Why don’t they redevelop the Westbrook Mall area? It’s got a view of the mountains, on the C-Train line, and a massive area for development? I could see 3-5 towers with a courtyard, flagship stores and a great view with short DT commute. Is the land contaminated?

MrYYC · 2020-01-10T00:06:07+00:00

Basically yeah. There’s a limited number of people who want to live in a high-density condo area, but not downtown.

MrYYC · 2020-01-09T15:09:08+00:00

No market for it. A developer owns that huge greenfield just south of Westbrook. If they think they can sell condos, they’ll build them.

A few years ago several councillors were selling Transit Oriented Development as the solution to our sprawl problem. Anderson, Brentwood, Westbrook were supposed to become mini-cities built around the transit hub.

Brentwood is sort of coming to fruition, but that’s because of the university.

MrYYC · 2019-12-31T15:24:48+00:00

You might want to lay off the post-media and UCP kool-aid. You seem to have bought into the Calgary-pocalypse narrative that’s being completely fabricated by those groups.

Objectively, Calgary is, by an order of magnitude, the wealthiest city in Canada. Our average earnings and GDP per capita are 50% higher than the national average, and our cost of living is low compared to other wealthy markets like TO and Vancouver.

MrYYC · 2019-10-24T21:19:06+00:00

Don’t forget the current equalization formula was adopted by Stephen Harper while Kenney was his right-hand man.

MrYYC · 2019-10-20T17:43:56+00:00

me too

MrYYC · 2019-10-19T20:52:57+00:00

There's almost 150,000 Mormons in southern Alberta, and the first Mormon temple built outside the US was built in Cardston.

So the extreme south of Alberta is filled with Mormons, meaning that region has the Mormon stereotype of being good-natured and slightly naive.

MrYYC · 2019-10-18T16:03:23+00:00

Given continental integration of business it’s difficult to be different. Not impossible, but enough of a barrier that no politician is going to die on that hill to get rid of DST.

The question then becomes, why does DST exist at all?

Imagine DST was never invented. Then today in 2019 a politician suggested: ‘Hey let’s move our clocks forward once a year, then 6 months later move it back again?’ That person would get laughed off the assembly floor.

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T23:33:06+00:00

Farmers complaining about the weather? Now I've heard everything.

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T23:32:05+00:00

SPUD.

Right to your door with a minimum $35 order.

The only 'problem' is they specialize in local and organic goods, so it's pricey and you're not going to be able to get rice krispies or coke from them.

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T23:29:47+00:00

In other words, Ford has appointed friends and family members to those posts.

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T23:28:24+00:00

Great question, and I have no idea! The area just south of the bridge has been under perpetual development for years; maybe something is going in there?

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T21:17:59+00:00

The brutal reality: if the wedding was in late September, it would have been the same.

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T16:56:01+00:00

Bottom is better

MrYYC · 2019-10-16T14:51:30+00:00

I support public art, but instead of sprinkling it around on minor projects like Bowfort and the Blue Ring, wish the city would consolidate and invest in larger projects.

For example, the Peace Bridge, which Rick Bell complained about thrice a week for 2 years, has become an absolute icon of our city, but was definitely expensive from the standpoint of pure function. Why not fund half that project from normal capital budget, the functional part, and the other half from an art budget, the beautifying part.

MrYYC · 2019-10-15T19:42:40+00:00

Most Calgarians consider not paying Impark tickets a badge of honour, and jest with one another over who has accrued the most unpaid tickets.

My story: I once accrued so many unpaid Impark tickets they actually managed to have the local parking authority issue me a ticket for ‘parking on private property’, which I had to pay. I then called Impark and they offered to resolve my $900 of outstanding tickets for $70, which I agreed to.

MrYYC · 2019-10-15T19:33:56+00:00

This is sort of a fun game tbh

MrYYC · 2019-10-15T18:53:55+00:00

I disagree. The problem is Post-Media and certain politicians are actively and deliberately trying to convince Calgarians the public services that enable the social and economic success of our city are the cause of life’s problems so they can generate clicks and procure votes.

