Municipal amalgamations/annexations

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

There is a Langley city surrounded by a Langley Municipality. Same as you have a North Vancouver City surrounded by a NV Municipality even though no one can see any difference and 90% of the people in those cities even know where the boundaries are.

CNV is just as distinct demographically and culturally from DNV as Burnaby is from New West. People get hung up on the boring, similar names but there are very few supporters of amalgamation in the progressive, multicultural, pro-density, pro-transit City with the mostly white conservative car-centric District. We'd lose our political voice.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by Pinion

CNV is just as distinct demographically and culturally from DNV as Burnaby is from New West. People get hung up on the boring, similar names but there are very few supporters of amalgamation in the progressive, multicultural, pro-density, pro-transit City with the mostly white conservative car-centric District. We'd lose our political voice.

Was going to say, the residents of the north shore absolutely know where the boundaries are.

Just because it looks good on a map doesn't mean it makes any sense.

That said I think Burnaby and Vancouver could be a good candidate for amalgamation as they are pretty similar across a range of measures.

[big W]

Originally Posted by speedog

So would the Edmonton urban area gain some savings if amalgamation were to occur there? The city of Edmonton has it's own transit, garbage, police and fire departments and they do not cover the areas outside of the city of Edmonton's boundaries.

Not really. The only savings that I can think of are transit as St Albert, Strathcona County (Sherwood Park), Leduc and Leduc County have their own systems. St Albert and Sherwood Park buses charge higher fees to use and run into major centres in Edmonton. Leduc and Leduc County transit (one system) run into south Edmonton and you need to pay another fee to get anywhere in Edmonton. Edmonton transit I believe services other municipalities in the region. One regional system would probably save consumers time by being more efficient, money in using the system plus could allow expansion of the rail system to surrounding communities. But annexation will probably not happen.

One thing to consider is this

The latest info median income by municipality (2013 data) from the Government of Alberta has Edmonton median household income at $90,300 vs the surrounding communities at $118,111. Average incomes in the burbs are 31% higher than in Edmonton proper. The 2 largest suburbs by population are Strathcona County which has approximately 100,000 people and average income of $130,171 or 45% higher than Edmonton and St Albert which is 65,000 people with income of $126,860 or 40% higher than Edmonton. Strathcona County has the refineries and upgraders and therefore has lower property taxes then Edmonton and a higher level of municipal services. St Albert has similar property taxes to Edmonton (no commercial or industrial base to help subsidize them) but have a higher level of municipal services. Sure they pay more for transit when they use it, but I don't think they really care when you consider the other savings they have (property taxes and better services overall). In addition, they don't have to deal with the issues of the city itself.

I should note, that median income in the Edmonton CMA has increased from 2013 as per stat Canada, while we have had increased unemployment during a time with increased provincial government employment. So more higher paying jobs being created and less jobs at the lower end. Therefore I think I would be safe in saying that during the last 4 years the income gap between Edmonton proper and the burbs has grown.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...il107a-eng.htm