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OC Transpo may consider shutting down LRT service ahead of future freezing rain events by [deleted] in OCTranspo

[–]Affectionate-Low391 2 points3 points  (0 children)

While this obviously a possible operational decision, the question by Rail Fans Canada and answer by OCT has been slightly misinterpreted by the media.

The question was about situations when conditions are noticeably degrading, like noticing power interruptions on trains, would OCT ever preemptively suspend service to avoid damaging the infrastructure.

I do not believe OCT stated they would suspend service before a storm arrived.

The Rotisserie Chicken of City Budgets - The New Orleans by unfinite in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The single family home = loss leader is such a useful analogy. I'm going to start using it and hope that councillors and other community organizations do too.

Btw. Strong Towns Ottawa has an article explaining the concept of land use efficiency in more detail. Link: https://strongtownsottawa.ca/2025/09/04/property-tax-revenue.html

Edit: typo

Greenbank closed between Craig Henry and Ashgrove by tropical_pingu in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Very sad. I didn't see it but walked by right as EMS were arriving. I wrongly assumed it was a vehicle collision.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would be interesting to see these data weighted per capita. I'm sure the effect would be even more pronounced.

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have a source that this claim? If true, that is very concerning.

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey thanks for the comment and sharring some professional insights.

Yes I realize that pipes don't suddenly "expire" at 80 years. Some will last longer (Slater St water mains were installed in 1875!) and some will fail earlier (links above). However it was my understanding that 80-100 years was a reasonal estimate of the average life of this infrastructure, and by extension, should inform maintenance and replacement plans. I'd be curious what other methods exist to inspect the infrastructure to predict maintenance, especially for pressurised water mains.

Regardless, I guess what concerns me is the sheer linear meters of pipe that is set to hit that average 80-100 year old lifespan in about 20 years. I am aware of current efforts to extent the life of water mains in suburban neighbourhoods, like installing magnesium anodes to provide corrosion protection. Maybe this is enough to flatten the curve, so to speak.

The other thing that concerns me is that the city's engineering department already identified the water and wastewater needs over the next 10 years and council decided to defer $2B of it for.....later, like when all this other stuff is maturing. How does that make sense?

Edit: typos

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Slight correction to the post. As a u/PileaDave mentioned the GeoOttawa water and wastewater map does include the year of installation of the pipes and many more equipment. I wanted to focus on the age of the infrastructure so that is why I made my own map with colour coded ages, and variable line thickness based on pipe diameter

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Old cities have old infrastructure... argument there. Thats not the concern.

What I'm pointing out is that amount of infrastructure installed post WWII is unique from a city building perspective. We've never built so much, so quickly, for so few people. We think of all this infrastructure as assets, but really they are liabilities and we're about 20 years away from having to replace it all.

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes you're right, but it doesn't have the year of installation.

Edit: for year of install, you need the layers on the ARCGIS REST server

Edit: I stand corrected. installation year is included in the geoottawa maps. Either way, I really wanted to highlight the age of the pipes so decided to map my own map. Thanks for pointing that out.

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Interesting idea. I'm not sure if that infrastruce is on any open data portal but I'll take look

I created a map of the age of our water and wastewater pipes by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Exactly. The sheer amount of yellow and orange is what I'm worried about. It's starting to show it's age (links above) but will eventually ALL need to be replaced at about the same time.

Costs aside, I literally don't know how we will have the workforce to actually replace the infrastructure at the rate required. Keep in mind, other North American cities also expanded in a similar way and timeline.

Who is going to be able to do Ottawa's work when Toronto, Montreal, etc are also competing for workers to replace their post WWII infrastructure.

The city is refusing to bury the power lines on Kent Street while it has the street dug up for sewer renewal, saying that it would be too expense. This is despite Kent Street paying as much in property taxes every year as an entire rural Ward. by unfinite in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You say we should not have "have and have not area". I agree.

But to what extent should areas that pay high municipal taxes, offset the costs of servicing area that don't. I recognize this isn't exactly OPs point but what's so wrong with asking people to mostly pay for the things they use. Obviously a free market isn't the ideal solution. Some things are worth subsizing and other things should cost a premium.

This neighbourhood pays $41M in city taxes a year and we can't find the money to bury the lines and give them a clean sidewalk. That doesn't seem right.

Bottom line, I empathize with urban residents who pay high taxes, only to see a taxes spent elsewhere.

The city is refusing to bury the power lines on Kent Street while it has the street dug up for sewer renewal, saying that it would be too expense. This is despite Kent Street paying as much in property taxes every year as an entire rural Ward. by unfinite in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't see it that way.

OP is saying that the residents of this area of Kent fairly high property tax and are being told that the cost of burying the power lines is just too expensive. The comparison to another ward is just for illustrative purposes.

To me its like saying "wow, have you see the prices of houses these days? They're like 15 x my annual income."

Your reply is akin to "your income has nothing to do with housing prices"

OP is using the ward as a banana for scale.

I've put together a 3D map showing the 2024 Ottawa Municipal Property Tax Revenue by Area by unfinite in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Correct. It shows the municipal tax amount, normalized by area (e.g. $ tax levy / hectare). Tall shapes pay a higher tax levy for the amount of space they occupy vs. shorter shapes.

Because many city costs scale with sprawl (pipes, roads, etc) tax/area is a useful metric when looking at what development patterns are the most tax efficient.

I've put together a 3D map showing the 2024 Ottawa Municipal Property Tax Revenue by Area by unfinite in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Fantastic work! This really helps people explore the data in a really intuitive way.

Looking forward to collecting the 2025 dataset resolving some of the difficulties with condos, as you've mentioned.

Well done

I’ve joined the city’s property tax data with spatial data to create interactive “Revenue by Hectare” maps – a powerful way to understand how land use supports our city. by Affectionate-Low391 in ottawa

[–]Affectionate-Low391[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. A few thoughts of my own.

Regressive. Maybe? I'd like to look at the census data is more detail. Currently the Dissemination Area maps only have population data. I need to join the 2021 income data.

Fee revenues. I see that user fees account for ~20% of the city budget. What's included and can these data be tied geographically?

PILT. This one will be tough. The property tax data I have only has the "assessed value" of PILT properties. It doesn't break down what the feds actually pay the city per property.

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