neil21
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neil21.bsky.social
neil21
@neil21.bsky.social
2.2K followers 9K following 2.6K posts
Renewables SaaS PM by day, Urbanism by night. Scot in #newwest
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neil21.bsky.social
Maybe we could have a downtown branch of #newwest Public Library inside the station?
AI image of a vacant storefront in New Westminster station remodeled as a small library space. Photograph of a vacant storefront inside New Westminster station
November 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
neil21.bsky.social
It's amazing how much wider these little Parisian streets look afterwards. (Images via @urbancyclinginstitute.org)
Before and after photos of a Parisian street. In the before, motor vehicle owners have left their possessions littering the public right of way. In the after, there are permeable surfaces and happy children. Before and after photos of a Parisian street. In the before, motor vehicle owners have left their possessions littering the public right of way. In the after, there are permeable surfaces and happy children. Before and after photos of a Parisian street. In the before, motor vehicle owners have left their possessions littering the public right of way. In the after, there are permeable surfaces and happy children.
November 16, 2025 at 8:35 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Simcoe Elementary #newwest
AI edit of a Google Earth 3D aerial view onto Fraser River Middle School in New Westminster. The edit has made the surrounding streets a series of six storey apartment buildings, the streets are linear parks, and the new Elementary school is in the foreround. AI edit of a Google Earth 3D aerial view onto Fraser River Middle School in New Westminster. The edit has made the surrounding streets a series of six storey apartment buildings, the streets are linear parks, and the new Elementary school is in the foreround. AI edit of a Google Earth 3D aerial view onto Fraser River Middle School in New Westminster. The edit has made the surrounding streets a series of six storey apartment buildings, the streets are linear parks, and the new Elementary school is in the foreround. AI edit of a Google Earth 3D aerial view onto Fraser River Middle School in New Westminster. The edit has made the surrounding streets a series of six storey apartment buildings, the streets are linear parks, and the new Elementary school is in the foreround.
November 16, 2025 at 3:12 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Simcoe Elementary #newwest
AI image of a neo-classical extension to Fraser River Middle School AI image of a neo-classical extension to Fraser River Middle School AI image of a neo-classical extension to Fraser River Middle School Google Earth aerial image of Fraser River Middle School
November 16, 2025 at 1:24 AM
neil21.bsky.social
Playing with more Pacific Northwest #sharedstair street ideas
November 15, 2025 at 7:38 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Funny these were so close in my feed
Photograph of a cheese judge Painting of a young woman
November 14, 2025 at 7:08 PM
neil21.bsky.social
#newwest will have a new elementary school at Queens & McInnes for kids born today.

All the blue lots can be built to 8 storeys (if assemblied) or 6 storeys (single lot, my preference). Many of them are one storey, one family today.

Most of the streets in this diagram are open to cars today.
November 13, 2025 at 7:21 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Does anyone have a handy list of who globally (outside North America) has heralded Vancouver, cited Vancouver as a climate leader, and benefited from the ripple effects of Vancouver policy?

I see a city littered with combustion engines, decentralized gas heating, and stonewalling densification.
Vancouver has been recognized as a global leader in climate Our climate leadership Vancouver was heralded for greenest city efforts. Vancouver’s efforts had ripple effects outside CoV. Vancouver is a beacon of urban sustainability.
November 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Oh beautiful stack of light-filled two bedroom apartments, how are you illegal across my home city of #newwest ?

Let me count the ways…
November 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
neil21.bsky.social
7.8MW turbines in Saskatchewan

www.potentiarenewables.com/wp-content/u...
potentiarenewables.com Project Details 수 Current Project Specifications Previously-Presented Project Specifications, Model: Goldwind GWH175-7.8 Model: Goldwind GWH165-5.6 Number of Turbines: 28 Number of Turbines: 38 Turbine capacity: 7.8MW Turbine capacity: 5.6 MW Turbine height: 110m Turbine height: 110m Blade Length: 86m Blade Length: 82m Max. turbine height: 196m Max. turbine height: 192m Rotor diameter: 175m Rotor diameter: 165m Land Area: Approx. 22,000 acres Land area: Approx. 46,000 acres New Access Roads: 13,448m New Access Roads: 17,945m Key Differences • The 7.8 MW turbine is more efficient than the 5.6 MW, thus fewer turbines are required to reach 210MW capacity, with an approximate reduction of 4,500m in new access roads. The hub heights are the same, however the blade length on the GWH175-7.8 is approximately 4m longer, creating a larger rotor swept area, capturing more wind. The Farmland Security Board ("FLSB") required Rose Valley Wind LP to reduce the leased lands from approximately 48,000 acres to approximately 22,000 acres.
November 12, 2025 at 7:29 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Pile growing too quickly, help
Photograph of a pile of books, bottom to top: Monocle mag (2025 Issue 9) Women Changing Cities Life After Cars Soft City The Language of Climate Politics The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz The Lyre of Orpheus The Sirens’ Call
November 11, 2025 at 12:28 AM
neil21.bsky.social
"In Europe, people would often turn up in ball gowns and tuxedos expecting it to be a classical show with Hans conducting," says Marr.

