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.