[george123]

Thank you C123.

[Calgary123]

george123 george123:

Yeah, but Calgary is so spread out. It takes over an hour to get from one end to the other. Not to mention your downtown core is stupid with the one way streets. I don't like the layout of your city, but I have heard nice things about the transit system. The one here in Edmonton licks pouch. I like the street layout in Edmonton, at least in the old parts, where it is a numbered grid pattern. I have very few problems finding places in the older parts if I have an addy to go to. With the new developments, the people who design them should have their heads examined, they do not match up to the rest of the city system. That is where the problem is starting. Never mix in entirely named street areas into an existing numbered grid system! It makes things not work! One or the other, not both! The city planners here are morons.

$1:

but Calgary is so spread out.

It is... and this is one of the nicer things about it from an asthetic point of view. Most of the rural developments are separated which give each area it's own different feel... and I would have to argue with your point about it taking an hour to get from one side to the other. I can go from the south end to the north end in 30 minutes, as long as you are taking the trails...which allow for this. If you are fighting rush hour traffic from DT, and having to make a long jaunt, it can take longer... but it's not often that anyone has to drive all the way from one side to another unless you are a courier.

And while the Grid system makes it nice to find an address... it sure makes for a boring and ugly layout. 1000 sq foot bungalows that are 50 years old, and 3 level decreped old rental properties for as long as the eye can see... not too pleasing on the eye.

One good thing about Edmonton... if you wanted to go into the "flip that house" business... there is more than enough inventory of crap-can housing to do this.

[Calgary123]

george123 george123:

Thank you C123.

You are welcome!

At least you live there... and have the right to tell it like it is... no matter how ugly that might be.

Hey, I grew up in Winnipeg, so I know what it's like living in a gang-infested shit-hole!

[RUEZ]

Calgary sucks, I'd live in Edmonton any day rather than Calgary.

[Mr_Canada old]

grainfedprairieboy grainfedprairieboy:

Alberta Bound

This song really sums up the feelings of the blue bloods and it'll be the way you feel one day too.

HA, I'm wondering when I'll feel that.

Hmm...

Waiting....

I have more pride for Saskatchewan...

[bootlegga]

george123 george123:

Yes, ignore me because I have lived here for almost 20 years and have been watching this city go down hill the entire time. Thank you, prick. Do you travel this city at night? Go to the scumy places? I have, and have friends who do regularly. One of my friends has earned the nick-name of "batman" because he is regularly helping people who are being mugged or attacked, or is beating the crap out of someone who is trying to mug him. He has had knives pulled on him for no reason, and had had to fight for his life on more than one occasion. Try walking through Castledowns at night without a Lebanese friend at your side, it would be a real eye opener for you. Try Jasper Place or down by the stadium for that matter. If you want some real fun, go screw with an asian with yellow bangs. We will most likely never hear from you again.

Yes, ignore me. I know nothing about this city or how ugly it has gotten. Based on a comparison of size, Edmonton is worse than Toronto or Vancouver per capita, and is only getting worse as it gets more crowded.

Sorry, but this is fear mongering at its worst.

IMHO, your buddy, Batman must be going looking for trouble, because I've walked at night downtown, in Castledowns and live in Clareview and have seen nothing like this. I visit Chinatown all the time and I've never seen anyone remotely dangerous. And I've lived in Edmonton since 1970.

[DrCaleb]

george123 george123:

Yes, ignore me because I have lived here for almost 20 years and have been watching this city go down hill the entire time. Thank you, prick.

You are welcome, asshat. You ignore me, because I was born here in the 60's? I never said the city hasn't gone downhill, it just hasn't gone downhill as bad as your chicken little impression makes it out to be.

Like Bootlegga, I've walked in the Beverly and Londonderry and Oliver and Jasper Place neighbourhoods on a warm summers night. Recently. Ive been to Chinatown and spoken to 'asian males with blonde hair' and had then admire my car, on a warm summers night. Most are pretty nice guys. Treat them like they are something other than proud Canadians - and you will have a problem. But then, you'd have a problem with me too if you treated me that way.

Get out, cruise down 107th, or Jasper Ave or Whyte. Park your car. Get out and walk.

You will be safe.

[george123]

bootlegga bootlegga:

Sorry, but this is fear mongering at its worst.

IMHO, your buddy, Batman must be going looking for trouble, because I've walked at night downtown, in Castledowns and live in Clareview and have seen nothing like this. I visit Chinatown all the time and I've never seen anyone remotely dangerous. And I've lived in Edmonton since 1970.

