Phil
@philmarfisi.bsky.social
Sidewalk enthusiast. Other interests: public policy, housing, urbanism, Waterloo Region, Ontario politics, #cdnpoli, Star Trek, music, news media, international relations, and the Oxford comma. Democracy is good, actually.
At this point, I would really love to know what level of responsibility the urban planning field feels for the fact that stacking renters on highways/arterial roads is so common in North America, it is featured in Amazon ads for sound level meters.
ha. Looked on the forest site and the ad even uses measuring traffic noise from an apartment. Just goes to show you it is the biggest source of nuisance noise most of us deal with regularly...
November 11, 2025 at 5:58 AM
At this point, I would really love to know what level of responsibility the urban planning field feels for the fact that stacking renters on highways/arterial roads is so common in North America, it is featured in Amazon ads for sound level meters.
Reposted by Phil
UK government project using AI to find benefit fraud resulted in:
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
HMRC trial of child benefit crackdown wrongly suspected fraud in 46% of cases
Exclusive: Almost half of families flagged as emigrants based on Home Office travel data were still living in UK
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
UK government project using AI to find benefit fraud resulted in:
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Three of my grandparents and their families came from the Netherlands after the war, searching for a better life after their communities were devastated by fascism. The new authoritarians want to erase the sacrifices of the people who freed them. We will not forget them.
Dutch officials rebuke Trump admin over removal of Black WWII vet memorials
Officials in the Netherlands are demanding answers from a U.S. commission after panels honoring Black vets at a World War II cemetery were taken down.
www.msnbc.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Three of my grandparents and their families came from the Netherlands after the war, searching for a better life after their communities were devastated by fascism. The new authoritarians want to erase the sacrifices of the people who freed them. We will not forget them.
Latin America was an area that was underrepresented in my Urbanism Worldwide starter pack, so very happy to have stumbled upon this podcast (h/t @holz-bau.bsky.social). This episode from @sururbano.bsky.social looks rad.
Starter pack link: go.bsky.app/LraQMTp
Starter pack link: go.bsky.app/LraQMTp
Season 7 launches 🔥 by reflecting on "What Zohran Can Learn from Latin America's Pink Tide" - with some insightful analyses on the challenges for the Zohran administration , and what leftist-governed cities in Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil +Ecuador have to teach us open.spotify.com/episode/75Oo...
What Zohran can learn from Latin America's Pink Tide
open.spotify.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Latin America was an area that was underrepresented in my Urbanism Worldwide starter pack, so very happy to have stumbled upon this podcast (h/t @holz-bau.bsky.social). This episode from @sururbano.bsky.social looks rad.
Starter pack link: go.bsky.app/LraQMTp
Starter pack link: go.bsky.app/LraQMTp
How long until pickleball gets included with renters on the list of things we can stick on arterial roads to protect single family home neighbourhoods from pollution and noise?
Zoning Practice magazine devotes an entire issue to *checks notes* pickleball noise
November 11, 2025 at 3:18 AM
How long until pickleball gets included with renters on the list of things we can stick on arterial roads to protect single family home neighbourhoods from pollution and noise?
Cashier at the grocery store tonight asked me if I needed a student discount and folks, I will be riding this high for at least a month
November 11, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Cashier at the grocery store tonight asked me if I needed a student discount and folks, I will be riding this high for at least a month
Reposted by Phil
Brb starting a political party with one platform offering: banning digital menus that don’t persistently show the items for sale.
November 10, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Brb starting a political party with one platform offering: banning digital menus that don’t persistently show the items for sale.
FWIW: it's a different political and policy context, but we would likely not have fourplexes as-of-right in many Canadian cities if the federal government hadn't forced their hands in exchange for funding. It's not under their jurisdiction, but it leveled the playing field across regions.
I wrote about state-level ADU reform and the differences between @strongtowns.org and YIMBYism. www.maxdubler.com/blog/2025/11...
On The Tension Between YIMBYism and Strong Towns — Max Dubler
Special thanks to those who gave their thoughtful feedback on this piece. The past couple of months have seen quite a bit of Discourse about the differences between Strong Towns and YIMB...
www.maxdubler.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:50 PM
FWIW: it's a different political and policy context, but we would likely not have fourplexes as-of-right in many Canadian cities if the federal government hadn't forced their hands in exchange for funding. It's not under their jurisdiction, but it leveled the playing field across regions.
The 14 cm (!) of snow Waterloo Region received yesterday broke a record that was last set in the *early 1900s*.
kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/11/10/r....
kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/11/10/r....
Record-setting snowfall hits Waterloo Region
A record-setting snowfall hit Waterloo Region on Sunday, leading to icy conditions on the roadways and a rise in the number of collisions.
kitchener.citynews.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
The 14 cm (!) of snow Waterloo Region received yesterday broke a record that was last set in the *early 1900s*.
kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/11/10/r....
kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/11/10/r....
Reposted by Phil
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
Reposted by Phil
The notwithstanding clause was ostensibly put in place to ensure elected legislatures had the final say in extreme circumstances, but thanks to Canada's conservative premiers and their contempt for a consistent rule of law, it now seems mostly a tool for preemptively trampling on human rights.
