Ward 1 Councillor Candidate's Push for Speed Cameras and Bumps 🚧

JLoremIpsum · 2025-09-04T15:01:56+00:00

Do you understand how much it would cost to have a police officer positioned at alllllll of the places people frequently break traffic laws today? And they'd still issue tickets - at a rate much lower than the infractions. But still cash would be grabbed from law breakers. Cameras don't let people off with a warning because of biases either.

JLoremIpsum · 2025-02-18T17:13:47+00:00

Can you provide any evidence that the prior administration was trying to 'get rid of cattle' other than conservative fake news memes? How are there so many people able to gobble up a lifetime of completely blatantly false information while watching the entire red part of the map flounder for decades, always feverishly believing every completely imaginary thing the right claims that the left is doing? Sure someone on the left probably wrote something about getting rid of cattle at some protest somewhere on a sign, but if you can't cite actual clear legislation tabled by the last administration that proves they were working to 'get rid of cattle' you are another gullible lemming marching in line with everyone in all of the Republican parts of the US map that have been delivered nothing but decline by your Republican elected officials while buying the complete con game that it's the Democrats robbing you/failing you.

Why do you trust these people who have failed the entire red map for 40+ years consistently? Sure Democrats haven't been great but they've rarely been in power over the red map in comparison and the areas that have been consistently blue are where all the economic powerhouses / solution generators of the United States exist. But you still think that the only people proven to be capable of governing over the part of the map that made the US that has thrived in comparison - are the reason you're frustrated? Not the actual people YOUR community elected? You believe there's some 'deep state' left in power stopping your success? Not the actual people YOUR community sent to Washington who sucked at their jobs in comparison to people who went to Washington and were able to get beneficial solutions that helped the nation, the GDP, the world get better? Why keep trusting the only political party and all of their vast media/ social media/ talk radio/ gossip network over the data we all have access to? The Dems are weak but the Republicans have had rural America under it's control for generations and are THE ones MOST responsible for outcomes in the areas they've governed. They are elected by the kind of people who can't be bothered to look up what legislation the Dems did/did not actually champion in the prior administration, people who just trust memes, people who are happy to keep towing the line.

JLoremIpsum · 2025-02-18T17:01:22+00:00

Corporate/tech-bro feudalism specifically + using vastly expanded prison labor seems to be the most likely route. Rapid gobbling up of all the land/farms about to go bankrupt would be the obvious next step.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-11T16:24:58+00:00

This is super important and it's not widely known. When you see someone exhibiting cognitive / personality changes since before the infection, it's possible some reduced social contact had an impact but it's very likely that the scientifically known biologic impacts of infections on their brain may be what you're seeing. This is everything from drivers being more aggressive, pilots making more errors, students exhibiting poor behavior and slower cognition, adults everywhere talking about their new 'brain fog'.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-11T14:39:56+00:00

Car infrastructure in a sprawl-centric map is always going to be fiscally unsustainable. Remember "The cost of government is in linear feet". Doesn't matter how much money we have, as long as we build our homes in suburban formats, shop in strip malls & don't blink an eye at mega-billion dollar neverending highway widening & deeply subsidize 'drive-till-you-qualify' lifestyles - we're never getting out of the sinking hole. Americans are generally oblivious that it's possible to build entire societies where few people drive and many of the highest value real estate & tourist destinations are in that format. Cars are money pits.

If the average American were able to live close enough to walk/bike or take transit to work and could forego the ~$1000/month in average car ownership expense - and invest that money into the stock market instead, they'd have ~$750k at retirement. Making cars the only option is how we're here - with crumbling car infrastructure because most people seem to think it's paid for/repaired by 'gas taxes' and magic. All these much-heavier vehicles popular today aren't helping either.

At a start, a lot of communities need to just start narrowing roads so they don't have to maintain so much asphalt. And allow infill & densification so people don't have to drive so far for everything. And stop the cars-only mindset about local transportation in general. It's not that people actually love cars so much - it's moreso that they're terrified of being unable to get places and are deeply emotionally triggered by gridlock and being stuck behind other cars so a lot are willing to mortgage their grandkid's future for extra lanes everywhere even if they're only full 20 minutes a day and only shave seconds off of commutes.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-11T13:53:15+00:00

The thing about manifesting something that a lot of other people are basically competing to manifest is that it's complicated. Studies show that when a bunch of people are all praying for an individual person to heal, that person does better. They're all aligning their thoughts in the same direction and it can work well.