Acctualy, no, he does not go looking for trouble. You are just blind to the trouble we are having here in this city. You think it's fear mongering? That's too bad. At least I am realistic about the problems this city has.

I noticed, though, that you have only focused on one of the problems I brought up. What about the homeless? What about the trafic? What about the city planning? What about the police force? What about the the housing problem? What about the future problems when the boom ends and everything spirals down the drain?

[DrCaleb]

Yogi Yogi:

And what are the latest 'crime stats' of Stony Plain???????????

0 Murders, 12 'Hunting Accidents', 78 stolen horses.

Yogi Yogi:

Distance from 'downtown Stony' to downtown Edmonton is.....?

Depends on the top speed of your tractor.

Yogi Yogi:

Compare amenities..........

Spruce Grove has indoor plumbing.

Yogi Yogi:

Compare real estate prices.............

About the same, unless you live on the drained bog near the Hospital, south towards Westerra. Then, slightly less.

Yogi Yogi:

You also 'forgot to mention' that from Stony Plain, travel to most of the area boating, camping, picnic areas etc. is much closer! Spring Lake, Jackfish Lake, Lake Eden, Mink Lake, Alberta Beach, to name a few.

The western border of Spruce Grove and eastern border of Stony Plain are the same. Distance is irrelevant. And I wouldn't actually go in the 'water' of any of those lakes, or eat any of the 'fish' in them. I wouldn't go in the water of Wabamun before the train accident last year.

Yogi Yogi:

It is obvious from your post that you have a real hate for Stony Plain. Makes one wonder why!

It's an old rivalry (and very tounge in cheek, if you didn't notice). My family has been in Spruce Grove since the 1880's. It's like the Edmonton/Calgary rivalry. And because I still see Massey Fergusons parked in front of the Stony Hotel bar on weekends.

[george123]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

You are welcome, asshat. You ignore me, because I was born here in the 60's? I never said the city hasn't gone downhill, it just hasn't gone downhill as bad as your chicken little impression makes it out to be.

Like Bootlegga, I've walked in the Beverly and Londonderry and Oliver and Jasper Place neighbourhoods on a warm summers night. Recently. Ive been to Chinatown and spoken to 'asian males with blonde hair' and had then admire my car, on a warm summers night. Most are pretty nice guys. Treat them like they are something other than proud Canadians - and you will have a problem. But then, you'd have a problem with me too if you treated me that way.

Get out, cruise down 107th, or Jasper Ave or Whyte. Park your car. Get out and walk.

You will be safe.

Yes, the asian gang members are very professional. they only hit what they are aiming for, and seem to be very nice folks most of the time. Don't be fooled, though. You get on their wrong side and you are in for a hell of a time.

Oh yes, on Whyte ave, where we had riots on Canada day and during the oilers playoffs. Great city we have here. You ever been to jasper place at night? I am often. I don't feel scared because I can handle most situations that come up, and I show that with how I carry myself. That and batman is usualy with me. Even still. There are plenty of drug dealers driving around there, and lots of thugs looking to get a hit and not caring where the money comes from. It is not 8-mile, but if we let things keep going the way they are going, we one day will have one right here.

The police are not set up to deal with gangs, and we do have a lot of them in this city. There is a lot of gang violence happening, and we are lucky no bystanders have been caught in the crossfire, so to speak. We have some very serious problems in this city, and so many people keep themselves blind to it. If it stays on this track, we will be Detroit in less than 20 years. We are overpopulated because of the boom. When the boom goes bust, which will happen, a lot of people will be trapped here with no job and no livelyhood, and this city will become a real cesspool.

You guys can continue to be optimists on this issue, and I hope you are right. I will, as ever, continue to be my pessimistic self and not be surprised when we have our own little 8-mile crop up. At that point, I will pull the plug and get myself posted somewhere better.

[bootlegga]

george123 george123:

Acctualy, no, he does not go looking for trouble. You are just blind to the trouble we are having here in this city. You think it's fear mongering? That's too bad. At least I am realistic about the problems this city has.

I noticed, though, that you have only focused on one of the problems I brought up. What about the homeless? What about the trafic? What about the city planning? What about the police force? What about the the housing problem? What about the future problems when the boom ends and everything spirals down the drain?

The homeless are only a problem if you're Ralph Klein and enjoy yelling at them when you're drunk... Seriously, it is increasing, especially with the boom and rising housing costs. The solution? I don't know honestly.

