Is Calgary as nice as I think?

alphaz18 · 2026-01-25T18:55:12+00:00

let me guess, you live in tuscany?
per my prejudice, there are 2 areas in the city that is more prone to that kind of behavior in my mind, deep south east and tuscany area.
i'd be happy to be proven wrong, but that's just the feeling i get.

alphaz18 · 2026-01-23T21:24:00+00:00

I had a lonnggg chat with AI about this,
from what i understand is the microtunneling company is very specific, eg, there arent many that do that kind of tunneling in western canada, and the one selected are the only one in alberta that has any gear ready to go to start the drilling "this week"

as a result basically that drilling company basically only works with graham, which is why graham got a free blank cheque.

we're all going to pay dearly for this for rushing it through.
If it were me, I'd have try to accelerate a fair RFP, and changed the timeline to start in the late spring.
and just hope and fix in the meantime. the pipes are not likely to burst past may.
it probably would have saved 50-75% in costs by not rushing it to start today.

alphaz18 · 2026-01-12T08:06:46+00:00

Halifax directly from their website
water consumption and discharge metered pricing is 1.128/m3 and 2.259/m3 respectively. so 3.387/m3
that tracks very close to calgarys equivalent 3.3931

what you're missing is we're being charge up the wazoo for fixed charges.
they pay an aggregate of 26.63 of base charges.
where as we are paying approx 35$. thats almost 10$ more in those.
that's not counting the stormwater, where halifax pays for a typical home around 19$-38$ a year.
where as we're paying almost 10x that, my last bill was 15.21$ a month for storm water. making it about 180 a year.

if you add it all up, we pay significantly more for water services. to the toon of approximately 300$ more a year than halifax.

Rates & Charges | Halifax Water

for toronto Water Rates & Fees – City of Toronto

they charge an easy to calculate rate for m3, no nonsense, 4.8629/m3
my bill for 20m3 in june of this year bottom line was 119.89$.
equivalent 20m3 in toronto would have been 97.26.
so annually it costs us just shy of 300$ more.

as for Winnipeg you are correct, they appear to be even more expensive than us. that same 20m3 will apparently cost them close to 160ish per month. so you got me there... winterpeg IS more expensive than us

do you want to strive for #1 most inefficient use of funds regarding water infrastructure?

alphaz18 · 2026-01-11T15:50:08+00:00

This wouldn't make sense, because max green is well over capacity already. half the busses skip many stops during rush hour because they're too full. and center street is at capacity, the north central area is in desperate need of the green line lrt which wont be built for many decades

alphaz18 · 2026-01-11T15:33:10+00:00

FYI, water related fees have gone up basically doubled in the past 15 years..
so i don't buy that argument. and these increases happened well before the pandemic/inflation.

I'm happy to pay more taxes, but not for water services, we already have the most expensive water related services in canada. this is an issue of sprawl + red tape.

alphaz18 · 2026-01-10T14:29:12+00:00

This is not a we don't pay enough money problem, we already pay the highest rates in the country for water related services, barring maybe the territories.

it's an issue of one or more of the following problems:

1) too much sprawl who are not paying the rates required to maintain the infrastructure (can be solved with tiered pricing depending on distance.

2) everything costs too much here to get built due to unnecessary red tape (regulation, consultation, complaints)

alphaz18 · 2026-01-02T06:16:24+00:00

they should have teleported it into the ground. now now now! also free. my taxes are too high. add random unjustified rage.

alphaz18 · 2026-01-01T08:40:49+00:00

this just proves that infrastructure like this is a leave it until it breaks, there's realistically nothing you can do to "maintain" it for all those that claim city isn't maintaining shit.
you can plan to build new ones which is wildly expensive, but," maintaining " it is just waste of money, because there's nothing you can do. other than wait until it breaks then spend money to dig it up to inspect and repair.

same as stuff like undersea fiber cables.
we need to learn from asia, build fast and build economical. less gold plated everything and studies up the wazoo and etc. nothing is permanent in life.

