Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Flag Football uncovers Provincial Conspiracy
I must say this summer has been busy. In between showers and drought I have found time to hit the river, rack up a few penalty minutes in summer hockey, sun burn and bust a finger.
Seer, my ring finger got twisted up as I was executing a pathetic swim maneuver to get past a much younger O-lineman during a game of flag football. As exciting as this sounds, the weird feeling of breaking my first bone is not the purpose of this month’s rant.
What I want to talk about is the fun I had trying to not take up space in an emergency waiting room. To be honest, I did wait a few days before seeking medical help hoping that my turned and offset finger would find its way back to a more normal resting place somewhere between my pinky and middle digits. After four days and the setting in of a weird colour and odour I was sent to get things dealt with. Really, with a clinic only a minute’s walk away at Superstore I didn’t have any good excuse not to go. So at 9:30 on a Sunday morning I left home slightly sick to my stomach at the thought of some horse doctor pulling my finger into place. I was actually relieved to find that the clinic was closed. My relief was short lived as I quickly sent (I really don't get to control very many of my own actions) back out to Beddington Mall accompanied with a new task - finally get the blood work done I was asked to complete months ago but had been putting off due to my aforementioned distrust of white coat wizards. It was still early, and luckily I hadn’t eaten yet as the blood work required an 8 hour fast. As this was likely the only time in the last 4 years I have had such a long stretch of nutritional abstinence it was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone… as long as I wasn’t one of the birds.
The blood lab at Beddington was closed, but from the aging medical form in my hand I was able to discern that Market Mall had a lab that was. There is also a medi-clinic at that locale so the two birds cliché was still useful. I was back on track and after a bucket and a half of blood was letted, I was ready to deal with my busted appendage except that the the attached clinic was closed. A lab tech informed me that I was in luck because the Beddington Clinic was open. Yup, lucky me.
So back to Beddington where I was examined by a surly prison physician who had the foresight to realize that my finger was indeed not up to par and that I would need x-rays to confirm his brilliant diagnosis. No problem, it's just down the mall, right…? If that was the case, you wouldn’t be reading this right now, it was obviously closed. That’s’ OK, because I was in luck… Market Mall had an x-ray lab that was open. So down a gallon of blood and in need of some breakfast I was on my way back to the where I was just an hour and a half before.
The x-rays were easy, quickly downloaded onto a disk which I was to take back to, you guessed it, the Prison PHD who would eventually tell me I could to keep the disk (I would later find out that he was just saving effort on his shredder as the pictures needed a special program to view... so no cool Facebook profile pic).
Pulling up to the desk at the Beddington clinic the now familiar receptionist had the nerve to ask me if I had been there before! Quite revved up despite my lack of blood sugar I politely asked the Doc how this all made sense. Why not just have all three services open at on place rather than making people go all over the city when really they just want to be at home on the couch with some Tylenol 3s, a beer and maybe some McNuggets or a burrito or anything at this point. He responded that each of the services, the lab, the clinic and the x-ray tech were independent and they were just doing what they had to do to make money. I retorted that the only one making money today was the Husky gas station that had to fill me up as I put over 80 kms on my Suzuki to have a $5 splint taped to my hand.
So how do we fix this… what is the easy solution? Ok, so maybe i don't have one. As our province continues to dismantle and privatize our health care system I am afraid that things are just going to get worse. Yes there is an arguement for efficiency and saving the tax payer money, but at some point we are still talking about a public service. See a public good can't just be about making money, if that were the case we would have no police officers, just private security guards and mercenaries. Police just make sense, so does public health care. Is it paranoia to think that the our province's complete disregard for an effective (and coordinated) community health solution is our government's way of depriving of us of quality service so that we beg for private health care? Our our lives (and fingers) being put at risk to convince us that at least those that can afford decent service should have it (though this didn’t work out to well for Michael Jackson and his private Doc – oh, sorry - too soon?).