Traffic, IMHO, is not that bad. Like Clog said, go to Vancouver or any really big city and enjoy the gridlock. Have you been through rush hour in Calgary? Everything comes to crawl, even Deerfoot. I can get across the city in 45 minutes, which is still pretty good. And next year when the SE portion of Henday opens, the ring road will be essentially complete (although the you will have to use Yellowhead for the northern leg until 2015 or so). I can get to WEM in less than 30 minutes right now from Clareview using Henday/Yellowhead for example.

City planning is a problem I agree. The mess at South Edm Common is typical of the shortsightedness of some of our planners. What should we do? Fire everyone and start over?

And I've long railed about the EPS and the BS that goes on here. I've posted/started threads about Ken Brander, the 'riots' during the playoffs etc. Personally, I think the EPS is far to quick to use excessive force.

Is Edmonton perfect? No, of course not, but then again nowhere is. But while you say I'm focussing on only the positives, I say you're only focussing on the negatives. See my first post on how nice Edmonton can be. I hate to say it, but if you hate Edmonton so much, why are you still living here?

[DrCaleb]

george123 george123:

bootlegga bootlegga:

Sorry, but this is fear mongering at its worst.

Acctualy, no, he does not go looking for trouble. You are just blind to the trouble we are having here in this city. You think it's fear mongering? That's too bad. At least I am realistic about the problems this city has.

Let's just see how realistic. . .

george123 george123:

I noticed, though, that you have only focused on one of the problems I brought up. What about the homeless?

Edmonton is different than any other Canadian city . . .because? Personally, I blame NAFTA.

george123 george123:

What about the trafic?

What did I not cover in my first post? Have you taken the new Anthony Henday extension from 137th Ave to 23rd Ave? I challenge anyone to travel 114 blocks in Calgary in less than 20 minutes.

george123 george123:

What about the city planning?

Again, different from any other Alberta city because? _____________________________

george123 george123:

What about the police force?

They do a damn fine job.

george123 george123:

What about the the housing problem?

Different than any other Alberta city . . .because? ______________________________

george123 george123:

What about the future problems when the boom ends and everything spirals down the drain?

Can you pick lottery numbers too?

[george123]

Let me put things in perspective for you.

If you drive into and around any city, it will look safe to you. If you only walk in the well lit areas and live in the happy little suburbs, you will think the city is safe. Really, to you, it is. That, however, is seeing the world through rose colored glasses.

You go to the places in the city that are scummy and crime ridden, like abbotsfield and eastwards on 118th ave, you see the rotting happening in the city. A city will rot from the inside out.

I know people who have traveled, one guy who drove through 8-mile in Detroit. They tell you the same thing. The city looks good on the outside and the outer areas, but there are horrible places inside the city. You just have to look for them, or, as the case usualy is, stumble blindly into them.

That is what is happening to this city. If I read as if I am over-reacting to the problems we have now, that is because I see how bad it is, and I also see nothing being done to fix the problems. This city will get a whole lot worse if it continues down the track it is on, and the city council is doing nothing to fix it. They are more interested in festivals and renovating Churchil Square. There is no money for a gang task force, there is no money to fix the ever widening potholes on our streets, and there is no plan to address the growing homeless population. Property taxes are on the rise, and the city council votes in a hefty pay increase for themselves? The corruption is to the core. Mark my words, this city is falling into decay, and if nothing continues to be done, we will see our own little Detroit here in Alberta.

[george123]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Let's just see how realistic. . .

george123 george123:

I noticed, though, that you have only focused on one of the problems I brought up. What about the homeless?

Edmonton is different than any other Canadian city . . .because? Personally, I blame NAFTA.

george123 george123:

What about the trafic?

What did I not cover in my first post? Have you taken the new Anthony Henday extension from 137th Ave to 23rd Ave? I challenge anyone to travel 114 blocks in Calgary in less than 20 minutes.

george123 george123:

What about the city planning?

Again, different from any other Alberta city because? _____________________________

george123 george123:

What about the police force?

They do a damn fine job.

george123 george123:

What about the the housing problem?

Different than any other Alberta city . . .because? ______________________________

george123 george123:

What about the future problems when the boom ends and everything spirals down the drain?

Can you pick lottery numbers too?

You are short sighted.

The homeless in Edmonton are growing by leaps and bounds due to high housing cost and the huge influx of people coming here for work without first having a place to live. Nothing is being done.

Driving in Calgary sucks for different reasons as it does in Edmonton.

