Ongoing Calgarians complaining about pedestrian bridges thread

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

1 - brige had to be a certain height because of some magical helipad (where is this magical helipad and who uses it)

It's here.

I can see it from my office window. Most days it doesn't get used at all. But when heads of state come in it is used, and I believe that it is also used by oil execs who want to fly into downtown from the airport. I have also seen it used by HAWCS and Stars when there are river searches going on.

[Ozy_Flame]

Saw the Sun this morning.

If there is any rage against building the bridge, the Sun is easily fomenting it. This is your classic case of the media shaping public opinion.

Shame on you Rick Bell, shame on the Sun, and shame on those higher-ups within that company who aren't keeping their political leanings to themselves.

[firebug]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

1 - brige had to be a certain height because of some magical helipad (where is this magical helipad and who uses it)
2 - brige wasnt allowed to have any pilings in the Bow (that really limits the design opportunity - honestly what other design could there have been other than a straight line between 2 points).

One magic helipad coming right up

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Saw the Sun this morning.

If there is any rage against building the bridge, the Sun is easily fomenting it. This is your classic case of the media shaping public opinion.

Shame on you Rick Bell, shame on the Sun, and shame on those higher-ups within that company who aren't keeping their political leanings to themselves.

Yup, that new Rick Bell "article" is very obviously deliberate misrepresentation to incite the same kind of negative response against the second bridge. And of course, all the misinformed people will eat it all up.

[mykalberta]

Hard to believe there is no helipad on any of the buildings in Calgary that they need to land in a park.

[algernon]

I heard on CBC Radio that an average, utilitarian bridge would cost around 18M anyway. What's an extra 4M?

[The Yen Man]

Well, considering a traffic light costs 100K (no link, a friend who works at the transportation planning dept at City Hall told me this figure, so believe it if you want, don't if you don't want), and therefore 400K for every intersection with traffic lights, 20 million really isn't that much.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by algernon

I heard on CBC Radio that an average, utilitarian bridge would cost around 18M anyway. What's an extra 4M?

Because people like Ric McIver made everyone believe that a bridge here should only cost $5 million. Of course that would be impossible as a clear span or any bridge over say 50 metres, but he doesn't usually base things on any sort of reality or fact, only what is politically expedient to him.

[CaptainCrunch]

[Noticing the new bridge while walking with his father]
CaptainCrunch: Dad, you better have a look at this .
Crunch's old man What is it, son?
CaotainCrunch I don't know, sir, but it looks like a giant...
Jet Pilot: Dick. Dick, take a look out of starboard.
Co-Pilot: Oh my God, it looks like a huge...
Bird-Watching Woman: c#ck
Bird-Watching Man: [raising binoculars] Ooh, Where?
Bird-Watching Woman: Over there. What sort of bird is that? Wait, it's not a wood, it looks like someone's...
Army Sergeant: Privates. We have reports of an unidentified flying object. It has a long, smooth shaft, complete with...
Baseball Umpire: Two balls.
[looking up from game]
Baseball Umpire: What is that. It looks just like an enormous...
Chinese Teacher: Wang. pay attention.
Wang: I was distracted by that giant flying...
Musician: Willie.
Willie: Yeah?
Musician: What's that?
Willie: [squints] Well, that looks like a huge...

[WesternCanadaKing]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Saw the Sun this morning.

If there is any rage against building the bridge, the Sun is easily fomenting it. This is your classic case of the media shaping public opinion.

Shame on you Rick Bell, shame on the Sun, and shame on those higher-ups within that company who aren't keeping their political leanings to themselves.

Anyone who takes Rick Bell's opinion to heart shouldn't be allowed to vote, what a blowhard. He just takes whatever people are mad about and writes an angry article that idiots like to read so they can have their next reason for pointless rage be justified.

The Sun is such a ridiculous 'newspaper'.

[algernon]

Originally Posted by WesternCanadaKing

Anyone who takes Rick Bell's opinion to heart shouldn't be allowed to vote, what a blowhard. He just takes whatever people are mad about and writes an angry article that idiots like to read so they can have their next reason for pointless rage be justified.

The Sun is such a ridiculous 'newspaper'.

