tunetardis

I have no idea how true this is? It is just a random shower thought.

It may be more true where I am in Canada than in the US? Here, senators are essentially appointed for life. I understand US senators are elected but have longer terms and generally more stable careers than their counterparts? In either case, there seems to be a lot of prestige that comes with the position.

Of relevance to Kingston:

For the last 10 years, Amélie Brack’s property-management company had no trouble renting out both halves of a duplex near St. Lawrence College in Kingston, one of Canada’s most notable student-dominated cities renowned for its high proportion of out-of-town students, with both St. Lawrence and Queen’s University in the area. This year, it’s still not rented out as the fall school term is about to start – a first for her. It’s not the only unit going empty, after demand for student housing in Kingston drastically fell in the past few months. “Up until last year, we would get 25 to 50 inquiries per week in August. This year, it’s been crickets. It’s quite a surprise,” said Ms. Brack, leasing manager for Limestone Property Management.

It’s a phenomenon that hasn’t shown up yet in any official statistical reports. But it’s one that many at ground level are observing, a noticeable U-turn from the last few years where there were often frantic bidding wars for student housing in the months leading up to the start of the fall term. They point to the cap on international students as a significant factor behind the drop. “The international student reduction has definitely affected us,” said Ms. Brack, who said that large, multibedroom houses in what’s called the student ghetto in Kingston are also going unrented and owners are finding themselves having to list them for rents closer to what a family could afford, rather than what five desperate students (or their parents) might be willing to pay: $2,700 a month for a four-bedroom, rather than the previous $4,000.

The cap for 2024 was set at 360,000 study permits for the country, a 35-per-cent reduction from the previous year.

In Ontario, internet searches for student housing near universities in Waterloo, Hamilton, and Kingston are down 46 per cent to 55 per cent, Ms. Yiu said.

The thrust of it is that the federal government would withhold funding to municipalities unless they meet certain home-building targets.

Critics worry that this will accelerate suburban sprawl in order to meet quotas. There are some provisions regarding rental housing and transit infrastructure, but with unrealistic time/budgeting constraints.

Rode my bike on this new section of Cataraqui Woods Dr today! You can now go from Centennial all the way to Sydenham Rd. Technically, there was still some heavy paving equipment working on a part of it so I'm not sure it is fully open to all traffic at this point? But they had taken down the barricades.

I think they’re here through the weekend?

Birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects? Sure. But no mammals.

So I had to google it. Apparently, there is a sloth that moves around so slowly moss grows all over it and it doesn't care. So it may appear green, but only in the sense that it wears it.

I was told by someone at Tourism Kingston that they are expecting more than 70K visitors to descend on the city for this, which is insane!

This is not far from where it crosses Little Cataraqui Creek, so they are probably trying to dam the creek. I should probably contact someone with the city? Anyone know who to call?

If you drive west from Collins Bay Rd, you should now see a "ghost" bicycle painted white on the south side of the road marking where the fatal collision occurred. Personally, I have lived in cities in which a cyclist fatality would barely garner attention by the local media, but as tragic as this is, I am glad the community here has not become jaded about such events.

I'd forgotten how much I missed going to concerts during the pandemic. They put on a good show!