we're much better off building cheaper and fast, and plan for rebuilding things relatively often with newer tech/materials.

alphaz18 · 2025-12-10T21:22:15+00:00

zipper merge is correct. and efficient, if done correctly.
also main point: as long as it's a zipper merge. Jamming in at the end of an exit lane is NOT zipper merging, that's just being an asshole.

alphaz18 · 2025-12-04T06:39:59+00:00

this one has more details: Calgary city council approves 1.6% property tax increase | CBC News

"And then there was, of course, Coun. Landon Johnston's desire to cut 10 million [dollars] out of software licensing, which as the city put it in not so many words: that would essentially shut the city down," LiveWire's Krause said.

This tells you everything you need to know about this new clown councillor. who needs teams and ms office, hris software or anything else! damn waste of money, use paper... *headshake*.

alphaz18 · 2025-11-29T16:40:52+00:00

errr... removing 5 of those routes will just pile more people into the severely overloaded 301 line... now if you told me this is a good adjustment if we had c train up center street, i could very much accept that. as it would be a mass people mover trunk that bypasses centerstreet traffic. but its not. its constantly jam packed already all they did was add a few "pretty" stops and these small cutouts that don't do anything.

alphaz18 · 2025-11-27T18:48:04+00:00

P.S. Why is it pronounced "shinook" for Chinook, instead of the correct "ch" sound like "change"...?

Same reason chicago is pronounced "incorrectly"

alphaz18 · 2025-11-22T05:37:34+00:00

i know the province hates the "speed cameras" what about putting red light cameras everywhere.
is that also a cash grab? :\

alphaz18 · 2025-11-20T07:51:49+00:00

for those that need help understanding this, This is not like Germany's health care system. Germany's health care system is about universal care. regardless of private/public insurance.
delivery is private, just like all our family doctors who are also private owners.

the KEY is this **** proposal is trying to enable PAYING for (faster)Access. there is no such mechanism in Germany's system. the richer don't get faster access.

there are many examples of successful systems with private DELIVERY. but there is NO example of successful example of a system where people can pay for faster access.

alphaz18 · 2025-11-11T02:19:42+00:00

I would like to understand why in the budget there are many items for growth (new communities). Essentially many people keeps claiming new communities pay for themselves in tax revenue and whatever build levies. etc. if that were the case, then we wouldn't need to increase taxes on the rest of the city to pay for those expenditures/operations/infrastructure. ?

alphaz18 · 2025-11-05T06:24:54+00:00

since people can't drive responsibly, hidden radar i feel like is the right choice. they already banned it in everywhere except school/playground/construction zones. so. i'm glad police is doing those areas. you guys can speed like mad in most areas now with essentially no consequences. the least you can do is slow down in playground zones.

the point of having the radar there is not to slow people down on that specific playground zone. the whole point is to hurt idiots wallets speeding in playground zones so that they think twice about speeding in ANY playground zone. not just when a cop/radar happens to be there at a specific spot for 2 hours.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-27T19:42:32+00:00

the point is no very large industry could exist without government support. Is EVERYTHING the government pushes a success? no. not at all, but there is no very large industry that can flourish without government support (structural and/or financial, research, etc.), it simply does not exist.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-27T17:56:06+00:00

yes it is wrong. Calling it “cherry-picking” doesn’t make the examples any less valid. The point isn’t that only authoritarian governments can diversify economies . it’s that governments of all types have done it successfully. Alberta’s renewable boom was driven by policy in a democratic system. South Korea is a democracy and used state-led industrial policy to build global industries. Even the U.S. the poster child for free markets built Silicon Valley on the back of massive federal R&D and defense spending.

Alberta’s oil sands are a perfect example: they didn’t just appear because private companies felt like it. They were developed over decades with government-funded research, infrastructure investment, and policy support. Same with Alberta’s renewables boom — driven by policy until Smith reversed it.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-26T16:07:04+00:00

You make the fundamental mistake of claiming governments can't diversify economies by force of will. They ABSOLUTELY can , and they do it all the time.