Unfortunately those that are already struggling to make ends meet are quite literally in for a world of hurt. Any citizens relying on public transit may do better taking an online medical degree than trying to get medical attention on a Sunday. And so to those that are responsible for this lunacy and the private HMOs they want to usher in, I give the splinted and purple one finger salute…
Seer, my ring finger got twisted up as I was executing a pathetic swim maneuver to get past a much younger O-lineman during a game of flag football. As exciting as this sounds, the weird feeling of breaking my first bone is not the purpose of this month’s rant.
What I want to talk about is the fun I had trying to not take up space in an emergency waiting room. To be honest, I did wait a few days before seeking medical help hoping that my turned and offset finger would find its way back to a more normal resting place somewhere between my pinky and middle digits. After four days and the setting in of a weird colour and odour I was sent to get things dealt with. Really, with a clinic only a minute’s walk away at Superstore I didn’t have any good excuse not to go. So at 9:30 on a Sunday morning I left home slightly sick to my stomach at the thought of some horse doctor pulling my finger into place. I was actually relieved to find that the clinic was closed. My relief was short lived as I quickly sent (I really don't get to control very many of my own actions) back out to Beddington Mall accompanied with a new task - finally get the blood work done I was asked to complete months ago but had been putting off due to my aforementioned distrust of white coat wizards. It was still early, and luckily I hadn’t eaten yet as the blood work required an 8 hour fast. As this was likely the only time in the last 4 years I have had such a long stretch of nutritional abstinence it was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone… as long as I wasn’t one of the birds.
The blood lab at Beddington was closed, but from the aging medical form in my hand I was able to discern that Market Mall had a lab that was. There is also a medi-clinic at that locale so the two birds cliché was still useful. I was back on track and after a bucket and a half of blood was letted, I was ready to deal with my busted appendage except that the the attached clinic was closed. A lab tech informed me that I was in luck because the Beddington Clinic was open. Yup, lucky me.
So back to Beddington where I was examined by a surly prison physician who had the foresight to realize that my finger was indeed not up to par and that I would need x-rays to confirm his brilliant diagnosis. No problem, it's just down the mall, right…? If that was the case, you wouldn’t be reading this right now, it was obviously closed. That’s’ OK, because I was in luck… Market Mall had an x-ray lab that was open. So down a gallon of blood and in need of some breakfast I was on my way back to the where I was just an hour and a half before.
The x-rays were easy, quickly downloaded onto a disk which I was to take back to, you guessed it, the Prison PHD who would eventually tell me I could to keep the disk (I would later find out that he was just saving effort on his shredder as the pictures needed a special program to view... so no cool Facebook profile pic).
Pulling up to the desk at the Beddington clinic the now familiar receptionist had the nerve to ask me if I had been there before! Quite revved up despite my lack of blood sugar I politely asked the Doc how this all made sense. Why not just have all three services open at on place rather than making people go all over the city when really they just want to be at home on the couch with some Tylenol 3s, a beer and maybe some McNuggets or a burrito or anything at this point. He responded that each of the services, the lab, the clinic and the x-ray tech were independent and they were just doing what they had to do to make money. I retorted that the only one making money today was the Husky gas station that had to fill me up as I put over 80 kms on my Suzuki to have a $5 splint taped to my hand.
So how do we fix this… what is the easy solution? Ok, so maybe i don't have one. As our province continues to dismantle and privatize our health care system I am afraid that things are just going to get worse. Yes there is an arguement for efficiency and saving the tax payer money, but at some point we are still talking about a public service. See a public good can't just be about making money, if that were the case we would have no police officers, just private security guards and mercenaries. Police just make sense, so does public health care. Is it paranoia to think that the our province's complete disregard for an effective (and coordinated) community health solution is our government's way of depriving of us of quality service so that we beg for private health care? Our our lives (and fingers) being put at risk to convince us that at least those that can afford decent service should have it (though this didn’t work out to well for Michael Jackson and his private Doc – oh, sorry - too soon?).
