Joe Lodge
@joelodge.com
I make interactive learning experiences for leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs. Nature lover. Small business founder. Passionate about transit, walkability, mindful tech. I run when I can and code when I can't. Based in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
In September we moved to Halifax—our new home back in the UK. We now live less than a 10m walk from the railway station, a wide range of shops and supermarkets, the library, coworking spaces, cafés, restaurants and community centres, and it's wonderful. Forget 15m cities; it's all about 10m towns 😍
September 24, 2025 at 6:40 PM
In September we moved to Halifax—our new home back in the UK. We now live less than a 10m walk from the railway station, a wide range of shops and supermarkets, the library, coworking spaces, cafés, restaurants and community centres, and it's wonderful. Forget 15m cities; it's all about 10m towns 😍
Excellent experience taking public transport from Golcar to Saltaire today. We went bus-train-bus via Huddersfield and Bradford.
Transit in the UK makes it clear to me just how much there is to improve in Mauritius. Thankfully much is low-hanging fruit, e.g. better signage, card payments etc.
Transit in the UK makes it clear to me just how much there is to improve in Mauritius. Thankfully much is low-hanging fruit, e.g. better signage, card payments etc.
December 27, 2024 at 7:09 PM
Excellent experience taking public transport from Golcar to Saltaire today. We went bus-train-bus via Huddersfield and Bradford.
Transit in the UK makes it clear to me just how much there is to improve in Mauritius. Thankfully much is low-hanging fruit, e.g. better signage, card payments etc.
Transit in the UK makes it clear to me just how much there is to improve in Mauritius. Thankfully much is low-hanging fruit, e.g. better signage, card payments etc.
Spectacular and strange skies here above the Pennines this morning. Very atmospheric.
December 26, 2024 at 10:44 AM
Spectacular and strange skies here above the Pennines this morning. Very atmospheric.
Stoked (pun intended) to receive @garethdennis.bsky.social's How The Railways Will Fix The Future from my brother today. A few pages in and I'm hooked!
December 25, 2024 at 3:31 PM
Stoked (pun intended) to receive @garethdennis.bsky.social's How The Railways Will Fix The Future from my brother today. A few pages in and I'm hooked!
Reposted by Joe Lodge
If this country made the slightest bit of sense we'd be beating Europe's doors down to secure a youth mobility scheme.
inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...
inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...
December 11, 2024 at 3:58 PM
If this country made the slightest bit of sense we'd be beating Europe's doors down to secure a youth mobility scheme.
inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...
inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...
Reposted by Joe Lodge
Reclaiming our communities from the car is about more than saving the planet. It’s about saving ourselves from the unsafe, unjust, unhealthy, unloveable places where we live.
Sixteen books we read this year that changed how we think about the process of building cities: an #UrbanismBookClub thread.
Sixteen books we read this year that changed how we think about the process of building cities: an #UrbanismBookClub thread.
December 10, 2024 at 8:25 AM
Reclaiming our communities from the car is about more than saving the planet. It’s about saving ourselves from the unsafe, unjust, unhealthy, unloveable places where we live.
Sixteen books we read this year that changed how we think about the process of building cities: an #UrbanismBookClub thread.
Sixteen books we read this year that changed how we think about the process of building cities: an #UrbanismBookClub thread.
Good experience travelling from Belle Etoile to Port Louis on bus route 2. Journey of 18 min with light traffic until the city centre.
Short wait, reasonably comfortable, good ventilation, price of MUR30 (~$0.65) ok. Closer to home than the metro.
The 2nd leg to Labourdonnais was much worse...🧵 1/
Short wait, reasonably comfortable, good ventilation, price of MUR30 (~$0.65) ok. Closer to home than the metro.
The 2nd leg to Labourdonnais was much worse...🧵 1/
December 7, 2024 at 3:02 AM
Good experience travelling from Belle Etoile to Port Louis on bus route 2. Journey of 18 min with light traffic until the city centre.
Short wait, reasonably comfortable, good ventilation, price of MUR30 (~$0.65) ok. Closer to home than the metro.