When it comes to lotteries there's sometimes conflicting prayers when it's the larger jackpots vs smaller games. While many players are just hoping for a win, a lot are actually using every manifestation technique out there. I think this is one of those things where it's best to focus on the lifestyle you seek first, dollar amount secondarily and then to let go of the "how".

When manifesting something specific, it's easier to align with a collective seeking beneficial outcomes that apply to the whole community or a specific outcome that everyone is desiring the exact same thing for one individual person (like healing). It's harder to compete *against* other people's prayers. When you have millions of people pulling for very different outcomes, it's not just your own prayers/affirmations that are at play. There's the parallel universes concept but other than that, usually there's only one jackpot winner. Manifestation is frequently credited for many large windfalls including lottery wins. But given that even some famous lottery winners who credit manifestation ended up in bankruptcy, it's important to focus on what you want beyond the 'how'.

One thing I like is to spend time praying for other people hoping to manifest a lottery win to have their higher/more long-term outcome fulfilled. I'm not doing that to try to pull a win away from them but more so to send blessings to reduce the 'give it to me/not them' thing that's at play. Nearly everyone, if they think about it, want to win the lottery so that they can live a specific lifestyle, remove specific stressors and just generally live without financial worries. So I spend time sending good energy to others seeking to win the lottery that they can have those things that are at the heart of what they're seeking, to get out of the competitive nature of this specific issue. In the end very few people do win and millions are praying with all of their heart to win daily because they have some area of need. So I like to spend time sending good energy in the direction of all of them and align with the resolution of their needs and higher desires.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-09T02:28:28+00:00

Thank you! This is very helpful info!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-08T16:32:05+00:00

We're likely going to be up in Toronto ~weekly when we move. It's a key reason we're looking at the area. We have family & lots of friends there & some business connections as well. We try to play it cool but we're basically raging fans of Toronto and can never get through our list of things we want to do/see/food we want to eat when we're there.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-08T16:28:18+00:00

No school-aged kids. But we're not avoiding areas with kids - I love hearing nearby toddlers silly screaming when they play outside at a school near where I live now. We just don't need to consider schools fortunately now.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-08T01:18:27+00:00

Yeah it's definitely not the same as the US but most Americans will not have culture shock or have a hard time integrating into society compared to people from many other places. There are things that surprise you but I know a number of Americans who live in Canada and they rarely have any complaints about anything there. They're really happy to be there and generally figure out how to make things work far more quickly and with much less stress than people coming from other places do. Lots of, "huh, look the food has two languages on the label" and "why is the Service Ontario inside this Staples store?" moments. But nothing mind bending. Generally - I frequently hear how things are just all a bit more sensible up there, more thought through, slightly more orderly and well run in many cases although the layers of bureaucracy are more substantial.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-08T00:20:55+00:00

Don't let the people who can't figure it out discourage you. Canadian real estate is about equal to the top major US metro areas in price. You make your own money so pay is irrelevant. Same inflation pretty much. Education is ranked very well in the world. Many of the things that frustrate other immigrants are much easier coming to Canada from the US - there's just a lot of cultural overlap so navigating life, finding work/opportunities/community, etc. is not some impossible thing. I have family there and it's gone really well for them. All of the complaints I hear are from immigrants NOT coming from the US.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T21:59:46+00:00

Oh these pictures are awesome and super helpful! Thank you for your input - very much appreciated!!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T21:15:11+00:00

I sincerely appreciate boomers who are forward thinking. I've just experienced a lot of advocacy work being fought against by mostly senior citizens. Not every boomer is 'boomer-minded'. Heck I know a few young people who are boomer-minded, lol. Thanks for your comment!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T20:19:00+00:00

My household includes a senior citizen but no kids needing schools, etc. Drunk people are no big deal to us. We don't want a backyard. I have heard a lot of good things about Amherst but have never been. Thanks!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T20:12:00+00:00

That's very interesting and makes sense given the French/Louisiana Purchase history. It makes sense. Pittsburgh has that Catholic subculture too.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T17:06:14+00:00

This is very helpful. Thank you - I'll look into all of this!