Unfortunately those that are already struggling to make ends meet are quite literally in for a world of hurt. Any citizens relying on public transit may do better taking an online medical degree than trying to get medical attention on a Sunday. And so to those that are responsible for this lunacy and the private HMOs they want to usher in, I give the splinted and purple one finger salute…
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Illegal Dumping in Harvest Hills
Happy summer all. This months’ editorial is in response to a letter we received here at the NHCA. A concerned resident had a lot to say regarding illegal dumping southeast of Harvest Hills just beyond 96th Avenue. The anonymous author detailed her experiences finding everything from tires and mattresses to freezers filled with rotting meat!
Daisy the basset, never one to turn down free meat, was eager to extend her regular walk through the future Aurora Business Park the highlands above the Deerfoot. While we didn’t find any rotting carrion, we did see the freezer as well as a few prominent fire rings complete with abandoned lawn chairs.
While it is apparent that developers have used this City land to dispose of fill (likely with permission), others have used it to dispose of waste from their own home renos illegally. With the pristine rolling hills so tainted I was surprised to see so many cycle commuters using the unmaintained trails leading up from West Nose Creek Park to connect with the pathway system in Harvest Hills. They paid little attention to the landfill as they sped past. A pair of young kids, too young to be concerned with the 20km ride to the office, used the moguls left from dumped soil to catch some decent air on their own bikes. Avoiding bags of diapers while managing to keep everything upright was no easy feat.
So… until the development of Aurora is complete (in 2030) this area will continue to play an important role to the citizens of the Northern Hills. There will continue to be plenty of room for cyclists, dog walkers and many other recreational enthusiasts if we all use some consideration and common sense.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Top 10 Reasons to Support PlanIT Calgary
From Civic Camp Calgary...
Top Ten Reasons to Support PLAN IT
Number 10: PLAN IT Focuses on Completing Existing Communities. The proposed Municipal Development Plan identifies the need for complete communities. Right now in Calgary we have 20 communities around the periphery of our city that are not yet built out – some of them have been that way for 20 years! Yet we keep approving new developments. Tens of Thousands of Calgarians are living in unfinished communities. Some have been waiting for schools for over a decade. Many have inadequate transit service. Others lack basic commercial and community services due to insufficient population. The reason we suffer through this unacceptable situation is that it is not in the interest of the suburban development industry to complete communities. Rather, the suburban development industry’s interest is simply to sell land for profit, then move on to develop and sell more land. A report presented on June 10 to the Standing Policy Committee on Land Use, Planning and Transportation outlines part of the problem. Calgarians have been massively subsidizing suburban development to the tune of about $8,400.00 per unit. With that kind of subsidy it is no wonder the development industry wants to keep building out. Whether the homeowner or the developer or builder captures that massive subsidy is unclear. What is clear is that the subsidisation of new developments is making it impossible to complete existing communities in a timely fashion.
A February 2009 CMHC research report Government-imposed Charges on New Housing in Canada clearly demonstrates that the development industry in Calgary has not been paying its way. For example total municipal charges on a single-detached new dwelling in Toronto, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary are $31,500, $16,600, $16,400, $19,800 and $11,700 respectively. As a result of the taxpayers’ subsidy to suburban greenfield development, new suburban homes in Calgary appear to be much less costly than they actually are.
Number 9: PLAN IT Will Improve Transit Service. PLAN IT, including the Calgary Transportation Plan (CTP), signals a shift from a single-minded goal of providing for the automobile to a more integrated and enlightened policy of mobility choices for moving PEOPLE. The CTP shifts investment priorities to transit, safe bicycle routes and a safe and pleasant pedestrian environment. This shift is long overdue. Historically, City transportation budgets have been massively skewed toward roads, overpasses and interchanges–so much so that about 75% of all the city’s transportation infrastructure is devoted to roads. Calgarians have shown their desire for quality transit by voting with their feet. Our LRT is used more than any other comparable system in North America, but it is crowded and in need of upgrades and extensions. PLAN IT will allow that to happen.
