Ah, it's that time of year again when super high tech jet fighters buzz my home. #Toronto#CNE#CanadianInternationalAirShow
I was cycling to work this morning, stopped at a red light, noticed a dark thing flying, almost got sucked into the engine of a massive truck. But then seconds later it fluttered towards me and landed on my knee... Look at this gorgeous thing!
I don't know much about butterflies, so I looked up this one and it's a male Eastern-tailed Blue Butterfly, a common butterfly species across North America.
#bikeTO #toronto #bikelanes #cycling#climateAction #biodiversity #butterfly
Yes please! Transit passes are ridiculous in this city.
https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/transportation-infrastructure/ttc-fare-capping-monthly-rides-free-after-40-trips-11139378
Somebody please archive the Toronto Public Library blogs (multiple) that are hosted on TypePad now that the service is shutting down. #Toronto#TorontoPublicLibraryhttps://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com
Ethan Marcotte
boosted
The latest issue of @showuptoronto: thoughts on back to school and the Ford government's assault on school boards and how to get involved, plus events for harm reduction, labour organizing, and canvassing. International Overdose Awareness Day is this Sunday! https://buttondown.com/showup/archive/show-up-toronto-august-26-2025/ #toronto
The latest issue of @showuptoronto: thoughts on back to school and the Ford government's assault on school boards and how to get involved, plus events for harm reduction, labour organizing, and canvassing. International Overdose Awareness Day is this Sunday! https://buttondown.com/showup/archive/show-up-toronto-august-26-2025/ #toronto
Neville Park
boosted
Today at 6PM: Talk to Voters in Scarborough—Rouge Park (Lawrence & Morningside). Scarborough—Rouge Park is having a by-election to choose their next city Councillor on September 29, and it’s an opportunity to change who holds power at City Hall. Join Progress Toronto in knocking on doors in the ward to learn what issues matter to them and share information about the upcoming by-election. https://www.progresstoronto.ca/volunteer-srp-survey-2025 #toronto
Today at 6PM: Talk to Voters in Scarborough—Rouge Park (Lawrence & Morningside). Scarborough—Rouge Park is having a by-election to choose their next city Councillor on September 29, and it’s an opportunity to change who holds power at City Hall. Join Progress Toronto in knocking on doors in the ward to learn what issues matter to them and share information about the upcoming by-election. https://www.progresstoronto.ca/volunteer-srp-survey-2025 #toronto
Jamey Sharp
boosted
"My neighbour, who recently turned 50, lives alone. By the time the fourth A&W bag materialized on her porch, she had gone from being curious about what she’d viewed as random littering to frustrated to shaken by the invasion of her privacy." —Harley Rustad for Toronto Life
https://torontolife.com/deep-dives/the-great-french-fry-mystery-fast-food-whodunit/
"My neighbour, who recently turned 50, lives alone. By the time the fourth A&W bag materialized on her porch, she had gone from being curious about what she’d viewed as random littering to frustrated to shaken by the invasion of her privacy." —Harley Rustad for Toronto Life
https://torontolife.com/deep-dives/the-great-french-fry-mystery-fast-food-whodunit/
Neville Park
boosted
Anyone known this senior lady from #Toronto who speaks Portuguese? She has memory loss. Maybe she's your neighbour?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-lost-senior-1.7612722
Anyone known this senior lady from #Toronto who speaks Portuguese? She has memory loss. Maybe she's your neighbour?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-lost-senior-1.7612722
Neville Park
boosted
I went to a civic tech conference this weekend (more civics than tech, really). I don't have enough brain to put together a cohesive write up, so here's a list of things that really stuck with me. Quotes labelled with Q: "".
- There are some really cool orgs in the city. Go check them out. (next post).
- Q: "A community is who we intentionally include and exclude."
- I miss hanging out with Americans.
- 18F & the people they worked with to build Direct File and all these other things was something really special. It's going to take a long time to get back there.
- Still Americans though. Y'all need to learn more about the rest of the world.
- https://Pol.is/ is an interesting tool to do civic engagement, and it's been used in multiple jurisdictions to make policy decisions.
- Q: "Pol.is scares the shit out of [many of us who care about civic engagement.]"
- Q: "Pol.is is basically Cambridge Analytica."
- Toronto has a hella vibrant community of people who do the work to hold the city together.
- I can't believe I've barely met any of them.
- None of these people get paid. When they do, it's definitely not enough to live in this city.
- With the funding cuts for grants, inflation, rent, and stagnating wages, we're going to see a huge decline in the programs that stitch the city together.
- So many people are into maps.
- Maps are civics.
- OpenCycleMap helps you find water fountains and bathrooms! https://www.opencyclemap.org/?zoom=17&lat=43.65913&lon=-79.34905&layers=B0000
- I need to get out more.
- Several other people disagree with the above statement.
- More people need to learn about the issues regarding commercial real estate in the city (and the province).
- We need to mobilize the people to make the city what we collectively want to see.
- Maybe it's time to try sock knitting again. https://beige.party/@mayintoronto/115044106891142052
- The people who follow me on Mastodon will come up to me nervously and say "I follow you on Mastodon." Unless there was a shy contingent who didn't. PLEASE TELL ME WHO YOU ARE.