‘Everyone should get to be themselves’: Groups opposing Saskatchewan’s pronoun law gather in Regina - While the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to weigh in on Saskatchewan’s pronoun policy, also known as Bill 137, its impacts are still being felt among trans youth in the province.
‘Everyone should get to be themselves’: Groups opposing Saskatchewan’s pronoun law gather in Regina
While the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to weigh in on Saskatchewan’s pronoun policy, also known as Bill 137, its impacts are still being felt among trans youth in the province.
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 4:52 AM
The notwithstanding clause was ostensibly put in place to ensure elected legislatures had the final say in extreme circumstances, but thanks to Canada's conservative premiers and their contempt for a consistent rule of law, it now seems mostly a tool for preemptively trampling on human rights.
We really are about to do 2008 all over again, huh
November 10, 2025 at 4:26 AM
We really are about to do 2008 all over again, huh
It remains wild to me that there aren't a) more pathways to permanent residency for *all* temporary foreign workers b) enforced minimum wages equal to those of the province they're in. What does it say about us that we are happy to have a permanent underclass whose labour isn't fully valued?
It says much about a society that is willing to profit from a group's labour, but unwilling provide them same dignity and support accorded to others.
November 10, 2025 at 1:11 AM
It remains wild to me that there aren't a) more pathways to permanent residency for *all* temporary foreign workers b) enforced minimum wages equal to those of the province they're in. What does it say about us that we are happy to have a permanent underclass whose labour isn't fully valued?
Reposted by Phil
Lots to unpack here, but one general point to make concerns the way in which creating categories of "temporary" residents leads to just this sort of thinking: people who live, work and study among us, contributing to the country, but are nonetheless excluded from the social contract.
New from me: UCP members will vote on a raft of policy proposals at the party's AGM, including resolutions
• requiring temporary residents to pay more for healthcare
• banning the display of flags on gov property representing “special interest groups"
• buying the Alberta operations of the RCMP.
• requiring temporary residents to pay more for healthcare
• banning the display of flags on gov property representing “special interest groups"
• buying the Alberta operations of the RCMP.
Flags, vaccines and buying the RCMP: 35 resolutions proposed for upcoming UCP AGM
Members of Alberta's governing United Conservative Party will vote on a raft of policy proposals this month.
edmontonjournal.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Lots to unpack here, but one general point to make concerns the way in which creating categories of "temporary" residents leads to just this sort of thinking: people who live, work and study among us, contributing to the country, but are nonetheless excluded from the social contract.
"There are plenty of progressives... you might call Chow's base who wish she would take advice from Mamdani. Because nothing in Chow's own... unfolding agenda seems quite as dramatic. You could say the same about the federal and provincial NDP organizations in their campaigns over the past year."
Edward Keenan: Zohran Mamdani has advice for progressives everywhere. Is Olivia Chow listening?
The impulse for left-wing politicians to meet voters in the middle is understandable but deeply flawed.
www.thestar.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:02 AM
"There are plenty of progressives... you might call Chow's base who wish she would take advice from Mamdani. Because nothing in Chow's own... unfolding agenda seems quite as dramatic. You could say the same about the federal and provincial NDP organizations in their campaigns over the past year."
Scoring a bicycle kick in the middle of a snow storm deserves a heritage minute tbh
November 9, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Scoring a bicycle kick in the middle of a snow storm deserves a heritage minute tbh
Architects are excited because they know that under glorious communist regime of Comrade Mamdani, brutalism is so back
November 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Architects are excited because they know that under glorious communist regime of Comrade Mamdani, brutalism is so back
Reposted by Phil
How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Shawn Micallef: How Toronto killed ‘Sesame Street’ with its heritage rules — and how we can bring it back
In the face of opposition from even small groups, the city ends up watering down even the best ideas.
www.thestar.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM
How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Reposted by Phil
Discretionary zoning is a fertility drug for NIMBYs, AI powered automated objection letters just takes this to the logical conclusion.
AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn
Tools that help people scan applications and find grounds for objection have potential to hit government’s housebuilding plans
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Discretionary zoning is a fertility drug for NIMBYs, AI powered automated objection letters just takes this to the logical conclusion.
I am far too traumatized from the season's worth of snow we got in February to see it coming down this early in November
November 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I am far too traumatized from the season's worth of snow we got in February to see it coming down this early in November
Reposted by Phil
bluesky branding refresh unveiled
November 8, 2025 at 9:18 PM
bluesky branding refresh unveiled
Sneak peek of the Ontario PCs 2029 campaign platform dropped
November 9, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Sneak peek of the Ontario PCs 2029 campaign platform dropped
We have learned absolutely nothing from when the ship computer on the Enterprise-D became a living being, I see
November 9, 2025 at 4:32 AM
We have learned absolutely nothing from when the ship computer on the Enterprise-D became a living being, I see
Reposted by Phil
Now do universities and colleges
Let's work together across party lines to defend the forestry sector. Because when forestry is strong, Canada is strong.
November 9, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Now do universities and colleges