Number 8: 11 Billion Dollars That Stays in Your Pocket. Just last month the City released its long-awaited assessment of the costs of growth. The IBI Group analyzed the cost of financing the next 50 year’s growth comparing a Business As Usual Scenario that would see approximately 80% of new development in new greenfield suburban communities with the Recommended Scenario which proposes that 50% of new development occur in greenfields. The Recommended Scenario would be about 35% less expensive than Business As Usual. That translates into approximately 11 billion dollars saved if we adopt PLAN IT.
NOTE: This is one area of contention with the PLAN IT proposal. The numbers demonstrate that less greenfield development is better but a strong case can be made that the Recommended Scenario is too timid and a more aggressive intensification scenario would save even more money and produce a healthier and more sustainable city. See my blog on this site, "The Case of the Disappearing Scenario," for more on this issue.
Number 7: PLAN IT Will Make Living in Calgary More Affordable. The two largest household expenditures for most Calgarians are housing and transportation. PLAN IT commissioned a research report to assess the impact of a more compact city on affordability. The report found that a more compact city will provide more housing choice and affordability for Calgarians. Factor in transportation and the argument is even stronger for a more compact city. A report out of the United States examined housing and transportation costs for households in the 28 largest metropolitan centres. It found that for low and moderate income households transportation costs exceed housing costs and that living in suburbia was a more expensive proposition than living in established communities, when both housing and transportation are taken into account. My own research on this subject in Calgary, though preliminary, points toward the same conclusion. A just published Natural Resources Canada research report also supports this argument – suburban living is more expensive than we might think. But I think we can all agree that transportation energy costs will likely rise very significantly over the next ten years.
Number 6: PLAN IT Means A More Competitive and Sustainable Economy. A competitive and sustainable economy is one that attracts investment and people and keeps costs down. The Smart Growth Report prepared by Sustainable Calgary researchers documents some of the research supporting this thesis. The work of Richard Florida clearly demonstrates that the creative classes – skilled knowledge workers - are attracted to more compact, vibrant, non-auto dependent cities. We have only to look at places like Portland, Oregon to see this principle at work. The former Chief Economist of the RBC, Jeff Rubin, is now making a similar argument about competitiveness in his new book. He talks about $200/Barrel Oil in a year and a half!! -J.C.
Number 5: Meeting the Demographic Challenge. PLAN IT commissioned a demographics and growth study that demonstrates that our population will significantly age over the coming 50 years and much of our growth will come from immigration. Senior citizens and new immigrants will have different needs than our current population. PLAN IT proposes a forward-looking strategy to create a city for the Calgarians of tomorrow, not of yesterday. Our communities will have to be made up of a much more diverse stock of housing types than is currently offered.
Number 4: PLAN IT Will Contribute to the Creation of A City Built for Everyone. According to Sustainable Calgary’s The State of our City Sustainability Indicators Research, Calgarians face two big challenges in making our city a more healthy, caring and vibrant community. One is the growing socio-economic inequities we see in Calgary. The second is our unsustainable rate of resource consumption – water, energy, and lots and lots of stuff. The good news is that reducing resource consumption can go a long way toward reducing inequity. The reason is that curbing sprawl, providing viable alternatives to the private automobile, and providing a wide range of housing types and sizes close to transit makes it easier for low income, disabled, and elderly Calgarians to lead a high quality of life.
Number 3: PLAN IT Signals a Renaissance of Public Space. The great cities of the world have great public plazas, pedestrian friendly streets, and parks. Parks we have in spades and they are truly wonderful. But we are sorely lacking vibrant urban public spaces. The Transit Oriented Development focus of PLAN IT will allow us to develop these spaces. Transit stations should be much more than utilitarian spaces where you catch a bus or train. They should be the heart of vibrant communities, shopping districts and employment centres. PLAN ITs Calgary Transportation Plan signals a shift toward the idea of complete streets that do much more than simply get cars from A to B in the shortest time possible. Complete streets have many purposes - they are for pedestrians and bicyclists as well as cars. They should be beautiful enjoyable places to be.
