[Foolworm]

Putting politics aside for a moment, I am very relieved that nobody was hurt in yesterday's incident and that City Hall will remain an open space to the public.

We all have our differences but violence shouldn't be the answer.

 

[Greenspace]

Keith Gerein: Problems piling up at Edmonton's city hall, and it's not just encampments and shootings

Edmonton city hall has had no shortage of trouble lately due to provincial interference and another big departure among senior city leaders

edmontonjournal.com

 

[Greenspace]

OP12 is gonna hurt.

Report offers council service cuts and new fees to meet OP12 goals

The city's administration says councillors must make tough and significant cuts to services if they want Edmonton to be able to reallocate $240 million in its operating budget, as council has requested.

edmonton.taproot.news

 

[kcantor]

Did anybody really think that OP12 wouldn’t be painful even if it could be successfully implemented?

It was nothing but a game of kick the can that allowed Council and Administration to avoid hard decisions at the time.

The fact that these assumed savings were then incorporated in future budgets with no assurance that they would be achievable and no commitment from Council to achieve/enforce them was always an exercise doomed to fail.

 

[Greenspace]

Mandatory water ban in effect due to pump failure

A mandatory ban on non-essential water use for Edmonton and Capital Region residents and businesses

www.epcor.com

 

[TAS]

Did anybody really think that OP12 wouldn’t be painful even if it could be successfully implemented?

It was nothing but a game of kick the can that allowed Council and Administration to avoid hard decisions at the time.

The fact that these assumed savings were then incorporated in future budgets with no assurance that they would be achievable and no commitment from Council to achieve/enforce them was always an exercise doomed to fail.

I feel like that can was kicked down the road from many previous councils and the people who live here by the way our city was designed and evolved.
We have one of the lowest population densities in Canada and that is expensive. We spend more per capita for roads, maintenance and also things like police. And as a result, we have OP12 where we have to try and save $60,000 here and cut $100,000 somewhere else etc to try and makeup shortfall.

We have a density of 1320 people per sq km versus:

 

[kcantor]

^
The area of parkland and green spaces whether undevelopable like our river valley or held for future development within existing city limits in cities like Vancouver and New Westminster etc. are nowhere near those areas within Edmonton city limits.

The area of industrial land and land used for major transportation and utility corridors within existing city limits in cities like Vancouver and New Westminster etc. are also nowhere near those areas within Edmonton city limits,

If you want to compare the overall density of actual residential areas within those cities to the density of actual residential areas within Edmonton, feel free to start the conversation. As it stands, these are pretty meaningless numbers from which to try and draw any conclusions.

 

[TAS]

^
Regardless of the population density numbers, Edmonton has a big footprint that we have to maintain - roads, transit, park land, services, utilities etc.
I wonder how our costs in all the key cost centre areas rate per capita vs. other big cities. Edmonton does rate highest in Canada in CO2 emissions per person (and among highest in the world) and I wonder if that also correlates with costs of operating this city. For example, high vehicle emissions per person likely means a lot of roads and a lot of driving. We all play a part in those emissions and subsequent costs in the choices we make.

A lot of tough choices in OP12 for the council we elected 2 years ago and it will be challenging - and some of these tough choices and the financial situation we are in currently are the result of decades of decisions made by councils of the past and Edmontonians.

 

[kcantor]

While I agree completely with your last paragraph, in regard to higher operating costs, when it comes to emissions and other operating costs where Edmonton may not compare well, in addition to density you would need to adjust for climate before comparing to Vancouver and New Westminster etc.

 

[BASE]

Also just to argue in the let's not beat up on ourselves too hard card. Some of Edmonton's current policies are quite supportive of density with zoning initiatives, new build densities, parking requirements. There's a lot of work to get past the much less dense post-war neighborhoods but infill is happening and will be hard to ever compare ourselves to communities with physical limitations on their borders (Mountains, Lakes, Oceans, etc...)

 

[TAS]

Also just to argue in the let's not beat up on ourselves too hard card. Some of Edmonton's current policies are quite supportive of density with zoning initiatives, new build densities, parking requirements. There's a lot of work to get past the much less dense post-war neighborhoods but infill is happening and will be hard to ever compare ourselves to communities with physical limitations on their borders (Mountains, Lakes, Oceans, etc...)

Yup, but in the meantime the city and its citizens need to make some tough choices in terms of our financial sustainability. How and where do we reduce costs and what can we do without or scale back on in terms of our spending.

One of the 400ish options was to sell off some of the city owned street parking space. Don't know if anyone saw Climate Town and the Chicago example, but selling off that space was a disaster for the city and prices went waaaaaay up and city lost control.

 

[David A]

Also just to argue in the let's not beat up on ourselves too hard card. Some of Edmonton's current policies are quite supportive of density with zoning initiatives, new build densities, parking requirements. There's a lot of work to get past the much less dense post-war neighborhoods but infill is happening and will be hard to ever compare ourselves to communities with physical limitations on their borders (Mountains, Lakes, Oceans, etc...)

It is also rather hard and quite expensive to say blast through rock and vertically challenging areas to build roads and other transportation infrastructure, so that is a limitation too.

 

[Greenspace]

The water ban has been lifted.

 

[TAS]

This resurfaced again. I can't believe how much fear there is around the concept of 15 minute city planning and that it's all about deep state control.

 

[Gronk!]

Councillors have the opportunity to move the Oliver neighbourhood’s proposed new name, Wîhkwêntôwin ᐄᐧᐦᑫᐧᐣᑑᐃᐧᐣ, closer to being official at an executive committee meeting scheduled for Feb. 7. Wîhkwêntôwin, pronounced we-kwen-to-win, means “circle of friends” in nêhiyawêwin, or Cree. The city introduced a new policy in 2021 that allows communities to request to rename if the namesake’s views do not reflect equity and inclusion. If a community wants to rename a neighbourhood or a significant asset, the new name must be approved by the naming committee, which is made up of citizen volunteers. If executive committee approves the Wîhkwêntôwin name on Feb. 7, it will move on to city council for final approval.

On the agenda: Wîhkwêntôwin, esports, airport link

Council is back to meeting but will do so virtually. This shift follows a week when the city cancelled all public meetings in the wake of the Jan. 23 attack on city hall. The building will be closed to the public indefinitely.

edmonton.taproot.news