Yeah a bunch of false dichotomies being thrown around, add that to a nihilistic race to the bottom argument and you can understand why people get so exasperated.
@Cowboy89
You have to be in it for the long game, city infrastructure and the urban form take up to a century to remake. While the city faces immediate pressures from unfettered development outside of the urban boundary the long term bet is that smart growth and densification will ultimately make more attractive and liveable communities which is going long on the future value of living in Calgary versus the suburban bedroom community.
It just isn't defensible to know that sprawl and SFH development is ultimately financially and environmentally unsustainable but then do nothing about it because your competitors are doing nothing about it. That argument is consistently rebuked time and again that leaders actually enjoy the benefits of leadership and laggards are the ones that pay the costs in the end.
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