Number 2: Live Long and Prosper. Health and the built environment has become a major topic of research and concern over the past decade as we come to understand the health and well-being consequences of car-oriented societies. Health care professionals now consider obesity to be a public health problem of epidemic proportions. It is especially worrisome among children and teenagers - an age group with obesity rates approaching 16-18% as reported in the June 10th release of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Healthy Populations Report. Asthma, triggered by bad air quality afflicts over 30,000 Calgary kids, and is the number one cause of school absenteeism. PLAN ITs focus on complete streets, mixed communities with commercial services within walking and biking distance, and greater investment in transit, all help to create communities that foster active and healthy living. A large body of research suggests that complete walkable communities significantly reduce the incidence of obesity and other illnesses caused by sedentary living.
Number 1: PLAN IT is Good For the Planet and Good for Calgary. The most critical issue facing the human species today is climate change. Calgarians have among the largest ecological footprints on the planet and with that comes a high rate of CO2 production. It is in our own enlightened self-interest to get serious about reducing CO2. In the next 12 months Canadians are likely going to be called upon by the international community, including our neighbours to the south, to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. Better we develop a pro-active strategy to reduce emissions than be forced to by the international community. PLAN IT sets us on a path to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, while actually improving and safeguarding our quality of life.
Click here for the City’s most up to date and digestible summary of the Municipal Development Plan and The Calgary Transportation Plan
Top Ten Reasons to Support PLAN IT
Number 10: PLAN IT Focuses on Completing Existing Communities. The proposed Municipal Development Plan identifies the need for complete communities. Right now in Calgary we have 20 communities around the periphery of our city that are not yet built out – some of them have been that way for 20 years! Yet we keep approving new developments. Tens of Thousands of Calgarians are living in unfinished communities. Some have been waiting for schools for over a decade. Many have inadequate transit service. Others lack basic commercial and community services due to insufficient population. The reason we suffer through this unacceptable situation is that it is not in the interest of the suburban development industry to complete communities. Rather, the suburban development industry’s interest is simply to sell land for profit, then move on to develop and sell more land. A report presented on June 10 to the Standing Policy Committee on Land Use, Planning and Transportation outlines part of the problem. Calgarians have been massively subsidizing suburban development to the tune of about $8,400.00 per unit. With that kind of subsidy it is no wonder the development industry wants to keep building out. Whether the homeowner or the developer or builder captures that massive subsidy is unclear. What is clear is that the subsidisation of new developments is making it impossible to complete existing communities in a timely fashion.
A February 2009 CMHC research report Government-imposed Charges on New Housing in Canada clearly demonstrates that the development industry in Calgary has not been paying its way. For example total municipal charges on a single-detached new dwelling in Toronto, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary are $31,500, $16,600, $16,400, $19,800 and $11,700 respectively. As a result of the taxpayers’ subsidy to suburban greenfield development, new suburban homes in Calgary appear to be much less costly than they actually are.
Number 9: PLAN IT Will Improve Transit Service. PLAN IT, including the Calgary Transportation Plan (CTP), signals a shift from a single-minded goal of providing for the automobile to a more integrated and enlightened policy of mobility choices for moving PEOPLE. The CTP shifts investment priorities to transit, safe bicycle routes and a safe and pleasant pedestrian environment. This shift is long overdue. Historically, City transportation budgets have been massively skewed toward roads, overpasses and interchanges–so much so that about 75% of all the city’s transportation infrastructure is devoted to roads. Calgarians have shown their desire for quality transit by voting with their feet. Our LRT is used more than any other comparable system in North America, but it is crowded and in need of upgrades and extensions. PLAN IT will allow that to happen.