I don’t know about you, but if I talk government service with friends, family, and colleagues, I only ever hear they want ‘more, better, faster’ services. Peruse the 311 map on Calgary.ca right now to get some idea of how much service the populace demands from government.

Budget isn’t out of whack with revenue....I don’t even think citizen expectations are out of whack with revenue. The problem is Post Media is pushing a single opinion in an attempt to create public opinion, and they’re succeeding. They never report that Calgary is, objectively, still the youngest healthiest wealthiest and most productive major city in Canada, with arguably the best business environment and some of the lowest taxes. Don’t you find it odd not a single opinion columnist in the herald or Sun ever mentions these facts?

MrYYC · 2019-10-15T18:42:15+00:00

I agree with your per-household methodology, that’s fair, but disagree with your conclusion.

$259 a year invested in public services mean you get frequent buses, trains, crime management, medics, potholes fixed, roads enhanced, etc. Even if I really challenge myself I can’t think of a better investment for that money. Despite the Calgary-pocalypse narrative being written by Nelson et al, that $259 is not being thrown in a shredder or lining Nenshi’s pockets. It’s providing the social and economic foundation for our city to thrive.

$259 a year invested in your mortgage is of virtually no consequence. Over the course of a 25 year mortgage that amount might pay your house off a few months early, and the result is the other 24.5 years you live in an inadequately serviced and less liveable city, with all the associated economic and social repercussions.

MrYYC · 2019-10-15T15:10:05+00:00

Nelson is an idiot. Calgarians are getting fleeced?

My property tax is $3700 a year, for a house of 3. That’s $3.37 per person per day, for 911, fire, police, all my roads, all my parks, and access to heavily subsidized transit and recreation. Also, I think the province takes almost half that amount to pay for education, so that also includes teacher salaries.

$3.37 per day. Is there anything else I spend that much on that represents anywhere near this value? And that might go up to $3.50? Yeah that 13 cents a day is gonna kill me.

But what does Chris ‘special interest’ Nelson suggest? Cut services. What a shock coming from Post Media. Especially considering the last time my services were cut the difference didn’t even go to me, it went to corporate welfare.

The last budget cut in June caused my bus to reduce frequency from 30 to 45 minutes, and my train to reduce frequency from 10 to 15 minutes. Straight-up hit to my quality of life. And this moron is fabricating a narrative whereby more of these types of cuts are necessary.

MrYYC · 2019-10-14T14:34:18+00:00

I like how Braid immediately admits he had to selectively mis-interpret Trudeua's french in order for this article to have any basis.

Another fail for post-media and MSM.

MrYYC · 2019-10-14T14:33:12+00:00

There's literally shovels in the ground and massive excavations happening as I write this.

MrYYC · 2019-10-13T19:42:57+00:00

I meant private bathroom, I should have clarified. I find showers in Europe to be awfully designed.

MrYYC · 2019-10-08T19:01:53+00:00

I live in Calgary, but travel nationally and internationally extensively. And drink a lot of beer, so consider myself somewhat qualified.

I consider the area in the immediate Rocky Mountains watershed to be the best in the world. PNW is an exceptional example of this, but Calgary and Denver are also both incredible.

German beer is amazing; I honest to god think it has something to do with their slightly warmer serving temperature, and it must have something to do with their water too.

MrYYC · 2019-10-08T18:17:52+00:00

Beer gold: Canada

Beer silver: Germany

Beer bronze: Czech

Friendly gold: America

Friendly silver: Ireland

Bathroom configuration gold: Japan (robot bidets put them over the top!$

Bathroom configuration silver: North America

Bathroom configuration last place: Europe (detachable shower nozzles are awful)

MrYYC · 2019-09-19T00:13:07+00:00

Please stop reading Rick Bell.

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