The 2nd leg to Labourdonnais was much worse...🧵 1/
Short wait, reasonably comfortable, good ventilation, price of MUR30 (~$0.65) ok. Closer to home than the metro.
The 2nd leg to Labourdonnais was much worse...🧵 1/
Reposted by Joe Lodge
“Every time someone chooses to cycle their community gets a little bit better.
The streets safer, air cleaner, traffic lighter, neighborhood quieter (& more welcoming), and medical and maintenance bills cheaper.
Shouldn’t govts do everything in their power to support it?”
From @modacitylife.com
The streets safer, air cleaner, traffic lighter, neighborhood quieter (& more welcoming), and medical and maintenance bills cheaper.
Shouldn’t govts do everything in their power to support it?”
From @modacitylife.com
December 4, 2024 at 5:12 PM
“Every time someone chooses to cycle their community gets a little bit better.
The streets safer, air cleaner, traffic lighter, neighborhood quieter (& more welcoming), and medical and maintenance bills cheaper.
Shouldn’t govts do everything in their power to support it?”
From @modacitylife.com
The streets safer, air cleaner, traffic lighter, neighborhood quieter (& more welcoming), and medical and maintenance bills cheaper.
Shouldn’t govts do everything in their power to support it?”
From @modacitylife.com
When I hear "seismic shift" I think of an active and collective transport revolution. Electric cars will do relatively little to revive local economies, improve accessibility, boost health and wellbeing, and foster community. This is mostly more of the same, unfortunately.
Auto Trader forecasts ‘seismic shift’ to electric vehicles in Britain
Number of petrol cars on British roads rose to 18.7m this year, but decrease expected amid growth of EVs
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2024 at 2:50 PM
When I hear "seismic shift" I think of an active and collective transport revolution. Electric cars will do relatively little to revive local economies, improve accessibility, boost health and wellbeing, and foster community. This is mostly more of the same, unfortunately.
Reposted by Joe Lodge
Ask most people if they want a grocery store, daycare and other services within walking distance — in other words, 15 minutes — they say yes.
But a few bad actors during the pandemic equated the urban ideal to restrictions on movement and other freedoms. @romanmars.bsky.social
But a few bad actors during the pandemic equated the urban ideal to restrictions on movement and other freedoms. @romanmars.bsky.social
The 15 Minute City - 99% Invisible
In February 2023, over two thousand people took to the streets in Oxford, England to protest their local government. They were wearing yellow vests and chanting slogans about the municipality’s new tr...
99percentinvisible.org
December 3, 2024 at 10:19 PM
Ask most people if they want a grocery store, daycare and other services within walking distance — in other words, 15 minutes — they say yes.
But a few bad actors during the pandemic equated the urban ideal to restrictions on movement and other freedoms. @romanmars.bsky.social
But a few bad actors during the pandemic equated the urban ideal to restrictions on movement and other freedoms. @romanmars.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Lodge
Today’s Guardian. Yet every incremental improvement towards healthier streets is opposed by the same regressive voices decrying the ‘social injustice’ of blatently obvious benefits to public health and wellbeing www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
December 4, 2024 at 7:54 AM
Today’s Guardian. Yet every incremental improvement towards healthier streets is opposed by the same regressive voices decrying the ‘social injustice’ of blatently obvious benefits to public health and wellbeing www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Reposted by Joe Lodge
Urban environments can be categorised according to three levels of customer experience: dare, able, and invited to cycle.
The next step in policy development should focus on converting an 'able-to-cycle' environment into an 'invite-to-cycle' environment.
The next step in policy development should focus on converting an 'able-to-cycle' environment into an 'invite-to-cycle' environment.
December 1, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Urban environments can be categorised according to three levels of customer experience: dare, able, and invited to cycle.
The next step in policy development should focus on converting an 'able-to-cycle' environment into an 'invite-to-cycle' environment.
The next step in policy development should focus on converting an 'able-to-cycle' environment into an 'invite-to-cycle' environment.
Bike lanes are essential infrastructure for any city. They ease congestion, increase accessibility, boost safety, lower pollution, and promote freedom from car-dependency.