Number 8: 11 Billion Dollars That Stays in Your Pocket. Just last month the City released its long-awaited assessment of the costs of growth. The IBI Group analyzed the cost of financing the next 50 year’s growth comparing a Business As Usual Scenario that would see approximately 80% of new development in new greenfield suburban communities with the Recommended Scenario which proposes that 50% of new development occur in greenfields. The Recommended Scenario would be about 35% less expensive than Business As Usual. That translates into approximately 11 billion dollars saved if we adopt PLAN IT.
NOTE: This is one area of contention with the PLAN IT proposal. The numbers demonstrate that less greenfield development is better but a strong case can be made that the Recommended Scenario is too timid and a more aggressive intensification scenario would save even more money and produce a healthier and more sustainable city. See my blog on this site, "The Case of the Disappearing Scenario," for more on this issue.
Number 7: PLAN IT Will Make Living in Calgary More Affordable. The two largest household expenditures for most Calgarians are housing and transportation. PLAN IT commissioned a research report to assess the impact of a more compact city on affordability. The report found that a more compact city will provide more housing choice and affordability for Calgarians. Factor in transportation and the argument is even stronger for a more compact city. A report out of the United States examined housing and transportation costs for households in the 28 largest metropolitan centres. It found that for low and moderate income households transportation costs exceed housing costs and that living in suburbia was a more expensive proposition than living in established communities, when both housing and transportation are taken into account. My own research on this subject in Calgary, though preliminary, points toward the same conclusion. A just published Natural Resources Canada research report also supports this argument – suburban living is more expensive than we might think. But I think we can all agree that transportation energy costs will likely rise very significantly over the next ten years.
Number 6: PLAN IT Means A More Competitive and Sustainable Economy. A competitive and sustainable economy is one that attracts investment and people and keeps costs down. The Smart Growth Report prepared by Sustainable Calgary researchers documents some of the research supporting this thesis. The work of Richard Florida clearly demonstrates that the creative classes – skilled knowledge workers - are attracted to more compact, vibrant, non-auto dependent cities. We have only to look at places like Portland, Oregon to see this principle at work. The former Chief Economist of the RBC, Jeff Rubin, is now making a similar argument about competitiveness in his new book. He talks about $200/Barrel Oil in a year and a half!! -J.C.
Number 5: Meeting the Demographic Challenge. PLAN IT commissioned a demographics and growth study that demonstrates that our population will significantly age over the coming 50 years and much of our growth will come from immigration. Senior citizens and new immigrants will have different needs than our current population. PLAN IT proposes a forward-looking strategy to create a city for the Calgarians of tomorrow, not of yesterday. Our communities will have to be made up of a much more diverse stock of housing types than is currently offered.
Number 4: PLAN IT Will Contribute to the Creation of A City Built for Everyone. According to Sustainable Calgary’s The State of our City Sustainability Indicators Research, Calgarians face two big challenges in making our city a more healthy, caring and vibrant community. One is the growing socio-economic inequities we see in Calgary. The second is our unsustainable rate of resource consumption – water, energy, and lots and lots of stuff. The good news is that reducing resource consumption can go a long way toward reducing inequity. The reason is that curbing sprawl, providing viable alternatives to the private automobile, and providing a wide range of housing types and sizes close to transit makes it easier for low income, disabled, and elderly Calgarians to lead a high quality of life.
Number 3: PLAN IT Signals a Renaissance of Public Space. The great cities of the world have great public plazas, pedestrian friendly streets, and parks. Parks we have in spades and they are truly wonderful. But we are sorely lacking vibrant urban public spaces. The Transit Oriented Development focus of PLAN IT will allow us to develop these spaces. Transit stations should be much more than utilitarian spaces where you catch a bus or train. They should be the heart of vibrant communities, shopping districts and employment centres. PLAN ITs Calgary Transportation Plan signals a shift toward the idea of complete streets that do much more than simply get cars from A to B in the shortest time possible. Complete streets have many purposes - they are for pedestrians and bicyclists as well as cars. They should be beautiful enjoyable places to be.