- This list is getting really long and I still have 8870 characters left.
- Someone thought Beige.Party was a political party. I am amused.
- We need to mobilize our friends and networks to get corporate offices to give the local communities access to space for meetings. There are not enough 3rd spaces in this city, and they're just sitting there empty all evening.
- Movements start local. There are many local movements. You need to find them and join the community.
- In the city, we talk to new people primarily though: house parties, dogs, and gardens/community gardens. There are some massive systemic barriers to all of these things now.
- Maybe I should be working in civic tech. I'd probably be good at it.
Neville Park
boosted
Today at 7PM: Basic Tenants Rights Workshop (Virtual). Join FMTA for a free and interactive workshop to learn about leases and illegal clauses, rules around tenant increases, how to ask for repairs, how evictions do and don't work, and lots more. https://www.torontotenants.org/free_workshop_your_basic_tenant_rights_august_18_7_pm #toronto
Today at 7PM: Basic Tenants Rights Workshop (Virtual). Join FMTA for a free and interactive workshop to learn about leases and illegal clauses, rules around tenant increases, how to ask for repairs, how evictions do and don't work, and lots more. https://www.torontotenants.org/free_workshop_your_basic_tenant_rights_august_18_7_pm #toronto
I went to a civic tech conference this weekend (more civics than tech, really). I don't have enough brain to put together a cohesive write up, so here's a list of things that really stuck with me. Quotes labelled with Q: "".
- There are some really cool orgs in the city. Go check them out. (next post).
- Q: "A community is who we intentionally include and exclude."
- I miss hanging out with Americans.
- 18F & the people they worked with to build Direct File and all these other things was something really special. It's going to take a long time to get back there.
- Still Americans though. Y'all need to learn more about the rest of the world.
- https://Pol.is/ is an interesting tool to do civic engagement, and it's been used in multiple jurisdictions to make policy decisions.
- Q: "Pol.is scares the shit out of [many of us who care about civic engagement.]"
- Q: "Pol.is is basically Cambridge Analytica."
- Toronto has a hella vibrant community of people who do the work to hold the city together.
- I can't believe I've barely met any of them.
- None of these people get paid. When they do, it's definitely not enough to live in this city.
- With the funding cuts for grants, inflation, rent, and stagnating wages, we're going to see a huge decline in the programs that stitch the city together.
- So many people are into maps.
- Maps are civics.
- OpenCycleMap helps you find water fountains and bathrooms! https://www.opencyclemap.org/?zoom=17&lat=43.65913&lon=-79.34905&layers=B0000
- I need to get out more.
- Several other people disagree with the above statement.
- More people need to learn about the issues regarding commercial real estate in the city (and the province).
- We need to mobilize the people to make the city what we collectively want to see.
- Maybe it's time to try sock knitting again. https://beige.party/@mayintoronto/115044106891142052
- The people who follow me on Mastodon will come up to me nervously and say "I follow you on Mastodon." Unless there was a shy contingent who didn't. PLEASE TELL ME WHO YOU ARE.
- This list is getting really long and I still have 8870 characters left.
- Someone thought Beige.Party was a political party. I am amused.
- We need to mobilize our friends and networks to get corporate offices to give the local communities access to space for meetings. There are not enough 3rd spaces in this city, and they're just sitting there empty all evening.
- Movements start local. There are many local movements. You need to find them and join the community.
- In the city, we talk to new people primarily though: house parties, dogs, and gardens/community gardens. There are some massive systemic barriers to all of these things now.
- Maybe I should be working in civic tech. I'd probably be good at it.
Neville Park
boosted
There are 5 organizing/advocacy/mutual aid events happening in Toronto today!
- Civic Spark
- KMCLT Walking Tour: Food Futures: Taste the Market’s Resistance
- Solidarity Academy for Asian Workers: Organize and Take Action
- Arms Embargo Now Rally
- Poetry Book Launch and Gathering
See details: https://showuptoronto.ca?start=2025-08-16 #toronto
There are 5 organizing/advocacy/mutual aid events happening in Toronto today!
- Civic Spark
- KMCLT Walking Tour: Food Futures: Taste the Market’s Resistance
- Solidarity Academy for Asian Workers: Organize and Take Action
- Arms Embargo Now Rally
- Poetry Book Launch and Gathering
See details: https://showuptoronto.ca?start=2025-08-16 #toronto
Neville Park
boosted
Directing traffic during the blackout, downtown Toronto, 2003-08-14. I took this picture
Source: https://scruss.com/blog/2021/06/06/directing-2003-08-14-toronto/
Ethan Marcotte
boosted
Today at 6PM: UNION Screening with Tech Worker's Coalition Canada (300 Campbell Ave). Come for a screening of UNION, the award-winning documentary behind how Amazon warehouse workers won their union drive with the Amazon Labor Union, and discuss joining forces with your fellow tech workers to change the direction of the industry for the better. https://lu.ma/5ndbcian?tk=rIPPVy #toronto