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I stand to be corrected, but the city does not have the power to do this, as I understand it. The Municipal Government Act requires assessment based on market value. Not saying that is the only way it can be done, but it is what the city is stuck with.

I am not necessarily opposed to financial incentives to get more shovels in the ground, but I think we need to be clear what developers are asking for -- public subsidies. I would be interested in knowing what kind of advice council was getting behind closed doors. Maybe the analyses showed that...

Most recently I've been in airports in Calgary, Toronto, London and Paris, and Edmonton had a far better passenger experience. As you say, it may not be awe-inspiring, but YEG has simple things that many airports lack -- sufficient seating near gates, variety of food options, nice bathrooms...

YEG isn't perfect, but having visited many, many airports, I would say it is one of the better ones. Generally a very pleasant experience in my opinion.

Some people will be price sensitive and take a deal in the deep suburbs, but others (which I count myself part of) will pay more to live centrally. As the city grows and traffic becomes worse, location will become increasingly important IMHO.

So in other words, you don't like the hugely successful and unique festivals grown in Edmonton and would prefer validation from a large branding exercise of a multi-national company instead?

Some of the best cities in the world are 6-10 stories. Small clusters of point towers can concentrate too much development if there isn't enough demand to go around. Edmonton already has tons of vacant lots and the downtown looks like crap as a result. I say bring this one on, and invite 10 more...

But that's the thing, volunteering or starting a business won't directly impact the City's financial capacity. I suppose you can talk generally about "growing business", which might eventually cause more large commercial projects to get built, but if we're talking about city revenues now, that...

For all the handwringing and calls for us to make Edmonton better, I think it is worth acknowledging that Calgary has revenues that were about $700 million greater than Edmonton in 2022. There's many reasons for that disparity, but when it comes down to it better infrastructure and improved...

Technically Council has two direct employees: the City Manager and the City Auditor.

Maybe I am reading this differently, but Edgar is specifically asking for incentives from the city. In essence, they're saying that building costs and the state of downtown make new towers uneconomic. Maybe they are right, but I don't think it is unreasonable to carefully consider what will do...

I don't disagree with the points Edgar makes about the current state of downtown, but I'd be careful before committing finite financial resources. If grants are provided then it is likely that other projects may need to be cancelled or delayed, such as street and avenue renewal which is badly...

I disagree. Urban design in downtown Edmonton is a huge problem. The area looks and feels shabby. If the city won't invest sufficient money to improve the public realm, why should private money be expected to invest?

Sometimes I feel like I am shouting into the wind, but here are two thoughts on this: 1. One of the biggest issues for the downtown in Edmonton is the cost of SFH, which is much lower than other cities. Why would a person buy a condo in the centre when they can still afford a larger house...

I won't speak for anyone else, but I am certainly not suggesting there is no role for policing. The downtown and transit are both a mess and something needs to be done, but the question is what. It is a fantasy to think turnstiles on the concourse of LRT stations are going to stop people from...

Because it would cost hot gobs of money to patrol the entire transit system to the same level as City Hall? The tough on crime approach has been tried countless times and won't work. Adding turnstiles in transit stations, hiring hundreds of police officers, trying to teach troublemakers a...

Pay a visit to The Core in Calgary and then tell me that CCM doesn't need significant infrastructure investment.

Whatever. You can blame Edmontonians for not supporting CCM, but the fact is that their offering downtown has been subpar for ages. Why would someone drive downtown and pay for parking for a shopping experience that could easily be had at a second-tier suburban mall? The stores aren't unique...

Just want to get in here to emphasize how big this Dow project is. This is a behemoth amount of money being spent in the Edmonton area and is huge for the regional economy. It might not be the trendy lattes and power lunches some use as a measure of success, but make no mistake this will...

A very good question. While I also find this situation frustrating, there are no easy answers. The city absolutely cannot decide at this point they are unhappy with an individual developer's decision and try to take action against them. That type of reactionary thinking will not create a...