[SeoulFire]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

I think calling them latte-sucking just makes you feel better.

I never called them "latte sucking" - I stated that they may be on the latte-sucking fashion train since it now seem to be the trendy thing to do for people who (now) live downtown.

Maybe they don't walk around with 80's polo shirts with their collar popped. They just think it's a much more cost effective and resource efficient way to build a city.

Or it could be (as in my unclear jab) that complaining about sprawl is the cool thing to do for people who now live downtown - I really don't know. Some people might truly care - others may do it simply to feel better about themselves since they moved downtown.

Calgary is a city that has people in the middle financing the spiraling cost of infrastructure, and that's just a fact, and when the current city tax allocation methodology was rolled out that was the goal, to apply tax heaviest to the high valued land (read not highest value homes). It reminds me of people who think driving with cell phones is ok or 20 years ago the debate about seat belts. The answer is so obvious, but people just want to defend what they are used to seemingly unconditionally.

I can agree with this to an extent but for a lot of the newcomers to central it was a known factor before moving there. It is like a person who bought next to the airport and then complains about the noise.

Others have referred to taxing new communities via the builders is nice but it's impossible to apply retroactively, so it can only be part of a solution.

Totally agree.

I agree with what you said about building other central districts, you referred to them in the context of a commercial zone which is fine, but they also make sense from a residential perspective, to build around mass transit hubs. In Calgary's case that should be around areas like Chinook LRT, Anderson LRT, that Westgate mall area and probably more around the Sunnyside to 16th ave corridor up 10th and 14th St NW.

Agreed. The ultimate goal of the South Calgary Hospital and area (for example) is to create a southern hub/node of professional, commerce, food (restaurants) etc etc. that services the massive SE. If they do it effectively the value of the homes in the area should increase and the taxes to follow which should tend towards self-sufficiency - that is what the dt people claim they want so I don't see how there can be too much opposition (unless their actual goal is a further increase in their own property values due to more dt development).

And when you say how many people have lived in significantly dense areas, what you do mean? Like Midtown? I think the areas you are referring to would not be relevant. People don't expect a midtown to be built, they just don't like Calgary's extreme case of ignoring density and sprawling endlessly.

I am just guessing that many who claim to desire density have never actually experienced it - this is also referring to the trendy nature of the debate (from the dt perspective). I am also guessing that they have never experienced the drawbacks of a high density urban environment but are clinging to the current glamour of that side of the debate.

I simply don't believe that one core area for everything is the best way to create a dynamic city.