I've always thought the Sun was the pop-up book to the Hearld's novel.

Seriously, people are complaining about 22M? How much does it cost to have an election every 1½ years? Do we have anything to show for it? More 'signature' projects please...just not in the sprawl. They can have their overpasses as their signatures.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I can understand where fotze's coming from, I just think you folks also reaped the benefits of rising housing prices during the boom more than suburbanites. Also most major infrastucture projects are paid in majority by the province.

I haven't read all the pages on this, so perhaps it's been discussed already. However, I haven't benefited from this yet. I bought my house 10 years ago, in that time the assessment has nearly tripled. I still own the house and while on paper I have a great investment, it's only great if it's actually sold. Selling my house means I have to buy another which means I'm paying the inflated prices everyone else is.

The only time I will benefit is if I move to a cheaper location or use the value of the house for retirement purposes. The only benefit I've seen to date is as my assessment value has gone up the amount of taxes I pay has also gone up.

I have no problem contributing my share to infrastructure projects in the city just like I have no problem with a part of my taxes going to the school board even though I will not be having kids. It's part of belonging to the community. I only ask the city to be pragmatic in how they spend the money. If they aren't meeting my needs my recourse is to move away.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I haven't read all the pages on this, so perhaps it's been discussed already. However, I haven't benefited from this yet. I bought my house 10 years ago, in that time the assessment has nearly tripled. I still own the house and while on paper I have a great investment, it's only great if it's actually sold. Selling my house means I have to buy another which means I'm paying the inflated prices everyone else is.

The only time I will benefit is if I move to a cheaper location or use the value of the house for retirement purposes. The only benefit I've seen to date is as my assessment value has gone up the amount of taxes I pay has also gone up.

I have no problem contributing my share to infrastructure projects in the city just like I have no problem with a part of my taxes going to the school board even though I will not be having kids. It's part of belonging to the community. I only ask the city to be pragmatic in how they spend the money. If they aren't meeting my needs my recourse is to move away.

You missed one huge benefit of tripling house value. You can obtain a 2nd mortgage on said home at miniscule rates, invest the money, and write off the mortgage interest as an invesment expense... So, to say that you derive no benefit from the theoretical value of your home without selling it is not correct - you are just too conservative to take advantage of it.

[mykalberta]

I thought that was illegal?

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I thought that was illegal?

I hope not - I just took out a big loan in March and invested it all.

[FurnaceFace]

No, you're right, that's one I forgot about. My investment dude mentioned it to me as an option a few months ago. I should do this too.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I haven't read all the pages on this, so perhaps it's been discussed already. However, I haven't benefited from this yet. I bought my house 10 years ago, in that time the assessment has nearly tripled. I still own the house and while on paper I have a great investment, it's only great if it's actually sold. Selling my house means I have to buy another which means I'm paying the inflated prices everyone else is.

Keep in mind what the assessed value is for. I'm sure in that time your taxes haven't also tripled.

What the city does is says takes the value of all property and dicides the taxes up depending on how much your house is worth. So let's say there are $1 billion worth of houses, and your house is worth $250K. The city needs to collect $10 million in taxes. Because your house is worth .025% of the total of all houses in the city, you are responsible for .025% of the tax load. So $2500.

Now your neighbour has an identical 1000 square foot house as you. He buldozes it and builds a monster 2500 square foot house. The city re-asseses his house at $500K, so now he owes twice the taxes you do.

Now let's say 10% of the city does the same thing as your neighbour. Everybody else's house goes up 5% in value. Because there is now $1.15 billion worth of inventory, and your house has only gone up 5%, your taxes will actually go down the next year; even though the value has gone up.

My example is an extreme over-simplification; as the calculations are not made that easy. There are mill rates, etc. But it gives you the general idea- that the city isn't getting some windfall from long-term home owners and blowinging it like a sailor with a weekend pass.

[Kerplunk]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Hard to believe there is no helipad on any of the buildings in Calgary that they need to land in a park.

There would be, but the money for it went to a bridge.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I thought that was illegal?

Its totally legit.

[burn_this_city]

Isnt it called the Smith Manoeuvre?