James Pizzurro
@jamespizzurro.com
Software engineer. Newly-minted Toronto resident by way of Baltimore, Washington DC, and parts beyond. Advocate for people-oriented places. Amateur cocktail guy. Side project: ARIES for Transit (ariesfortransit.com).
Pinned
James Pizzurro
@jamespizzurro.com
· May 1
Greetings from Old Toronto! I'll be living and working here for a while. Excited to explore a new city, province, and country. 😊
Americans, Baltimoreans: I'll be back to visit soon.
Canadians, Torontonians: Thank you in advance for your hospitality and patience as a guest here.
Americans, Baltimoreans: I'll be back to visit soon.
Canadians, Torontonians: Thank you in advance for your hospitality and patience as a guest here.
Reposted by James Pizzurro
A bad day for Canada, and therefore the world.
Ontario (population 16 million, 40% of the country) has passed new legislation prohibiting bike lanes that take a lane from cars.
An escalation from Bill 212, which required municipalities to get approval.
Ontario (population 16 million, 40% of the country) has passed new legislation prohibiting bike lanes that take a lane from cars.
An escalation from Bill 212, which required municipalities to get approval.
November 24, 2025 at 7:50 PM
A bad day for Canada, and therefore the world.
Ontario (population 16 million, 40% of the country) has passed new legislation prohibiting bike lanes that take a lane from cars.
An escalation from Bill 212, which required municipalities to get approval.
Ontario (population 16 million, 40% of the country) has passed new legislation prohibiting bike lanes that take a lane from cars.
An escalation from Bill 212, which required municipalities to get approval.
Reposted by James Pizzurro
"The Zoning Code claims to protect public health, safety, and welfare, but that justification evaporates when applied to density restrictions and bans on multi-family housing. True public health standards should not vary by neighborhood."
Go read this banger. #urbanism
Go read this banger. #urbanism
"Why I lost faith in zoning." tinyurl.com/5n8sh428 Baltimore’s former zoning board executive director, on why she supports @mayorbmscott.bsky.social bills to promote more density and multi-family housing in the city. [OP-ED]
Baltimore’s former zoning board director explains why she lost faith in zoning | Baltimore Brew
The mayor’s “Housing Options and Opportunity” legislation – including Bill 25-0066 – will go a long way toward fixing an unfair system. [OP-ED]
tinyurl.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM
"The Zoning Code claims to protect public health, safety, and welfare, but that justification evaporates when applied to density restrictions and bans on multi-family housing. True public health standards should not vary by neighborhood."
Go read this banger. #urbanism
Go read this banger. #urbanism
But this problem long predates LLMs.
On one hand, LLMs have made it easier to fall into this trap. On the other hand, LLMs can empower subject matter experts to start solving problems in their field themselves, and make it easier to communicate their solutions to software engineers to build out.
On one hand, LLMs have made it easier to fall into this trap. On the other hand, LLMs can empower subject matter experts to start solving problems in their field themselves, and make it easier to communicate their solutions to software engineers to build out.
"writing code to solve a problem" used to have "understanding the problem" as a prerequisite. but vibecoding allows solution-shaped objects to be produced without any of the hard-won understanding. beware of solution-shaped objects.
November 24, 2025 at 3:05 PM
But this problem long predates LLMs.
On one hand, LLMs have made it easier to fall into this trap. On the other hand, LLMs can empower subject matter experts to start solving problems in their field themselves, and make it easier to communicate their solutions to software engineers to build out.
On one hand, LLMs have made it easier to fall into this trap. On the other hand, LLMs can empower subject matter experts to start solving problems in their field themselves, and make it easier to communicate their solutions to software engineers to build out.