Great for cyclists, drivers, local businesses, emergency services, etc.
Wild that Toronto is being faced with their removal.
Great for cyclists, drivers, local businesses, emergency services, etc.
Wild that Toronto is being faced with their removal.
“Critical Mass” is back in Toronto because of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s vindictive and dangerous war on safe bike infrastructure and successful city-building. This was last night. #CriticalMass #Toronto #BikeLanes
December 1, 2024 at 3:44 AM
Bike lanes are essential infrastructure for any city. They ease congestion, increase accessibility, boost safety, lower pollution, and promote freedom from car-dependency.
Great for cyclists, drivers, local businesses, emergency services, etc.
Wild that Toronto is being faced with their removal.
Great for cyclists, drivers, local businesses, emergency services, etc.
Wild that Toronto is being faced with their removal.
Reposted by Joe Lodge
It is probably time for this to get its first airing on this platform
Nearly 60% of car journeys in the UK are under 5 miles. There's a better tool for the job. For short journeys, #BikeIsBest.
Nearly 60% of car journeys in the UK are under 5 miles. There's a better tool for the job. For short journeys, #BikeIsBest.
#BikeIsBest - The Best Tool For The Job
YouTube video by Bike Is Best
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2024 at 5:26 PM
It is probably time for this to get its first airing on this platform
Nearly 60% of car journeys in the UK are under 5 miles. There's a better tool for the job. For short journeys, #BikeIsBest.
Nearly 60% of car journeys in the UK are under 5 miles. There's a better tool for the job. For short journeys, #BikeIsBest.
Reposted by Joe Lodge
BIG STARTER PACK NEWS! Announcing an important new team-up…celebrated climate scientist @katharinehayhoe.com and I are co-curating this Starter Pack full of people & organizations that specifically overlap smart/better cities and climate action. Please share & suggest additions! go.bsky.app/7Wh2uvp
November 27, 2024 at 8:48 PM
BIG STARTER PACK NEWS! Announcing an important new team-up…celebrated climate scientist @katharinehayhoe.com and I are co-curating this Starter Pack full of people & organizations that specifically overlap smart/better cities and climate action. Please share & suggest additions! go.bsky.app/7Wh2uvp
Reposted by Joe Lodge
Louise Haigh's speech is now online: www.gov.uk/government/s...
Very welcome to hear a secretary of state with this level of ambition to shape the transport system to work better for people. Exciting to see how this develops over the coming months.
Haigh is spot on with this bit.
Very welcome to hear a secretary of state with this level of ambition to shape the transport system to work better for people. Exciting to see how this develops over the coming months.
Haigh is spot on with this bit.
November 28, 2024 at 2:01 PM
Louise Haigh's speech is now online: www.gov.uk/government/s...
Very welcome to hear a secretary of state with this level of ambition to shape the transport system to work better for people. Exciting to see how this develops over the coming months.
Haigh is spot on with this bit.
Very welcome to hear a secretary of state with this level of ambition to shape the transport system to work better for people. Exciting to see how this develops over the coming months.
Haigh is spot on with this bit.
"Most of Europe’s cities were not designed for cars. Their streets were once a place for a host of varied human activities: working, trading, socialising, playing. Getting from A to B, other than on foot, was a small part of the mix."
And not just Europe. Most cities are more than 100 years old.
And not just Europe. Most cities are more than 100 years old.
“A startling statistic emerged in Paris last month: during the morning and evening rush hours, on representative main thoroughfares crisscrossing the French capital, there are now more bicycles than cars – almost half as many again, in fact.”
Leadership. #Paris
www.theguardian.com/cities/2023/...
Leadership. #Paris
www.theguardian.com/cities/2023/...
Bollards and ‘superblocks’: how Europe’s cities are turning on the car
In Paris, Barcelona and Brussels, authorities are adopting varied approaches to the task of reducing congestion and pollution
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2024 at 5:44 PM
"Most of Europe’s cities were not designed for cars. Their streets were once a place for a host of varied human activities: working, trading, socialising, playing. Getting from A to B, other than on foot, was a small part of the mix."