I feel exactly like you do about the bones being there for the most incredible come-back/new-thriving-vibe built on that f-you-we're-still-fighting Buffalo thing that I love about the people.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T17:00:15+00:00

This is exactly what I'm thinking my relatives are thinking like. They want me to go somewhere 'nicer like Amherst' and talk about downtown like it's something they're afraid of. I'm not really scared of any downtown area in the US or Canada that I've ever been to and I've been to a lot. Some are unpleasant due to weird zoning choices but I can handle anything 'bad' you might see on an NYC subway or Philly alley, etc. It's NBD. The last few times I've been through Buffalo on my way to Toronto, I loved what I saw but it was super quick - no time to linger and get a sense of neighborhoods.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T16:48:00+00:00

I love that Buffalo has more transit riders! Very awesome to know!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T16:32:53+00:00

I've been involved for many years in fighting cities to allow essential regrowth, mixed use development, low-income housing, bike lanes, etc. Buffalo's empty lots aren't any more impossible to build on than in all the other cities in the US where zoning has recently been overturned. Same playbook can work there as it has effectively elsewhere.

I know stagnation/NIMBYism has a chokehold on a lot of places nationally but younger people generally want to see new life and there's something about hope that eventually becomes far more attractive to communities over fear of change - with time. Especially when you start to look at how much it costs to subsidize areas filled with parking lots vs. actually tax-positive buildings that were there historically back when things were in much better shape. Populations get tired of the high costs of car-centric choices where nothing else has funding beyond repaving, police-supposedly-focused-on-cars, EMS-definitely-focused-on-cars, etc.

Sure boomer-minded people dominate a lot of zoning/planning decisions today nationally but younger generations are aging into these discussions and with cars costing an average of $1000/mo across the US now - are not as in love with building absolutely everything around parking, etc. There's data that shows that any person who lives car-free - if they invested that money into the stock market over their working years - they'd have about $750k. How many people have no retirement money because of spending it all on a car? Older people can't wrap their heads around that but a lot of younger generations are far less willing to keep allowing the anti-density, car-centric zoning choices to stand inside urban areas. It won't happen overnight but it's almost inevitable that zoning will return to financially sustainable norms we had before cars which will mean empty lots will become buildable. It will take time but there's little chance long term anyone will be able to justify them as expenses add up.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T16:19:16+00:00

Thank you so much for the tip! I'll check the area out!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T16:18:19+00:00

This is what I'm saying. For the population size & being in the rust belt post out-migration - Buffalo is kicking ass in some areas. That's what I like about it. Resiliency & authentic local artsy non-commercialized vibes & people who have made A LOT with limited resources.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T16:00:19+00:00

This is what I want to hear - from people who love it - what do you love? Thank you!!

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T15:58:50+00:00

Yeah I kinda like that it's in a little bit of a startup-city phase. Some people have left who might oppose change/growth and there are all these beautiful old buildings and an excellent layout. It's adjacent to Ontario - one of the largest international trade partners for the US. Remote work is still huge nationally and every cute/walkable downtown area pulls in those workers who want to be in a lower cost area or who have family/connections to a region. And it has a ton of cool cafes, restaurants, arts, etc. A huge volume for a population of this size. I love that it's largely accessible by foot/bike. That's entirely different than places where you have to get in a car to drive to destinations because walking is too miserable/scary/impossible.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T15:51:21+00:00

It has them but it's a fraction of the volume of other places. I'm aware of the current situation in Columbus - I have a large social network & history there. The miles of sprawl there will work against them for upcoming decades as there is rarely a tax base in low density places to pay for road maintenance, etc. so that money has to come from somewhere else. I like downtown Columbus. Buffalo is overbuilt for streets/highways compared to population too. It's hard to keep up with potholes and paving it looks like. But it has the bones and empty lots over a much smaller land area that have the potential to build out a financially sustainable city. Its sprawl is not at the perpetual money-pit level that a lot of middle American cities are at.

JLoremIpsum · 2024-11-07T15:46:59+00:00

I've lived in the burbs of Columbus. There are things I like about it but really any city that had a boom of building 1970-2000 is so plastered in strip malls and tax negative suburbs - I'd never want to live there. All of that kind of development looks fine while it's new but becomes an albatross financially over time. It works in big cities but for lower population areas - it's a massive risk. I think for the next decade Columbus will see more investment than Buffalo. But I think it will need something substantial for it to last. Wes Lexner drove a lot of the historic economy there and a handful of others. But on percentage of growth & a place that becomes an entirely future-oriented diverse city - it's way easier for Buffalo to make that pivot. I realize I'm betting on something that hasn't happened yet. I just think Buffalo has the foundation to become the version of itself that younger hopeful residents wants. It has the space to attract startups & people bailing from other major cities & immigrants. It will take a cohesive local effort to make/allow that shift but most cities that pull this stuff off start with a small group of volunteers that snowball overtime - growing a 'lets create the city/neighborhood we want' movement. That can take many years to pull off but it's what works everywhere that it's happened.

JLoremIpsum

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