choose your fighter
November 23, 2025 at 10:25 PM
choose your fighter
I'm in a packed room of ~200 transit riders spending their Sunday afternoon at @ttcriders.bsky.social's #StreetcarSummit discussing the problems Toronto's iconic streetcar system faces and proposing potential solutions with the help of transit advocates and professionals. You love to see it. 🚊
November 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
I'm in a packed room of ~200 transit riders spending their Sunday afternoon at @ttcriders.bsky.social's #StreetcarSummit discussing the problems Toronto's iconic streetcar system faces and proposing potential solutions with the help of transit advocates and professionals. You love to see it. 🚊
I'm late to the party on this one, but as someone who is historically *very* skeptical of low-capacity transit projects, I appreciated the balanced take and it's cool to see innovative solutions work out—and better understand why they sometimes don't: youtu.be/a5126u88E7E
The Surprising Success of Gondola Transit Systems
YouTube video by Wendover Productions
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I'm late to the party on this one, but as someone who is historically *very* skeptical of low-capacity transit projects, I appreciated the balanced take and it's cool to see innovative solutions work out—and better understand why they sometimes don't: youtu.be/a5126u88E7E
towson being towson
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
towson being towson
Reposted by James Pizzurro
Conveniently timed column, considering our upcoming Save Our Streetcar Summit - Nov 23 at the Cecil Community Centre!
RSVP today here:
ttcriders.ca/save_our_str...
(appreciate the shout-out in the article!)
RSVP today here:
ttcriders.ca/save_our_str...
(appreciate the shout-out in the article!)
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Conveniently timed column, considering our upcoming Save Our Streetcar Summit - Nov 23 at the Cecil Community Centre!
RSVP today here:
ttcriders.ca/save_our_str...
(appreciate the shout-out in the article!)
RSVP today here:
ttcriders.ca/save_our_str...
(appreciate the shout-out in the article!)
Reposted by James Pizzurro
The government of Ontario is choosing complaining drivers (including government ministers) over the safety of pedestrians and specifically children, not surprising but still disappointing that these are the leaders we’re left with. Read my latest article:
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
Eulogy for a Speed Camera.
The Story of how Ontario further degraded our Hapless Transport System.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM
The government of Ontario is choosing complaining drivers (including government ministers) over the safety of pedestrians and specifically children, not surprising but still disappointing that these are the leaders we’re left with. Read my latest article:
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
having fragmented, per-ward zoning policies isn't ideal, but letting people who want nice things have them seems like the next best solution so that councilors who are currently opposed to allowing such change in their own wards can wait and see the benefits of those changes in other wards first
November 11, 2025 at 9:59 PM
having fragmented, per-ward zoning policies isn't ideal, but letting people who want nice things have them seems like the next best solution so that councilors who are currently opposed to allowing such change in their own wards can wait and see the benefits of those changes in other wards first
Reposted by James Pizzurro
I kind of want to go to the rave at the mid-block 7-Eleven in Riverdale?
The folks at IntegrityTO have finally weighed in on neighbourhood retail with AI generated scenes of creepy faceless loiterers congregating outside a 7-11…
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
November 11, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I kind of want to go to the rave at the mid-block 7-Eleven in Riverdale?
a) lots of people, ignorant or misinformed as they may be, take Dr. Oz seriously
b) it doesn't matter who takes Dr. Oz seriously because the office he is in charge of provides health coverage to 100+ million people
b) it doesn't matter who takes Dr. Oz seriously because the office he is in charge of provides health coverage to 100+ million people
Q: So Dr Oz said that--
JEFFRIES: Who? Nobody who is serious in this country takes Dr Oz seriously.
JEFFRIES: Who? Nobody who is serious in this country takes Dr Oz seriously.
November 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
a) lots of people, ignorant or misinformed as they may be, take Dr. Oz seriously
b) it doesn't matter who takes Dr. Oz seriously because the office he is in charge of provides health coverage to 100+ million people
b) it doesn't matter who takes Dr. Oz seriously because the office he is in charge of provides health coverage to 100+ million people
Reposted by James Pizzurro
Shutting down the government is a big deal. People have been hurt in big ways as a result of the decision. To have that suffering be for nothing—to re-open the government without actually having protected people’s health insurance and economic well-being—is unconscionable.
November 9, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Shutting down the government is a big deal. People have been hurt in big ways as a result of the decision. To have that suffering be for nothing—to re-open the government without actually having protected people’s health insurance and economic well-being—is unconscionable.
Reposted by James Pizzurro
Mayor Chow posted a video about corner stores!