And not just Europe. Most cities are more than 100 years old.
And not just Europe. Most cities are more than 100 years old.
Completely agree. There's no other place quite like a public library.
Public library energy is the best energy. Like here is all the knowledge we could find, it's been meticulously organized and vetted and it will cost you nothing today, welcome to the absolute pinnacle of human civic evolution, feel free to pull up any bean bag chair you like
November 26, 2024 at 5:16 PM
Completely agree. There's no other place quite like a public library.
I'm fascinated by the idea of the hyperobject and us being in the throes of this giant, monstrous, all-pervasive entanglement that breaks all our comfortable misconceptions of nature and planet as a stable and inexhaustible resource. It actually feels helpful to acknowledge it. But boy does it suck.
Hyperobjects By Timothy Morton
Morton's book is a queasily vertiginous quest to synthesize the still divergent fields of quantum theory (the weirdness of small objects) and relativity (the weirdness of big objects) and insert them ...
www.societyandspace.org
November 25, 2024 at 7:02 PM
I'm fascinated by the idea of the hyperobject and us being in the throes of this giant, monstrous, all-pervasive entanglement that breaks all our comfortable misconceptions of nature and planet as a stable and inexhaustible resource. It actually feels helpful to acknowledge it. But boy does it suck.
The more we listen to the most vulnerable in society, the more just, effective, and sustainable our solutions become.
Filmed a street audit by schoolchildren of an intersection next to their school that they have to cross every day. Their insights are incredibly valuable and if we actually stopped to listen to what they wanted and needed, our streets would look very different.
November 25, 2024 at 6:22 PM
The more we listen to the most vulnerable in society, the more just, effective, and sustainable our solutions become.
An incredible story. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
Oof, I found this amazing story hard to read. Impressed that both families had the emotional maturity to make a best-possible outcome. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/m...
An I.V.F. Mixup, a Shocking Discovery and an Unbearable Choice (Gift Article)
Two couples in California discovered they were raising each other’s genetic children. Should they switch their girls?
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2024 at 4:24 PM
An incredible story. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
Threaded replies is, in my opinion, the way to go. Strongly recommended. It's just missing the option to collapse comments and their replies.
BlueSky tip: go to settings; go to "thread preferences"; turn on "Threaded Mode"; you're welcome. I've always HATED the weird twitter styling for replies. This is more like Reddit style.
November 24, 2024 at 5:32 AM
Threaded replies is, in my opinion, the way to go. Strongly recommended. It's just missing the option to collapse comments and their replies.
That feeling when my son says yes to the carousel but no to the car to get there.
I'm like me too, me too, I get it, I wish we didn't have to drive.
I'm like me too, me too, I get it, I wish we didn't have to drive.
November 23, 2024 at 7:38 PM
That feeling when my son says yes to the carousel but no to the car to get there.
I'm like me too, me too, I get it, I wish we didn't have to drive.
I'm like me too, me too, I get it, I wish we didn't have to drive.
Jupiter (top of the photo, slightly right of centre) is looking stunning tonight. It's easy to see three of its moons* through my fairly basic binoculars.
*Ganymede, Callisto and Io. An online tool tells me that Europa is hidden behind the planet for the next 40 minutes or so.
*Ganymede, Callisto and Io. An online tool tells me that Europa is hidden behind the planet for the next 40 minutes or so.
November 23, 2024 at 6:47 PM
Jupiter (top of the photo, slightly right of centre) is looking stunning tonight. It's easy to see three of its moons* through my fairly basic binoculars.
*Ganymede, Callisto and Io. An online tool tells me that Europa is hidden behind the planet for the next 40 minutes or so.
*Ganymede, Callisto and Io. An online tool tells me that Europa is hidden behind the planet for the next 40 minutes or so.
Let's revive our streets.
When you create low traffic neighbourhoods the community flourishes and streets become places to dine, neighbours interact, children play freely, and walking and cycling becomes much safer and more pleasant.
November 23, 2024 at 6:31 PM
Let's revive our streets.