You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[81MC]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Animals only have about 700 other corridors to choose from. They'll adapt. And if they don't, meh. I'm don't want to lock myself in the crowded cage of Banff so, like, eight wolfs can run around poo-scootching their asses all over the forest.

I'm also not interested in being some elite by having a condo in Canmore when I want other people to be able to enjoy recreation there as well - I'm a strong supporter of building more affordable housing there. Too bad the NIMBYs stopped the TSMV.

I'm surprised at thoughts like this in Alberta. I hope you support all the pipeline protests across North America and the hamstringing of our industry to prevent more oil from getting where it needs to go because this is the same thing. If you're going to be consistent, I would think you would want to prevent nature from being jeopardized off the coast of BC and through their province, or down south on KXL, or Energy East and every other project that keeps getting ####-blocked. Like it or not, those pipelines carry a risk to the environment during their operating decades and particularly during their construction. You know, when they dig up thousands of kilometers of earth to build them.

If you do support the O&G industry in Alberta and its need to move its product east, west and south, then I would hope you'd also support Alberta's tourism industry. O&G may not be here forever, but sure as #### the mountains will be.

During O&G downturns everyone always complains that our province NeVeR dIvErSiFiEd during the booms. Let's remember the guys preventing us from growing our tourism industry by using 0.0000001% of the rocky mountains to build a couple more towns. I'm sure future generations will be super stoked we prioritized a heard of diseased elk over them instead of just moving the elk two mountain ranges over.

No there’s a weird train of thought, but I’ll bite.

There are literally THOUSANDS of other towns you have to choose from to sip a coffee and eat a croissant. Matter of fact, we even have dedicated means of transporting our selfs from town to town.

The thing about wildlife corridors is that they aren’t just endless expanses of land that animals just decide to hop on over to the next one. Like, ####, you seriously think that all the animals that use the Bow Valley can just climb on up over those there mountains and setup shop? The entirety of the Rocky Mountains isn’t hundreds of Bow River valleys side by side, but like, no ####.

It’s not the % of land mass that makes rampant development the problems in our parks. It’s that the very same space we want to use is needed by the animals. Like, ####, just hop in to your car using one of the many highways we’ve already ran through these places to one of the many towns we’ve already built. Or grab a plane and go somewhere else…literally anywhere in the damn world.

But nope, the guy who throws knives in the trash yearly needs more convenient parking for his 19 passenger Telurideupmyass.

Oil and gas? You mean the thing that provides heat, energy and material to essentially allow everything in the world to function one way or another? Pipelines, the only viable way to move this essential stuff from one location to another? Yeah, I look at that through a different lens than mother####ers wanting to continue to risk the long term health of our wilderness because they want a backdrop for their holiday.

[Roger]

I'm pretty sure people do more than sip coffee, eat croissants, and have backdrops for holidays, in mountain towns. Somehow, tiny countries like Switzerland have a tenth of Alberta's area, twice the population, and somehow wildlife still exists. It's not unreasonable to wish for a couple more places to go, as tourism increases. It's good for the economy, and good for Albertans.

Done well, with things like the wildlife overpasses, and fences along the highway, it's not exactly murdering Bambi to have a bit more development. They don't necessarily have to be Bow Valley proper. A spur line this way, and another that way.

And while lots of people 'grab a plane' to come to Alberta for exactly this, do you really advocate for Albertans to do the same to go elsewhere, when what we want is an hour away? Seems a bit foolish to fly 10 hours to Switzerland to go to the mountains when we've got some right here.

[GGG]

If you google Swiss wildlife corridor you can see it’s a significant issue there for conservation groups. A lot of the same rules of concerns.

The other mistake is thinking that banff and Jasper have large amounts of wild life corridors that are undeveloped. This just isn’t the case give the topography of mountains and the fact we build roads in places that are easy to migrate through which the animals had previously figured out as well.

We have enough impacted town sites within 3 hrs of Calgary. Development should be in these locations not banff.

[Roger]

Right. Well, I'm suggesting spur lines up a couple of valleys. I'm no fancy real estate developer, or a conservation expert. I'm just looking at the square mileage, and doing the math. We have tons of tourism, immigration, and actual population. I'm sure there's a place or two for more mountain enjoyment without being completely evil, as 81MC seems to think.