November 8, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Mayor Chow posted a video about corner stores!
because there's always a transit angle: DYK most transit agencies in the US don't include cancelled trips when calculating on-time performance either? 😬
If you just cancel flights, then they're actually not late! Brilliant stuff from Sean Duffy here
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
because there's always a transit angle: DYK most transit agencies in the US don't include cancelled trips when calculating on-time performance either? 😬
must be nice to get paid unprecedented amounts of money to lie to your shareholders to their faces while they applaud and ask for more after having successfully helped burn down whole institutions of the federal government with very little to show for it. just winning stuff all around.
Huge applause at the Tesla shareholder meeting when Musk says Tesla Full Self-Driving users will be permitted to text and drive soon: "I'm confident that in the next month or two, we're going to look closely at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive, essentially."
November 6, 2025 at 10:35 PM
must be nice to get paid unprecedented amounts of money to lie to your shareholders to their faces while they applaud and ask for more after having successfully helped burn down whole institutions of the federal government with very little to show for it. just winning stuff all around.
"Did you grow up with privilege? Great, now it's your moral obligation to perpetuate the system that disadvantaged other people so that you could thrive." - the WaPo editorial board, apparently
Another abominable editorial from the Wash Post
November 3, 2025 at 5:40 PM
"Did you grow up with privilege? Great, now it's your moral obligation to perpetuate the system that disadvantaged other people so that you could thrive." - the WaPo editorial board, apparently
first toronto halloween in the books. building maintenance tried but failed to stop my decoration game with their scaffolding. mr bones greeted the children as they took way too much candy. all is well. 🎃
November 1, 2025 at 3:16 PM
first toronto halloween in the books. building maintenance tried but failed to stop my decoration game with their scaffolding. mr bones greeted the children as they took way too much candy. all is well. 🎃
There's (almost) always money for governments to fund what they value so long as there's also the political will to do so. Good on Illinois and hopefully more states will follow their lead in lieu of more federal support. 🚂
Good morning!
Last night, Illinois’ legislature passed a law, SB2111, which will fund a major expansion of service for the Chicago region’s transit systems, thanks to new revenue sources.
The law also takes a major step forward in coordination between agencies.
Last night, Illinois’ legislature passed a law, SB2111, which will fund a major expansion of service for the Chicago region’s transit systems, thanks to new revenue sources.
The law also takes a major step forward in coordination between agencies.
Statement from the RTA: "The passage of SB2111 is a landmark moment for public transit in Illinois."
Read the full statement here or below. www.rtachicago.org/about-rta/pr...
Read the full statement here or below. www.rtachicago.org/about-rta/pr...
October 31, 2025 at 3:21 PM
There's (almost) always money for governments to fund what they value so long as there's also the political will to do so. Good on Illinois and hopefully more states will follow their lead in lieu of more federal support. 🚂
Reposted by James Pizzurro
It's Halloween. Everyone post your scariest neighbourhood photos. A coffee shop across from a house. 😱
October 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
It's Halloween. Everyone post your scariest neighbourhood photos. A coffee shop across from a house. 😱
Reposted by James Pizzurro
When Canada’s public broadcaster asks: “is America becoming a police state?”
ICE raids and fear tactics: Is America becoming a police state?
YouTube video by CBC News: The National
youtu.be
October 29, 2025 at 2:36 AM
When Canada’s public broadcaster asks: “is America becoming a police state?”
Reposted by James Pizzurro
Attention: for all you housing lovers along the Northeast Corridor - Baltimore’s City Council just passed single-stair reform AND repealed residential parking minimums AND reduced setback requirements one-after-another this evening
October 27, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Attention: for all you housing lovers along the Northeast Corridor - Baltimore’s City Council just passed single-stair reform AND repealed residential parking minimums AND reduced setback requirements one-after-another this evening
yeah
I love cars so much I wish they were much larger and carried like 50 people and went on a set route every few minutes.
October 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
yeah
Reposted by James Pizzurro
World Series, Stadium Edition: Rogers Centre vs. Dodger Stadium 🤔
October 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
World Series, Stadium Edition: Rogers Centre vs. Dodger Stadium 🤔
when you intended to order a festbier but get a vesper martini instead
a cartoon character says " i don 't wanna " on a red background
Alt: Gir from Invader Zim says "i don't wanna", jumps off screen, and then jumps back into frame and says "ok"
media.tenor.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
when you intended to order a festbier but get a vesper martini instead