Edmonton is growing faster than any other city in Alberta, short of Fort Mac, and their city planners are acctualy checking that growth because they see the bust comming. They are not letting too many new developments go up because they will one day have a lot of really expensive, empty homes. In Edmonton, they put up housing projects willy-nilly where ever they will squeeze in, and damn the system the city has in place already.

The EPS are violent and confrontational. Even Bootlegga agrees with me. They are corrupt and lazy. This, however, I do not only blame on them. The city does not put enough money into the EPS, so they are over worked and underpaid. Many just don't care anymore, and the rest are violent and corrupt. There are so many complaints about the EPS that the police commision had to push the investigations back a year because the case load was too big to handle.

As for the housing problem, I covered that.

You don't see the problems down the line? You are as short sighted as the city counsel. If you want to ignore the problems, go ahead. It is no skin off my back. It just means I have to work twice as hard to help fix it, I can carry your load, too.

[DrCaleb]

george123 george123:

You are short sighted.

The homeless in Edmonton are growing by leaps and bounds due to high housing cost and the huge influx of people coming here for work without first having a place to live. Nothing is being done.

(Actually, I'm nearsighted. Too much computer work.)

Which is exactally why I cautioned the person who started this thread to have accommodation before she gets here. I also told here where vacancy rates are lower.

Nothing is being done because of one of the oldest reasons - greed. I saw it for years in Fort Mac. Developers want prices kept high. Having lots of development reduces overall prices.

And you blame developers greed on the city I love?

george123 george123:

Driving in Calgary sucks for different reasons as it does in Edmonton.

Well, first, you have to go to Calgary . . .so that sums it up.

george123 george123:

Edmonton is growing faster than any other city in Alberta, short of Fort Mac, and their city planners are acctualy checking that growth because they see the bust comming. They are not letting too many new developments go up because they will one day have a lot of really expensive, empty homes. In Edmonton, they put up housing projects willy-nilly where ever they will squeeze in, and damn the system the city has in place already.

'The Bust' is always coming. It starts coming when people start using the other 'B' word, 'Boom'.

As for the rest - see 'greed' above. All you can do it take advantage of the situation. Wait for the bust, and have a full bank account, empty credit cards and a good credit history. Then get yourself a cheap empty home or two.

george123 george123:

The EPS are violent and confrontational. Even Bootlegga agrees with me. They are corrupt and lazy. This, however, I do not only blame on them. The city does not put enough money into the EPS, so they are over worked and underpaid. Many just don't care anymore, and the rest are violent and corrupt. There are so many complaints about the EPS that the police commision had to push the investigations back a year because the case load was too big to handle.

Corrupt? Lazy? Violent? Do you paint all members of the force from the actions of the few on the Overtime Scandal? I agree they are underfunded and overworked, but there are many members who don't do it for the money. I dare you to walk into any Timmie on the 14:00 coffee break, and offer $5 to a 'corrupt' member. Or just accidentally drop it on the floor. You may be surprised at the result.

I always attribute the failures of law enforcement to their self appointed task to 'prevent crime'. No one asked them to, nor are they chartered to do that. Police can no more 'prevent crime' than a solder can 'prevent war'. They 'investigate' crime. The ones that stick to that tend to be much better off.

george123 george123:

As for the housing problem, I covered that.

Yep. Greed.

george123 george123:

You don't see the problems down the line? You are as short sighted as the city counsel. If you want to ignore the problems, go ahead. It is no skin off my back. It just means I have to work twice as hard to help fix it, I can carry your load, too.

You seem to have your own heavy load. Problems 'down the line' are just that. They never actually get 'here'. I've seen too many boom/bust cycles to bother any more. I fix the 'here and now'. Then 'down the line' isn't a problem. If you are willing to let problems pile up, then by all means, fix them later.

Yes, I see the homelessness. As you yourself point out, how many are that way because they came here expecting streets of gold? I see too many homeless, but for most I have little sympathy. There is a trio that hangs out between my office and Timmies. One guy is always 'going to that temp agency across the street', going on 3 months now. The Girl has been a 'pregnant homeless girl' for more than a year, and the other 'isn't a bum, but needs enough to get into the YMCA tonight'. But they seem to have plenty of minutes on their cell phones. I've seen the 'temp agency' guy in Timmies very early on Sundays, around 06:00. He spilled his coffee outside, then came inside to ask me for money for a coffee. I wouldn't give him any, so he went and got his own coffee. Obviousally he had the money.

My sympathy for them is in the dictionary between 'shit' and 'syphyllus'. I'm sure there are many other who are homeless not due to any fault of their own. But I also know there are many good agencies in Edmonton to help these others.