[Lubicon]

National parks are a non starter for new towns, that’s not going to happen. But in Alberta we do have several existing towns in or on the doorstep to the mountains that are virtually undeveloped. Croswnest Pass, Nordegg, Hinton and Grande Cache to name them. Plus areas like the Castle River region and the old Coal Branch region.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

National parks are a non starter for new towns, that’s not going to happen. But in Alberta we do have several existing towns in or on the doorstep to the mountains that are virtually undeveloped. Croswnest Pass, Nordegg, Hinton and Grande Cache to name them. Plus areas like the Castle River region and the old Coal Branch region.

There is a reason they aren't developed like Canmore, they have downsides. Crowsnest, lets be honest, it sucks. The weather isn't all that nice. Other places are just too far away.

[topfiverecords]

There must be some old abandoned mines that can be turned into The Sliver Mountain Resort.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

There is a reason they aren't developed like Canmore, they have downsides. Crowsnest, lets be honest, it sucks. The weather isn't all that nice. Other places are just too far away.

Why does Crowsnest suck though?

Isn’t the point to develop a town here and associated tourism along with it. It’s already got a good network of forestry and mining roads giving you access.

You need to develop the activities to be available as part of the town development.

People routinely drive to Fernie for the weekend so anywhere within 3hrs seems pretty reasonable.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by GGG

Why does Crowsnest suck though?

Isn’t the point to develop a town here and associated tourism along with it. It’s already got a good network of forestry and mining roads giving you access.

You need to develop the activities to be available as part of the town development.

People routinely drive to Fernie for the weekend so anywhere within 3hrs seems pretty reasonable.

The wind really ruins a lot of otherwise beautiful days. And it’s my biased belief that anyone who thinks “it’s wind…how bad can it be?” has to be someone who hasn’t lived in a place like that to experience how brutal it is.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by GGG

Why does Crowsnest suck though?

Originally Posted by Slava

The wind

It doesn't suck, it blows

[surferguy]

Nordegg is a decent place to build a mountain town, its still more foothills like a Bragg Creek though. We could all buy land (with our CP walking around money) and build up there. Then on weekends we can all sit in the local diner and chat about things that Grind Our Gears. We will have to infiltrate council and rename the town. I am taking suggestions

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by GGG

Why does Crowsnest suck though?

Isn’t the point to develop a town here and associated tourism along with it. It’s already got a good network of forestry and mining roads giving you access.

You need to develop the activities to be available as part of the town development.

People routinely drive to Fernie for the weekend so anywhere within 3hrs seems pretty reasonable.

Mostly the weather.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Nordegg is a decent place to build a mountain town, its still more foothills like a Bragg Creek though. We could all buy land (with our CP walking around money) and build up there. Then on weekends we can all sit in the local diner and chat about things that Grind Our Gears. We will have to infiltrate council and rename the town. I am taking suggestions

Hope Nordegg likes skyscrapers, no suburbs and bike lanes.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Nordegg is a decent place to build a mountain town, its still more foothills like a Bragg Creek though. We could all buy land (with our CP walking around money) and build up there. Then on weekends we can all sit in the local diner and chat about things that Grind Our Gears. We will have to infiltrate council and rename the town. I am taking suggestions

There is actually an awesome pie place in Nordegg. I would sit in there every day eating pie and listening to CPer's problems.

[Sliver]

I think we should dress up like our avatars, though.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think we should dress up like our avatars, though.

Deal.

[Fuzz]

I've got mine ready.

[powderjunkie]

IMO the sensible place for a new town is here

Gateway to Kananaskis and Banff. It would make sense initially as an athlete/media village for an Olympics

Of course planned cities never really work...but

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Me, every time I've ever driven down 6th ave and I almost get sideswiped by some jackass in his truck/SUV:

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

There is a reason they aren't developed like Canmore, they have downsides. Crowsnest, lets be honest, it sucks. The weather isn't all that nice. Other places are just too far away.

Too far away from where? Calgary? Maybe, but we’re talking Alberta in general and those places are all accessible from our other population centres.