Number 2: Live Long and Prosper. Health and the built environment has become a major topic of research and concern over the past decade as we come to understand the health and well-being consequences of car-oriented societies. Health care professionals now consider obesity to be a public health problem of epidemic proportions. It is especially worrisome among children and teenagers - an age group with obesity rates approaching 16-18% as reported in the June 10th release of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Healthy Populations Report. Asthma, triggered by bad air quality afflicts over 30,000 Calgary kids, and is the number one cause of school absenteeism. PLAN ITs focus on complete streets, mixed communities with commercial services within walking and biking distance, and greater investment in transit, all help to create communities that foster active and healthy living. A large body of research suggests that complete walkable communities significantly reduce the incidence of obesity and other illnesses caused by sedentary living.
Number 1: PLAN IT is Good For the Planet and Good for Calgary. The most critical issue facing the human species today is climate change. Calgarians have among the largest ecological footprints on the planet and with that comes a high rate of CO2 production. It is in our own enlightened self-interest to get serious about reducing CO2. In the next 12 months Canadians are likely going to be called upon by the international community, including our neighbours to the south, to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. Better we develop a pro-active strategy to reduce emissions than be forced to by the international community. PLAN IT sets us on a path to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, while actually improving and safeguarding our quality of life.
Click here for the City’s most up to date and digestible summary of the Municipal Development Plan and The Calgary Transportation Plan
Friday, May 22, 2009
June Editorial
I was taking Daisy for a walk yesterday and noticed some changes to the field we frequent just below the T&T shopping centre and north of West Nose Creek Natural Area along Bedington Trail. This private parcel of land has been used by hundreds of dog owners for years as an off leash park. Last year some surveyors had been out taking some measurements and the City had posted some development notices, but with the slowing economy I never thought any development was in the works. Until yesterday…It appears that works have begun taking out the decapitated fence that runs along the parking lot for West Nose Creek and the driving range. The gig may be up for Daisy and I sooner than I had hoped. The impending demise (or change of venue) of our walks got me Googling for some local alternatives… and out came this article.Turns out that there are 138 designated dog parks in the City, however that number has not grown in decades and none of those 138 are located in the Northern Hills. All other green spaces and natural areas in our area are either on leash or “No Dogs Allowed”. As luck would have it, the City is just now conducting various consultations with stakeholders regarding Dog Park options. Several (and all) public open houses and web surveys have been completed the results of which are being analyzed to lead future consultations. Why is the City spending so much time on Dog Parks? Well, it turns out that this is a pretty contentious issue. While few people have problems with an elderly basset whose owner carries a pocket full of heavy duty doodie bags, there are many who have experienced conflict with dogs and their owners in general use parks. The City is even considering Dog Use only areas to reduce multi use issues. Where does that leave me and a conclusion to this article? Daisy, not unlike her walker is slightly (just) overweight and should to continue to enjoy off leash runs without having to drive to Nose Hill Park. I would suggest that West Nose Creek would make a great designated mix use area. The parking lot is full of dog walkers. A simple observation of volume notes that during peak hours (10 am to 7pm) there are between 20 and 40 cars rotating through on the hour (aprox. 250 people a day!). There is an opportunity to leave the existing paved pathways for dog free cycling and walking while the other trails below in the valley could be used as an off leash area. I know that this is a designated natural area and would require some vigilance in respect to responsible pet ownership… cleaning up after your pet is of huge importance as the creek does flood (I even paddled the creek with Daisy and a small canoe on Easter Sunday), but other City protected natural areas (Riversedge and Nose Hill) allow off leash use. This is just my opinion and as I have not done any surveys, other than over beer at Woody’s, I am asking you for two things, email me with your views on dog parks in the Hills (do we need an off leash areas or do we need more dog free trails) and contact Jim Stevenson (ward03@calgary.ca) and the City (3-1-1) and let them know how you feel.
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