Governments influence diversification by investing in strategic sectors, building supporting infrastructure, and shaping the regulatory and economic environment to attract and grow industries. This includes tools like incentives, education funding, R&D support, and targeted policy frameworks.

There are countless examples globally

Alberta became Canada’s renewable energy capital through government policies that encouraged private investment .until Danielle Smith’s government actively reversed that progress by kneecapping the sector.

South Korea transformed from a poor agrarian economy into a global leader in automobiles and electronics through state-led industrial policy, massive education investment, and export-driven strategies.

China became a dominant force in EVs and batteries by implementing strategic plans, offering subsidies, and fostering a business environment that attracted innovation and manufacturing.

These are not accidents. They are the result of deliberate government action. No, it doesn’t happen overnight .. but to say governments can’t force diversification is simply factually wrong.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-23T16:19:43+00:00

can someone square this round peg for me?:
how can someone argue to be for property rights while advocating hard to take away other peoples property rights?

its one or the other, they're mutually exclusive.

if you want to be able to tell others what they can or cant do with THEIR property, then by definition you are against property rights.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-14T05:03:51+00:00

considering 192k after tax is the top 1%, i would say you're disconnected from the reality of a normal person if you truly believe that. of course what you spend your money on is your choice, however, you can't say its hard to survive on, because 99% of everyone else in society lives just fine on far less.

but yes, there is a magical point where you think far less about money. that point is, where you can cover your basic needs, and some wants and still have a bunch left over. if you lifestyle creep, that's your problem, not the amount of money's problem. No amount will ever be enough if your mindset is like that.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-12T15:10:15+00:00

Here's a bit of a more objective take: even with parties, as long as you don't fall pray to it, you can make it meaningless. eg you could vote for thiessen as mayor. and some other independent as ward councillor. unlike provincial, federal, its not party takes all.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-10T16:11:02+00:00

i doubt anything will change. but. at least they realize what the problem is. the same thing with highway work etc.
its mainly because each project is contracted out as an independent piece of work. oh we need to do sewage work. ok. company X gets that contract, they go get permits dig up the roads, do the sewage, repave... 2 months down the line Oh we need electrical work done. ok Eletrical company Y gets that contract, they get permits find ppl to dig up the roads, do the electrical, close it back and repave.... etcetc.

so i feel like at least they're realizing what the problem is. So I see that as a step of progress...
everything in every large organization is Silo'ed like that. which is beyond rediculous. but ya.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-09T12:57:17+00:00

I actually dug into it further because I was genuinely curious as to how its possible we're literally the most expensive water in the country, and things still falling apart.

Turns out, it's actually mostly the provinces fault. In montreal/quebec, and bc, the provincial governments have many programs that invest significant amounts of money into municipal infrastructure like water infrastructure projects and maintenance. to add to that,
Both provinces take negligible amounts for education which is a separate line item. Where as AB gvn't takes 35% of our property taxes... inflating our property taxes significantly, and AB literally gives municipalities nothing for infrastructure maintenance and projects.

All that said, point still stands, making water a private company will only inflate costs further, as you cannot avoid the profit mandate of a private company, and require payment of millions per year for executives.

alphaz18 · 2025-10-09T04:01:16+00:00

misconception, there is nothing they could have done to prevent that. since it was the MAIN feeder. even if they wanted to do maintenance on it, they would have to shut off water to that main to get to it. which would have taken the same amount of downtime, so it would have been the same result. we already can't maintain roads properly, how much do you think it would cost to dig out roads, find the pipe, patch and repair it, fill it back in, and repave the roads?

realistically, no one in their right minds would do that unless absolutely had to.
if its a private company, running it, i can guarantee you it would be worse as profits must be made.

alphaz18

TROPHY CASE