Quote:
Originally Posted by jammies
This is the problem - people want to live in the suburbs, and they want me and the rest of the inner city to subsidize it. Why should I subsidize YOUR lifestyle choice?
"It's always been that way," isn't much of an argument, either. Inner-city taxes have always been higher, but that doesn't mean they can't change. A more equitable tax system where those who put the greatest strain on municipal resources pay the most tax is not impossible nor unfair. Of course, it'd anger developers who have gotten used to making money by having the city subsidize expansion, but that can't last forever anyway.
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Canada has always been a society where the person with the most ability to pay the taxes pays the most, not the person who uses the most services. And I'm thankful for that, and when you or someone you know is laid up in the hospital for a extended period of time and walks out of there without a bill you will be to, just remember to be thankful to that rich guy out there whose bitching about paying too much tax who just subsidized your health care.
Your post to me shows a fundamental misunderstanding of why people move to the suburbs, they move there because it's the only place they can afford, not because they enjoy a 45 minute communte to work, their neighbours house being 4 feet away or a tiny postage stamp for a backyard. Offer someone a similar property in the inner city as the one they're buying on the outskirts and don't ask for them to pay the price difference and i would wager 95%+ would jump at the chance.
You're not subsidizing anyones lifestyle choice, you're just bitching about the costs of maintaining yours in a soceity like Canadas, I hear Russia has some pretty good tax laws for the well off if you're not happy here, atleast that's what the hockey players tell me.
I'm not saying the level of sprawl is sustainable or should be allowed to continue unchecked, but it needs to be managed rather then attempting to just contain it. All that will do is increase the rate of expansion of the outlying communities(Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks etc) who use Calgary services and pay 0 taxes.