Edmonton Sustainabilit Papers (David Thompson's nr 17)

[Qafir Arnaut]

Someone is finally tackling the wacky housing price signals given to Edmontonians by the 'market'. I still am still debating whether such signals come from the market or from dumb councillors but still..its a good read.

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_governme...of_Markets.pdf

P.S. In case you didnt read the Pembina Institute "Canada's Coolest Cities" Edmonton came up dead last once again.

[Mycroft]

well said, but a lot of it just seems to demonstrates how far behind edmonton is lagging in terms of implementation of contemporary planning/taxation principles

A streamlined brownfield and greyfield redevelopment process is absolutely critical for the city, however there is more involved that grant/subsidy programs. Development potential of such sites has been greatly enhanced where muni's have adopted new remediation processes standards that allow for site capping and containment of polluted land

I really like this bit though: "a fuel tax increase of one cent per litre could reduce property taxes by roughly 1%-3%"

[Coldrsx]

"I really like this bit though: "a fuel tax increase of one cent per litre could reduce property taxes by roughly 1%-3%"

or fund much of the LRT...

[Qafir Arnaut]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

well said, but a lot of it just seems to demonstrates how far behind edmonton is lagging in terms of implementation of contemporary planning/taxation principles

Rumor has it that central governments in North America still own over 50% of the West. Such circumstances are a boon to land speculators(the Ghermezians and Triple5?) who buy and hold undeveloped land as in the case of all them parking lots in downtown Edmonton.

So if it is price signals that are being picked up by Edmontonians they are purely SPECULATIVE. The asset (land) is thought of as cheap, which is no surprise since every colonist who showed up in the west got his '10 acres and a mule' for free. Speculation is not good of an economy, and the entire province lives on SPECULATION. For it simply speculates on outcomes such as rain for agriculture, hitting a motherload in oil, and collecting rents from the poor who gamble in casinos and lotteries (the province gets more income from gambling than from its oil sands)
So, it is no wonder the situation is such as it is. My radical proposal is to make land expensive by turning it over to the Natives on condition that they resurrect the buffalo culture. This will solve the problem of speculation and social injustice at the same time. Let's face it..the current economy and population of Alberta reflect an abject failure to colonize. The place is in a time warp compared to Central Canada (i reckon 30 years), and Europe (I reckon 60 years).

So if 'progressive' really want to progress..they need to tackle such issues head on. Otherwise, Albertans will remain 'drawers of water and hewers of wood'(BioWare notwithstanding). Being a lumberjack is not OK if that career spans over 100 years.