[Wooster]

Whether the bridges were a wise expenditure is a matter of opinion. I'm of the opinion that it will pay for itself many, many times over for not only its practical value, but also the value as a selling piece for the city. I'm quite certain that it will probably grace almost every tourist brochure and marketing piece for the city for decades. Whether old farts in Calgary realize it or not, young people who are considering moving or visiting the city see things like quality architecture, design and iconic structures as important symbolizers for a place. This bridge alone will not change people's minds about Calgary - lots of stuff needs to happen including downtown and inner city reurbanization - but this bridge WILL contribute to a change in people's perceptions of Calgary as a city that is actually starting to care about what it looks like.

In my opinion, the reason why the city has to constantly increase taxes (along with every other municipality in Canada I might add) is because we rely so heavily on a fundamentally flawed taxation system - property taxes, which doesn't automatically keep up with economic growth, like income taxes do. I'm not defending all expenditure as prudent or wise - much of what the City of Calgary prioritizes I think is total bullshit - but I understand why tax rates from property goes up.