on them.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 5d

Just the still frame does not really do it justice though.

David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans (Official Music Video) [4K Upgrade]

YouTube video by David Bowie

youtu.be

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 5d

When I saw your photo all I could think about was that music video, it’s just a perfect fit.

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 5d

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Reposted by Jens von Bergmann

Uytae Lee @uytaelee.bsky.social · 5d

I'll be in Brisbane next week! As part of my trip, I'll be hosting a more informal event open to anyone at the Queensland University of Technology on Tuesday, October 7th. Details below:

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Reposted by Jens von Bergmann

Waterloo Region Yes In My Backyard @wryimby.bsky.social · 10d

@jensvb.bsky.social; @tomdavidoff.bsky.social; @lausterna.bsky.social and Tsur Somerville
find that expediting permitting processes and reduced parking mandates were crucial components determining the success of BC upzonings:

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · Aug 24

Interesting new paper compares density upzonings in two similar BC cities that had dramatically different effects in terms of construction & value uplift.

Keys to the difference? Effects were only felt when upzoning was accompanied with expedited permitting processes & reduced parking requirements.

Upzoning and redevelopment: The details matter

Facing worsening housing affordability, policymakers in a growing number of jurisdictions have heeded economists’ calls for increases in supply throug…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 5d

If only there was a way to manage on-street parking so that there is always a space available on any given block and there is no need for double parking…
(On my way home I did have to weave my way through a gaggle of cars that was stuck on a narrow street because someone decided to double-park.)

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 6d

Looking forward to it. Just in case, the {cansim} R package facilitates ingesting StatCan data tables, and it plays nicely with the {cancensus} package for Canadian census data, {cmhc} package for housing data, and other packages for accessing Bank of Canada data, PUMF micro data and related others.

Retrieve and work with public Statistics Canada data tables in R

Searches for, accesses, and retrieves Statistics Canada data tables, as well as individual vectors, as tidy data frames. This package enriches the tables with metadata, deals with encoding issues, all...

mountainmath.github.io

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 7d

Nice. Congrats!

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Reposted by Jens von Bergmann

eli knaap @knaaptime.com · 7d

self promo makes me a little queasy, but @ucisocialecology.bsky.social has an outstanding comms team, so i'm compelled to share this :P. thrilled to be part of UP3 and SSE

socialecology.uci.edu/news/up3-rea...

note to self: keep that chin down when taking photos, big man 🙄

UP3 is ready for its Knaap | School of Social Ecology

Spatial data scientist Eli Knaap joins urban planning & public policy faculty

socialecology.uci.edu

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Reposted by Jens von Bergmann

Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 8d

This covers some important sources of bias that arise from naive control strategies. Of value even if you don't care about the life-satisfaction ~ age association.

Tamkinat Rauf @tsrauf.bsky.social · 9d

Life satisfaction mostly declines with age. Previous findings (esp. the famous U-shaped age-SWB trajectory) were artifacts of misspecified models. doi.org/10.1093/esr/...

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