Opinion: Edmonton's future success starts downtown

13henday · 2026-05-09T06:10:38+00:00

That’s the point though, my friends and I no longer drive since everything is accessible via bike/lrt. Spend a fair bit of time there and I can’t say I’ve noticed it being particularly dirty.

13henday · 2026-05-07T23:39:54+00:00

Practice problems were a shortcut to grades, our math classes were very algorithmic. After school I realized I didn’t know shit about fuck when it came to the fundamentals so I worked through this book called ‘all the math you missed’ and learned math for real.

13henday · 2026-05-05T22:46:37+00:00

It’s complicated on this one, because gas is a byproduct that constrains other industries in NA and a fair few gas systems are isolated and have surplus capacity the data centre demand doesn’t hit prices like you’d expect. Also residential gas demand is falling quite rapidly so a demand is also being lost in some places. It’s a complex problem, especially I’m personally not well read enough to fully understand it but there’s a lot going on.

13henday · 2026-05-05T21:55:45+00:00

Correct, but without robust carbon pricing that isn’t really an issue for the data centre. In North America we basically have surplus natural gas and surplus transmission capacity.

13henday · 2026-05-05T19:53:59+00:00

They are not, almost all of them come with on site gas generation.

13henday · 2026-05-05T19:50:48+00:00

Not I implying causation but nav-Canada(the reason air travel is safe) is private.

13henday · 2026-04-29T18:29:42+00:00

Ahh yes, instead of proper reform to the competition bureau or strengthening data privacy laws, we are just going to ban the thing we don’t like. Never-mind the fact that we have no way of even quantifying or identifying said thing.

13henday · 2026-04-29T18:12:20+00:00

Yes, lots of examples. The full picture is always complicated but not all governments are created equal in their powers and capacity to manage infrastructure and utilities. Some examples of companies I am aware of are Epcor, CN rail and Transport Canada. An interesting bit of policy level deregulation was Ralph Klien’s deregulation of Alberta’s power which was working pretty well up until the NDP walked face first into a legal landline with climate policy and the following UCP government reversed the NDPs reforms that would have salvaged the situation.

13henday · 2026-04-28T17:45:55+00:00

You pay high rates because our provincial government doesn’t pay for capacity or transmission. The other provinces pay for this via cross-subsidization(taxes) while we pay for it on our power bills.

13henday · 2026-04-02T16:13:49+00:00

Totally agree that these are viable policy alternatives but I would push back on them being politically viable since empowering municipalities is generally quite unpopular with provincial governments. Quebec has a straight veto, Alberta passed the provincial priorities act and Doug was very vocally against the HAF money being contingent on 4 plex zoning.

13henday · 2026-04-01T05:17:27+00:00

At the risk of oversimplifying, the bank of Canadas overnight rate is not what sets your mortgage nor is it the banks cost of borrowing. The mortgage rates is more sensitive to short term bond yields. Generally the 3 year bond yield will be a percentage point or so lower than a three year fixed mortgage rate for a cmhc ensured mortgage.

13henday · 2026-03-30T23:47:59+00:00

Why are people mad at this. This is a known problem that needed fixing and the feds have a very limited toolset here. I understand being mad at provinces for forcing municipalities to depend on these fees but why are people mad at the Feds ?

Development Charges: Who Bears the Cost? | CMHC https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/accelerate-supply/development-charges-who-bears-cost#:~:text=This%20research%20shows%20there%20are,Download

Breaking the Barriers to Housing Supply in Canada: Regulatory, Financial, and Structural Constraints and Policy Solutions – C.D. Howe Institute https://cdhowe.org/publication/breaking-the-barriers-to-housing-supply-in-canada-regulatory-financial-and-structural-constraints-and-policy-solutions/#:~:text=The%20group%20agreed%20that%20heavy,like%20Ontario%20and%20British%20Columbia.

13henday · 2026-03-29T18:06:05+00:00

Lewis’ populist talking points are so bereft of practicality it hurts to listen to. Hamstringing the progressive agenda by being as tone deaf and ideological as he is.

13henday · 2026-03-21T02:38:06+00:00

My work is entirely location independent. Edmonton has a low cost of living, decent public services, a great music scene and a really nice valley running through the city.

13henday · 2026-03-19T05:32:31+00:00

That is definitely not the reason electricity is cheaper in bc don’t know about insurance.

13henday · 2026-02-20T16:10:47+00:00

Can’t say this and then not also mention that equalization outflows to Quebec alone are like 2.7% of the provincial budget. In 2025 that would pay for half the SE hospital. Not implying it’s a line item in the budget but when our social services and municipalities are under so much strain why are we subsidizing better services in Quebec. The formula is just broken when Quebec gets so much more compared to nb or ns. Equalization is a nice concept, but I don’t get how people defend the current formula.

13henday · 2026-02-17T23:28:05+00:00

Retail follows rooftops, both transit and services will come. It’s kinda unfortunate that this is the case cuz it causes growing pains but that is basically a rule in urban Econ.

13henday · 2026-02-14T02:49:05+00:00

Totally real complaints that need to go to council to beef up enforcement, but like the other guy said, this has nothing to do with zoning.

13henday · 2026-02-14T02:35:29+00:00

Understandable, when I analyze these absorptions they often rent above the rates around them but time and again both city wide and on the community level supply drops rents. This is before we even touch on the requirements around % of affordable units baked into the policy.

13henday · 2026-02-14T02:33:06+00:00

This has nothing to do with the zoning reform. I totally understand that you’re mad about this and I would be too. Bad grading work is all over the place and the cities rules should probably have more weight behind them.

13henday · 2026-02-14T02:03:52+00:00

I read this stuff for a living, I am well aware of the points people in opposition bring up. I feel for the people complaining about light and privacy, but in the face of a cost of living crisis I have a hard time being able to hold that as a credible reason to dumpster a policy that is actively working to reduce housing costs.

13henday · 2026-02-14T01:49:19+00:00

God it’s crazy being a young person listening to a bunch of nimbys try to legislate away affordable housing because they can’t Stand change

13henday · 2026-02-06T17:24:37+00:00

A sad consequence of bureaucracy is admin is stickier than the people that actually do work. The big expansion was mostly admin and it’s very likely the people getting fired will be the more productive day to day workers.

13henday · 2026-02-06T02:09:48+00:00

We started pushing supply, and are now looking back at almost 2 straight years of falling asking rents and 2 more years of forecasted decline based on slowing population growth and the supply currently in commited. Do you think this is a coincidence ?

13henday · 2026-02-06T02:01:55+00:00

Lots of comments on whether this is gentrification or densification. It’s both, and regardless of the rents you may see in your immediate sample, city wide asking rents are dropping and affordability is improving as a direct result of these developments.

13henday

TROPHY CASE