"But in America, there were kids in their early twenties on mushrooms who were like, ‘I’m here to see a rock show, I hope there's going to be lasers’."
Photograph of FT Weekend Arts Nov 1/2 into the crowd playing a bass like an archetypal frontman. Meanwhile, his band consists of both classically trained musicians and, as Marr puts it, "Kraft-werkian synth guys, party percussionists and guitarists like me from the alternative band world who can't read music" With this, the audience too has diversi-fied: "In Europe, people would often turn up in ball gowns and tuxedos expecting it to be a classical show with Hans conducting," says Marr. "But in America, there were kids in their early twenties on mushrooms who were like, T'm here to see a rock show, I hope there's going to be lasers?." Recent events like upstate New York's Soundtrax - billed as "North America's first film-music festival" - signal the proliferation of such events. However,
November 8, 2025 at 9:03 PM
neil21.bsky.social
I think this is better #newwest
Photograph of the widened sidewalk at 6th & 6th AI edit with parked cars where there is now sidewalk at 6th and 6th
November 7, 2025 at 3:15 AM
neil21.bsky.social
Robertson Davies
When they go into their forests, if they are not there to exploit the forests by chopping them down, they are there to rush downhill on skis, or bob-sleighs, to strain after accomplishment in winter sports, to make decorous whoopee at the bar or on the dance floor when the day's exertion is over.
November 6, 2025 at 3:56 AM
neil21.bsky.social
Catalonia's Rosalía showcasing single stair condos and mass transit www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQB...
A woman descends the single stair of an apartment building, daylight streaming in from the window An orchestra play on a bus in Rosalía’s latest music video A photograph of a woman entering her apartment. The single stair is visible in the foreground and the elevator ahead.
November 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM
neil21.bsky.social
www.burnaby.ca/our-city/pro...
Rendering of the overpass
November 4, 2025 at 8:35 PM
neil21.bsky.social
This Bridge will make Burnaby lake so much more accessible to #newwest !

www.freshetnews.ca/bridge-insta...
Google maps route via the 123 bus to Burnaby Lake, with the new bridge approximate location scrawled on top.
November 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
neil21.bsky.social
3/3
The open-concept room is now big enough for a sizeable kitchen island. One of the bathrooms has space for a washer and dryer set. All units have windows in the kitchen and living room, and in two of the bedrooms. Taking out the second exit stairway also frees up space to turn the den into a third bedroom with an additional window opening up onto a light well, which is an open shaft that allows light and air to reach interior spaces. "This is boring to Europe because this could go anywhere on a lot with a ground floor commercial unit," said Conrad Speckert, a housing designer and building code researcher, as he showed off a set of technical drawings he helped design for Toronto-based LGA Architectural Partners. But in most of Canada, building codes generally require two sets of exit stairs for apartment buildings of more than two storeys. The main concern is allowing people out in case of fire, especially if one exit becomes unviable. Yet with features such as sprinklers, smoke-sealed doors and more reliable fire alarm systems, mid-size apartment buildings can be just as safe, several studies have concluded. In other countries, single-stair apartment complexes are common. In Seattle, single stairways have been allowed for smaller buildings since the 1970s.
November 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM
neil21.bsky.social
2/3
In the smaller one-bedroom unit, it would be harder to fit a sofa as well as a dining table. And there is no den. The two apartments are separated by a common hallway in the middle of the floor that connects to two distinct sets of exit stairs on each side of the building. Those two sets of stairs are one reason why apartments - be they condos or purpose-built rentals - are often so small in Canada. If the same building only had one set of exit stairs, the same total floor area could instead accommodate a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment of just under 1,100 sq.
November 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM
neil21.bsky.social
The opening scrollytelling.

(Thread)

1/3
Imagine a narrow, 25-foot-wide lot, the kind commonly found in Canadian cities along main streets lined with storefronts and apartments. Now, put a four-storey apartment building on it. The layout of the second, third and fourth floors of the building are identical. Each one features two one-bedroom units, one measuring 624 square feet, the other just 418 sq. ft. The larger apartment contains a bedroom, a bathroom, an open-concept space that serves as a kitchen, a dining room and a living room. And then there's a windowless den - too small to be a bedroom - that could be used for storage, a laundry room or a home office.
November 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Very excited to see #newwest has procured these movable temporary concrete Dutch intersection chicken cutlets!

This means we can rapidly trial and prove safe intersections citywide!
Photograph of concrete rounded rectangles Diagram of an intersection
November 1, 2025 at 6:52 PM
neil21.bsky.social
I know the red sky in the morning heralds soggy bad news for trick or treaters, but it is pretty.
Photograph of dawn across the Fraser from New Westminster quayside
October 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Love it. Show us the budget and we’ll see the priorities clear as day.
The hierarchy of hazard controls applied to streets. Begin by eliminating the hazard.
October 28, 2025 at 10:59 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Do we think local cafe owners (Craft, Moodswing, Delicia, Coasters, even Waves) would receive well a suggestion that they subscribe and invest in some newspaper sticks? Or is leisurely low-turnover readers the last thing they want to encourage.
Photo of newspaper sticks
October 28, 2025 at 10:50 PM
neil21.bsky.social
Although it can turn right here fine, even when there’s a car in the other lane. maps.app.goo.gl/grRCjgVketAC...
105 bus descending 1st and about to turn right onto Agnes
October 28, 2025 at 7:41 PM